Episode Report Card M. Giant: C | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Mole Patch II: Electric Whatever
By M. Giant | Season 3 | Episode 21 | Aired on 05.03.2004
At Division, Palmer continues walking into a conference room, where Brother Palmer and Poor Man's Scott McClellan are watching a news report that tells them that Palmer's opponent in the election, Senator Keeler, has lost a couple of endorsements. Palmer asks why, and they offer their analysis that it's because of Keeler's response to Palmer dropping out of the previous night's debate. Brother Palmer remarks, "Now that the threat level has been raised to red, people realize that you weren't playing politics. He is." Which should prove nothing, as the President has, I believe, some say over this "threat level." Leaving aside the fact that it would be pretty hard for all this to happen literally overnight. Palmer breaks up the party, saying, "We don't have time to think about the election right now." Hey, Sparky, I believe you were thinking about it along with everyone else a second ago. He pulls Brother Palmer out of the room, leaving Poor Man's Scott McClellan looking nonplussed. Not that we've seen that guy looking plussed yet.
Back at Saunders's erstwhile base of operations, Special Agent Charlie Brown is on the phone with Adam, confirming that Saunders was in the building, and the only question is how he got out. When he gets off the phone, he tells Kiefer that "now CTU says they're having problems with the satellite." Kiefer leaves Baker and several teams in charge of the building -- apparently he didn't learn his lesson about that -- and he and Special Agent Charlie Brown saddle up and head back to CTU so Kiefer can be with Spawnders when her father calls back. It's 9:08:36. From the car, Kiefer calls Potato Face and asks her, "What are you working on?" She explains that she's undertaken the project of reorganizing CTU's procedural manuals and translating them into haiku. No, obviously she's looking for Saunders, in this case by analyzing his last call for clues. Kiefer tells her to call him if she finds anything and hangs up while she makes a "duh" face.
Meanwhile, the Team Spawn motorcade pulls up to CTU less than a half hour after leaving Santa Barbara. Which is impossible even without factoring in the world's longest wait at a railroad crossing. Agent Forrester gets out of the shotgun seat (hey, I didn't realize that was her last week) and tells Spawn that Kiefer and Special Agent Charlie Brown are on their way back sans Saunders. Spawnders reaction to the news that her father is still at large is difficult to read, as is almost everything this actress does, but she asks Spawn, "He knows you guys have me, right?" Spawn confirms it. Sure, her father's a terrorist, but if you're a person who needs things explained to you by Spawn, that's almost worse.
Inside the building, Soul Patch greets Forrester and directs Spawnders's party to a holding room, despite Forrester's information that she was supposed to be going to a "white room," whatever that is. Spawn assures Spawnders that she'll be fine and sends her on her way. Soul Patch asks Spawn how she's doing, and she says she's fine, but she's just as clueless about Saunders's escape as she is about everything. Soul Patch changes the subject and tells her that someone's on the way over to ask her some questions about the shooting of Jew 'Fro Xander Harris an hour and change ago. Spawn shares that she "heard the news about Bitchelle." Soul Patch tries to play it cool: "What news?" he says, unsmiling. "That she isn't infected," Spawn duhs. Soul Patch insincerely accepts her sincere congratulations and watches her walk into a conference room and sit down. Through the room's far wall, which of course is also made of glass, he sees Spawnders staring back at him. All these glass walls. I'm glad that when they rebuilt the place, they used the lessons they learned when somebody blew it up.