Episode Report Card M. Giant: C+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Mole Patch
By M. Giant | Season 3 | Episode 20 | Aired on 04.26.2004
8:26:57. Bitchelle confers with a Handsome Black Agent, Soul Patch continues to not be debilitated by his fresh gunshot wound, and Kiefer's already aboard the CTU helicopter. Dr. Hazmat comes into the room where Bitchelle and Handsome Black Agent are working, hands each of them an unsealed envelope, and quietly withdraws. Handsome Black Agent fades into the background, as Handsome Black Agents do. Bitchelle opens her envelope and reads the page inside, even though we can't. She has an ambiguous and rather lengthy reaction, then calls Soul Patch: "I'm okay." Soul Patch, naturally, is thrilled. He wants her out of there ASAP, but Bitchelle assures him that any exposed person who's not infected has an immunity. So, again, why the isolation area inside the hotel? So confused. Bitchelle explains that they're going to be taken downtown and kept under watch at NHS headquarters for eighteen hours. They get all schmoopy, long enough to call down a big, stinky, crazy curse on themselves, and disconnect. But what about Handsome Black Agent? Is he also safe? Please. He's handsome. He's black. He's an agent. Do you need to ask?
It's 8:30:29. Palmer's press secretary, Poor Man's Scott McClellan, has assembled a couple dozen members of the media in a conference room. There are no cameras, microphones, or recording devices; just pissy journalists. Poor Man's Scott McClellan explains that Palmer's going to have a statement for them when he arrives, and he does his best to deflect their questions. Meanwhile, the Brothers Palmer are approaching and talking about stuff we already know. Palmer worries that nabbing Spawnders may have made things worse, and walks into the impromptu press conference with Brother Palmer at his elbow. He explains what's going on in the vaguest terms possible, dropping a reference to a "possible biological attack on American soil." But what he really wants the media to tell everyone is to stay home. Nice to see that this White House thinks the media works for them, too. A reporter asks whether the attack on the Los Angeles MI-6 office is related, and Palmer declines to answer. Then a woman near the head of the table starts getting shirty about the lack of information coming from the president's office. Brother Palmer signals to Poor Man's Scott McClellan to shut her down -- he's a very poor man's Scott McClellan indeed, if he needs to be signaled -- but Palmer steps in to be the voice of reason. He again tells everyone that the most important message is to tell people to stay home. It's weird seeing reporters right up in the president's face like this, with no podium or microphones separating them. It's also weird to see them not letting the president off the hook when his answers don't satisfy them, but this is just a TV show, after all.
Kiefer's airborne and talking to Special Agent Charlie Brown, who's en route to Saunders's location in his SUV. Kiefer's piloting the chopper himself now; I guess the agents who flew the Bauers to Santa Barbara will have to walk home. Kiefer doesn't think Saunders is aware that CTU has his location, probably since phone traces took a lot longer when Saunders was still a company man. He wants Special Agent Charlie Brown to surround Saunders's building quietly and keep everyone out of sight. Adam is also in on the call, and Kiefer instructs him to keep a close eye on the feed from the surveillance satellite and keep everyone posted on people going in and out. He wants Potato Face watching too. "Listen, everybody," Kiefer finishes. "This is our time. Get it right."