Episode Report Card Gustave: B | 1 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Goodbye Darlene, hello Nina!
By Gustave | Season 2 | Episode 5 | Aired on 11.25.2002
NSA. With Raygun gone, Palmer and his assembled staff members submit to yet another presentation on how much damage the bomb is going to do to L.A. and the surrounding areas. Rolaide enters and informs Palmer quietly that the Ambassador of Fauxraqistan and the Fauxraqistani Chief of Intelligence are just about to land. Palmer tells her to bring him any new information they've gathered about the Second Wave. Palmer also asks after someone named Roger. Apparently he's Raygun's replacement, who is somewhere being briefed.
Back at St. Virgil's, Spawn waits for the police to arrive. She sees a black and white car pull into the parking lot, freaks out, and starts to walk in the opposite direction. Hey, look who's slouching with his hands in his pockets in front of his locker! It's Dylan McKay, trying to decide between Kelly and Brenda. No, wait, it's DaddyStopTouchingMe. "Everything's going to be okay, Spawn," says DaddyStopTouchingMe. He tells her that if she leaves now, he'll tell the police that it was "just a misunderstanding." Otherwise, according to him, she'll be arrested for kidnapping and abusing JonBenet, and Crazy Laura will back him up. "Walk away while you have the chance," he says. "Otherwise, you're going to jail." Spawn shudders at the memory of jail -- the pot-smoking, the girl-on-girl non-action, the bad hairstyles, and the poorly choreographed fight scenes -- and runs away just as two uniformed police officers approach the main desk.
Meanwhile, back at NSA, Palmer is talking to PoorMan'sHumeCronyn on the phone, and no, we still haven't actually seen him on camera. He's probably taking Theo, Nicole, and Todd out for microbrews and wings. Palmer tells PMHC to be careful not to leak news about the B-O-M-B to the general public, and ends the call just as "Roger," Raygun's replacement, enters. "Roger" is played by character actor Harris Yulin, who specializes in patrician authority figures who turn out to be corrupt. In fact, he was just on Buffy playing that head Watcher who is always trying to fuck with Giles and Buffy. Yulin never disappoints, least of all tonight. He covers all of the bases in a way that only a master turncoat and/or red herring like Yulin can. He butters Palmer up by bad-mouthing Raygun and promising a full investigation into his wrongdoings. Then he solemnly casts his eyes downward and expresses his deep sorrow over the twenty-nine (and counting) casualties at CTU, and promises to help Palmer get things back on track. They get down to business. Yulin is concerned about the meeting with the ambassador to Fauxraqistan. He thinks that they're going to use the crisis to gain access to U.S. intelligence, and that otherwise they're only playing along for PR purposes. Palmer agrees that Yulin might be right, but he's willing to take that risk if it means stopping the bomb. "Very good, sir," says Yulin like the evil toady that he is.