Episode Report Card M. Giant: A- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Re-Juma-nated
By M. Giant | Season 7 | Episode 12 | Aired on 03.02.2009
Hostages are being herded into the wide hallway outside the lockdown and forced to sit on the floor, with Buchanan among them. Laptop Guy inserts some kind of card peripheral to connect his laptop to the access panel next to the lockdown door and guesses that he can have it open in fifteen minutes, "Assuming the specifications Hodges gave us are correct," he caveats. It's 7:27:22, and it sounds like there's going to be a game-changing moment at 7:42:22. Or so. By the way, shouldn't Juma be starting to think about that 7:30 rendezvous with Ryan Burnett that won't be happening now?
At 7:31:45, Walker and Moss arrive by helicopter and join a small city that's been set up by Secret Service and local police on Pennsylvania Avenue. Oddly, I don't see Tony's car parked anywhere nearby. Hovis ushers them into the van that's serving as the command post as he explains why he retreated. "I felt I had no choice but to pull back," he says. Oh, whatever, Hovis; you're already going to be the most fired Secret Service agent in the history of the universe, so why not admit that you just wanted to get out of the building before your access cards quit working? He shows Walker and Moss the visitor manifest, according to which there should be about 53 hostages and no living Secret Service agents inside the building. Except Aaron, of course, who he probably doesn't know about. Or else instead of a head count he did a lip count, which wouldn't have registered Aaron's presence anyway. Hovis adds that hostage rescue teams are getting ready to storm the building, but Moss says they'll have to get that order from the Vice President, who according to Hovis is now en route to a "secure location." Moss also asks Hovis for an infrared satellite scan of the building, and Hovis hurries off to comply. Secret Service supervisors sure get eager to please when somebody starts shooting up the White House on their watch, don't they?
And Walker has just spotted a familiar name on the manifest. "You didn't tell me Jack was in the White House," she accuses Moss. As he hands her a fresh cell phone and gun, he tells her about how Kiefer was under arrest for torturing a guy in the White House. He doesn't much like the thoughtful look on her face when she hears that. "Renee, the President is our priority, not Jack Bauer. Are we clear on that?" She says she's clear. If I were her, my priority would be dry clothes.
While Kiefer rummages through a supply cabinet in the lockdown room, Taylor sees on the monitor that more hostages are being brought in. Senator Mayer is among them, but she's worried that Olivia isn't. Kiefer assures her that's good. "I know Aaron Pierce. He will do everything in his power to make sure that your daughter is safe." Taylor wonders how they could have gotten in, and Kiefer is sure there was inside help. Of course he doesn't know from whom, but if I were President, I'd start asking myself whether any of my senior staff had conveniently "gone to the Pentagon" at the top of the hour. "Juma must realize there's no way for him to get out of this alive," she says. Kiefer agrees. "He came here to make a statement and he's willing to die for it. As soon as the rescue teams realize that you're secure, they'll move in. It's only a matter of time." Except they realize they might not have as much time as they think, because they see on the video monitor that Laptop Guy is looking pretty busy outside the door, and the access code number display is starting to beep. Plus two of the six flashing digits have already stopped cycling, with four to go. Horrified, Kiefer realizes they're about to get inside, and says he needs to get into the access panel. As he goes to a floor lamp and unplugs it from the wall, Taylor offers to help, so he asks her for the toolbox. After ripping the power cord off the lamp, he starts unscrewing the panel. Three digits left. Kiefer asks Taylor to plug the cord into the wall, which she does, slowly. Two digits left. Kiefer strikes a few sparks off the two exposed leads in his hands, which should have instantly tripped the circuit breaker and left him feeling pretty stupid, standing there with a pair of dead wires. But he uses the leads to short out the panel's guts with only one digit left, and the numbers go dark. Even better, the door doesn't open automatically as a fail-safe. Of course, there's no telling whether it's ever going to be possible to get that door open again, but that's probably something to worry about under less urgent circumstances.