Episode Report Card M. Giant: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Play Nice
By M. Giant | Season 6 | Episode 20 | Aired on 04.29.2007
Up on the main floor, Morris has determined that room 237 was just sealed from the inside, so Kiefer and Audrey must be in there. Nadia hears the news over her wireless phone headset at 1:44:02, just as she and a couple of CTU guards are reaching the door in question. She swipes her card through the reader, but it doesn't work, of course. "Get an entry team down here now," Nadia tells one of the guards, who immediately starts relaying the order into the radio on his shoulder. Can we just pause for a moment to look at that line? Nadia asked for an "entry team," meaning that apparently so many people lock themselves into various rooms at CTU that they have a team standing by, twenty-four hours a day, to get them out. Except that Nadia asked for "an" entry team, not "the" entry team, which means that there are more than one of them. Suddenly, I feel like there's a lot going on at CTU that we never get to see.
Inside the room, Kiefer is trying to walk Audrey through her more recent history, i.e. anything she can remember about when Cheng moved her from the hideout to the rendezvous point. "I want them to pay for what they've done," Kiefer growls. Audrey looks in his eyes for the first time. Yep, it's really him. Kiefer tenderly touches her head. He empathizes with what she's been through, because he went through even more of it. "But they can't hurt you any more," he promises. Conscious that time is running short, Kiefer starts getting a little impatient and talking more quickly, causing Audrey to flinch. Kiefer apologizes for his tone and hugs her with one arm. "I love you with all my heart," he whispers. Really? All of it? How much of it is left by now, anyway? Audrey takes his gnarly right hand in her left. They have a moment.
Which is fairly well shattered when the shower of sparks from "an entry team"'s cutting torch starts lighting up the room. Outside in the hallway, Doyle, Dr. Bradley, and an entire CTU strike team have joined Nadia. None of them appears to have dip. Kiefer tells Audrey that they're out of time. Audrey still isn't talking. Kiefer gets her up and drags her behind the closest thing to cover in the room: a row of exposed metal studs where a wall might be someday. Shielding her with his body, he goes to one knee and levels Doyle's gun at the door just as the crew finishes cutting away the lock and kicks the door open. Doyle comes in with a fresh weapon aimed, so they have a standoff on their hands. There's a lot of yelling at each other to lower their weapons. You know, I think Kiefer's found his soulmate, right here in this room, and it's not Audrey. He and Doyle should end up together. It might be embarrassing for them when they're at restaurants or grocery stores or whatever and they start arguing and their guns come out, but that would only make it hotter. Sensing that she's about to become superfluous, Audrey somehow manages to mutter, "Bloomfield." Kiefer seizes on it as a possible clue. Bradley's doubtful that it's anything but "another programmed response," but Nadia tells Morris over her headset to have Chloe get right on it. As soon as he can find her, that is. Nadia turns to Bradley and tells him to wait in her office. Bradley refuses: "She's my patient." "And she's my witness," Nadia snaps back. So I guess she wins. Bradley gets marched off with a bunch of CTU guys, because suddenly he's the one under arrest. Nadia steps in between Doyle's and Kiefer's guns, promising that she won't let Bradley touch Audrey (again). Kiefer surrenders himself and hands Audrey off to Doyle, who shuffles her out of the room. Nadia wants Kiefer brought back to Holding, because she's still new here and isn't yet aware of the rule that says Kiefer is allowed to get away with anything if it turns out okay in the end. Kiefer thanks her and goes quietly. It's 1:48:07.