Episode Report Card M. Giant: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Fire in the Hole
By M. Giant | Season 8 | Episode 14 | Aired on 03.29.2010
The commandos see this, at a range of a hundred yards. "Okay, take out as many as you can," the leader sighs resignedly, and they open fire at this range. Kiefer, Walker, the Hassans, and the security team all dive for cover, which fortunately is plentiful in this overly cluttered tunnel. One of them goes down quickly even so, and one of the agents waiting by the SUVs is quickly dispatched as well. Over the gunfire, Kiefer -- hunkered down next to Hassan -- yells at Walker to get the Hassans back to the U.N. "What about you?" she yells back, huddled with the Hassan women in a ridiculous confusion of heads and hands and hands over heads. Kiefer says he'll be right behind her, and sends Hassan darting up the tunnel to rejoin his family while Kiefer lays down covering fire for him. There's a lot more shooting, and once the other agent at the SUV is taken out, there's not much preventing the commandos from coming in pursuit, shooting the whole way. Kiefer dives down next to Agent O'Connor, who reminds him that his orders are to stay with Hassan and that he needs to go. "I know what I have to do, sir," she says. Must suck to be her; she signs up for the Secret Service, prepared to die for her president, and then has to end up dying for someone else's. Kiefer wishes her luck, and they both jump out, she covering him with her machine gun while he makes his retreat. During a lull, she gives orders to her remaining agents through her cufflink, and the shooting starts all over again. Both sides are taking hits, but the commandos are still coming, and they still have the Secret Service outnumbered and outgunned. Her assault weapon empty, O'Connor draws her sidearm and marches forward, firing the whole time. Bye, Agent O'Connor. Kiefer catches up to Hassan, who wants to go back and help. Kiefer insists, "They're buying us the time we need. Don't let it be in vain. We need to go, now." He leads him back up the tunnel at a run at 5:46:52.
5:51:13. Ethan is still passed out on his office couch, if not dead. Rob is looking increasingly nervous about how much time has passed, probably for more reasons than one.
The remainder of the evacuation party is retreating at a run. As they retreat, Hassan asks Kiefer for a weapon. "I've been a soldier, Mr. Bauer," Hassan retcons. "I can handle a gun. I'll fight with you." Kiefer says his job is to protect Hassan, not put him to work, and sends him on ahead. Right then is when stupid Kayla trips and hurts her ankle, so Walker and Dalia have to support her between them. Between her and Farhad, these Hassans have ankles like racehorses. As Hassan and Kiefer catch up to them (which isn't hard), Kiefer looks to the corner behind them, and sees from the approaching flashlight beams that the commandos are almost around the corner. He says they're not going to make it, but fortunately there are still plenty of crates and pallets to hide behind. Thank God for the U.N.'s shoddy housekeeping practices. Kiefer pulls some grenades out of his CTU shoulder-bag and tells Walker he's going to head up the middle, and she should start firing as soon as they go off. "Doesn't mater if you hit anything, just make some noise." Oh, I think it might matter a bit if she hits Kiefer. He also tosses Hassan a handgun and says, "Take care of your family." Time to move. Kiefer starts running toward those million-candlepower flashlights that say, "Shoot here." He tosses a smoke grenade, and Walker pops out of cover, emptying the clip of her handgun down the tunnel and forcing the attackers into cover of their own. They shoot back a bit, then pursue into the smoke. Concealed within the cloud and to one side of the tunnel, Kiefer efficiently kills two of them as they pass by. Walker fires more shots, luring more of them into the smoke, which Kiefer is augmenting with another grenade. What good does it do him protecting Hassan from gunmen if he just kills him with lung cancer instead? Kiefer calls her over, and tells her to start giving him cover fire in five seconds while he takes the "high ground," whatever that means in a tunnel (if it were me, the "high ground" would be "upstairs, away from all this fucking shooting. Laters!"). He gets up on a ledge running the length of this part of the tunnel and starts sneaking up level with them while Walker fires like twenty shots from her handgun without reloading. When they start firing back, Kiefer's in a position to pick off more of them from the side. But while he's reloading, a commando knocks him down from behind. I don't know why the commando didn't just shoot him when he had the chance. He's about to rectify that oversight when he stops a bullet instead -- fired by Hassan. So this means Hassan considers Kiefer family? Kiefer then shoots the guy who was about to shoot Hassan, and orders him to lose his weapon. The wounded commando complies. Kiefer drags him down, unmasks him, (revealing the face of the commandos' leader), and demands, "Who are you?" "You're making a huge mistake," the leader says. "You're American," Kiefer realizes in shock as soon as the man speaks. "Why'd you attack us?" The commando explains, "Because a dirty bomb will be detonated in New York unless we deliver Hassan to the terrorists...him for the bomb in zero-six-fifteen hours." Kiefer looks up at Hassan, who heard every word. Walker says that's in under twenty minutes. Good thing they're already underground then, right? Kiefer asks if Taylor knows about this, and the commando says this is all Brucker. Kiefer holsters his weapon and drags the man to his feet, issuing this dire threat: "I'm going to get you up to the street level, then I'm going to make a phone call!" Brr! The commando says it's now up to Kiefer to deliver Hassan to the terrorists. "I don't take orders from anybody but the President of the United States," Kiefer boasts, and orders him to move. Back up the tunnel the four of them go. I guess Dalia and Kayla are on their own.