Episode Report Card M. Giant: C+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Das Brute
By M. Giant | Season 5 | Episode 22 | Aired on 05.14.2006
At 4:41:52, Kiefer sends Henderson around the corner to Malina's door buzzer, which Henderson rings. Malina, played by the guy who plays Detective Cavaliere on CSI, comes down the stairs of his fabulous and ginormous loft to answer, fully dressed at almost five in the morning. "Who is it?" he asks, and Henderson shows his face to the security camera that's wired directly into one of Malina's monitors. Malina's suspicious at seeing "Chris," but Henderson drops Bierko's name and tells the speaker grille, "You're gonna want to hear what I have to say." Reluctantly, Malina buzzes Henderson in.
Meanwhile, Kiefer's climbing up to the roof, being careful to stay out of range of the security cameras. Henderson walks down a hallway to yet another security door, where Malina buzzes him in again. The security door is basically a pane of frosted glass in a narrow wooden frame, and we'll be seeing just how secure that really is in a couple of minutes. Henderson's now in a second hallway, as Sean Callery furiously conducts the orchestra in a desperate attempt to keep me from humming the Get Smart theme. Henderson submits to some kind of laser scan, the results of which tell Malina he's clean, aside from his jacket zipper and belt buckle. Knowing Henderson, I think it's foolhardy of Malina to admit him with even that minimal amount of hardware. But he buzzes Henderson through a third door anyway. Meanwhile, Kiefer has reached the roof, and takes up position next to a skylight.
At 4:43:56, Henderson is walking around and admiring in the kind of digs that selling national security secrets can buy these days. Malina pops out behind him, gun drawn, asking what couldn't wait. By now, Kiefer is attaching some kind of suction-cup listening device to the skylight. He's just in time to hear Henderson asking Malina, "Is there another way out of here?" As Curtis and Kiefer act all nervous over their comm link, Henderson tells Malina to save whatever computer files he needs. Without lowering his gun, Malina asks why, and Henderson snaps, "Because there is an entire phalanx of CTU agents outside, including an ex-agent named Jack Bauer." "He's selling us out, Jack," Curtis narrates over the earpiece. Thanks, Commander Obvious. You couldn't have commented on the use of the word "phalanx?" That's not a word you hear every day. Unless you're my wife, of course. Henderson tells Malina that Kiefer's cut a deal with him, but plans to kill him the first chance he gets. Alarmed at hearing Henderson telling the truth, and thus feeling like the earth and the sky are swapping places, Kiefer gives the order to move in. Curtis relays it to his men. Inside, Malina is pissed at Henderson for leading the good guys to his place. Henderson yells back, "He was coming here anyway! So secure the files, crash the system, stop wasting time, and do it!" I love how the only time Henderson ever raises his voice is when someone is being distrustful of him. After a brief hesitation, Malina goes over to his huge workstation -- basically a one-man LAN party waiting to happen -- and gets to work.