Episode Report Card M. Giant: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT I Got Your Gas Right Here
By M. Giant | Season 5 | Episode 7 | Aired on 02.05.2006
At the garage, Cal the motorcycle mechanic has just finished cutting open the last canister. I guess he got the hang of it on the last nineteen there. Erwich puts a hand on Cal's shoulder and tells him, "Good job." And when Cal turns to face him, Erwich plugs him in the chest. Wow, he's not at all like Kiefer about his "word." I guess Erwich's word must be "sucker." At 1:57:02, the henchman that Erwich decked earlier pulls the last canister off the power saw and sets it on the floor next to the others, which all have their lids duct-taped back in place. The henchman opens the newest lid, and Erwich punches the last ID number into his BlackBerry with the rest of them. "Load the canisters. Get rid of the body," Erwich orders. While his guys get busy with that, Erwich dials his satellite phone.
The call rings through at the Cradle of Love, where all manner of call-tracing and call-intercepting and call-monitoring equipment is set up. Rossler picks up the phone and hears Erwich say, "We have the identification keys. I'm messaging them to you now." And indeed, a message window pops up on Rossler's computer with the numbers. These guys might know each other better than they let on. Erwich asks how long it'll take to get a new chip programmed and delivered, and Rossler says he'll be ready to deliver it in ten minutes. "You and I need a place where we can meet...unless you have someone who can install and reprogram an encoded binary chip." Kiefer should have shot Rossler in his wise ass. Erwich says he'll call back in five minutes. Once Rossler hangs up, Kiefer tells the nearest agent to hook Rossler up with a transponder and that he's getting Inessa from the other room. Belt or tie?
Actually, it's neither, as Kiefer opens the bedroom door to find the girl standing there in jeans and a cardigan. He leads her out to the living room, making more reassuring noises. The splitscreen is all about her looking nervous while Rossler gazes at her creepily, while back at the garage, Erwich's guys drag Cal's body out of sight. And then the splitscreen is over as Curtis reports to Kiefer that although they couldn't complete the trace, they've narrowed the call's point of origination to a ten-block radius. Which is a distance that can be traversed in twenty seconds flat on this show, so, whoop-de-fuck. Kiefer's cell phone rings, and while he's thus distracted, Inessa, who's standing right behind him, whips out a gun that she had hidden in her cardigan and shoots Rossler twice. See? Bad idea to leave her alone. Kiefer bellows, "No!" and orders the CTU agents to hold their fire. Rossler's already down, and Curtis calls for a medic. Kiefer turns to face Inessa, who's still holding the gun straight out with Kiefer in her line of fire. He quietly asks for the gun. "I know you don't want to hurt anybody else," he says, and she says she couldn't go with Rossler. Kiefer doesn't have a lot of time, though, being Kiefer and all, and he disarms her with a lightning-quick move that nonetheless doesn't seem to hurt her. "Is he going to make it?" Kiefer asks of Rossler. Judging by the way the guy's lifeless eyes are staring up at the ceiling, I'd say no. Curtis agrees, and just in case we need to be reminded why Rossler's death is premature at best, he adds, "Rossler was our only link to those canisters. Erwich's going to call here any minute, and he's going to expect to talk to him." Kiefer tries not to look too embarrassed that a beaten, half-starved fifteen-year-old turned out to be a deadlier shot than he is. It's 2:00:00.