Episode Report Card M. Giant: B | 556 USERS: B YOU GRADE IT Poison
By M. Giant | Season 7 | Episode 15 | Aired on 2009.03.23
Walker is still pacing her holding room when another agent enters and hands her a cell phone, telling her it's Moss on the line. Moss opens bluntly: "Senator Mayer's dead." Walker asks about Kiefer, and Moss says they don't know where he is. Walker asks Moss if he thinks Kiefer did it, and Moss acts noncommittal. He does ask Walker if she has any idea where Kiefer might have gotten a hold of a UNP40 submachine gun, which was apparently Mayer's murder weapon, while on the run. Well, he did get a hold of a laptop, a PDA, a car, and some incriminating security footage, so anything's possible. Moss adds that it looks like someone else was in the house at the time, according to clues like, "Unexplained slugs, broken set of French doors, chair where it doesn't belong." The last one is a canny reference to how Mayer had his guest chair parked at the end of his desk while copiloting his computer with Kiefer in the last hour. "Are you saying that this third party killed Mayer?" Walker asks. Moss pounces: "Well, you know, Renee, I might be saying that if I knew what the hell Bauer was doing here in the first place!" Heh. He wants Walker's help, but she's still resisting. So he tells her about the Starkwood files up on Mayer's computer, and whether she talked about them to Kiefer. Walker pulls another one of her long phone silences, so Moss asks her to trust him. "What role does Starkwood play in all this?" Walker pauses some more... and then some more... and them some more... and then finally tells Moss about John Quinn, and Kiefer's assumption that Starkwood is behind the day's events. "He went to Mayer to get the evidence to prove it. I have to assume that Quinn followed him there," Walker explains. Moss is satisfied, but he can't spring Walker just yet until he has more evidence. So she grits her teeth and hangs up on him at 10:42:22. She is not happy about having to spend a whole hour out of action like this. But at least her hair still looks amazing.
Meanwhile, at the port, the Starkwood group has split up. Some of them (and Carl) are watching as a tall forklift picks up a container, and some others are hooking a trailer chassis up to the semi tractor. Apparently the port has a supply of those, just for situations like this when someone shows up with a truck but nothing to set a container on. Stokes orders the Starkwood container put down on another container for now, then orders one of his men, Mitch, to "run a diagnostic" so it'll be ready when the truck gets there. He's pretty angry about it, too. While this is going on, Tony and Kiefer are lurking in the shadows between the containers, watching the proceedings. "We should get back to the car," Tony whispers. "We want to be in position to follow that container once they move out." Kiefer's not ready for that, though. "Just give me one second," he says. Out in the lot, Stokes sends a big guy named Cooper to "settle up" with Carl, and Cooper leads Carl off, claiming to be taking him to his truck with Carl's money in it. As they go to the next aisle, Kiefer leads Tony between the containers to where they can see what's happening. Which is Cooper pulling a gun on Carl. Kiefer gets in position and attaches a silencer to his gun. "Dammit, Jack, what are you doing?" Tony asks angrily. "You're going to turn a surveillance job into a firefight." And? Wouldn't be the first time. "It'll be two against ten," Tony adds. "Two against nine," Kiefer corrects laconically. Or three against nine, if Carl steps up, but I don't think we'll be able to count on that. Tony says it might cost them the bioweapon. "Don't break your own rules. You may save one man, but what about the thousands of people who could die in a biological attack? Is this about you, Jack, or about them? You want to prevent another disaster or ensure that it's gonna happen?" Tony, dude, keep your voice down. Kiefer lowers his gun. He knows Tony has a point, but at the same time he's thinking, If I don't save Carl, there's this red-haired FBI agent who's going to smack me so hard.