Episode Report Card M. Giant: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Management Issues
By M. Giant | Season 7 | Episode 9 | Aired on 02.16.2009
At 4:16:35, Rosa's asleep in her wheelchair in front of a daytime talk show, that damn letter still in her lap. Why is there a TV channel in this city that doesn't have Iké Dubaku's face on it at all times, with a caption reading, "This is the dude who crashed those planes right over your fool heads three hours ago. If you see him, give a holla"? Marika sneaks in past her, pausing to make sure she's really out, and ducks into her bedroom to start packing. Maybe she should take some precautions in case Rosa wakes up, like sticking a broom handle between the spokes of her wheelchair. Can't be too careful.
Oh, look, it's the O'Brian family! Morris is at the wheel of their product-placed car, with their product-placed satellite radio tuned to product-placed Fox News. The dashboard clock reads 4:18, which is a nice touch. I think I read once that clocks were completely prohibited around the CTU set, back in the day. They never knew during shooting whether a given scene would get moved around in the episode, throwing the whole thing out of whack. Although now that I think about it, I'd be willing to bet this dashboard shot I'm looking at right now was either filmed or digitally altered later, after editing was nearly complete. Whatever, I appreciate the effort anyway. Chloe turns around in the shotgun seat to look at a miniature O'Brian in his car seat, who gives her a charming smile. Whoa, that kid is cute and friendly. Is Chloe sure she's the mother? As Morris pulls up to the curb outside FBI-DC, he shuts off the radio and offers to help Chloe for what clearly isn't the first time. She exposits that she's just helping with some FBI ops to find Dubaku, who will then tell them the names of everyone in the government who's on his payroll. Because that's just the kind of helpful, cooperative guy Dubaku is. Getting out of the car with her, Morris warns her to look out for the mole. "I'll watch my back," she assures him. It's not like a mole has ever killed her before. Hell, she used to sleep with one. Morris gets her satchel out of the trunk, and she stays behind the car while he helps drape the bag over her body. Yeah, I'm thinking Mary Lynn Rajskub came back after the writers' strike a little pregnant. Her belly properly disguised, she says goodbye to her husband and kid, Prescott. "And if you get jammed up, you know where to find me," Morris calls after her as she enters through the gate. Aw, is someone feeling left out? Hey, if he's bored, maybe he could go look after Prime Minister Matobo's wife for a while. She's probably stuck back at YouCT headquarters by herself, with nothing to do but try to teach herself how to play the organ.