Episode Report Card Erin: A | 111 USERS: B- YOU GRADE IT Hell Hath No Fury
By Erin | Season 3 | Episode 7 | Aired on 2003.11.09
In short? A "maser" is a microwave (and I'm presuming not the kind of microwave you pop popcorn in) that gets focused into a pinpoint beam, much like light gets focused into a laser. Sloane's supposed to attend a function hosted by the Chinese government at one of their ministries tomorrow night, and the Covenant has discovered that one of these maser units is held at the ministry. "China intends to mount a maser ray on one of their satellites," says Sloane. "It is…an assassination program." Agent Sean is all, whoa, hold the phone. Are you saying one of these masers can kill from space? Spy Daddy's all, oh, yeah, buddy. These things can cause heart failure, brain hemorrhaging, you name it. This weapon could make it appear as if the victim died from natural causes. Agent Sean looks considerably bothered by this revelation. ["As well he should, since it sounds like the writers stole it from an episode of Justice League. Give us a break, J.J." -- Sars]
Sloane's been ordered by the Covenant to steal the maser's operating system, which is in the Chinese defense minister's office. Dix blows hard about how he wants strategic services to review Sloane's plan and how he'll then assign an agent to go along. Sloane's WAY ahead of him. "I presumed that would be the case," he smarms. "Therefore, I propose that Sydney accompany me to the function posing as my assistant." Syd just looks at him as Spy Daddy looks distinctly uncomfortable. "And then together we can obtain the operating system, corrupt the maser, and pass along the faulty data to the Covenant," says Sloane, looking awfully pleased with himself. "That is," he says, turning to Dix, "if the CIA still intends to use me as a double agent."
Syd's all, uh, why me? Sloane's all, because this mission can't be done alone, girlfriend. "I will not risk my life," he says, clearly savoring every word, "unless I'm going in with the best." Oh, Spy Daddy's not having ANY of this shit. "Do you really imagine, given your history with Sydney, that we would ever order --" "I'll go," says Syd, cutting Jack off. "You know I don't trust you," she continues. "And that I believe you have an endgame beyond this operation. But I also know that, if we're caught, we'll be standing side by side in front of a Chinese firing squad. Which means, this time, our interests are in line." Sloane just looks at her calmly. "And if you betray me," she says in a steely tone, "I will just kill you myself." Sloane grins at her as she just stares back at him. Oh, man, have I missed the Sloane/Syd interaction. Tasty. Truly tasty.