Episode Report Card M. Giant: B | 0 USERS: N/A YOU GRADE IT Day 5: 12:00 AM - 1:00 AM
By M. Giant | Season 5 | Episode 18 | Aired on April 16, 2006
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Kiefer makes the mistake of entrusting the Logan/Henderson recording to Audrey's dad, the Secretary of Defense. Who, instead of going public with it, decides to have his guys tie up Kiefer and Audrey at Van Nuys Airport so he can go confront Logan personally and demand his resignation. At CTU, Hayes and Slime trap Chloe into giving herself away, but she escapes from her holding room and manages to join Wayne Palmer at the Bill Buchanan Safe House. Logan is getting more and more twitchy, pulling rank willy-nilly as those around him become more suspicious. No one's more suspicious than the First Lady, who makes a secret appointment with Aaron to learn what he knows. At Logan's direction, Henderson arrives at Van Nuys Airport to retrieve the recording just as Kiefer and Audrey are about to escape. Henderson succeeds, but not without dealing Audrey a potentially fatal wound. With the recording secured, Logan is able to turn the tables on Secretary Heller, and fires him in front of the Vice President. But what may be most worrisome to some viewers is that Aaron is missing in action. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
We open with what is becoming an hourly reminder that martial law is still in effect. This one is in the form of a local TV news broadcast that Logan's watching by himself in the Not Camp David Situation Room. Logan checks his watch as the newscaster says that even though the threat is supposedly over, "the President is defending his decision as a necessary precaution." No he's not; he's just standing there. At least until his cell phone rings. It's Henderson, calling to report that Kiefer has escaped from the bank with the recording of their earlier conversation. "That evidence directly implicates me in David Palmer's death," Logan previouslys. Henderson isn't worried, though; he says that since CTU is heading up the search for Kiefer in a locked-down city, all Logan has to do when they find him is call Henderson so he can "intercept." Logan just hangs up, so abruptly that even Henderson is taken aback. And considering that nobody ever says "goodbye" on this show, that's pretty abrupt indeed. But then Logan goes to his desk phone and tells his receptionist to get him on the line with Karen Hayes at CTU.
Hayes is currently being briefed by Slime on their search for Audrey, and it's only now occurred to her that they might be wasting their time trying to find someone who won't even lead them to Kiefer. What did I say? But then Slime points out that Audrey ditched the tracker for a reason, so I have to concede a point to Slime. Alas, it won't be the last this hour. Then Logan's call comes through, and Hayes tells him that they're looking for both Kiefer and Henderson. Logan stresses the overriding need for Kiefer to be caught: "If David Palmer's killer is still at large when the morning news cycle begins, then all the success we've had at handling these terrorists will be undermined." I have to give it to Logan: the pretext he gives is consistent with what he's usually worried about. Hayes assures him that Kiefer will be found, and Logan tells her to let him know the moment that happens. And Logan has, quite cleverly, managed to combine two of his favorite activities in one call: underling-browbeating and Henderson-obeying.
At CTU, Hayes acknowledges the President's order and hangs up. Slime offers his assessment that Audrey knows where Kiefer is, but they aren't going to be able to find her in time the way they're going. And he still thinks (correctly, as we know) that Chloe helped Audrey out. He even remembers that Audrey asked for Chloe to be assigned to her and everything. Better still, he's got an idea for how to use Chloe to find Kiefer.