Episode Report Card M. Giant: C- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Velvet Underground
By M. Giant | Season 4 | Episode 24 | Aired on 05.22.2005
The CTU chopper is on its way over downtown, all of which is lit up like a five-hundred-square-mile Christmas tree. EMP? What EMP? Kiefer calls Lispy Skip and asks whether they've confirmed the helicopter's presence. Since he's not having an intimate conversation with his barely-girlfriend, he has to holler at top volume. Skip brings up a satellite image, and sure enough the ImHelicopter is there, on the southeast corner of the roof. Kiefer tells the pilot to approach the building from the southeast, and to stay below roof level.
The rotors on the ImHelicopter are just about up to speed as he consults his GameBoy, which confirms that the missile's still on target. "We've got to get out of here," he says. The pilot says they'll be up to speed in a few minutes. Which won't help much, because the CTU helicopter is already in visual range, approaching from behind and below. At Kiefer's order, it swoops in above ImhoTerror's chopper, searchlight blazing. "Don't let him take off!" Kiefer hollers at the pilot. "Stay above him!" The CTU chopper hovers directly over ImhoTerror's. Seems like that would be kind of dangerous, hovering in a column of air that's being sucked down by another helicopter below you. But what do I know. Kiefer fires his handgun at the enemy helicopter until the rotors start slowing down and steam begins to pour out of the engine cowling. "Put me in position to bail," yells Kiefer. Meanwhile, ImhoTerror sets his GameBoy down on the floor of his chopper, shields his face, and puts two bullets into the device from an Uzi. While that's going on, Kiefer's chopper descends to within a few feet of the roof at 6:07:56 so he and the other two agents can jump out. ImhoTerror exits his own helicopter and takes off running with the pilot, Uzi in hand. Kiefer and his men are in hot pursuit, firing off round after round of deadly force. I guess they changed their minds about that. The pilot goes down almost immediately. Hey, no more deadly force, you guys! I'm totally serious!
ImhoTerror runs down the stairs, and the three CTU agents pursue him to the level below. And it is here that we learn that the "Global Center" appears to be nothing more than a twelve-story parking garage. What, are only imported cars allowed to park there? We can see ImhoTerror hiding behind a support pillar as the agents fan out and approach his position. When they get close enough, he jumps out and lets off a burst from his machine gun, which naturally takes out the non-Kiefer, non-Curtis CTU agent. Curtis runs out into the open to help his anonymous colleague while brave, brave Kiefer stays undercover, and Curtis is hit when ImhoTerror pops out with another volley. And that's it for Curtis. Quite a run for a Handsome Black Agent, surviving all the way to a season finale. No one begrudges you the two or three episodes you sat out, I'm sure. But wait! What's this? Curtis is still moving! He manages to drag himself and the other agent back into cover so he can safely hemorrhage to death. ImhoTerror continues fleeing. Now that the shooting has stopped for a moment, Kiefer advances in pursuit. ImhoTerror gives away his position by loudly reloading. He stands behind a car and lets off a volley of covering fire, but Kiefer's lying on the ground several cars away with a clear shot at ImhoTerror's ankle, which he takes. ImhoTerror goes down, firing his Uzi until it's empty again. Kiefer approaches, gun out, like he's got all the time in the world, while ImhoTerror crabwalks on his back to the edge of the floor, which is separated from the space outside by nothing more than a waist-high railing. Pretty agile for a guy with bullet holes in two limbs.
Kiefer realizes what ImhoTerror's planning to do and dashes forward, holstering his gun. ImhoTerror manages to heave himself over the railing, but Kiefer gets there just in time to grab his hand. ImhoTerror is suspended over a poorly green-screened street scene, grinning up at Kiefer demonically. They're holding on to one another's wrists, which seems wrong; since ImhoTerror wants to die, his hand should be flopping around freely. But then Kiefer wouldn't be able to hold him up this long. "Tell me where the missile is," Kiefer demands, badly misinterpreting the power dynamic in this situation. The helicopter is hovering helplessly right next to them. Kiefer's grip is slipping, a situation which is made worse when ImhoTerror pulls out a knife and slashes Kiefer's hand. Seconds later, ImhoTerror is plummeting towards the pavement in just about the worst special effect I've ever seen on this show. "Noooo!" Kiefer hollers at him, but ImhoTerror's already lying on the sidewalk with a rapidly spreading puddle of blood around his head. "Noooo!" Kiefer reiterates at the helicopter, which is oddly keeping its spotlight on Kiefer rather than the suspect as it slowly pulls away for a hero shot. I think a certain CTU pilot has forgotten that the CT stands for "Counter Terrorism" and not "CinemaTography." Not that it matters now anyway. It's 6:11:17.