Episode Report Card M. Giant: C | 0 USERS: N/A YOU GRADE IT Day 6: 11:00 PM - 12:00 AM
By M. Giant | Season 6 | Episode 18 | Aired on April 15, 2007
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close. Kiefer finds out what the Chinese want in exchange for Audrey: a piece of one of the suitcase nukes that will somehow give the Chinese full access to all Russian weapons systems. Just go with it, okay? Kiefer does, reluctantly, and he enlists Chloe's aid in downloading the necessary schematics from Morris's computer. When Morris busts her, he then forces her to tell Buchanan, who has Doyle take Kiefer down before he can get away with the circuit board. Now that the sneakiness option is off the table, Kiefer appeals directly to Wayne to let him just pretend he's going through with the exchange in order to get Audrey freed. Of course, Kiefer promises to destroy the chip (and, if necessary, himself) rather than let it fall into Chinese hands. That, plus a patriotic little guilt trip, helps Kiefer convince Wayne to sign off on the faux trade, and Kiefer's got CTU support again, complete with a ride to the drop point from Doyle. After blackmailing the Veep into writing a resignation letter, Wayne gives a post-crisis press conference and ends up having a catastrophic brainfart on live TV. That means the Veep is back in charge, and the first thing he does is pull the plug on Kiefer's operation. Now, you and I both know that Kiefer isn't going to be down with any such plug-pulling, so instead of going quietly when Buchanan tells Doyle to bring him in, Kiefer leaves Doyle stranded by the side of the road. But won't Audrey be happy to see him? Want more? The full recap starts right below!Fayed's former safe house is now crawling with CTU agents, complete with a helicopter hovering overhead. Kiefer is being attended to by yet another CTU medic, who under the circumstances is just giving him a shot for the pain instead of making him go to the hospital. Even though as far as the medic knows, Kiefer didn't just get a call from a Chinese guy whoâs holding Audrey hostage and thus the "circumstances" are over. Doyle comes over and says that now that CTU has found the bombs, the Marines are going to take things from here, securing the bombs for transport to a NEST facility. As part of my commitment to you, I even looked up "NEST" and found out that it stands for Nuclear Emergency Support Team. Once I found out what they do, I started to wonder where the hell they've been all day, but the internet is no help there, I'm afraid. Lingering suspiciously next to the evidence table, Kiefer sneaks a cell phone into his pocket and is surprised when he turns to find that Doyle is still standing there. Fortunately, all Doyle wants is to tell Kiefer how awesome he is. Kiefer graciously (for him) accepts the compliment and wanders off to be alone. Once he's in a relatively private alley, he crouches down with his purloined cell phone and starts dialing. I'd wonder how he memorized the number Cheng gave him, but considering how many times it's already been used this season, I've practically memorized it myself.
At the empty office building where Audrey's being held by the Chinese, she sits on the floor huddled in a blanket, which, combined with the lamentable state of her hair, makes her look like she was just fished out of some harbor. Cheng's cell phone rings. Kiefer wants to talk to Audrey, but Cheng would rather explain how Audrey ended up in this situation in the first place. He exposits that she came to Beijing to find Kiefer, and that since Kiefer was so "uncooperative," Cheng figured they could use Audrey as leverage someday. "And that day is here," Cheng says brightly. Okay, how long ago did the Chinese know that? Did they fly Audrey in from Beijing as soon as they found out about the nukes? Has she been in the U.S. ever since the Chinese agreed to return Kiefer? Or did they in fact get transported back in the same plane, separated by the same kind of impenetrable curtain that used to separate First Class and Coach? None of these answers are forthcoming for now.
Kiefer's only too happy to offer to return to Chinese custody if they'll release Audrey, but Cheng's been there and done that. What he really wants is a piece of one of those Russian suitcase nukes.