Episode Report Card M. Giant: C | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT If We Only Had the Nerve Gas
By M. Giant | Season 5 | Episode 6 | Aired on 01.29.2006
McGill comes into the CTU Situation Room and tells Buchanan, Audrey, and Edgar that CTU has been pulled off the search for the nerve gas canisters so that the White House can put in "its own people." Audrey complains that it'll take hours to bring another agency up to speed. McGill already knows this, but he isn't having any luck reaching Logan, Novick, or Kiefer to get an explanation. "Something's wrong," Buchanan says, as if this kind of capricious decision isn't Logan all over. McGill agrees, but he doesn't see any other options. Buchanan states an obvious one: "Disregard the order." McGill says he's not about to do that, with this really amusing delivery that indicates Buchanan is a total goofball for even suggesting it. Buchanan, who doesn't have time to endure even an implied accusation of goofballery, snaps back, "That's because you don't have the experience to know any better." Says the guy who hadn't ever disregarded a presidential order until last season. But that's torn it anyway. McGill finds Buchanan's insolence breathtaking, and quietly asks him to step outside. Fight!
Outside the room, McGill takes Buchanan to task for his attitude. Buchanan quickly apologizes, but stands by his advice: "If this order jeopardizes our chances of finding the nerve gas, it's your responsibility to ignore it. At least until we make our case to the White House." McGill digests that for a moment, which just gives Buchanan another opening: "You also need to learn to make decisions faster," he knife-twists. Heh. "Bill..." McGill begins in a warning tone, but Buchanan just rolls over him, adding, "[That's] one more thing that comes with experience. If we're not doing everything in our power to stop these terrorists, we're not doing our jobs." McGill sighs and tells Buchanan to disregard the order. Buchanan says, "Wait, disregard the order that you're giving me now? Because how would I even do that? Never mind, I'm just fuckin' with ya." Except he pronounces it, "Thank you." He ducks back into the Situation Room, leaving McGill standing there literally blinking at what he just got browbeaten into doing.
It's 12:35:32 as FLOTUS looks out her window while Evelyn loiters sympathetically. She's sad about being committed to a psychiatric hospital, probably because she's already been to that one and she knows they won't give her any fun drugs. She also wonders what happened between her and Logan that caused her to stop being his confidante and become "less than an afterthought." Evelyn shows remarkable sensitivity by refraining from raising a finger to her lips and going, "Bububububububuh, remember?" Instead, she says she's sure the President would be there if he could. "He's the President of the United States, Evelyn," FLOTUS scoffs sadly. "He can do whatever he wants. If he wanted to be here, he'd be here."