Episode Report Card M. Giant: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Out of Time
By M. Giant | Season 4 | Episode 22 | Aired on 05.15.2005
Buchanan and Soul Patch are in the conference room, fretting over a map of the continental U.S. with an expanding target ring superimposed on it. Yeah, I think we can assume that whatever differences they had before are all Soul Patched up. Potato Face comes in and breaks the news about DiCK. Buchanan and Soul Patch exchange a significant look, as if they were even here when DiCK was being tortured on the premises earlier this season. Soul Patch makes the leap that that's how ImhoTerror knew that DaD would be at DiCK's house during the season premiere. Potato Face seems doubtful that DiCK participated in the planning of his own father's kidnapping, because, I don't know, someone has to. Buchanan asks where DiCK is now. She says she figures he's at home, asleep. "Where does he live?" Buchanan asks patiently. Potato Face says Van Nuys. Okay, I can work with that. While she checks the product-placed Crisco IP phone to see if any CTU teams are anywhere near Casa DiCK, Soul Patch glances out through the glass wall at DoDder, who's still out on the floor and ignorant of this latest development in her day from hell. Upon learning that CTU teams are near Casa DiCK, Buchanan has Potato Face dispatch them there and says he'll notify DaD. After Buchanan leaves, Soul Patch asks Potato Face whether DoDder knows yet. "No, it's more of a management conversation, don't you think?" she drones at him. Soul Patch gives her a dirty look and leaves her to her task at 4:07:54.
Out on the floor, he pulls DoDder aside and tells her about the call that ImhoTerror received from the DiCKline. DoDder's skeptical, but Soul Patch tells him that DiCK's cell phone number got pulled off of ImhoTerror's phone. She seems to realize the gravity of the situation. "Does my father know about this?" she asks. Soul Patch tells her that Buchanan's making that call now, says he's sorry, and leaves her standing there.
At ImhoTerror's abandoned factory, Curtis, Kiefer, and the other agents are packing up to leave. Curtis gets off the phone with the Exposition Call Center in Bangalore and relays the news about DiCK. Kiefer is of course keen to get ImhoTerror back to CTU and question DiCK himself. "It doesn't matter where you take me," ImhoTerror grumbles at Kiefer as the other agents frog-march him towards the exit. "Yeah, we'll see about that," Kiefer says to himself. It's 4:09:24 as ImhoTerror and his escort of two agents step out into the alley. Kiefer isn't far behind, but he slows down a bit when Buchanan calls him on his cell phone to ask whether he got anything from ImhoTerror. Kiefer has to say no, but he's bringing his prisoner in to CTU. "We're about ten minutes out," he says. ImhoTerror is getting loaded into a CTUmobile as Kiefer speaks, and I recall the moment from this week's promo that shows a CTUmobile getting hit by a rocket-powered grenade, thinking that ImhoTerror's about to get blowed up by his own guys. And indeed, that RPG streaks right behind Kiefer and blows an SUV sky-high. Boom! Except we know that it's not the one ImhoTerror was in, because we can see him smirking at its yellow glow from the back of another, not-at-all-blowed-up CTUmobile.
The next thing that happens is that machine-gun fire takes down the two ImhoTerror-wranglers before they can even draw their weapons, let alone get in the car. Two other agents go down in the alley near Curtis under a withering deluge from a couple of bullet hoses at the end of the block. The gunfire also pins Kiefer and Curtis down on opposite sides of the alley. I can't believe Curtis is still alive. At this point, he's on track to make up for every other Handsome Black Agent who's ever been on this show. It's actually kind of funny, because big, strapping Curtis is all squished down behind a couple of barrels, while little bitty Kiefer has a nice, large Dumpster to protect him. While they're thus occupied, a bearded minion scampers up to the CTUmobile containing ImhoTerror and hops behind the wheel. Curtis and Kiefer hop up and take out the shooters at the far end of the alley, who are positioned on the neighboring rooftop despite the fact that that RPG (the only one they had, obviously) flew straight and level to its target. But by the time our heroes have accomplished that, the stolen CTUmobile is already peeling out. Kiefer yells at Curtis, "Notify the perimeter we no longer have ImhoTerror in custody!" Curtis hollers into his communicator. Kiefer reloads, runs after the CTUmobile, and empties his pistol at it. To no avail, of course. It's 4:10:34. Don't beat yourself up, Kiefer. You had him for almost fifteen minutes there. That's a record!