Episode Report Card M. Giant: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Gray Widow
By M. Giant | Season 4 | Episode 20 | Aired on 05.01.2005
They're interrupted when Kiefer's cell phone rings, and in an amusing moment, he claps it to his ear, saying, "This is Bau--" and then he realizes he's still got his earpiece in. He yanks it out and answers the phone properly. Hee. I wonder if that was intentional. If not, I'm glad they kept it. It's a nice touch. His caller is Palmer, who's already gotten word from Buchanan that Lee is wounded but in custody. Kiefer relays Lee's terms. Palmer asks, "Can you force him to talk immediately?" Kiefer says the fastest way to get Lee's info is to give him what he wants. Well, he's already shot, so it's not like Kiefer is going to be able to inflict more pain on him than he's already having. Palmer promises to get the guarantee from the Veep and have it ready at CTU when they arrive. Kiefer thanks him. End of call.
PMHC comes out of the Undal Office to tell Palmer that the Deputy Chinese Consul is on the line: "What should I tell him?" Palmer says he'll take the call himself. Off PMHC's uncertain look, Palmer says, "We have to start fencing with them sooner or later. Might as well be now." Sure, since you don't have anything else going on and you're not actually the President. He instructs PMHC to get Lee's guarantee from the Veep, and heads into the Undal Office to take the call at 2:46:02.
Palmer asks whether the Consul has managed to get clearance to free Lee yet. Standing out in the Consulate's courtyard, the Deputy Chinese Consul hisses, "The Consul is dead." "What?" Palmer asks hilariously. The DCC is seriously pissed off for a guy who just got promoted to Chinese Consul. Or maybe he's sore from getting knocked unconscious but not abducted by Kiefer. He says the Consul was shot when armed men took Lee by force, although he doesn't say who did the shooting. Palmer is stunned at how quickly his illegal second term has gone south, but he just pretends to be shocked and deeply saddened. "I'm shocked and deeply saddened," he says. The DCC comes right out and asks if the U.S. government knows anything about what just happened, and whether Palmer expects him to believe that this is all just a coincidence. Palmer plays dumb -- even dumber than deciding to abduct a guy by force after asking nicely for him and then thinking nobody will catch on -- and the DCC talks about the political ramifications if Palmer's wrong. Palmer talks about the political ramifications of unfounded accusations. "No accusations have been made," the DCC gotchas, but he promises there will be an investigation. Palmer lies that he'll give his complete cooperation. The DCC hangs up, saying they'll talk again very soon. But not in a friendly way. Palmer firmly puts down the phone and rejoins PMHC outside the Undal Office.
PMHC reports that the Veep will give Lee his guarantee as long as it stays covert. Palmer, of course, has other things on his mind. He tells PMHC what happened, and he figures that the Consul was killed by friendly fire, although that doesn't matter. "If they're able to find proof that we were involved, in the long run the repercussions will be as serious as those we're facing with the terrorists." Okay, but the raid was ordered by a guy who doesn't work at the White House, and it was carried out and remotely coordinated by a couple of guys who don't work at CTU. That's some deniability right there, I'm thinking. As long as Palmer doesn't mind going to jail himself. But of course, last season he conspired to commit burglary and then allowed himself to be blackmailed out of office to avoid an obstruction of justice rap, so I guess we know how he feels about that.