Episode Report Card M. Giant: C | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Husbands And Wives
By M. Giant | Season 6 | Episode 13 | Aired on 03.11.2007
6:20:22. Fayed's panel truck has finally arrived at the airplane junkyard where Gredenko and his men are assembling the drones. Gredenko pointedly checks his watch (it's a bit after 6:20, I could have told him) as the Russians say that it's about time the nukes showed up. No argument here; Fayed's been on the road more than four hours to make the same trip Gredenko made in less than one. Time to buy a new truck, Fayed. He and his men climb out and set down the suitcases, and Gredenko's guys start unloading their contents right away. Fayed and Gredenko don't exactly share a manly hug.
Back at CTU, Buchanan's in his office, on the phone with the Veep to report what he's been up to the past twenty minutes: Kiefer's got the info they need, but can't get it to them. Buchanan outlines the plan to have Logan have Martha have Anya Suvarov have Suvarov back down. The Veep chuckles that this doesn't seem likely to succeed, so Buchanan offers his second option: a tactical strike on the Consulate. "You realize that an attack on a Russian Consulate is technically an act of war?" the Veep asks, almost as if he doesn't want to make out with Buchanan for this right now. He says he doesn't want to "open up another front" with Russia while he's already busy with the terrorists. Buchanan gets that, but he argues that Markov won't surrender, so they'll have to go in. The Veep asks how long it'll take to get ready. Doyle tells Buchanan twenty minutes, and Buchanan relays it to the Veep. Sighing, the Veep tells Buchanan to get his people into position for the strike, and to hope Logan succeeds before then: "But if not, don't wait on him." Buchanan acknowledges the order, ends the call, and sends Doyle off to do his thing. Not being a raging asshole -- the other thing.
Look, it's Aaron! In case you're wondering, this makes Kiefer Sutherland and Glenn Morshower the only two actors who have been in every season of this show thus far. And unless Tony or David Palmer come back to life, it's likely to stay that way. In casual civvies, Aaron carries a grocery bag along a row of neat little bungalows, in blatant violation of the federal ordinance requiring that all TV grocery bags have a giant baguette and a leafy celery stalk sticking out of the top of them. He nods familiarly at the Secret Service agent standing at the door of one of them, and goes inside.
The first thing we see inside the place, at 6:22:30, is a framed photo of Aaron and Martha. See, didn't we all know they'd end up together? She gets up from where she's been sitting on the couch in bathrobe, pajamas, and glasses, and says she's been worried about Aaron driving around in all the fallout. So we know she's conveniently in the L.A. area instead of back in Vermont. Aaron assures her that he's been keeping his distance. Well, at least then he might have an excuse for why he looks the way he does. As for Martha, she's been reading and listening to music, and not letting the fear ruin her day. Aaron congratulates her on this, and they dig into the grocery bag. Aaron picked up some magazines and some fresh fruit for Martha. She's inordinately excited about the raspberries and blackberries and kiwi. She gets all flirty with Aaron, feeding him a raspberry and everything. I don't know why I find this more disturbing than what happens on every single episode of Rome, but I do. Maybe it's the giant white ceramic pear in the background.