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
DoDder's still not getting anywhere with him. She mentions the call to ImhoTerror again, and DiCK insists, "It's all bull!" My, such language! Brr! Curtis observes, "His readings are spiking. He's holding something back." DoDder begs DiCK to spill: "If you don't, there is a man who will come in here and get the information from you. I saw him torture someone today. It's what he's trained to do. He won't stop hurting you until you tell him the truth." Kiefer looks like he himself is hurting plenty just to hear her talk about him this way. And oh, how my heart bleeds for the sadistic bastard. DiCK is starting to get weepy in his panic, and DoDder is kneeling next to him, stroking his nasty-ass head and telling him to talk. It actually looks like he might be about to spill to her.
But in the observation room, DaD assesses, "This is not working. We don't have time to coddle him. Open up." As he waits for Kiefer to punch in the security code to let him into the interrogation room, he elaborates, "I don't care if he is my son." No shit? "He's playing games now." Whatever. I think he's just embarrassed and pissed off that everyone's seeing what a dink his kid is and everything else is secondary. It's 4:30:25 as Kiefer lets him into the interrogation room.
DaD stands before his children and tells DiCK, "Either you tell us what we want to know, or I will let them use every piece of equipment they have to drag it out of you." If DiCK was starting to crack before, he certainly isn't now, as his whole face closes up. Way to go, DaD. DoDder starts to tell her DaD to quit being such a prick, but he kicks her out. Before abandoning her brother to their asshole dad, she tells DiCK one more time to tell them everything. He begs her again and again, "Don't let them do this to me," as she leaves the room and goes to stand next to Kiefer in observation. Dude, she was just touching DiCK's hair. I think I'd at least ask someone for a wet-wipe.
DaD asks DiCK, "What's it gonna be?" DiCK invites his DaD to go to hell: "I didn't do anything wrong, I don't have to tell you anything." DaD hollers, "There's a nucular warhead gonna detonate somewhere over this country. Those lost lives will be on your head. You will be a murderer!" DiCK wails that he didn't mean to do anything wrong. Oops. That's torn it. "Tell me what you did," DaD bellows. DiCK tells a story about meeting a couple at a bar: "This girl and her boyfriend." He doesn't know their names, but DaD at least knows enough now to back off and let DiCK talk. DiCK relates the tale of how they "wanted to party, and we went back to my place. We got…high. And I guess there was time for one of them to make a call on my phone." "How?" asks DaD patiently. "When we were in bed," says DiCK. "So while you were in bed with her, he used your phone in the other room?" DaD asks. Oh, silly DaD. You think DiCK would hold back this hard about a romp with a chick, after lighting up a joint in front of you yesterday? And in fact, DiCK says, to the surprise of nobody in the viewing audience, that "He wasn't the one in the other room. I was with him." DaD and DoDder separately reel at the concept that the terrorist dupe in the family is something ten times worse: a gay terrorist dupe. DaD turns away. "She must have been the one that made the call," finishes DiCK. Kiefer looks inscrutable. Grayadder and I never actually did anything, he's thinking. "So you were set up," DaD says. More questions establish that DiCK doesn't have the mystery couple's phone number or address, and that they took a cab from his place, although he doesn't remember which cab company it was. Kiefer tells Curtis, "Get in touch with every cab company that works in the area. I want their logbooks. Get me a sketch artist now." Curtis is on it. DiCK says to SaD DaD, "So now you know. I suppose you're even more disgusted with me, huh, DaD?" DaD sanctimonies, "This is not about how you choose to live your life, son. This is about how you put this country in jeopardy. If you'd told us this information yesterday, maybe these terrorist attacks would not have occurred." DiCK sees this as the bullshit it is: "Yesterday I didn't know that that night had anything to do with these attacks." "You should have told us everything," DaD quietly insists. Oh, what the fuck ever. So when Curtis asked who DiCK had told about DaD's visit, DiCK was supposed to say, "Well, nobody, but I am gay"? CTU would have had no idea what to do with this information, even if they'd had it at the time. Kiefer finally realizes that he probably shouldn't be observing all this, and tells DoDder he'll wait out in the hallway. "You made a profound mistake today, Richard," says DaD, and leaves his son sitting forlornly in the chair he's tied to. It's 4:34:32. Well, that was a short act. It only seemed long.