Episode Report Card M. Giant: A | 310 USERS: A- YOU GRADE IT Two Can Play at That Game
By M. Giant | Season 7 | Episode 1 | Aired on 2009.01.11
While Tony stands over him, Latham's workbench emits a beep. "It was overheating," Latham explains. "I came up with a workaround." And super-fast, too. I bet he puts in about five minutes a day at his regular job. Tony takes the component out of the room without so much as a thank-you. Back in the IT room, Masters plugs it back in, and they're back online. Whee! Let's fuck shit up!
At the Air Traffic Control bunker that we all remember from Pushing Tin, a few controllers' screens suddenly flicker. A supervisor comes over to investigate. Look out, Tony, a guy in a sweater vest is on the case.
Back at Walker's office, Kiefer is still looking for explanations for what Tony's up to. "He could be working undercover, some kind of sting operation." Walker says they've checked with every federal, state, and local agency and ruled that out. Kiefer thinks there's some explanation. He's doing this freelance? Trying to establish his own mom-and-pop counterterrorism operation? Walker's got it all figured out, though: "His wife was brutally murdered by a faction operating inside the government, led by the president himself." "Everybody involved with that is either in prison or has been killed," Kiefer reminds her. In turn, she reminds her that Logan got a sweet deal: "Sentencing him to house arrest on a hundred-acre ranch?" So does that mean Logan is actually dead? Last we saw, he was crashing in an ambulance after his ex-wife stabbed him with a fruit knife. Of course, we're not getting an answer now, as Walker goes on, "Almeida's lost everything he had, and he's blaming it on the government he spent his life serving." Sound like anyone we know? "You'd know better than me how that feels," she adds. "How far a man might go." Dude, this chick has done her homework. Kiefer still refuses to believe it. "Help me find Almeida and you can ask him yourself," Walker offers. "You know how he thinks, you had the same training, you know the same people." Kiefer gives in at last, but he does even that rudely by demanding full access to everything she's got. Walker is called out, and she leaves Kiefer alone with her computer to start looking. As any FBI agent would do when leaving a person being questioned by the Senate alone in her office.
It's 8:28:23 as Walker comes out onto the FBI floor to ask what's going on. Larry tells her about a call they just got from Northeast Air Traffic Control regarding a possible intrusion. That certainly went through channels quickly. Sean explains what this has to do with the main plot: "I don't think you get intrusions like this unless something's driving it, and the only way to drive it is through the CIP firewall." Having established that it looks like the bad guys are after Air Traffic Control, Larry grabs his cell phone and orders it, "Put me through to the White House." I don't think he gets how voice dialing works.