Episode Report Card M. Giant: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The Plot Quickens
By M. Giant | Season 5 | Episode 11 | Aired on 03.05.2006
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Poor Tony wakes up, and has to learn about Michelle's death all over again. In more relevant news, we find out the real reason McGill got his access card stolen: it seems his sister's Loser Boyfriend plans to sell it to the terrorists. Don't ask me where those folks met up. Kiefer goes to Henderson's house to try to find out more about what his old boss is up to, but he hits a dead end when he finds that only Mrs. H. is at home and hubby's been keeping her in the dark. CTU realizes that VladimirKo's next target is a hospital, which launches Curtis into a race against time to prevent it. And FLOTUS is so pissed at Logan for abandoning her to her fate that she puts the moves on Aaron. At the hospital, Curtis finds the armed nerve gas canister just in time, and now the bad guys only have eighteen left. Kiefer still wants those other eighteen, though, greedy bastard that he is. So when Henderson gets home, the only way he can think of to get Henderson to talk is to shoot his wife in the leg. And even that doesn't work. This year's theme: Husbands Suck. Bierko's henchman gets McGill's key card, but instead of paying for it, he shoots both McSibling and her Loser Boyfriend in the head. See if they ever make a deal with him again. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
For a change, we're not starting out right where we left off last hour. Instead, Buchanan arrives at the CTU clinic, where apparently Tony woke up about ten minutes ago. Before he goes into Tony's room, the doctor -- Doctor Besson, the one from last season, not the dead one from earlier today -- warns Buchanan that with the head trauma and all, Tony doesn't seem to remember that Michelle is dead. Buchanan wants to tell Tony right away, but the doctor nixes that so as to maximize the potential drama. Or perhaps because Tony isn't yet stable enough to receive the news, which will cause the traumatized remains of his brain to melt and leak out his ears. Buchanan agrees. What the hell, why not continue being the one getting sympathy from people over Michelle's death?
Inside the room, Buchanan leans over Tony's bed and his giant face bandage to ask how he's doing. Tony says he was told that Michelle was taken to Cedars-Sinai, and Buchanan confirms it, lying like someone who was never a field operative in his life (which, as far as I know, he wasn't). Tony wants to know what's going on, and Buchanan gives him a quick summary: Palmer was the main target, Kiefer was set up to take the fall, but now Kiefer is working provisionally with CTU. Tony wants to talk to Kiefer ASAP, and further asks Buchanan to get a message to Michelle that he's all right. Buchanan agrees to both, just barely managing to maintain the presence of mind to not pull out a Ouija board on the spot. Yes, I know I used that joke last week. Don't care. "We need you to get better," Buchanan whispers, with a hand on Tony's shoulder. He totally knows Buchanan's lying. Everyone knows Tony always gets better whether anyone needs him to or not.
It's still the aftermath of the motorcade attack in downtown L.A. FLOTUS stands by herself, watching President Suvarov embrace his wife in PTSD fellowship. Aaron limps over to her to tell her that a Navy helicopter is on its way to take them all back to Not Camp David. Aw, maybe the Suvarovs just wanted to ride in a helicopter again. Now that the immediate danger has passed, weepy FLOTUS thinks this is a good time to spill what she knows to Aaron: "Charles...knew about the attack and he just let it happen, Aaron...he gave the terrorists the Suvarovs' motorcade route." Aaron is sympathetically skeptical, but the arrival of the aforementioned helicopter puts a noisy end to the conversation before it can be explored further. Maybe they can talk about it with the Suvarovs on the flight back.