Episode Report Card M. Giant: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Swap Meet
By M. Giant | Season 6 | Episode 19 | Aired on 04.22.2007
Audrey turns and walks out, in a sniper's crosshairs the whole way. In his hiding place, Doyle heroically tries not to lose his shit. Nadia says that the field teams will be there any minute, but Doyle knows that if Audrey's leaving, it means he's out of time. Audrey's put enough distance between herself and the gunmen for Cheng, who snaps at Kiefer, "Give me the circuit board or I'll kill her." Not so faux-friendly now, is he? Slowly holstering his gun, Kiefer reaches into his jacket pocket for the component.
Outside, Doyle can't take any more.
Kiefer tosses the component to Cheng.
And Doyle opens fire, killing the sniper taking aim at Audrey. Hearing the shots inside, Kiefer reaches into his other pocket for the detonator, but he neglects to dive for cover before doing so. That leaves him open to a burst of machine-gun fire from one of Cheng's men in the doorway. He goes down before he can hit the button. How much would it suck to get shot before you can blow yourself up? He's wearing a vest, but the rounds still knock him out. Outside, Doyle is finding himself in the middle of a pitched firefight. And yet he's luckier than ever, as none of the highly trained assassins in Cheng's employ seem to be able to figure out the one spot where the bullets are coming from. Cheng decides to make a break for it. Down the road, Audrey freezes where she is, just as the first CTU helicopter roars into view and CTUMobiles screech into position to join the battle. A couple of CTU agents nab Audrey, who is by now cowering against an embankment.
It looks like Cheng had the foresight to have three military Humvees parked in back without anyone, including Kiefer, knowing they were there. He hops into one of them, gives an order to the driver, and all three vehicles take off into the hills. This development is reported to Nadia by the CTU helicopter pilot, and she tells him to stay in pursuit. That becomes more difficult when one of the Hummers comes to a stop so that one of Cheng's men can launch an RPG at the CTU chopper. Everyone at CTU gets to hear the chopper go down. Alas, we don't get to see it. All that happens is that a smoke bomb goes off under the fuselage and the helicopter lurches sideways out of frame. At 12:57:13, all three Chinese Hummers are back on the move. They split up and head off in three separate directions. Cheng looks at the intact chip in his hand and allows himself a smile. Should be fun to get out of the country now.
Split screen time. In addition to Cheng, we see Nadia, not exactly reveling in her first quarter-hour as CTU boss; Buchanan driving home, tieless; and Karen in her office, looking at an incredibly cheesy honeymoon photo of herself and Buchanan in matching white outfits and flower leis. Okay, that marriage was doomed from the start anyway.