Episode Report Card Gustave: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The Velveteen Habit
By Gustave | Season 3 | Episode 1 | Aired on 10.27.2003
Palmer is not dead? Um, let me explain the concept of a cliffhanger to you. A cliffhanger ends with a beloved character hanging from a cliff. The next episode should feature the same beloved character still hanging from the cliff, and the resulting action should satisfy the audience's desire to see how the character gets down from said cliff. A cliffhanger is NOT a character hanging from a cliff and then the next episode revealing that the beloved character has been alive for the past three years and all of his tormentors behind bars. 'Kay? Anyway, a motorcade pulls up to the University of Southern California campus. Palmer gets out of a limo. The crowd is ecstatic, except for the hot African-American Principal from Buffy who looks really worried. He greets Palmer as "Mr. President." Palmer greets him as "Wayne." Palmer asks if they're ready for the "run-through." Wayne says that the advance team dropped the ball and they can't get in for a few minutes. Palmer is fine with the delay, but Wayne is not. In fact, he fired someone over it, someone that Palmer felt did good work for the administration. Wayne explains that "tonight's debate" is critical, and since "Judy" didn't have all the bases covered, she needed to get gone. God, I feel for Judy. Reporters ask Palmer questions. One reporter asks about how Palmer feels about debating "Senator Keeler." Palmer replies that he's confident. Another reporter asks what it's like for Palmer to be back in L.A. for the first time since that attempt on his life. Palmer replies that "Los Angeles is a great city." ["I'm sorry, what? It's one of the largest metro areas in the country, and he's just avoided it for three years? Excuse me, but…no. I see the dramatic need for the line, but five minutes of brainstorming could have produced a more realistic reference to what happened." -- Sars] There are more questions, but Wayne cuts it short. They enter the debate building. Wayne is concerned about some Whatever Statistics. Palmer is short of breath. He puts his arm around Wayne's shoulder in a big brotherly way, but it could be merely a way of keeping his balance.
The time is 01:16:09 PM. Kiefer and Special Agent Charlie Brown leave the prison building and head through the parking lot to their car. Vaselino runs after them, urgently wanting to talk to Kiefer about the events that just took place. Kiefer says he can't talk because he has to get back to CTU. "Hartmano killed PMAD for a reason," he says. "He picked today to do it. We gotta find out why." Vaselino wants to go back inside and "put the screws" on Hartmano instead. Kiefer argues that they're not going to get anywhere with Hartmano, considering what he just did. He tells Vaselino to call him, and speeds off in the Kiefmobile with Special Agent Charlie Brown in the passenger seat.