Episode Report Card Gustave: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Lunchtime
By Gustave | Season 1 | Episode 13 | Aired on 02.25.2002
Kiefer follows a trail of blood to Gaines's hiding place. Ah, but a shot of Gaines establishes that Gaines is purposefully leaving a trail of blood to entrap Kiefer. They have some more villain/hero pre-climax dialogue via walkie-talkie. But unlike the usual outcome of those expository dialogues, Gaines can't tell Kiefer anything useful because the TerrorBosses haven't briefed him on any of their motivations. Gaines waits by a tree for Kiefer to follow the blood and expose himself so that he can shoot Kiefer. Kiefer asks why they brought his family into this. "That was probably a mistake," admits Gaines, obviously referring to the fact that they had no idea how handy Bride of Kiefer is with a rock. "They wanted to make it personal." "Who's they?" asks Kiefer, his velvety voice live and in the flesh right behind Gaines. "Put down your weapon," says Kiefer. "We can protect you." Gaines is all "no you can't" and tries to shoot Kiefer. Kiefer ducks and shoots Gaines first. He's dead. A CTU guy finds them and takes Kiefer back to his family. The nightmare is over. A public bus comes to pick up BloodyRick. Kiefer enters the TerrorWaterTower. The KieferKlan reunites again. Hugs all around. He makes Spawn put on a sweater. Uh, thanks, Kiefer. I've been wanting to do that myself since midnight. An agent enters and escorts them back to the CTU chopper. They ride away from the TerrorKompound as a family. I keep waiting for the pilot to take off his sunglasses and reveal himself to be FauxYork, but it doesn't happen. The screen splits to reveal Palmer giving his wife the cold shoulder while PMHC shrugs his own shoulders at her.
Back at CTU, Alberta drops by Nina's desk to inform her that Kiefer is alive and on his way back to the office. Nina tries to hide a major sigh of relief. Oh, but she has more news. They traced the money in La Madre de la Jalapeno's account back to an offshore account, which led them to an account in Belgrade. Uh, no, you didn't, Nina. You just showed us Mama J's checking account, which showed a transaction from Belgrade in the account itself. What's with this offshore intermediary? Never mind. Anyway, it seems that Palmer is still in danger. From the wire transfers, it's apparent to the Broom Closet Twins that yet another assassin has arrived in Los Angeles from Yugoslavia. At the mention of Assassin Number Two, we cut to a close-up of the walking legs of a mystery person carrying a stainless steel briefcase. The new assassin enters a car and leaves a parking garage. It's a dead ringer for Kiefer -- except his cheekbones are way higher, so that he kind of resembles a member of eighties supergroup A-ha. The time is 12:59:58...12:59:59…1:00:00 PM.