Episode Report Card Sobell: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Bad Boys Eventually Get Quiet Time
By Sobell | Season 4 | Episode 11 | Aired on 11.17.2008
Back at Team Scylla HQ, Mahone's just used an umbrella and a noise monitor to determine that they won't be able to make any noise above 10 dB. The guys continue their noodling as Sucre gets a little existential: "Do we even have a chance?" Nobody's got a good answer for that.
Outside, Michael is getting the news that Gretchen failed to get the sixth card. He does not take it well. Who can blame him? He was already under a lot of stress before he developed the mother of all bad headaches. The upshot? There is no scenario for getting card #6 that doesn't end with someone getting a gun to the head. "That is not acceptable!" Michael emphasizes.
Fang rolls on into GATE and right into T-Bag's office. Gretchen's waiting; she has, thank goodness, changed out of her schoolgirl kit and into a sharp black suit. I always feel a few conflicting emotions whenever I catch myself admiring one of Gretchen's outfits: on the one hand, I would love to go shopping with her. On the other, it would probably end badly. I mean, even worse than the usual why-doesn't-anyone-make-jeans-that-fit outcome. Fang coolly says, "I was expecting that the next time the three of us were in the same room together, that you'd have something for me." Well, Gretchen does: it's called an excuse. "To ensure the item's safe recovery, we need your help," she purrs. We do not see whether Fang's like, "I'm sorry, do you expect me to assemble my own purloined bounty? Are you the IKEA of criminals? Fine. I'm only paying $100 million for Scylla now."
We don't see Fang deliver such an edict, because we're watching a tender tableau between Michael and Dr. Sara. Well, a tender tableau set to the euphonious murmur of shipping-lane traffic. It does wreck the mood a little. Anyway, Dr. Sara heads on over to give Michael a hug from behind, and he wraps his arms around hers in a very sweet, long-established-couple sort of way. Dr. Sara kisses Michael's shoulder before brightly telling him it's time to go. Michael sighs and hands over a piece of paper he got from Gretchen by way of Agent Self. He then tells Dr. Sara, "If they all die because we tried to take down the [One World Conspiracy] and I survive because I called in sick, how am I going to live with myself?" Dr. Sara looks at Michael with concern. I'm thinking someone just realized her boyfriend's not going to the hospital.
When the two of them head back inside, Dr. Sara puts the by-way-of-Gretchen intel on a side table, then steps back to watch the Michael-n-Lincoln show. Alas, the show's been cancelled, because Lincoln decides not to press the issue when Michael says he's coming with everyone. But I bet it's going to be a fun car ride, all the guys squeezed into an SUV and wishing that the unspoken resentments and irritation weren't taking up all the room.