Episode Report Card Pablo G: B+ | 25 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Natural Election
By Pablo G | Season 2 | Episode 21 | Aired on 05.12.2013
At revenge hideaway, Aiden examines his forged passport and packs it away. He then picks up Emanda's and pauses in contemplation. Cut to Conrad's speech. He asks everyone to make use of their time to elect him as the next governor and seems to lose his cadence when he stops to look at his watch and sees that it's 4:00 PM. The technician walks into the crowd and makes eye-contact with Conrad. They give each other a nod, and the technician leaves. Conrad's speech continues as everyone in the crowd's phones go off with a text message all at once. Everyone reaches for their phones in unison, confused. The message reads, "LONG LIVE DAVID CLARKE" from a blocked number. Cut to Ems running down the sidewalk in slow-motion, checking her phone to see that same text message. Even Victoria's phone goes off with that message behind Conrad onstage, and she tries to alert him, but he turns to look out the window instead just as it happens. A bomb goes off. The entire floor of Grayson Global blows out from its skyscraper. Outside, debris falls on the heads of New Yorkers as they cower in the streets, and... it's awful. It's hard to see this imagery and not think of 9/11 or the recent Boston attack. I'm not overly sensitive about these things, but it's a skyscraper in New York City raining terror down on the people below. In any case, Emanda clings to the ground and can only stare up at falling rubble and utter, "Jack..."
Scraps of paper and ash silently float from the sky at street level of New York City. We pan to a Grayson Global flyer engulfed in flames on the sidewalk, then a large piece of charred rubble crashes loudly on top of it. Suddenly, we hear all the sounds of horror and chaos. Sirens blare and people scream as they scramble. Emanda picks herself up off the ground and starts heading toward Grayson Global. Nolan comes sprinting up behind her, trying to convince Ems not to go up there. If Jack didn't get his message, then there's no hope. Ems orders Nolan to get back to Nolcorp and try to track Jack's phone. Cut to Aiden calling Nolan's phone. He wants to know what's going on. Apart from the major terrorist act that Aiden could probably catch if he just turned on the TV, Nolan tells him that Ems went after Jack, then tries to convince Aiden to stay away because this will get pinned on him as well. All Aiden needed to hear, though, is that Emanda's putting herself in danger. He hangs up with Nolan, determined to intercept her.
In the most perfect political photo op ever, Conrad has positioned himself on the hood of a car, barking out orders to anyone who will listen. A TV news crew watches/films Conrad almost in disbelief. Ash asks if maybe they should wait for first responders. Conrad: "We are the first responders." The TV correspondent asks Conrad if he thinks he was a target. Expertly, Conrad says he doesn't want to talk about that. He just cares about the injured and is thankful that Daniel and his staff happened to (conveniently) not be in the building at the time. Nearby, Daniel asks Ash if she's heard from Ems and tries to call her. He gets her voicemail.