Episode Report Card M. Giant: C+ | 1 USERS: B YOU GRADE IT Daddy Issues
By M. Giant | Season 6 | Episode 10 | Aired on 02.18.2007
At 3:15:52, CTU has arrived at the scene of Milo's heroics. See? Told you Buchanan would roll over. Milo's got his arm all bandaged as he's led to a vehicle, holding his hand above the wound like you're supposed to. Of course, you're also not supposed to get shot in the first place, so most of us are already doing better than Milo is. Meanwhile, Kiefer's standing next to the open tailgate of a CTUmobile with Hacker. He asks Hacker for his cell phone so that they can call Dad. "The scramble collar has to be enabled," Hacker says, all helpful-like. Kiefer plugs it into an open tech case in the back of the CTUmobile so that it can do its thing for a minute, its "thing" in this case being "giving Kiefer a minute to talk to Marilyn." He goes over to her and explains that Hacker doesn't know where Dad and Josh are, so Kiefer has to "force [Dad's] hand." Marilyn asks what that means, although you can tell she thinks it means "get Josh killed," and she's not far off. Kiefer explains that Hacker's going to call Dad and tell him he's nabbed Marilyn, but that Marilyn won't cooperate until Marilyn sees Josh in person. And then Marilyn is going to have to tell Dad the same thing and stand firm in the face of whatever Dad threatens to do, which is likely to include killing Josh. Marilyn isn't happy about her son being used as a pawn to capture Dad, so Kiefer once again promises to do everything he can to keep Josh safe. Marilyn asks how they know Hacker won't betray them. "He wants to live," Kiefer replies. Seems to me like that would be a stronger argument against betraying a cold-blooded murderer like Dad, but it appears to work on Marilyn. They rejoin Hacker by the CTUmobile.
A shot through the window of Dad's hotel room lets us know that he's picked a place right by the airport, in case that's relevant. Inside, Josh is still trying to watch the news, until Dad turns it off. He tries to have a little heart-to-heart with Josh about how proud his father was of him. At first I wonder why Dad's talking about Kiefer in the past tense, but then I remember that he thinks Kiefer's dead. Josh doesn't really feel like talking about this, so Dad lets it drop at 3:17:55.
Out in the field, Hacker's ready to make the call, as Kiefer sticks in a fresh earpiece and warns him that he'll be able to hear both sides of the conversation. He hands Hacker the phone and tells him to dial. Back in the hotel suite, Dad answers the phone and asks, "Do you have her?" Hacker says he does, but that it's just him now. Dad wants him to put together a new team to hit Gredenko, and Hacker plays his part, saying that Marilyn won't cooperate until she sees Josh. Dad wants to talk to Marilyn, so Hacker hands her the phone. Marilyn demands to see Josh, just like she's supposed to. Dad doesn't want to, just like Kiefer expected, and tries to avoid the situation by talking around it. "You made your deal with Graem; now make a deal with me." Meanwhile, Josh gets bored of sitting alone in the other room, so he gets up to see what his grandfather's up to. Boy, is he in for a surprise. Meanwhile, Marilyn holds firm, but so does Dad. "Tell me where [Gredenko] is," he demands. Marilyn looks at Kiefer, who shakes his head at her. She says no again. Dad's starting to get pissed: "I will walk into the next room and I will kill him. Right now." Overhearing this, even Josh can't miss the significance of that statement. And how is it that Dad's been able to get away with so much for so long when he can't even keep a teenager in the dark for an hour? And a Bauer teenager, at that? As hard as it is for Marilyn to refuse, she does so again. "Give him back the phone," says Dad, and Marilyn does, before breaking down in Kiefer's arms. Dad tells Hacker to bring Marilyn to see him at the Grandmont Hotel, room 2132. They hang up. Kiefer peels Marilyn off of himself and congratulates her on a job well done. Hacker's cuffed and stuffed in the car, and the whole group is on its way. Except the CTU guys who actually delivered the car, who I assume will be walking home.