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With Henry Taylor in Colonel Dubaku's clutches, the president has until the top of the hour to back out of Sangala and hand over Matobo before Dubaku kills Henry. Taylor knows she can't give in to save her own husband after sacrificing hundreds of other Americans. Fortunately for her, Kiefer and Walker and Buchanan have just delivered Matobo to her and are still in the Oval Office when Dubaku's call comes in. So Kiefer offers to help find Henry before the deadline expires. Walker figures the only way to do that is by bringing in Moss, who's pretty happy to learn that Walker's alive, but not happy to see that Kiefer's enlisting Walker in a bid to get Vossler to flip on Dubaku by threatening his family. Still, he gives in and helps Kiefer find Vossler while Walker's a total asshole to Vossler's wife and kid (not much else going on at the FBI, except that Janis knows about Sean's affair with Erica and Sean's suspicious about why the threat level is dropping without any official word about Dubaku or the CIP device). Kiefer does get Henry's location from Vossler before killing him in self-defense. Meanwhile, Buchanan organizes an operation to make it look like they're about to hand over Matobo, but he's only a decoy. Which is good, because the decoy gets blown up. Dubaku's got other problems: his girlfriend's nosy sister has been looking into his immigration status, and knows he's not who he says he is. She tries to blackmail him into dumping the girlfriend, but all that means is that Dubaku's outside the hideout on his way to deal with her when Kiefer and Walker storm the place. And Kiefer gets there just in time to prevent one of Dubaku's henchmen from shooting Henry -- almost.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Agent Vossler, the Secret Service agent who would rather kidnap and murder than serve and protect, pulls his car into an alley, where one of Dubaku's henchmen is waiting. After making sure that Vossler wasn't followed, he helps Vossler unload Henry Taylor out of the trunk and into the back entrance. Worst Secret Service agent ever. After the late Agent Gedge, of course. At least Vossler hasn't gotten himself killed. Yet.
Dubaku is wandering the streets like the other civilians, and he happens along a snack stand that has a little TV playing on the counter. On it, President Taylor is giving an address about the plane crash and the chemical plant incident that occurred earlier today. Dubaku stops and watches as she says the terrorists responsible are no longer a threat, the liberation of Sangala is about to get underway, and Prime Minister Matobo will soon be restored to office. It would all be perfect if Dubaku weren't still walking around, and in possession of her husband.
Dubaku walks into his neighborhood convenience store, where the cashier seems to know him, and heads on back to the stock room. From there he opens a padlocked door which opens onto a staircase to the basement. There he finds several of his henchmen, who don't seem to mind that the padlock on the outside of the door is basically imprisoning them down there. Of course, they're not quite as imprisoned as Henry Taylor, who is gagged and tied to a chair. "Well done, Agent Vossler," Dubaku says. Vossler says he has to go to work at four, and Dubaku tells him the money will be "wired to the usual account." Vossler goes, but he can't be unaware of what his career prospects will be like if Henry ever gets out of here alive. Dubaku politely informs Henry that the room is soundproof, so there's no point in screaming. So when a henchman removes Henry's gag, he doesn't waste a lot of energy yelling. He just quietly calls Dubaku a son of a bitch. "You're behind my son's death!" Sure, Henry, make it all about you. Roger was months ago, whereas the hundreds of other people Dubaku has killed today aren't even cold yet. If they've even been put out at all, that is. Henry and Dubaku bluster at each other a bit, and then Dubaku finally asks, "Does your wife love you enough to call off the invasion of my country?" Well, that's kind of a personal question.
Taylor's wife is still giving a pretty pedestrian speech in which she promises that the people behind the attacks will be hunted down and brought to justice. Except she's wrong about the part where she says it'll be done by law enforcement agencies, rather than by Kiefer. He, along with Walker, Buchanan, and Matobo, are now being led through a White House tunnel in a splitscreen. They get on an elevator as Taylor wraps up her speech with a lackluster "Thank you. Good afternoon" at 3:05:27. As Ethan helps her down off the awkwardly high dais, he tells her that Matobo and some others are being brought in by agents he personally knows and trusts. Not that it's been established to my satisfaction that we can trust Ethan, mind you. She exposits that according to Matobo, the people he's bringing along not only rescued him but also took out the CIP device. "Who are they?" she wonders. Ethan tells her it's Bill Buchanan, who she once met when he was head of CTU-LA; FBI Agent Renee Walker, and -- wait for it -- Jack Bauer. By now they've reached the Oval Office, and Taylor's astonished that one of Matobo's kidnappers ended up rescuing him. "Matobo asked me to listen to what they have to say, and I'm willing to do so," she narrates awkwardly, and tells Ethan to send them in.
The little party enters, and Taylor greets Matobo warmly. "That you were subjected to such an ordeal on our soil is a source of shame both to me personally and to my country." Kiefer looks a little ashamed himself, having been one of the primary subjecters. Matobo says he's more worried about his country, and is grateful to hear that Taylor's given the order to begin the invasion. As for the people who brought him in, "They are here to explain themselves." And Matobo's got stuff to do, so he's outie. Smell you later, people who saved my life.
Now that Buchanan, Kiefer, and Walker have been left hanging in the breeze, Taylor plunks herself down on her couch and demands an explanation. Kiefer begins: "Madam President, six weeks ago, Bill Buchanan discovered that key members of your government were working with General Juma and Colonel Dubaku in an effort to undermine this nation's foreign policy -- your foreign policy -- with regard to Sangala." She's kind of offended by this, but Kiefer points out, "It explains why during this crisis, every effort you made to stop Dubaku failed. Buchanan adds, "I formed a small group to locate and neutralize Dubaku. Tony Almeida and ultimately Jack joined me." Oh, and some redhead chick he dug up somewhere. Taylor reminds us that Tony was the one who gave Dubaku the CIP device to begin with. Buchanan says they needed it as bait, to follow it to Dubaku, like that should be obvious. Except that it's really not. "A lot of people died on those planes!" Taylor points out. "Never mind what could have happened at the chemical plant in Kidron." Walker steps up to vouch for her new buddies: "The loss of life was tragic, yes, but in my opinion, everything they've done has saved the lives of thousands." Well, if you say so. Must be worth it. Taylor asks what the step would be, just for the sake of argument, and Kiefer says that since Dubaku is the only person who knows about all the spies in Taylor's government, they need to find him. And in secret, too, otherwise he'll know they're coming. Although I assume he'll also know about it anyway, when they find him. Again. Suddenly a Secret Service agent enters to tell Taylor that Tim from Homeland is on the phone, and it's urgent. She puts him on speaker, and he tells her that Colonel Dubaku is calling about her husband. Unfortunately, she doesn't snap, "My husband isn't here!" and hang up.
Calling from his basement hideout, Dubaku doesn't waste time: "I have your husband," he says. "Let me demonstrate." He holds the phone out to Henry, who tells her, "I'm sorry about this. For God's sake, don't let them use me to influence you in any way." Why's everyone always so brave in these situations? I'd be like, "Uh, honey, you know, Sangala's nice and all, but why don't we just go to Europe or something instead?" Since Henry doesn't say that, Dubaku snatches back the phone and states his demands: withdraw American forces from around Sangala, and deliver Matobo to his men, who will be waiting at a nearby power plant. Wow, Dubaku works fast. I would complain about the fact that Dubaku shouldn't assume that Taylor even knows where Matobo is right now, except that she kind of just broadcast on live national television that she does. Oops. And if Taylor doesn't comply, "Your husband will die a slow and certain death." "You wouldn't dare!" an enraged Taylor spits. Wrong thing to say; Dubaku tells his men to cut off Henry's finger. And off comes the right index finger, between the second and third knuckle. Out of frame, of course. It takes three of Dubaku's men to do the job, and they should be ashamed of themselves, having to gang up like that on a fiftysomething, emaciated guy tied to a chair who just recently recovered from being paralyzed. Hearing her husband's grunts of pain, Taylor helplessly yells "Stop it!" as Kiefer gets up from his seat and walks over with concern. Dubaku threatens to send Henry back to her one piece at a time, and she says she understands. Dubaku further warns that if she tries to find him, he'll know, and he'll kill Henry immediately. When the call ends, Taylor is totally wrecked. So she's not exactly cheered when Ethan walks up, cell phone in hand, and tells her that the Secret Service team he sent to Samantha Roth's apartment just found the bodies of Sam and Agent Gedge. He adds that Gedge had a paralytic drug. "That suggests he was complicit in Henry's abduction, which of course confirms the corruption you just told us about," Ethan adds. Okay, glad to have that sorted out. Ethan tells Taylor that under the circumstances, nobody could blame her if she were to put off the invasion. She doesn't see it that way. "How many people died on those planes?" she asks Ethan. He tells her about 300, and she says, "How can I ask the American people to make sacrifices that I'm not willing to make myself? I can't give in. I can't." Yeah, she would get totally killed in the polls. Kiefer realizes he needs to step in here , and offers to try to find Henry before 4:00. She reminds him that Dubaku forbade that, and she can't trust any of her agencies. "You can trust me," Kiefer insists. He adds that Walker is presumed dead, and he has no status. "Dubaku's spies cannot track us, because officially, we don't exist." Okay, but that doesn't make you invisible. She has her doubts about whether she can trust Kiefer, but instead of asking him a perfectly valid question like, "How many people are you going to torture, threaten, or kill?" she asks, "How am I supposed to know where your loyalties really lie?" Stung, Kiefer replies, "With all due respect, Madam President, ask around." Way to not take any shit from the bereaved, panicked president there, Kiefer. The music swells as Taylor asks what he can even do in the amount of time they have. Kiefer can't make any promises, but tells her to make it look like she's complying with Dubaku's demands in order to buy them some time. Finally, she consents. "Find him, please," she begs. "Yes, ma'am," says Kiefer, and asks for a "secure hard line" as everyone leaves the room but Taylor and Buchanan. Make sure it's a really hard line, because he's probably going to want to hit someone with it.
Ethan shows Kiefer and Walker to a nearby room, and Kiefer asks him for files on POTUS and FGOTUS's Secret Service details, which Ethan promises to send over as he leaves. Kiefer tells Walker that their first step is Agent Gedge, whose phone records they somehow need to access. But how? Who has that kind of clearance and is someone they can trust? "Larry Moss," Walker says immediately. Kiefer's skeptical that Moss will be willing to go off-book, but Walker says, "I think I can persuade him to do what we need." Show a little boob, maybe. She assures Kiefer that she trusts Moss. "We know each other pretty well," she says euphemistically. Conscious of the time, Kiefer tells her to go for it, and she dials the desk phone.
Moss is fixing himself a cup of coffee in the FBI break room at 3:15:05. Oh, Larry, you'll be up all night if you drink that now. His cell rings, and he's obviously pretty blown away when he hears Walker in his ear saying, "Larry, it's Renee. I'm alive but you can't let anyone know, do you understand me?" He goes into the hallway so as to not lose his shit, and Walker says they need his help. "Myself and Jack Bauer," she clarifies, and assures Moss that Kiefer's one of the good guys. Leaning his head against the wall, Moss complains about thinking she was dead, and she tells him that it has to stay that way, since the Bureau's compromised. She explains that Dubaku has kidnapped Henry. This is the first he's heard of it, and she tells him again that this is a super-secret dealio. "If we don't find him by 4:00 p.m., he'll be killed." She asks Moss to trust her, and to help her. Specifically, she wants him to pull Agent Gedge's phone logs and find out who he's been talking to. Suddenly Moss comes over all suspicious, insisting that he see her in person, to make sure she's not under duress or something. Because if she has been taken hostage by the terrorists who have been remotely crashing planes and sabotaging chemical plants, the first thing they're going to use her for is to get the phone records of FGOTUS's Secret Service agent. "Capitol Reflecting Pool, as soon as you can get there," he orders. Despite the time, she reluctantly agrees, and tells Kiefer they need to go. And in the lower splitscreen window, Moss breaks into a run through the hallway. It's 3:17:02. And I was starting to worry that we were going to go commercial-free.
At 3:21:26, the FBI-DC contingent is watching CNB, which is reminding us about what Taylor said before, about the threat being over. Sean's suspicious, and as Erica wanders up, he tells her why: "The president's talking as if the CIP device and Matobo have been recovered, but how could that have happened without us knowing about it?" He's unhappy about being kept out of the loop. Because apparently it's all about Sean. As they return to his desk, she gets all close and flirty, right there in front of God and J. Edgar Hoover and everyone, which he basically shuts down until she leaves. He hasn't seen his wife in a week, Clingy McGee. As soon as she's gone, Janis walks up and snipes at Sean, "Could you be a little less obvious, do you think?" Sean plays innocent, which doesn't fool Janis: "Just hold up a sign that says, 'Hey, world, we're sleepin' together.'" Sean admits that it's not smart, and promises to end it. Janis tells him he better. "If [Moss] finds out about this, he's gonna transfer your ass to Juneau so fast your hair will move." Although she doesn't use those exact words.
It's 3:23:02 as Walker and Kiefer climb out of a car -- which I guess they got from somewhere -- near the Reflecting Pool. Moss is waiting there, and gets pretty emotional when Walker shows up. "I thought I'd never see you again," he says, although he doesn't try to kiss her or hug her or even shake her hand. Once any danger of a mushy display has passed, Kiefer abandons his respectful distance and asks Moss what he found out from Gedge's phone records. Moss says that Gedge spent a lot of time talking to Agent Edward Vossler during the past three hours. Moss also has this to share about Vossler: "Before he was a Secret Service agent he was Special Forces." Which would explain why Vossler wears his hair like the keyboard player in an 80s new wave band. Moss adds that "Vossler served in Sangala for two years." Well, sounds open-and-shut to me. He hands Walker his Blackberry, which contains Vossler's file. While she's beeping through it, Kiefer asks, "Does Vossler have a family?" "Why do you need to know that?" Moss asks, as though we don't already know and aren't preemptively grossed out by it. Walker says Vossler's got a wife of five years who's a stay-at-home mom to their eleven-month-old boy. Kiefer matter-of-factly hands out assignments. He tells Moss, "I need you to help me track Vossler." To Walker, he says, "I need you to go to his home and hope his family is there." Seeing their wary looks, he spells it out: the only way they're going to break a Special Forces vet like Vossler in the tight time frame they're facing is to "make him think we're going to hurt his family. His wife and his kid." Moss refuses, and even Walker says, "That's stepping over the line, Jack." Kiefer reminds her, "You stepped over the line the second you interrogated Tanner." Okay, first of all, what an asshole. And secondly, how does he even know about that? It's not like he and Walker have been spending a lot of time catching up. And thirdly, what an asshole. Walker reasonably points out that threatening a murderer is different from threatening a child, and Kiefer just loses it on both of them: "When are you people going to stop thinking everyone else is following your rules? They're not!" Well, yes, Kiefer, that's what makes them the bad guys. Sheesh. He lays it out for them: "You've got one of two choices: you can either phone the president and explain to her that your conscience [way to mock what you don't have, Kiefer] won't allow you to do what is necessary to save him, or you can simply do what is necessary. Pick one!"
And right there is the problem with this show, isn't it? The debate is always framed as a choice between adopting, endorsing, and now even assisting Kiefer's morally repugnant methods; and sitting back and letting terrible things happen. Kiefer thinks his way is the only way. But how about this: Vossler isn't some jihadist fanatic willing to die for his cause; he's a career officer who went rogue for money, which once he knows he's busted, he'll never get to spend. Give him the choice between being provably complicit in the death of the First Gentleman and cutting a deal in exchange for enabling his rescue, and I bet I could predict which way he'd go. There's more than one way to threaten him with never seeing his son again, is what I'm saying. Hell, they can bring him along when they go get Taylor. They could use the extra gun, plus Vossler could get them into the hideout without raising the alarm. And things might turn out better than you already know they do if you're reading this. Better outcome, not morally repugnant. Win-win.
But of course nobody can think of this when Kiefer's screaming at them about their moral weakness, so Walker's and Moss's only answer is a long silence. I so want one of them to at least call his bluff and call and ask the president if it's okay with her if saving her husband involves threatening a baby, but instead, Walker caves. As she goes back to the car and drives off, Kiefer demands Moss's vehicle from him. Walking away, he tells Moss to use the Secret Service deployment grid to track Vossler using his cell phone. "Look at yourself," Moss says to Kiefer. "You have lost everyone and everything you ever had by doing what you think is necessary. I won't let you do it to her, Bauer. Renee will not end up like you." No, not unless she keeps doing exactly what she's been doing all day. Kiefer just grits, "Are you gonna give me your keys or not?" Well, since he asked nicely. Moss throws them at him, and as Kiefer walks away again, Moss lamely calls after him, "The rules are what make us better." Kiefer has a thoughtful, cogent response: "Not today." Oh, okay. When, then? He stalks away, and I can't help hoping that Moss parked in the opposite direction. Left alone, Moss leaves the Reflecting Pool at 3:26:22. It's going to be a long, lonely walk back to work.
In Dubaku's basement hideout, he and a minion discuss what to do about Henry's bleeding. Dubaku tells him to cauterize the wound with a blowtorch. "Just put something in his mouth. I don't want him biting his tongue over the pain." Yes, we'd hate for Henry to get hurt. In literally the same breath, he answers his cell phone and pleasantly asks his girlfriend Marika, "Hey, what are you doing home?" The girlfriend says that her sister called her at work with one of her "episodes." She's calling to confirm Dubaku (or Samuel, as she knows him) for dinner tonight, but he begs off, pleading work. She's disappointed, but he promises to make it up to her. I'm still just curious about whether Dubaku has some nefarious purpose for dating her or if he's just using his job in the U.S. as an excuse to get some regular American poontang.
After Marika hangs up, her sister Rosa rolls into the room in a wheelchair, all angry and suspicious about who she was talking to. Apparently Rosa's got it in for "Samuel," and it tells you something that even though we know that "Samuel" is in fact the notorious murdering Butcher of Sangala warlord rapist child-drafting Colonel Ike Dubaku, she still comes off like a paranoid, controlling asshole as she spouts her disapproval of him. Marika insists that she loves him, and Rosa demands to know why. "Because he spends money on you? Because he pays our rent?" I can think of worse reasons. Child-drafting, for instance. Rosa starts to say that he isn't -- something, but then stops herself as her sister walks out to return to work. And then we see the envelope cradled in Rosa's lap at 3:28:47. She may already have won, but not what she thinks she's won.
In the Oval Office, Taylor, Ethan, and Buchanan are strategizing about making it look like they're complying with Dubaku's demands. Ethan thinks it'll be easier to start pulling back their forces and then attack from further out at sea -- as though there wouldn't be any number of military logistical issues created by this, regardless of what the White House Chief of Staff thinks -- than to fake them out over Matobo. Buchanan suggests sending a car with a Matobo look-alike, and hope they find Henry before they actually have to hand him over. Taylor gives them the go-ahead. This should work out well for everyone involved.
Kiefer's driving along in Moss's silver government-issue SUV (or at least I hope it's government issue, given what's about to happen to it) when Moss calls from his office, which he's already gotten back to. Why did he have to drive to the Reflecting Pool in the first place? Moss has gotten into the Secret Service deployment grid (an activity which I'm sure will never be traced back to him), and he tells Kiefer that Vossler's on the Beltway, seven miles from where Kiefer is now. He's due to start a shift at four o'clock at Andrews Air Force Base. Moss warns, "Jack, I don't have to tell you, once he's through that gate and onto that base, you're not going to be able to touch him." Surprisingly, Kiefer doesn't take that as a dare. Instead, he tells us how he plans to cut off Vossler, displaying a knowledge of D.C. streets that seems unlikely until one recalls his stint as a DoD wonk. Moss asks whether Kiefer has heard from Walker, but Kiefer isn't worried: "She knows how to get in touch with us if she's in trouble." Like if anyone has shot her or buried her alive or something.
In the suburbs, Walker walks past Vossler's literal, actual, white picket fence and knocks on the door of a house. Mrs. Vossler answers with the baby on her hip, all smiles and helpfulness until Walker shows her gun and charges inside. "Shut up, do what I tell you, and there's a chance you'll live through this," she orders the frightened woman and child. Well, I don't think that's called for. It's 3:30:42.
At 3:35:04, Walker is standing guard over the Mrs. and Baby V. The kid's in his pack-and-play, crying, and when his mom tries to go to him, Walker points her gun at her and threatens to shoot her. Okay, that's just unnecessary. "You're going to kill me for trying to comfort my baby?" says Mrs. V. Walker just tells her to sit down. "What kind of person are you?" Mrs. V. asks as she sits. "Doing this to us." Walker tells her to ask her husband, who of course Walker has never met. "Maybe you don't know him as well as you think you do." "I know he would never point a gun near a child," says Mrs. V. Good one. "Shut up!" Walker snaps. This is going well. Finally Walker makes Mrs. V. cuff herself to the coffee table, while the kid gets more and more upset. Whatever, Walker, you're dead to me now. And not just I'll-dig-you-up-again-five-minutes-from-now dead, either.
Elsewhere, Kiefer is closing in on Vossler while Moss directs him towards Vossler's location, Matrix-style. In order to catch up and cut Vossler off, Kiefer goes the wrong way down a one-way street while Moss counts down the seconds to intercept. "I got him," Kiefer says, somehow recognizing on sight a car he's never seen driven by a person he's never met. Good thing it's the right guy, because he slams into Vossler's car (collision-cam!) and each vehicle crashes into another parked car. Well, Kiefer likes to point to his results, and you can't get a much more impressive result than single-handedly totaling four cars. But I'd like to see how Kiefer would have done this if Moss happened to drive a Yaris. Pulling his gun out, Kiefer stomps up to the dazed Vossler, punches him in the head to daze him some more, and drags him out of the car at 3:37:16. From there, he pulls Vossler into the wide-open "security" lobby of an apartment building, throws him down against the wall, and asks where Henry Taylor is. When Vossler doesn't talk, Kiefer goes right to the nuclear options. "Fine, we'll do this your way," he says, as though this weren't exactly what he wants. He pulls out his cell phone to call Walker. Of course, Walker's cell phone is lying in pieces outside Matobo's residence where Litvak left it a few hours ago. Fortunately she's gotten hold of a new one somehow. Vossler hears Kiefer say, "I got Vossler, you got his wife?" "And his child," Walker confirms. Kiefer tells Walker to put her phone on speaker, and tells Vossler, "Talk to your wife!" The Vosslers freak out at each other over Kiefer's phone for a few seconds, and Walker tells Mrs. V, "I didn't want to have to do this." With that, she turns her back and approaches the crying baby, blocking his mother's view of him as he cries even harder. "You can stop this. Just tell me where he is," Kiefer tells Vossler. Mrs. V. backs that up, panicked that Walker's about to pull a Caprica Six on her baby. Finally Vossler agrees to talk. Kiefer tells Walker, "Stand down, I'll get back to you," and hangs up. So Walker, suddenly all caring and compassionate, takes the boy out of the pack-and-play and hands him to his mom, telling him, "Your baby's fine." Mrs. V. isn't exactly grateful for the change of heart. "You're a monster," she says ungratefully. Yes, the new Bride of Kiefer is alive. ALIIIVE!
Back at the security lobby, Vossler balks some more, but when Kiefer gets his cell phone out again, Vossler gives up the address right quick. He also tells Kiefer about the back staircase, that Dubaku was there when he left, and that there are at least four armed guys guarding Henry. Just then a resident bumbles in. "Get out of here!" Kiefer roars at him, and he does, but Vossler takes advantage of the distraction to kick Kiefer's gun out of his hand and come at him with a knife from an ankle holster. Vossler certainly recovered from being t-boned in a hurry. A fight ensues, and just when it looks as though Vossler's about to stick Kiefer in the face, Kiefer twists and sends the knife sinking into Vossler's own gut instead. He goes off and leaves the body, only to find a bunch of looky-loos investigating the accident he just caused. Kiefer yells at them to get away, and since he's a crazy man with a gun (although not nearly as blood-covered as he probably should be), they obey. But Moss's SUV is fucked, so Kiefer has to commandeer a passing Cadillac at gunpoint. I wonder if that would have occurred to him if the car had been a 1983 Bonneville. At 3:40:42, he drives off in his stolen car, thinking, "Hmm, what was that address again?"
At 3:45:04, at the White House, Buchanan is briefing two Secret Service agents. One of the agents is an African-American man who has just finished applying a fake goatee, which makes him look only marginally more like Matobo than I do. Buchanan instructs them to go to the rendezvous point as planned, but keep their distance and get out of there if they think it's getting too dangerous. Sounds simple enough. What could go wrong?
Kiefer calls Walker, who's still at the Vosslers' house, to tell her the address he got from Vossler. Which he was just sitting on during the whole commercial break, the better to mentally transpose a couple of digits and end up storming a day care center or something. Why stop at terrorizing only one child, after all? He tells Walker to stay put if she gets there first, and he tells her to update Moss while he does the same for Buchanan. I'm surprised he cares about keeping Moss in the loop now that he's served his purpose. Walker asks Kiefer about Vossler. "He's dead," Kiefer says. "He attacked me. I didn't have a choice." Walker looks over at the wife and child who are now a widow and an orphan, and she's overcome with guilt. Kiefer asks if she's okay, and she answers that she doesn't think so. "What do you mean?" Kiefer asks, bewildered. "What's wrong?" Well, if you didn't have an idea, why did you ask in the first place? She doesn't answer for a long moment, and he tells her, "Listen to me. We could not have gotten this far if it wasn't for you. Okay? No one would blame you if this was just too much for you to handle. Maybe you should get out." Walker agrees, "Maybe I will." Kiefer gives a pissy little huff that his reverse psychology didn't work, and probably over the fact that his apprentice in evil is bailing on him. But then Walker adds, "Tomorrow," and hangs up. It'll be interesting to see how she gets out of that house now. Except that we won't.
At 3:46:49, Agent Mafauxbo and his driver leave the White House and enter a car from the motorpool. They're live via comm earpiece with Ethan and Taylor in the Oval Office, who tell them they'll be tracking them via satellite. Which doesn't really seem necessary given that they already know where they're going, but it's not like those satellites could be doing anything else right now, with FGOTUS missing and Dubaku at large. Taylor wonders how much time this will buy them. "Ten minutes. Maybe fifteen," Ethan guesses. When in doubt, calibrate all time estimates to the top of the hour. Buchanan enters the room to tell Taylor that Kiefer and Walker have gotten an address for her husband, and they'll arrive at the location in ten to fifteen minutes. See what I mean?
At FBI-DC, Sean glowers creepily at his monitor with his hands folded over his chest. Perhaps he's trying to figure out how to move his cursor with his mind. Erica comes over and hands him a fax from Homeland. "It's like you said, we're being kept out of the loop," she says. Sean gets up to find Moss, leaving Erica standing there and wondering why Janis is staring at her. Once Sean finds Moss, he asks about the threat level being lowered, which of course Moss already knows about. "Don't you think that's odd considering we don't know anything about the CIP device being recovered?" Moss remembers he should think that's odd, and offers to talk to Homeland about it. "I feel like there's something going on behind our back here," Sean presses. Larry repeats that he's on it. He's rescued from this increasingly awkward conversation by the ringing of his cell phone, and he steps into an empty conference room to answer the call from Walker. After hearing she's in the car on her way to Dubaku's hideout, he offers to send a SWAT team to meet them, but Walker says he can't, since Dubaku still has spies at the FBI and it'll blow the whole thing. What she does want him to do is "Keep an incident quiet until what Jack and I are doing goes down." What incident would that be? "Vossler's dead," Walker says. "Jack killed him at the hotel at 18th and Reagan. It was self-defense." Odd, we never heard Kiefer tell Walker where he killed Vossler. And how quiet is Moss going to be able to keep it, given that it happened ten minutes ago in a semi-public place with several witnesses around? Moss is pretty pissed off at how this played out. "Dammit, Renee, what are you doing with this guy? You're supposed to bring suspects in, not murder them." Right, like Kiefer ever has time for that. Walker says she still needs Moss's help, and reminds him that he needs to keep it outside of the Bureau. Fortunately, Moss knows a guy at DC Metro he can trust. Really? He can trust him to keep Moss from being investigated as an accessory to murder, after Moss literally directed Vossler's killer right to him and asked to have his death temporarily covered up? Because that's a lot of trust. Also, do you suppose Walker ever told Mrs. V. that her husband was dead? Or even identified herself as a law enforcement officer? Because I'm sure she would have, since it's not like she was doing anything wrong.
At 3:48:12, one of Dubaku's minions reports that Matobo (or possibly Tim Meadows) just left the White House in a car, and that it looks like the American forces appear to be withdrawing from Sangala. Dubaku suddenly is in a much better mood, but that's about to end, because his girlfriend's sister is calling him on his cell phone. She's actually opened that letter she was holding earlier, as she tells him that she checked with someone she knows at immigration, and he's busted: "Nobody named Samuel Aboa immigrated from Sangala in the last year, or in the last fifteen years." Dubaku says it's a mistake, but Rosa trusts the INS more than she does her sister's boyfriend. He asks if Marika knows, and Rosa unwisely says she hasn't told anyone at all yet, which is like saying, "Please come over here and kill me now." But of course Rosa still thinks she's in charge here: "Break up with her, and this stays between us. Just end it tonight, and we won't have a problem." Dubaku's going to end something, all right. After hanging up, he picks up his gun and tells his minion, "I have to take care of a little problem. Call me when we have Matobo." It's 3:50:34.
At 3:54:54, Walker pulls over across the street from the Korean grocery and waits. Kiefer is still en route, driving like a psycho, of course. It's like he's daring someone to get his license plate number and report him. "See what it gets you, suckers!" Buchanan calls from the Oval Office to tell him that Mafauxbo and the driver are arriving for the rendezvous at the power plant and they're running out of time before Dubaku gets suspicious. "Agent Walker and I'll move in as soon as we get there," Kiefer says. "I'll keep you posted." Buchanan ends the call and turns to Taylor, who's watching the satellite feed of the power plant on the big screen. The agent driving the limo tells them they've arrived and can see Dubaku's men. At 3:55:56, the car pulls onto a lot, surrounded by four of Dubaku's guys, who are dressed in military khakis. You know, to blend in. The driver takes out his gun and puts it on the console, for all the good it's gong to do him. "Bring him to us," orders one of Dubaku's men. Both agents just sit there. After a moment, one of the soldiers pulls out a phone to make a call. "Hang tight, agent," Buchanan orders over the driver's earpiece. By now, the solider with the phone has gotten through to Dubaku, who is walking down the street back to his building. He reports, "The car arrived, but nothing is happening." Dubaku figures out what's up with alarming speed. Maybe he's learned something about Taylor after all. He orders, "Destroy the vehicle."
Taylor tells Buchanan to pull the agents out, but as Buchanan relays the order, Dubaku's soldier is already raising his arm high in some kind of signal. "Roger that," says the driver, taking his time to back the car into a stately turn. This agent clearly flunked the evasive driving course at Secret Service school. He's just putting it back into drive when he happens to look up at a tall power structure nearby, atop which is a guy with a bazooka. The last thing the agent sees is the RPG streaking toward his hood. And an explosion blossoms on the Oval Office big screen. Nice going, Buchanan. Well, at least they've got a fix on five of Dubaku's guys, and will be able to nab them quickly and easily now, right? Right?
At 3:57:06, Kiefer double-parks to Walker's car (go ahead and tow the fucker, see if he cares) and they head straight across the street and into the grocery, guns out. Kiefer grabs the cashier and drags him to the back room, telling him to unlock the door and ask the men downstairs what they want to eat. "You do one thing I don't like and I will blow your head off, you understand me?" The cashier complies, and Kiefer thanks him by knocking him unconscious. Kiefer steps through the doorway and uses a hand mirror to peer through a hole in the brick wall blocking his view of the basement. Seeing four guys down there watching TV, he uses secret-agent sign language to tell Walker that there are four people and that she should start downstairs, while he covers the location from the relatively safe location above by sticking his gun through the hole in the wall. That seems rather unchivalrous of him.
Down below, one of Dubaku's minions gets a call from their boss, who orders, "Kill Henry Taylor." "We'll have nothing to hold over their heads," the minion objects. Dubaku says that's already the case, since clearly the president hasn't gotten any less stubborn in the past hour. "We are done here. Kill Taylor and have the men pack everything up." Should be a fun debrief with Juma when he gets back to Sangala. After the call ends, suddenly another guy comes around the corner from another room in the basement, and spots Walker in the middle of climbing down the outside of the stairs, just hanging there like a sitting duck. She just hangs there, hoping that since she's officially presumed dead, he can't actually see her. But that doesn't seem to work, and he reaches for his gun. Lucky for her, Kiefer shoots him before he can pick her off, and as she drops down and he breaks cover, the yelling and shooting and running begins. Kiefer jumps down and engages the enemy, who barricade themselves behind cases of beer. Oh, it's such a terrible waste; I can hear the bullets plinking through the bottles. Heartbreaking. Walker gets in a few good shots as well. Soon all of Dubaku's men are down, except for one, who limps at high speed to the very-back room where Henry is being held. Henry looks pretty curious about what's going on outside. Just as Dubaku's henchman reaches the room, Kiefer slides feet-first on the floor to the end of the hall, putting himself in position to put three bullets in him. Which he does. Pretty fancy move, that. But before the henchman falls, he's able to fire his own gun once at Henry Taylor. It hits him in the torso, and his chair flips backward from the force of the bullet. Kiefer comes into the room, making sure the last guy is dead, but he's horrified to find the FGOTUS unconscious and bleeding, lying on his back. He starts loosening Henry's tie and collar, and when Walker comes in, he bellows, "Get an ambulance!" at her, like this is her fault.
You know, every few seasons, we get a character like Janet York or Paul Raines, whose lot is to suffer one humiliating indignity and injury after another. And this year it's the First Gentleman of the United States, who in just the past eight hours has been patronized, lied to, tattled on, spied on, paralyzed, framed, dropped from a great height, kicked, bound, gagged, kidnapped, stuffed in a trunk, held hostage, digitally mutilated, and now shot. And considering what ended up happening to Janet York and Paul Raines, maybe the prez needs to get used to the idea that her husband might not be around by this time tomorrow. It's 4:00:00.
M. Giant is a Minneapolis-based writer with a wife, a son, and a number of cats that seems to have settled at around two. Learn waaaay too much about him at Velcrometer, follow him on Twitter (mgiant), or just e-mail him at M.Giant[at]gmail.com.
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