Episode Report Card M. Giant: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Spawn to the Rescue!
By M. Giant | Season 7 | Episode 23 | Aired on 05.18.2009
At the gate, the agent says the plane is just about ready to board, and calls up some standby passengers, including Spawn. The agent calls Spawn up to the front of the line and hands her the phone, which won't look suspicious at all. Suddenly she's on the line with Walker, her old friend from earlier that night. "Try not to react and do not look around," Walker says. "You're in danger. You're being watched by operatives sent by Tony Almeida." Spawn is confused, not least because she's just now learning that Tony is the bad guy, but also because she's Spawn. I'm still confused about why the Faux-yer didn't call and cut them loose like she said she would once Tony was free. Keeping them in place this long is risking exposure unnecessarily. Poor management, Faux-yer. Walker says she's on her way to the airport, but they need to ID the people watching her. Several steps behind as always, Spawn tells her about the stalker that of course Walker already knew about because she sent him. She's looking for someone who might have a means of sending live video of Spawn, like a camera or a phone. "Or a laptop?" Spawn asks. She starts describing Bob, but he suddenly appears around the pillar right next to her, so she has to start faking like she's talking to baggage claim for his benefit. Walker hangs up and tells Chloe and Janis to have airport police close down the terminal, but "do nothing to raise suspicion." This while Spawn hangs up the phone, making up a story about having left her electric toothbrush on in her suitcase. Sure, an "electric toothbrush." Does it run on C batteries and have interchangeable attachments? Before following him back to where they're sitting, she snags a boarding pass folder -- and a pen -- off the counter at 6:25:43. Try to do that with a little more gritty determination, Spawn.
When they return to Smiley, they're both pretending that she doesn't know, and that they don't know she knows they know, which, to be fair, maybe she doesn't actually know they know she knows they know she knows. Spawn's sucking at it anyway, so Smiley asks if she's okay. Spawn comes up with her second credible cover story in as many minutes when she starts babbling about missing her daughter, and whips out some pictures. The bonus of course being that she's also showing them that she's the mother of a small child, whom Spawn's death would leave without a mother. Or maybe I'm giving Spawn too much credit, both as a student of human nature and as a mother. She's flipping through them for Smiley when Bob starts noticing the airport security cops wandering around, talking into their radios at a distance. He gets up with his laptop bag, while Smiley secretly pulls a black plastic knife from her carry-on. "Take her," Bob says, and starts shooting at the security guards. Dude, how did he get that gun in? Not to mention the prodigious amount of ammunition he's going to be firing in this scene? All the civilians in sight hit the deck and airport cops begin to fall as Spawn tries to make a run for it, but she's caught by Smiley, who uses her as a shield rather than killing her outright. Yeah, again, they really don't know her at all. Bob runs around, shooting cops and bystanders, while Spawn manages to pull her stolen pen out and stabs it into Smiley's leg. With a cry of pain, Smiley releases her, and Spawn drops to the floor, allowing the surviving guards a clear shot at her assailant. She's quickly taken down. Using a pillar for cover, Bob quickly takes in the situation, and also takes a bullet or two to the leg from a guard he failed to completely kill. But he's still able to dive through a door marked "Authorized Personnel Only." Of course it's not locked; why would it be locked? The sign clearly says "Authorized Personnel Only." Anyone else would know to stay out. Spawn grabs her phone to call Walker and tell her what's going on, as well as asking where the airport police are. "The woman is dead and the man is getting away," she frets. Walker says they need him to find Kiefer, which is the last thing Spawn hears before her phone's battery dies for good. "Dammit!" she Kiefers. And then she gets up and runs through that door, which is not only not kept locked, but doesn't even close automatically. I suppose anyone who's authorized to go through there would know enough to close it behind them. It's 6:28:22, and once again the fate of the world hangs on Spawn not fucking up.
At 6:32:45, Olivia enters a cramped White House basement room where Ethan's being held. Surprisingly, no commando teams appear to have entered from underground in the whole time he's been there. He politely stands and greets her, which she appreciates. "Old habits die hard," he admits. Olivia says she found the digital recorder, and she wants back what he took, or she'll have him strip-searched. Oh, I don't think any of us wants to see that. Ethan admits that he has a recording, but he only wants it for the record of his own conversations. Because he just loves the sound of his own voice that much. He even offers to listen to it with her, but Olivia says that's not going to fly. Ethan asks what she's so worried about. All she'll say is that she'll drop all charges if he just hands it over. When he silently refuses, she waves the agents in to search him. He continues to bluster, right up until an agent pulls a memory card out of his inside jacket pocket. He hands it to Olivia, who thanks him and orders Ethan processed out. Whatever that means. Before leaving, Ethan warns Olivia, "I don't think you understand the seriousness of what you're doing." "I don't think you do," she schoolyards back at him. Ethan and his guard go down the hallway at 6:35:44. Once Olivia's alone, she snaps the card in two. Which takes some doing, but she's quite relieved once it's done. Because she thinks she's got the real card, you see.
In the upstairs hallway, Aaron shows up to escort Ethan "the rest of the way." Once Ethan and Aaron are walking alone, Ethan says that he's certain Olivia's hiding something. "Lucky for us I'm a paranoid son of a bitch." Outside the building, Aaron reaches into his arm sling and hands the memory card hidden inside to Ethan. Yes, Ethan pulled a switcheroo with a blank card. Although I don't know when Ethan slipped the card to Aaron, because as far as he knew he was going to walk out of there scot-free. Unless he is an even more paranoid son of a bitch than he lets on. In any case, Aaron offers to sneak Ethan into the communications office, but Ethan says he can play it back in his car. "One has to be prepared when you're dealing with Olivia," Ethan explains. And when there's less than an hour and a half left in the season.
At 6:37:15, the Faux-yer drives her SUV -- with Tony and Kiefer still her passengers -- into a standard-issue warehouse hideout that looks like it could have been moved brick by brick all the way from Los Angeles. A couple of dust-masked medical techs in white coats are waiting, and they drag Kiefer down a long hallway to a lit room, him twitching the whole way. "What are you doing?" Kiefer says when he spots the third white-coated figure waiting there. "We're gonna use you to reconstitute the bioweapon, Jack," Tony says. By now, the medical goons have dragged Kiefer through the plastic sheeting and are manhandling him onto a gurney facedown. The doctor tells Tony it'll be fifteen minutes before they know whether this will work. Tony leaves them to it, while Kiefer is strapped to the table and given a shot in the back of his neck, which seems to immobilize him. "There we go," the doctor says almost gently. It's kind of like watching a cat being put to sleep.
Outside, Tony wants to talk to the Faux-yer: "I want a larger role in the organization, and I think this is a good time to make my case." She tries to tell him that The Group doesn't work that way, even as useful as Tony's been today. Tony says he knows she talks to the top guy. "All's I'm asking is that you get us in the same room together." Which should be a total giveaway that he's had ulterior motives all along (or should that be ultra-ulterior motive