Walsh Out

S08E20

At CTU, Arlo is on the phone with somebody about CTU's security for the signing ceremony (oh, that) when he gets a call on his headset from Chloe, high above him in her office. He switches lines and they look at each other through her glass wall as she asks him who the psych officer on duty is. Arlo says that's Melissa Anderson, who did all the grief counseling last night. Which was apparently so arduous that she's still on shift well into the morning. Chloe wants her to check Kiefer out when he arrives. "You really think that's necessary?" Arlo wonders. Chloe says she wouldn't order it if she didn't. Arlo's on it. This is all very interesting and totally moot.

But it gave Kiefer and Cole enough time to ascend to the roof, which is fortunately uneven and cluttered enough to allow them to avoid being seen by the rooftop sentry. The bad news is that the access doors are all locked from the inside. Staying out of sight, Kiefer climbs up and hides behind a large A/C unit long enough to overhear a security check. "Command, this is unit four, roof's clear," Kiefer hears the guard say into his walkie-talkie. Kiefer quietly signals to Cole, who throws something and ducks back down out of sight. While the sentry comes over to check it out (instead of taking the fire escape and getting into a cab to LaGuardia, as anyone should do in this situation), Kiefer sneaks up behind him and gets in a brief fistfight which results in the sentry being hurled off that level of the roof. The unfortunate man plummets an entire half-story, which knocks him out cold. Even better news: Kiefer spots an open access door, to which they now have a clear path. This is going smoother than shit through a goose.

A minute later, they're both inside and quietly making their way down the stairs, remaining unseen and seeing nothing suspicious. Until a few levels down, when Kiefer can spot at least four shadowy figures who for some reason are standing where they can't see the door. Kiefer and Cole duck into a hiding spot where they can regroup and plan, and Kiefer comes up with this: "You make that cover, I'll draw them out." He ducks further back and speaks quietly into the walkie-talkie he stole off the sentry, telling "Command" that he's taking sniper fire from across the street and needs backup. The guy running the laptop in a separate room, whom I shall cleverly call "Command," orders all units to the roof, despite the fact that unit four's voice now sounds totally different and the fact that if anyone were to storm the hideout, sniping at it from a neighboring building would be about the dumbest way to do it. Kiefer and Cole stay hidden until everyone runs for the stairs, then continue their exploration. Once all the bad guys are on the roof (save Bledsoe and Command), one of them reports back that it's quiet and there's no sign of their sentry. While Command tries to raise unit four, Kiefer darts in behind him, puts his gun to his head, and demands, "Where's Dana Walsh?" Command doesn't spill right away, but when Kiefer presses the muzzle of his gun to Command's knee and says, "Last chance," Command tells him, "First room on the left." You can't blame Command for rolling over. He's there for the money, not to get maimed for some higher cause. Although there are worse places to shoot a laptop jockey than the leg; if anything, having a shattered femur would make me more productive, not less. Kiefer thanks Command and pistol-whips him into a nap. The guys on the roof are on their way back by now. With Cole in his wake, Kiefer stomps into the torture chamber, where Bledsoe has cranked Dana upright again and is using her body as a shield while holding his gun to her head. Kiefer threatens to kill Bledsoe, who isn't buying: "You won't take the shot, it's too risky. I'll kill her before--" Yeah, that's Kiefer taking the shot. Looks like Bledsoe called that one wrong, big time. He's dead now. Kiefer tells Cole to release Dana and take her out the back, toot-sweet. Cole hurries to comply while Kiefer takes up position at the door. He shoots the first two guys who pop around the corner, Lethal Enforcers-style, and a moment later Dana is free. Cole drags her out while Kiefer stays with them. Switching to a revolver for some reason, or maybe just to show off, he pops another guy in the hallway and sends Cole on down the stairs: "Get going, I'll be right behind you." Kiefer empties his revolver at two more guys, then lobs a flash grenade and takes off. It's 11:15:32, and it looks like they could have done just as well if Cole had been carrying blanks after all.