Episode Report Card Keckler: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Hail To The Thief
By Keckler | Season 2 | Episode 2 | Aired on 02.18.2008
Beck's office. Darcy continues to prove to us that Hawkins never taught her a poker face.
Situation-mobile. The download is now 55% complete.
Beck's office. Darcy hugs her purse to her, and the SS finally acts on his suspicions. He makes a beeline for Darcy, which causes a concerned Beck to rush out of his office.
The download is 62% complete.
The SS asks if he can look inside Darcy's purse. She just stares at him, as Beck asks, "Is that really necessary?" The SS glances up at Beck and makes a sort of ugly attempt at a smile, telling us that he's giving Beck the barest respect possible, and says, "Yes sir, it is." The "sir" is almost sarcastic. Darcy just looks frightened.
The download is 78% complete.
All at once, Darcy just hands over her purse. The SS rifles though it, occasionally giving Darcy the gimlet eye. Beck catches Darcy's eye, shaking his head slightly and rolling his eyes irritably at the inconvenience. I'm really loving Beck.
Hawkins taps away at the laptop.
The SS continues to paw through stuff until Beck glances over at a corner of the office. He looks at the SS, who is still giving Darcy the evil eye. "You searched the entire office, huh?" Beck starts in. The SS finally looks up at Beck, who directs his gaze at a low shelf. We hear the walkie-talkie before we see it set on top of some envelopes. The SS bends down to look, and we get a nice view of his "Aw, crap!" face before he palms the walkie-talkie and uses it to tell the other SS that they found the radio. Beck tilts his head with total attitude as he eyes the SS, and again looks over at Darcy to shake his head over the idiocy of the SS. Okay, so they found it, but wouldn't the SS still be wondering how the walkie-talkie got from the Situation-mobile to Beck's office?
Eric walks into Bailey's and tells Jake that the crash is over because they found the walkie-talkie in Beck's office. "They're pretty embarrassed to have the whole group out looking," Eric adds. The wheels in Jake's brain turn and turn. "And light staff at the Situation-mobile," he says. "He caused the crash on purpose." Why did you have to say that out loud, Jake? It's like when Chuck flashes and can't seem to resist jawing about what he saw, usually right in front of the people who will kill him for it. Without explaining to dumb Eric or drunk Utley what he means, Jake takes off. "What?" Eric duhs, as Utley just goes back to his drink.
Situation-mobile. The download is 95% complete. Hawkins puts his fist up to his mouth and makes several faces. Scenes like this totally give me ulcers. The download is finally complete. Hawkins rips out the flash drive, and the monitor is back to doing its facial recognition thing. Stepping over the bodies of the SS, Hawkins heads to the door. Which he has to jump behind as it opens. Hawkins raises his gun and watches the SS discover the other SS bodies. The SS turns around, and Chavez -- suddenly on the scene -- delivers the SS a good, hard, sharp one between the eyes. The SS goes down with a grunt. Still behind the door, Hawkins waits while Chavez takes out another SS. Chavez kicks the SS down the stairs, and Hawkins closes the Situation-mobile door. More SS arrive on the scene, but Chavez leaps over the City Hall banisters and tries to escape. Unfortunately, he runs right into Beck and a knot of brother soldiers. Chavez runs in the other direction and takes down a Jericho deputy. Jake skids onto the scene. Chavez launches himself bodily at Jake, throwing his arms around him and knocking him to the floor. Chavez then gets rather handsy with Jake on the floor, hissing, "Find Hawkins!" before he's dragged off under Beck's angrily heaving chest and glare. On his feet, Jake looks totally rattled. Beck looks at Jake once before following Chavez out. Jake, still bugging out, looks around at Darcy standing in a doorway.
Hunting cabin. Hawkins taps away at his laptop. Jake bursts in, and after the usual gun-pulling and lowering, Jake gets all accuse-y with Hawkins for having a contact in Beck's camp and not telling him. "He hurt one of my deputies," says Jake. Aw, is it your deputy who got hurt, or your feelings because Hawkins is keeping secrets from you? Hawkins just asks how Jake knows about his guy inside. Jake angrily explains what happened with Chavez's arrest and Chavez's command for Jake to find Hawkins. Understanding, Hawkins snaps his head up. Moving quickly, he puts his gun on the desk and returns to Jake, where, without even asking, he begins to pull at Jake's clothes. Man, Jake is just getting molested all over the place tonight! Jake pushes Hawkins off, and they stare each other down. Hawkins orders, "Check your pockets! Check 'em!" Cautiously, Jake feels himself up. He pulls out a scrap of paper. "Okay," Hawkins breathes, and goes to snatch the paper. But Jake is too quick for the likes of Hawkins! He jerks his hand out of reach and demands an explanation. Hawkins explains about the files from the Situation-mobile, and how he can't open them without the password, which Chavez was supposed to get for him. Hawkins told Chavez that he could trust Jake if he was in trouble. "So, that's what this was all about -- files?" Jake blusters. Oh, Jake, they are never just files -- have you learned nothing?! We're talking about Hawkins, so at the very least they'd be Awesome Files. Hawkins just says, "Conspiracy this big leaves footprints, Jake." Jake glares and thrusts the password at Hawkins. Hawkins thanks him and jumps back on the computer. He explains to Jake that right after the bombs went off, all the blast sites were tested by the military to determine the origin of the fissile material in the bombs. The results said that the bombs were made in North Korea. "Are you saying they doctored the results? They falsified them?" Jake demands. Jake, if you don't start to learn faster, I'm going to start calling you "Eric." However, it's interesting that, after all Jake has been through, after all he's seen -- before the bombs, during the bombs, after the bombs -- he continues to be stubbornly naïve and trusting. A regular person who hasn't done nebulous stuff in Afghanistan and Iraq would be like that. Hell, I'd have a hard time accepting how deep the government's perfidy ran. Yet, Jake the teenage resister of authority, Jake with his Ravenwater-Blackwood background, Jake the accidental killer of a seven-year-old -- he's still not too jaded to hope that shiny, happy things happen. It's sort of sweet. Stupid, but sweet.