Previously on The Agency: Billy killed a guy who knew his brother, Patton told Billy that his dead brother trained assassins for a living and then dropped the bomb that Billy's brother didn't have to die, Jeanie ran around Florida perfecting her Spanish, and Paige did some graphic stuff with her computer which pretty much did nothing but fill time.
We begin this episode with a shot of Dubya Palace, complete with West Wing-ian trumpet overtones. Big Cheese picks up a paper and takes a seat to the Prez's secretary. "So, who do you like on Sunday?" he asks. She claims to not know what he's talking about. "Mrs. Simmons," Cheese chastises, "I see you every morning when I deliver the President's daily brief and I have it on excellent authority that you went three for three last weekend." Yeah, I thought that sounded vaguely pornographic myself. By the way, I was provided with top-level information that the director of the CIA doesn't give daily briefings to the President; he briefs the National Security Advisor, who in turn briefs the President weekly. The director of the CIA only shows up at the Oval Office if something serious is going on. How do I know this? I never reveal my sources. By the way, thanks for the info, Lauren!
D'oh! Dammit. Now I'll have to kill you all.
Anyway, Simmons says that it must be a pretty achingly slow day over at the CIA if the Big Cheese has time to discuss football. Oh, so it wasn't some sort of orgy to which he was referring. As if on cue, Simmons's phone rings just as she informs the Cheese that she has the Lions by nine. Aw, cute wittle White House banter. Simmons hands the phone to Cheese because the call's for him. It's Rocky.
"Sir," begins Rocky, "a little over an hour ago, Colombian Air Force shot down an American plane near the Peru border; two known casualties. Colombians thought they were drug dealers." "Who were they?" asks Cheese. "Apparently...missionaries," says Rocky reluctantly. "The Colombian military can't find their own ass, how did they find that plane?" hisses Cheese. Hee! "They didn't, sir," says Rocky, seeking the nearest possible Valium. "We found it for them." Just then, Simmons informs Cheese that the Prez will see him now. Wonder if Dubya will offer him a danish before Cheese informs him that we just contributed to the death of two completely innocent people.
Blue-tinted credits and twenty minutes of commercials later...
Spook Central. Billy and Patton are doing the clogging two-step down the halls of secrecy. Billy brings up Patton's exit line from the episode -- you know, the one about his brother not having to die? Okay, that's kind of cool; they're actually trying to run these episodes concurrently. Point one on a scale that reaches to ten. POINT ONE. Nine more points and this show might actually not make me want to shove lit sticks of incense through my eyeballs.
Patton hems and haws about how he was all feeling sorry for himself, and that he was wicked drunk. "'Your brother didn't have to die.' How does that come out of sorry, upset, and drunk?" Patton tries to shove him off with an excuse about a meeting he has to attend. Billy Velcros himself to Patton's side, saying they can talk on the way.
Hacker Designs, Inc. Paige is balancing a bagel and an extra large mocha as she tells Miles that she might have to leave work early that day. She was served that morning. "Trouble?" Miles asks. "No, 'trouble' is getting my mind around the fact that there's a 'Boogie Burger' inside the CIA," she says. What? What the hell is "Boogie Burger"? And what the hell does it have to do with the CIA? Oh, never mind. Paige pulls out the papers she received that morning, and Miles immediately recognizes them as divorce papers. Basically, the papers mean that she has to give up her employment records and pay stubs -- not an easy task when one is working at a place that one can't actually talk about. Paige is worried that no one is going to believe that she's become a graphic artist for the "Department of Commerce." Miles assures her that the CIA will nab her a lawyer, one who's been cleared to deal with all the legal problems of employees of the "Department of Commerce." Is everyone who's employed at the CIA supposed to tell people they're employed at the Department of Commerce? Don't you think people would get a little suspicious? Maybe they just mix it up, and every third person is supposed to tell their friends and loved ones that they work at the Department of Streets and Sanitation or the Office of After-School Specials or something.
Big Cheese Crib. Cheese enters, all flustered, barking at his secretary that he needs coffee and that he's expecting Leslie Turnbull from Public Affairs. Turns out Turnbull's already there, so Cheese just re-barks the order for coffee. Turnbull says, "Hear we shot down a couple of missionaries." Man, she doesn't pull any punches, does she? No, "Hey, Cheese! How's it hangin'? How's the wife?" and then on to the whole "America fucked up once again" stuff. Nope. Turnbull's obviously stepped into the well-worn shoes of the Kathy Bates character in Primary Colors and calls 'em like she sees 'em. "I don't think we shot down anybody," says Cheese, settling himself into his captain's chair. Rocky states that the CIA exposure comes from the fact that they had a plane in the area. "Just passing by?" Turnbull says sarcastically. Rocky straightforwardly tells her that the CIA plane alerted the Colombian air force that the plane they shot down was suspicious.
Cheese's overworked secretary arrives with his coffee and speed-talks something about a Senate Oversight Committee meeting that day at four, and also something about a budget review, and then something else about how Cheese is testifying. "This story gonna break by four?" Cheese asks Turnbull. "Good bet," she replies. "Guess I won't be answering very many questions about the budget," grumps Cheese. Turnbull wants to know whether she should offer up the standard "the Agency never confirms or denies its involvement in intelligence gathering operations" statement, or just a straight "no comment," about this situation. Rocky wants to know which will play worse. "Both," says Turnbull. "It's better to give something out. It's not the crime that kills you, it's the cover-up." Cheese insists that there was no crime. "Do we know that?" asks Commander Turnbull. Really. She's worse than Dale Dye here. Poor Cheese is under the gun, and she's just rifling off snappish quips like that's going to help matters. Go back to boot camp where you belong, Turnbull. Cheese obviously agrees with me, because he dismisses the Commander with a gruff "thank you" and turns to Rocky. "Who's running that damn program?" he asks.
Colombian Cartel-Catching Circus. Here's where we meet a flippy little girl who is apparently the one in charge of that damn program. She spews out some spook jargon about how it's a joint operation wherein the CIA runs surveillance flights. "This morning, one of them spotted a small plane that fit the profile of a drug runner: flying low, evasive maneuvers. Our people notified the Colombians to check it out." "And the Colombians checked it out with automatic weapons fire," retorts Rocky. "There's recon video on the spotter plane's nose," she responds. "We'll have that tape in a few hours." "About the time I'm being barbequed by the Senate Oversight committee," grouses Cheese. Yeah, it's all about you, Cheese.
Cheese declares that the surveillance flights are suspended. Flippy doesn't like the sound of this. She claims that her little project is closing in on one Pablo Esperanza, a man whose guerrilla group is a threat to government authority all through the border area. "But we have been tracking him with our planes; they carry signal intercept for cell and short wave, run infrared, direction finding --" "We sold those flights in Congress as an aid in drug operation," says Rocky. Flippy has an answer for everything: "Esperanza's in bed with the major cocaine growers; they pay taxes to him and he protects their plantations --" "And he uses the money to build up his army," finishes Rocky.
"The Committee is not going to want to hear I'm keeping those flights running to protect the Colombian government," says Cheese, starting to exit. "Sir, you can't stop the flights!" states Flippy. Wow. Quit a lot of chutzpah for such a little girl. Cheese looks at her in surprise and asks if that's an order. "I'm sorry," she says, "but a dumb mistake like this shouldn't jeopardize --" "The success of your operation?" queries Cheese incredulously. "I am not after Esperanza to get a raise, sir," she states, crossing her arms like a defiant eight-year -old in the middle of a temper tantrum. Cheese wants to know how much time it'll take for her to find this guy. She wants a week. Cheese gives her till midnight and walks out. Flippy looks perturbed, and snits off to find some lesser member of her team that she can browbeat into submission just to make herself feel better.
Park bench overlooking the Lincoln Memorial. A lone man sits upon the bench, contemplating the tuna salad he had for lunch and questioning whether or not he should have gone with the roast beef instead. Billy meanders up and attempts to look like he's just going to settle on this bench for a minute to read the paper, instead of looking like what he does look like: a spook meeting with an informant.
"Morning, Mr. Borovinski," Billy says, not looking at the man. "Reading anything interesting?" The man, who anyone who's a fan of Moscow on the Hudson will recognize as Anatoly, the Communist-trapped circus clown, responds, "Wars and politics. Politics and wars." He opens up a cigar case, finds it empty, and turns to Billy, wondering if he… "Smoked all mine for breakfast," Billy quips. Ha. HA HA. That Billy! He's one funny spook!
Billy asks if Anatoly has set up the meeting with their "friend." Anatoly has. Billy wants to know if their "friend" has the info he needs. Their "friend" takes the delivery schedule of the nuclear material with him to Europe that same evening. "He has it wiss him," says Anatoly. "If he does," says Billy, "we'll pay you fifty thousand dollars." "Are you insane?" asks Anatoly. "Not good enough?" asks Billy. "Too good," says Anatoly. "I'll take it." Damn! You mean I could make a quick fifty thou just for setting up a meeting with some guy who has a nuclear material delivery schedule in his pocket? I am in the WRONG business. "See you at noon," says Billy, walking off.
Elevator of Spookiness. "How's it going with Borovinski?" asks Patton. "No," says Billy. "No?" says Patton. That's exactly what I'd say. "No? NO? Whaddya mean 'no'?! Look, you little pissant, you're still new here. Don't think that your brother kicking the bucket buys you any special privileges, dickweed. This ain't Animal House, you know. There's no LEGACY program in existence at the CIA. When I ask you a question, I expect an answer! Now, how's it going with Borovinski? And you'd better gimme an answer I like this time!"
"No," says Billy. "I'm still waiting for an explanation about Eric." "Man, you're relentless," says Patton, making a mental note NEVER to drink excessive amounts of liquor around Billy EVER AGAIN. "Yeah, well, when someone in my family dies, I get a little obsessive," says Billy. The doors open up. "You know, he was overseas at Kosovo," says Patton, starting to exit. "And?" says Billy, not letting him leave. "There was a war going on," says Patton. "And you said he didn't have to die," Billy emotes. "Matt," whispers Patton. "I don't know anything."
Patton leaves Billy behind in the elevator, and I run over to the fridge to grab another beer and then traipse on over to IMDb to find out all I can about Will Patton because, people, this guy ROCKS. Gil Bellows? What-EVER. Will Patton is consistently interesting in every single thing he does, and he proved it by being the most interesting thing about this scene with Billy. And, after checking out his résumé, I realized that I've seen practically everything he's ever been in. How could I not? THE MAN IS IN EVERYTHING. Know why? Because he's GOOD. Let's hope he can save the shit outta this show. Between him and Miles, well, it just might be possible.
Hacker Designs, Inc. Paige is going over some document with a magnifying glass. Either she's doing research, or she's legally blind and this is how she reads anything smaller than a senior citizen-approved large-print work of fiction. Miles walks up with Jeanie and requests a cover for her that will mesh with Billy's. No, it doesn't matter what kind of cover it is. Paige checks her database and runs down a list of Jeanie's covers. "Looks like you were a State Department Political Officer, an anthropology graduate student and a...whaling treaty negotiator..." Miles straightens up and says, "Free Willy!" No, I'm not joking. I wish I were. I'm fairly sure that David Clennon shot this scene, grabbed his coffee, walked quickly back to his trailer, and immediately phoned his agent, instructing said agent to check his Agency contract for an exit clause.
Flippy and Patton, sittin' in a tree. Or a conference room, or something. Flippy states that they have to find Esperanza by midnight. Patton uses his handy Seinfeld laser pointer to highlight a spot on a projected aerial map. "For the past four months, he's been spotted here," he says. "The local cartel's biggest refinery." He then points out a training ground for Esperanza's troops, which also happens to be the village Esperanza grew up in. Patton wants to know how many planes Flippy wants deployed. "All of 'em," says Flippy with her typical Pi Beta Phi chipperness.
Nuclear Schedule Café. A large Russian man is asking Anatoly if they're safe. Anatoly assures Fat Man that these people they're meeting are pros. Jeanie and Billy enter, all togged out like "pros." Fat Man wants to know how he'll be protected. Jeanie assures him that he'll be protected any way he needs to be protected. Fat Man tells them that he has the schedule with shipments, times, drop-off points, and means of transport. Wait a second. Why do they have to have secret identities if this guy knows who they are? Are the fake IDs for the maitre d'? Do they get them a better table? Better service? I could use those fake ID makers, if that's the case. I get shit for service at every restaurant in the Chicago area.
Fat Man's all nervous that someone will see him with members of the CIA. Billy reassures him that they're just four diplomats having a friendly lunch. Jeanie leans forward and says, "We appreciate what you're doing, Mr. Arapov. Nobody wants to see enriched uranium being shipped to terrorists." "Somebody in my government does," sweats Arapov. "Somebody corrupt," ices Jeanie. "Somebody who could have me killed," sweats Arapov some more. "And not just me. What happens after I give you the schedule and you interfere with the shipments? I must be suspect!" Billy puts on his best spook-face and says, "There are different ways shipments are interfered with. Trucks break down, trains derail, accidents happen. We can't let the uranium get into the wrong hands." While Billy goes off like he's The Man From U.N.C.L.E. all of a sudden, Jeanie just looks at Arapov like he needs a shot of morphine, STAT.
Arapov states that he wants to come to America. He wants a new name, a house, a car, and an income -- that's his price. "We can do that if your information is good," says Jeanie. "Today," says Arapov, his blood pressure rising. "Not today," says Jeanie. "Tonight you fly into Europe to deliver the schedule, right?" "At ten o'clock," says Arapov. "The embassy driver picks me up at my apartment at eight." "Then you have to be there," says Billy. "At eight. Everything normal or they'll change the schedule and it'll be worthless to us...and to you." Arapov weighs the situation and turns to Anatoly for a little Russian conversation, wherein Arapov asks if he can trust these kids and Anatoly tells him these kids have made him rich and Arapov says they're talking about his life. Arapov fiddles with his tie and finally says, "Okay...uh...it's very warm...okay...okay...I will..." Suddenly, Arapov leans over onto Anatoly, his face going white. Jeanie, being a former medical professional, reaches out and searches Arapov's wrist for a pulse. She pulls back and attempts to look like someone just uttered something vaguely insulting as she says, "I think he's dead." Anatoly pulls back from Arapov like death is catching.
Big Cheese Crib. Commander Turnbull makes an entrance, stating that the story's already out. The story goes that there are two Americans dead, three planes involved -- the missionaries, the Colombian fighter, and a third plane seen by eyewitnesses. "Third plane?" Cheese asks. Commander insists that the CIA can still get out in front of this story and make it about the U.S. fighting the drug war. "When's the story gonna reach the States?" asks Cheese. "As soon as someone from the A.P. Latin America desk realizes what it is. Couple hours, maybe less," surmises Commander. Cheese's secretary enters and tells him to turn on Channel 8. "I'd say less," says Cheese, reaching for the remote.
A newscaster comes on and repeats the story for those of us who haven't been paying attention for the past fifteen minutes. The newscaster says that there's been no comment from U.S. officials but, for several years, the CIA has cooperated with the Colombian air force in patrolling the skies against drug smugglers. Cheese's beleaguered secretary once again enters and tells Cheese that the White House is on line one.
It would seem that the CIA pays close attention to the news because, as Patton enters some high-tech domain, we can hear the same newscaster spouting more information about the shooting, and Patton stops to watch the story on TV. The victims are identified as Tom Stewart and his ten-year-old son, Mark. They were members of a missionary group traveling from the Missouri-based Church Of The Cross On The Hill Of The Place By The Thing Where We Met That Time. The surviving members, Mrs. Jennifer Stewart and her daughter Sarah, were en route to America for a vacation when the tragedy occurred. As this last little tidbit is announced, Paige is watching it on some other TV over at Hacker Designs. Over in Flippy's Command Central, she and some other spooks are momentarily interrupted in their plans to overthrow a Colombian drug cartel by the newscaster's announcement that eyewitnesses in Colombia reported seeing a third unmarked plane in the vicinity of the doomed missionary flight. "The Colombian government has not yet responded to inquiries about that plane; however, one official U.S. source has identified it as belonging to the CIA," concludes the newscaster, as we return to the Big Cheese Crib and the Big Cheese himself hangs his head in obvious irritation.
Cheese switches off the TV, possibly turning off all of the TVs all over the CIA building, and sarcastically says, "And which of our trusted partners in this operation would be that source? DEA?" Commander tells him that this is going to be the game now -- point to the other guy. Commander, Rocky, and Cheese try to figure out just who is going to take their side in this matter. They bandy about a ton of names that I don't recognize, and Rocky asks, "What about Quinn?" "Oh, he's just gonna love this," bitches Cheese. "As your predecessor, sir," says Commander, "he's going to be very visible if he wants to be." "He'll wanna be," says Cheese. "We could reach out to him," says Rocky, ever the savior. "Be my guest," gripes Cheese. "And find out where the widow is and what she's saying. And where's the damn video from the plane?" Cheese walks off as Rocky and Commander come to terms with their orders for the day.
Nuclear Schedule Café. Fat Man's still dead. Billy walks up and asks Anatoly if he wants another cup of coffee. Anatoly's all, "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN? I'M SITTING TO A DEAD GUY, YOU INSENSITIVE PRICK!" Billy tells Anatoly that he's been making arrangements for Arapov. Anatoly reminds them that Arapov's not even supposed to be there. Jeanie tells Anatoly that they'll get Arapov and his briefcase full of sensitive material back to his apartment by eight, no worries. Anatoly wants to leave. "Not yet," instructs Billy. Just then, an attractive man enters the restaurant and starts to talk to the host. Billy suddenly stands up and yells, "This man! He's having a heart attack!" Attractive Man conveniently walks up. "I'm a doctor," he says, shoving Anatoly aside and attending to Arapov. Jeanie says she'll call 911. Attractive Man tells Billy to help him get Arapov on the floor as Jeanie "calls" for an ambulance. Too bad the overly efficient maitre d' is also picking up the phone and calling for an actual ambulance...
Do you see what's coming? Huh? Do ya? DO YA GET IT? Two people. Two phones. TWO AMBULANCES! Ya think? Those wacky CIA agents -- there's never a dull moment with Billy and Jeanie around.
Colombian Cartel-Catching Circus. One of Flippy's minions informs her that Flight 323 is picking up a transmission in Delta Sector, north of the plantation. Flippy thinks it might be Esperanza, and instructs her boys to move in on the signal. Yeah, it's much more technical than that, but do you really want me to repeat every single bit of this shit? I'll need eight more years of college just to understand what "triangulate" means, and I neither have the money nor the time to devote to that, okay?
They zero in on a conversation that consists mainly of one guy ordering another guy to pick up flour and beer. The minions do a voice match and come up with Jesus Montero and Ramirez. Flippy wants to know who gave the order. Minion #1 says that it was Ramirez. According to Patton, Ramirez is just a raw recruit; Flippy knows that a recruit wouldn't be ordering around someone like Montero, who happens to be a commander of one of the battle groups. Patton instructs the minions to deconstruct the static between the conversation pattern to determine if there are any other voices in the background.
Wait. Hang on. I just have to make sure I have enough alcohol in the house to fuel the rest of this recap. I'm used to recapping conversations between self-involved actors and self-involved teenagers; I'm not used to reiterating spy jargon. Gah. Ooooh...red wine...yummy...
Okay, Spookus Interruptus! Suddenly, we're in the CIA cafeteria, and Lt. Commander Shelby from Star Trek: Generation is asking Paige if her husband's going to be "difficult" to deal with. "He had not one but two affairs behind my back while I was running the design company that we owned together and now he wants to take all of its assets," says Paige bitterly. "'Difficult'? I'd say yes. But [Miles] says you have experience with this kind of thing." "Partly thanks to [Miles]," says Shelby. "He was such a satisfied customer, he's used me twice." "Two divorces?" questions Paige, wondering why in the hell she ever answered that ad for "Spook Graphic Artists" in the Washington Post in the first place. "Being a spook definitely puts a strain on a marriage," says Shelby. Paige tells her that she wasn't a spook when she and her husband were together. Oh, so you can't use the CIA as an excuse for the failure of your marriage. How about INFIDELITY? That sounds like a pretty good fucking reason to me, girlfriend.
Shelby goes on to say that Paige is a spook now, and if her ex-husband finds out, he could use it against her by blackmailing her for all the insider information CIA graphic artists are privy to. Shelby wants Paige to play hardball. Paige is concerned because her ex's lawyers are asking for pay stubs. "Well," says Shelby, "you make passports, don't you?" DUH! DUH, PAIGE! Are you completely bereft of ANY intelligence? You make fake IDs and fake documents and fake passports, and yet it didn't occur to you to come up with a simple set of fake PAY STUBS? What, are you retarded? God.
Then we're in someone's private home, I think. Well-appointed and all that. Ooooh...it's Daniel Benzali from the legendary TV series Murder One! Wow. He's like the modern-day John Houseman, this one. This oughta be good. Daniel's playing Quinn, the Cheese's predecessor, and he leads Rocky into his darkly-paneled sitting room. They sit, and Quinn instructs Rocky that he doesn't have to keep referring to him as "sir," seeing as he hasn't been Rocky's boss for quite a while. Rocky tries to call Quinn by his first name, but looks fairly uncomfortable doing so. Quinn says he's surprised to see Rocky. "I would have thought you'd have your hands full," he says, "what with this morning's events." Rocky says that this morning's events are exactly why he's come to see Quinn.
And now we launch into the scene where Quinn tells Rocky that the Big Cheese sucks and that Rocky deserves much better. Even though this is a fairly well-acted scene on both actors' parts, it has almost nothing to do with the furthering of this plot. Let me sum up as best I can, without launching off into unnecessary tangents: Quinn likes Rocky. Rocky likes Quinn. They have mutual respect for each other. Quinn thinks Cheese is a dipshit. He doesn't like him or dislike him, but he dislikes what Cheese did to him at the Agency. What Cheese actually did do to Quinn at the Agency is never made known. Rocky knows that, whatever happened between Cheese and Quinn, Quinn is still loyal to the Agency. Quinn realizes that this means Rocky wants Quinn to go on the evening news and tell the world that the CIA didn't shoot down that poor missionary plane, and if they did, they didn't mean it, and if they did mean it, it's for an excellent reason, which he is not at liberty to divulge. Rocky thinks that Quinn of all people should understand that it ain't fair to blame the Agency. Quinn says it ain't about blame, it's about competence, and if Cheese didn't have Rocky as his executive assistant (What? Rocky's an executive assistant? Damn! I was an executive assistant FOREVER! I didn't get to hang with guys like Benzali! Shit. Once again, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Excuse me. I gotta go check on employment opportunities at the CIA.), Cheese would have fallen on his face long ago. Rocky disagrees. Quinn says that Cheese is on his way out.
Quinn then brings up some senator named Hallet. Rocky says Hallet keeps the CIA on their toes. Quinn says Hallet is tired of being the one asking questions after CIA messes occur. "He understands intelligence," says Quinn. "He wants to be President," replies Rocky. "He'd settle for Director of Central Intelligence," says Quinn. "I told him you should be there with him. With a title to reflect what you really do there. Say, Deputy Director of Operations?" Rocky informs Quinn that there are a dozen people ahead of him for the position of DDO. Quinn morosely intones that this doesn't necessarily have to be so.
Man. Benzali waltzes in, has thirty seconds of screen time, and kicks the ASS out of this episode. He had, what, eight lines of dialogue? And I was more enthralled watching him speak than I was during any other part of this show. Seriously. MORE BENZALI. MORE!
Back at the Nuclear Schedule Café, an ambulance is arriving. But is it the right ambulance? Attractive Man is uselessly thumping away on Arapov's chest. Anatoly asks Attractive Man -- rather stupidly, I might add -- how Arapov's doing. "How do you think he's doing, you reject? He's DEAD! He died on your shoulder! Or don't you remember? I mean, I realize you had eighteen Stoli martinis on an empty stomach but DUDE! He DIED. This is all some elaborate spook ruse to facilitate the transfer of Arapov to his apartment before anyone realizes that he's croaked amongst CIA operatives! How stupid can you be?" Actually, Attractive Man just says, "Dead as a doornail."
The paramedics arrive, graciously allowed in by the meddling maitre d'. Billy asks if they're from DC General. Paramedic #1 informs him that they're from St. Barnaby's. This does not bode well. Guess Jeanie made the call one second too late; that, or the CIA faux-ambulances are tremendously slower than the average ambulance. Maybe the CIA faux-ambulance had a couple of other dead informants it had to pick up along the way and decided that a big fat uranium-secret-holding Russky could just damn well wait his turn.
Paramedic #1 asks the "doctor" how long he was compressing him, because he's not hearing anything through his stethoscope. The "doctor" tells him it was just a few minutes, and Paramedic #1 tells everyone that they can probably do more for Arapov in the truck. The eventual resuscitation of Arapov is unlikely, seeing as he's been dead since shortly after Anatoly ordered his eighteenth Stoli martini. Paramedic #1 moves Arapov as the "doctor" looks meaningfully at Billy.
Outside, the St. Barnaby's paramedics wheel Arapov out just as the faux-ambulance arrives. "Doctor" tells the paramedics that since the ambulance that just arrived is from his hospital, and since he's already been treating Arapov, he thinks Arapov should ride into the sunset in the other ambulance. The St. Barnaby's guys are all, "You know the rules, pal. We got here first, the guy's OURS." Can they do that? Can they just claim bodies like that? Judging from the lack of research that this show has so far exhibited, I'd say it's another impromptu arrival by Contrivance that fuels this scene. The CIA can't take the body, the body's going to another hospital, there's going to be scrambling amongst agents, the storyline's going to shift, and Contrivance is going to pick up her paycheck and stroll down to the nearest Prada store and pick her up some kickin' alligator mules and a sweet little plush velvet handbag.
"Okay," says Billy, once again maintaining spook control. "He goes with you." "And who are you in all this?" Paramedic #1 wants to know. "This is my uncle," retorts Billy. This response seems fine with the St. Barnaby's guys, so they load Arapov onto the ambulance, and Billy follows, along with the secret-loaded suitcase.
Colombian Cartel-Catching Circus. Flippy and Patton hustle Cheese along as Patton informs him that they've found Esperanza. According to Flippy, he was using one of his men to go on the radio for him, and one of her many minions identified Esperanza's voice in the background. Patton says that as soon as Esperanza's Cyrano goes back on the air, they can identify his location. "We will have him," says Flippy, "if we keep the planes flying just a little longer." Rocky arrives with the video from the spotter plane. Cheese wants to know if it's good to give to the media. Commander Turnbull tells him they haven't even seen it yet. Flippy tosses it into an archaic VCR and presses play.
Now here's the part where they watch the videotape up on a screen and argue about shit that I don't understand. Basically, the screen shows nothing I can identify -- not that I really care. We hear some guy asking another guy (ostensibly a ground crew member requesting information from the pilots of this "spotter's" plane) if he sees anything. "That same bunch of guerrillas, I'll pass it on to the Colombian military," says one of the pilots. "So much for this mission being about the war on drugs," says Cheese ruefully. Flippy gets all defensive, but Cheese stops her in mid-rant. Okay, so, Cheese sees something on the screen and hears something on the audio.
All I can infer from this scene is that the American pilots spot a plane that looks dubious and inform their Colombian counterparts that they may have a possible "bandito." Their Colombian counterparts respond, "Roger. We have a fighter near you." Only...and maybe I'm being nitpicky here, but...the Colombian counterpart sounds...well...AMERICAN. Anyway, there's some discussion amongst the various Colombian and American pilots about tail numbers and such. "Here come the Colombians," says the pilot. There is some more discussion between the pilots, and all I can make out is that the Americans are all over the Columbians to identify ONLY. Then there's some sort of confused conversation that involves the Americans attempting to talk to the pilot of the potential "bandito" plane, which as we all know by now is the doomed missionary plane. The pilots of the American plane are disturbed to hear the sound of a kid on the plane, and are still dealing with the fact that they've heard the voice of a child on their headphones when they see the Colombian plane going in for the kill. "Fighter, what the hell are you doing? Fighter, stand down!" the American pilots say. Cheese looks distressed. "Terminate!" says the pilot. "Terminate! TERMINATE!" "Daddy? Daddy? DADDY!" we hear the kid's voice scream. Sound of a plane spiraling out of control as Patton and Cheese both look extremely disturbed by what they've just heard and seen. Cheese actually looks like he's about to sob.
Cheese parks his emotions in the personal storage area he's set aside for inappropriate outpourings and steps forward to hit "stop" on the VCR. Commander Turnbull says, "Our guys told the Colombians it was a 'possible' bandito." "They also told them not to shoot," offers Flippy. "And by the time you get to 'Daddy! Daddy!' who's gonna remember that?" Cheese wisely questions.
Halls of Secrecy. Rocky and Commander are strutting along as Commander asks to whom they have to show that all-important tape. Rocky responds that they only have to show it to the Senate Committee, eventually. Commander is pleased with this response. Patton shows up, true to form, as Bad News Delivery Guy and tells Cheese that Stewart's widow has arrived; she's at her parents' house in Arlington. How convenient is that? Contrivance once again, I see. She's making a pretty penny this episode. Cheese wants to know if the widow has talked to the press. "They haven't found her yet," says Commander. "We can still get to her first." Way to be sensitive, Commander! I realize that your job is all about making the CIA not look like a bunch of raving imbeciles, but you might want to take a step back and consider that you're talking about a WOMAN WHO HAS JUST LOST HER HUSBAND AND CHILD! Sometimes it's about good press, and sometimes it's about good people. I'm just sayin'.
Cheese waves the terrible tape in the air and basically says that the CIA can't get the widow on their side while that incriminating tape is around. Patton says that someone should talk to the widow, explain what they can, and offer help. "How 'bout you?" asks Cheese, looking to shove every distasteful responsibility he can upon others. "Me?" responds Patton, looking decidedly bereft. "I'm an analyst." "You've been wanting to get in the field, right?" asks Cheese, firmly cementing himself in my Hall of Pricks. "Get over there and analyze the situation." "You can explain to her why we're running those flights," offers Commander, none too helpfully. Patton looks evenly at them. "You want me to lobby her, while they're picking up pieces of her husband and child?" Cheese and Commander just kind of look down at the tips of their shoes as if there's some sort of redemption there.
Rocky, who's been on the phone during the past interaction, steps up and says, "Sir, [Billy] was meeting with a sensitive source when that source had a fatal heart attack." "Terrific," bitches Cheese, jumping to the challenge of being Director of the CIA. Rocky goes on to say that the dead body is in the D.C. system, and Billy wants to know if the CIA can have a word with the coroner's office and get the body taken out of the D.C. system. Commander pipes up that if the CIA asks the coroner's office for a favor with a dead body, the coroner's office is going to think the CIA is actually responsible for the dead body, i.e. MADE HIM DEAD, and then the coroner's office will call a press conference and tell the world. "That's a no. Tell him he'll have to handle the problem another way. We'll send help," says Cheese, stalking off to an undisclosed location wherein he will fire up some Twin Peaks videos and eat himself some succulent cherry pie.
Unfortunately, as Cheese enters his office, his trod-upon secretary is there with the TV on, telling him he should see something. Cheese enters and lounges on the edge of his desk. Quinn's on Charlie Rose! Unfortunately, I don't really care about what he's saying. He's blathering on about the war on drugs and how we're not taking care of business and we need competent people in control, which is an obvious dig at the Cheese. "Well, you really took care of him, didn't you, [Rocky]?" Cheese asides to Rocky as Rocky contemplates a future as a number-two pencil sharpener. Put-Upon Secretary offers up Cheese's jacket and tells him it's time to go meet the Senate.
St. Barnaby's Hospital Of The Dead Russian. Paige speeds through the hallways, looking as purposeful as a woman who has actually kissed Scott Wolf can. Interns and various other scrub-laden male-types check her out. Billy catches up with her before any of those big bad potentially-six-figure-earning and life-saving hot-as-shit interns can suck her into their vortex. "Nice to see you again," says Billy. "Again"? When the hell did he see her before? According to the first episode (or, really, the second episode), they've never met. Or maybe they have...shit. Now I have to spend precious hours going back over the first episode. Why? Because I'm anal. And that's really all you need to know.
They never met. Trust me. Unless my acid trips from college have permanently rendered me unable to see Billy/Paige meetings, they've never met. So there. Anyway, she asks where the dead guy is. Billy tells her that he's in the morgue. Paige asks if Billy has his ID. Then they're in some random lab. Billy hands her Arapov's passport. "You gonna be able to do this without damaging it?" Billy asks, all full of himself and shit. Paige just looks at him like he's the kind of guy who actually might have considered choosing between Calista Flockhart and Courtney Thorne-Smith, and proceeds to scan the passport on her handy-dandy portable scanner. Billy tries to open Arapov's briefcase with a couple of hairpins and a nail file. "You gonna be able to open that briefcase without damaging it?" she innocently asks. Billy asks what Arapov's new identity is going to be. "Henry De Long," says Paige. "You're Peter De Long."
Billy actually opens the case, and Paige asks what they're looking for. "A detailed plan for delivery of nuclear weapons to terrorists." "Which one is it?" Paige asks. Billy says, "Beats me," and says something about Paige getting Borovinski and then seeing about Uncle Henry. I think. My tape is in fine condition this evening, but I still can't make out what the hell he just said; no amount of rewind-pause is going to help this one. I DON'T KNOW WHAT HE SAID.
Oh. Wait. I just realized that no one's really watching this show, so it doesn't actually matter if I recap it word for word. In fact, I think most of the people reading this recap would RELISH it if I avoided stupid dialogue like this and just got on with the snarkiness. All righty then. Will do.
Paige produces a fake ID, and Billy runs with it. Over in some random hospital corridor, Anatoly's all up in Jeanie's face about how they're not supposed to be there. Suddenly, Paige is there, telling Anatoly that he needs to take a look at "the papers." Um. What? Oh, wait. Now it makes sense. Billy told Paige, a graphic ID forger, to go check on Borovinski. So she is. Even though that makes almost no sense to the average person, walking down the street, looking for the nearest milk-selling market. Anatoly protests, saying THEY might be looking for Aparov there. "They can't hurt him -- he's dead," offers Jeanie, pretty much wondering why she left a cushy gig over at ER for this serious suck of a show. Anatoly states that they may not be able to hurt Arapov, but they can still hurt Anatoly. Anatoly says that he'll take a look at the Arapov's papers back at Anatoly's apartment. Jeanie shoves this idea to the ground by saying that they need to keep the papers near Arapov's body, just in case. "In case they find him?" says Anatoly. "That's what I said." He nods his head as if this whole "bring the papers to Anatoly's place" idea is going to fly. Jeanie steps in with a wickedly whipping right hand movement and says, "Okay. You're being paid. This is what you're being paid for. Now let's go." Hee! Jeanie gets all CIA on his ass! Nice!
Land Of The Free, Home Of The Dead. Widow Stewart walks up to a curtained door; Patton is hovering out on the step. When the widow opens the door, Patton introduces himself as Jordan Hopkins from the State Department. Oh. Maybe that's the other CIA cover job. That's an awfully boring cover job, though. Although I suppose that's the point. I mean, you don't go to work for the equivalent of a Super Secret Treehouse Club and then waltz around telling people you're a professional fire eater or rollercoaster designer. That wouldn't be very wise, now, would it? Anyway, Patton tells Widow Stewart that he's sorry for her loss, and she immediately invites him in. In case you're curious, Widow Stewart is played by Amanda Wyss, and I'm sorry, but I can't see her as anything other than John Cusack's girlfriend in Better Off Dead. As I watched the rest of her scenes on this show, I couldn't help but wonder when she and Patton were going to start in with the paranoid face-twitching and nose-rubbing.
Senate Sock-It-To-Me Meeting. The lead Senate guy (I'm not sure who's Hallet, so I'm not going to make any sweeping assumptions here) tells Cheese, who brought his trusty lapdog Rocky along, that the committee brought him there under the false pretense of discussing the budget. The Senate guys are much more interested in the rather large boo-boo that occurred down in Colombia. Cheese says nothing, preferring to trip off into that pretty perfect world in his head where there is no big bad Senate committee and all the trees are made of Cadbury chocolate bars.
Home Of The Dead. Widow Stewart is making Patton some tea and blathering on about how she and her husband knew there were dangers involved with their missionary work. "My husband got bitten by a snake, my son caught malaria. He's still --" She stops, catches herself, almost starts to cry, then continues, "He was still on medication." That's actually really sad right there. I mean, it's only been, like, twenty-four hours or something since her son died. I'd be a slobbering mess at this point. I sure as hell wouldn't be making some dude tea in my kitchen.
Patton tells Widow Stewart that the government is conducting an investigation into the Colombian thing and will accept full responsibility for whatever part it may have played in the death of her husband and child. "In the meantime," says Patton, looking like he may be getting somewhat choked up himself, "I've been sent here to see if there's anything that you need...or if there's anything that you -- we can, um..." He abruptly stops talking and stares down at his wingtips, obviously just realizing that the only thing she wants or needs is her two loved ones alive instead of dead. "Do you have a family?" the widow asks. "Two children," replies Patton. "And your wife?" "She died of cancer four years ago." I'm pretty sure that this information is true, and not just part of the fake persona that Patton's constructed. I get the feeling that he's not that cruel or evil. Actually, this info makes me like him even more than I already did; well, that and Will Patton's acting chops in this scene. "Does it get any easier?" Widow Stewart chokes out. "A little," responds Patton evenly, his eyes starting to well up. I'm glad he didn't say something lame like "Time heals all wounds" or "Just take it day by day." I got a few of those gems tossed my way when my father died and, really, I just felt like bashing the deliverers in the face with a bedpan.
Senate Sock-It-To-Me Meeting. Bow-Tied Senate Guy is all up in Cheese's grill about the planes flying down in Colombia. Cheese tells him that the CIA is down there in an advisory capacity, and that the planes provide support to the Colombians for their war on drugs. Bow Tie points out that it's not just about drugs; it's also about the anti-government guerillas. He then goes on to equate the current Colombian situation with Vietnam, simply because we started out in an "advisory capacity" back then. Yeah, it's a really stupid comparison. Cheese thinks so too, because he goes OFF on Bow Tie. "With all due respect, Senator, I do not believe, nor do I think this administration believes, that what went wrong a quarter of a century ago should prevent us from coming to the aid of threatened democracies in our own hemisphere today." Ooooh! You go, girl! You tell that Bow Tie to stick it where the sun don't shine. Some other Senate Guy steps in, and Bow Tie refers to him as Hallet. Ah. So, this is the Presidential Wanna-Be...looks like a noodge. Hallet starts to say that the committee has a number of concerns, and we cut away to another scene.
Holy Hijinks Hospital. Billy's trying to get Arapov's body signed out so he can "take it to the funeral home," but the Queen of Administrative Hoopla won't allow it. Paige walks up and quietly informs Billy that Borovinski can't find the papers they're looking for. Queen of AH returns and tells Billy that he can have his "uncle" just as soon as the medical examiner finishes his autopsy. D'oh! It's one thing to place a dead Russian in his apartment, but it's quite another to place a dead Russian with a Y-incision on his chest in his apartment; I think the Russians would DEFINITELY suspect something was up if Billy let that happen. Think, Billy, THINK!
Home Of The Dead. More Widow blather about how she and her husband were down in Colombia for a reason and how some of the villages were lost and that villagers' souls were lost and all that other Bible-beating God crap that I just have utterly no interest in. Yeah, I'm going straight to hell. I think they have a table reserved for me on the balcony above the molten lava pit. The phone rings, and Widow Stewart answers it. She tersely ends the call and tells Patton that it was a reporter; she surmises that she'll be getting quite a few of these kinds of calls.
Back at the Senate meeting, Hallet's still grilling Cheese about the shooting. Cheese tells Hallet that he's ordered an investigation of the spy planes, even though they know that the primary mistake was made by the Colombians. "Really?" says Hallet, going in for the kill. "Did our people make a positive identification of the suspect plane's tail number before they called the Colombians?" Looks like someone's been watching something other than Debbie Does Dallas in his spare time. Hallet demands to know whether Cheese has ordered the suspension of the spy flights. Cheese, showing blatant disregard for the oath he took not ten minutes ago, shamelessly lies to Hallet's face and tells him that he has ordered the flights suspended. Rocky, proving to the world that poker faces aren't his strong suit, just turns to look at Cheese as if to say, "The FUCK you did!"
Home Of The Dead. The widow thanks Patton for coming to see her, but she doesn't know what the hell she needs right now. Except she doesn't say "hell" because, you know, she's all into God and shit. "As far as what I want...that's just something the State Department can't provide," she says, walking out to the foyer. Patton halts her by saying that his name isn't Hopkins and he most certainly does not work for the State Department. Widow Stewart's fairly confused by this information. "You've heard the news reports that one of our planes alerted the Colombian air force and told them that your husband might be a drug runner," he says as the widow's face starts to crumble. "Those reports are true. Those reports are true." Whoops. There goes the widow.
Spook Central. Flippy runs into the Cheese and tells him that they found Esperanza, and they can have a squad of Colombian fighters ready to rock within a few hours. The catch? They'll have to keep the flights running so that they'll have constant surveillance and ground communication. "How many hours?" asks Cheese. "Sir," starts Rocky, "you just told the committee --" "I just told the committee that we have a moral obligation to fight drugs and violent revolutionaries. I hope it doesn't alarm you, [Rocky], but I actually believe that." Rocky shuts the hell up. Cheese turns to Flippy. "Get that son of a bitch," says Cheese, all Director of the CIA suddenly. "You need the planes? Use 'em." He stalks off, leaving Flippy and Rocky to wonder just who the hell that was and what the hell he did with the REAL Director of the CIA.
Colombian Cartel-Catching Circus. Okay, look. This scene is just chock-full of spook jargon and quickly spoken headphone commands, and the gist of the damn scene is that the CIA nabs Esperanza. I mean, it's a really cool scene and everything, and there's even a little humor injected when the thermal imaging shows Esperanza and some other glowing red form making the beast with two backs, but I truly don't think it would benefit ANYONE out there if I spent the hour trying to repeat every word, sentence, and paragraph being uttered here. What's the objective? Get Esperanza. Objective achieved? Affirmative. What's this prove? That having the planes continue to fly was actually a GOOD thing. Does the CIA save the day? Did you ever think they wouldn't?
Over at The Hospital For Dead Russians, the medical examiner is firing up his skull saw and getting ready to pry Arapov's head open. Billy bursts in, claiming to be from a funeral home. "You're about to cut open my stiff," says Billy, wisely using official funeral-home-speak. They must have taught him that at spy school. The M.E. tells Billy he can have De Long when the autopsy's complete. Billy tells him to suit himself, but this stiff sure as hell ain't De Long. Of course it isn't, silly! It's Arapov! Don't you remember meeting him at the Nuclear Schedule Café? After checking the stiff's toe tag, the M.E. insists that it is in fact De Long. Just then, Paige arrives to save the day with another dead body; this one has a toe tag too. Guess what name is on it? Thaaaat's right! "De Long"! Quel coincidence, non? The M.E. gets all pissy and bolts off to try to straighten out this screw-up. "Nice work," says Billy. "Toe tags for the dead," quips Paige. "I'm so glad I went to art school."
Colombian Cartel-Catching Circus. More of the same. Rocky gets a phone call. It's Quinn. "I understand those troublesome planes are still flying," he says, sounding roughly like a rather frightening kindergarten teacher. Rocky's curious to know how Quinn found this out. Of course, he's forgotten that Quinn used to be DCI; the man can get dirt on anyone or anything at any time. Quinn goes on to say that he knows Cheese told the committee that the planes were grounded. "If he committed perjury --" "He said he'd issued the order," stalls Rocky. "But he didn't say when it went into effect," says Quinn. "Listen to yourself, [Rocky]. You're getting weaselly. Like him. I'm taking this conversation as confirmation." "Don't!" says Rocky, discovering his spook backbone. "Robert, if those planes are flying, it's news to me." Thus ends The Miseducation Of Rocky Carroll.
Then we're back with the dead Russian as Billy and the crew wheel a large crate containing the large deceased body of Arapov through the halls of Arapov's apartment building. "Fifteen minutes," sputters Anatoly, referring to the fact that Arapov's driver is arriving soon. Then we cut back to the CCCC as some more of those heat images run across the screen. We're supposed to be nail-biting at this point, I guess. I already bite my nails, so I don't really have anything to gnaw on, but I'm pretty sure my fingernails would have remained intact anyway; this scene is about as exciting and nerve-wracking as a trip to the Chicago Botanic Garden.
So, the phone rings for Cheese. It's Billy, manning the dead Russian operation at the dead Russian's apartment. Jeanie's folding boxer shorts that don't look large enough to fit around Arapov's left thigh, let alone his enormous gut. Anatoly hilariously tells Jeanie that men don't fold their shorts, they throw their shorts; he then proceeds to throw all of Arapov's plaid boxers willy-nilly into the suitcase. Paige is going over the briefcase in the hopes of finding some sort of concealed area. Billy's yammering to the Cheese about how, if they take the briefcase, the Russians will know the CIA is onto them, but the CIA might find whatever they're looking for in the case. They could always leave the case, Billy surmises, and the Russians will stick with their plan. "We don't know what their plan is," says Cheese. "Well, we might find out another way," says Billy. "Or we don't and we have uranium in terrorists' hands," concludes Cheese. Billy tells him it's Cheese's call. Anatoly panics to Billy that the driver will be there in eight minutes, so they'd better get the hell out of there. Cheese thinks REAL hard for a second and then tells Billy to leave the case and hit the bricks. Billy tells Paige to close the case as Jeanie and Anatoly put the finishing touches on the "Arapov Death Scenario." Billy demands that Anatoly hand over one of his cigars. Billy lights it and places it in an ashtray as Anatoly takes a healthy swig from a bottle of vodka.
Speaking of vodka...
Paige closes the case and notices something blocking the lock. "I need a knife," she says. Billy actually whips out a freaking switchblade and hands it to her. Way to be prepared, Super Spook. Paige shoves the tip of the blade under the lock mechanism, flicking it off and revealing the very secret compartment that they were all looking for. She pulls out a tiny piece of folded paper and hands it to Jeanie, who takes pictures of it with her handy little spy camera. And here's the part where I wonder just how much money Gloria Reuben is making for this craptacular show. She has done almost nothing during this episode and now, when tensions are high and stakes are even higher, PAIGE is the one who discovers the hidden compartment? Paige shouldn't even fucking be there, as far as I'm concerned. She's a bloody graphic designer, not a field agent. Why couldn't Jeanie find the hidden compartment? She's no moron; she could totally handle something like that. Man, I better shut the hell up before people start thinking I actually give a damn about this ridiculous show.
Paige puts the piece of paper back where she found it, making sure not to crack her perfectly manicured nails. Billy congratulates her on a job well done and then moves on to the placement of the dead body.
At the same time, Flippy's closing in on Esperanza. Wanna know what happens? What do you think happens? I told you what happens! Go back and read the paragraph wherein I describe the outcome of this scene in a nutshell. After the nab, Cheese leaves the vicinity, looking relatively proud of himself for seeing this one through to the end.
Big Cheese Crib. Rocky enters, and Cheese informs him that the DEA is going to claim credit for Esperanza's arrest, but they both know it was the CIA who actually handled the problem. He goes on to say that Hallet's convening a public hearing and Cheese is invited. "It's come as you are," says Cheese. "He's providing the rope for the lynching." I'm not sure if that little comment should be considered offensive or not. Lynching certainly wasn't reserved solely for African-Americans, but, you know, I've seen a hell of a lot more pictures of African-American lynchings than I've seen of any other ethnicity. I'm just thinking of Rocky, here. Maybe I'm thinking too much. This is The Agency, after all. I should pretty much check my brain at the door.
Anyway, Widow Stewart shows up on the television screen. She basically says that she lost her husband and her son, and that the instruments of their deaths were the Colombian Air Force and the Central Intelligence Agency. D'oh! The widow goes on to say that only God can give and take life, and her husband was a Christian missionary and so is she, and they're doing God's work and blah blah blah religion-cakes. Of course, as the widow's yakking, every single employee of the CIA has their televisions tuned to the exact same channel and are glued to their sets. Widow Stewart has the awesome responsibility of summing up this entire episode in one hundred words or less, as well as giving the episode its title. The widow says that she and her husband saw the effects of the evils of drugs firsthand, and that she's thankful to all the men and women who fight that evil. "I cannot tell you why God claimed my husband and my son," she says, "but I know it would be wrong to stop the fight against drugs because He did. For then their deaths would have helped evil prosper." She thanks everyone for their prayers, blesses them, and walks off. Wanna know the best part? While she was going on about God claiming her loved ones, they show a shot of Arapov sitting dead in his chair with the driver pacing behind him, making a cellphone call. AND ARAPOV'S TV IS TUNED TO THE SAME STATION AS THE CIA'S. The man is DEAD. He's not WATCHING TV. I'm seriously doubting that a statement given by a dead missionary's wife would carry the same heft as, say, breaking news about Afghanistan. I'm thinking that she'd show up on the evening news somewhere, but she sure as hell wouldn't storm the airwaves with her little speech about GOD.
The Cheese turns off his TV, once again shutting off TVs all over the CIA, and turns to Rocky. "Did [Patton] make that happen?" "I don't know," answers Rocky. "But Hallet's going to have a hard time stringing you up after that." Guess that whole "lynching" comment wasn't offensive after all, if even Rocky is making comments like this. I should have just kept my fat piehole shut. "This isn't over," says Cheese. "The video will come out. At least we got through the day." "'We'?" asks Rocky. "Quinn called you, didn't he?" asks Cheese. "I would have." Rocky confirms that Quinn called him and wanted to know if Cheese had perjured himself about the flights. "I told him no," says Rocky, walking off.
The morning, Billy's down at the Spook Cafeteria, loading his latte with sugar. Patton approaches and hands Billy a piece of paper. "What's this?" Billy asks. Patton tells him it's a phone number for a guy in the Casualty Affairs Department or something. "Start with him," says Patton. "For what?" Billy asks. "About your brother," responds Patton, taking his cappuccino to go. Billy looks after Patton, then walks off to drink his latte in silence. Good thing Jeanie's there in the background to glance meaningfully after him...
Dubya Palace. Cheese takes his regular place to Simmons's desk to await his Prez briefing. Simmons wants to know if Cheese has bet the Lions yet. "No," says Cheese. "But I will. I'm feeling lucky." Aw, just one little successful Colombian-drug-czar nabbing and our Cheese is a new man! Simmons gets the call from the Prez telling her to let Cheese on in. As Cheese gets up to enter the Oval Office, he passes Rocky. Rocky smiles at Simmons and enters the OO behind Cheese, who then introduces Rocky to Dubya himself. Wow. Rocky should pay visits to Daniel Benzali more often; apparently it's doing wonders for his career.
week on The Agency: This one could not be more timely. It would seem that a wee bit of anthrax has been let loose, and Washington may very well be the prime target. Way to be topical, boys! Good goin'!