Previously: Tom crushed it, according to Twitter. — Party Lines Dani: The previouslies remind us that Aaron now works for Kimble Hookstraten, and that Jack Bowman, the gun-loving senator from...
Previously: Aaron quit. — One Hundred Days Samantha: Previouslies remind us that Aaron quit and Hannah is looking for Claudine Poyet who killed Jason’s son. We open with camera flashes and...
Previously: Tom’s family took a break. — Commander-in-Chief Marines: We start the episode where we left off and I’m seriously, actually thankful for the previouslies and the exposition. Aaron was going...
Tom asks Hannah, Forstell, and Mike (the Most Interesting Secret Service Man in the World) how the hell the Vice President was murdered while a team of FBI agents watched. Hannah says they didn’t choose the location, so their options for hiding were limited. (S: Lol no Tom, I was there, they didn't even try.) Also, she's less concerned with how than why. She says Beth had to have been deeply involved in the conspiracy. Tom wants to know what kind of fanatics they’re dealing with. Forstell urges Tom to keep as many details from the press as possible while the FBI investigates, and Tom agrees.
The previouslies remind us that Tom was shot, MacLeish was President for a bit and made some sketchy decisions, and oh yeah, ATWOOD'S SON IS I GUESS STILL KIDNAPPED? Can I tangent about this for a bit? Why has no one reported this child missing? Why has no one else noticed that this child is missing and put two and two together? What the hell?
We start where we left off, with Hannah making her way through the crowd, looking for the shooter. She pulls out her gun, someone yells "gun," there is sudden, general chaos, Hanna fires at the window. Her bullet hits the window frame and the sniper is still able to fire his own bullet. Secret Service agents take Hannah down. Tom pushes Alex down to safety. He looks at her and notices that there is blood on her shirt. He tells her she's been shot, but the blood isn't hers. It's his. Tom looks at his shoulder and he's like, "oh shit."
We open to the car crash, where Agent Hannah Wells is either dead or unconscious. Some dude comes to check on her, and he seems really kind, talking to her all calmly and telling her not to move her neck. Then he strangles her. Um… what? Why spend all that time comforting her if he’s an assassin who’s supposed to kill her? Maybe the show thought using misdirection here would add tension, but it just ends up making this guy look like the most incompetent assassin ever. I bet I know where he buys his assassin-gear.
We begin at night, in some random office building. A middle-aged guy sits in his cubicle, looking around furtively as he copies something onto his laptop. Then we get an aerial shot of him sitting in a bathroom stall, opening said laptop with a screwdriver, and then removing a tiny storage chip from the hard drive inside it. Not sure that’s a thing, but let’s go with it. (S: The only way to survive SnarkTV, really.) He places the chip into a tricked-out quarter that opens to reveal a cavity that perfectly fits a tiny storage drive. Cool!
I take full responsibility for getting us behind on this show. Between the December blues and life, this fell to the bottom of my list. The good news is that there are no new episodes until March so we have time to play catch up! Also, the still of this episode on the ABC app is Leo looking as whiny as Conor from Angel.
Dani: That alone would have derailed my motivation.
Marines: I already watched this episode but that description makes me wish I could unwatch it.
Dani: That alone would have derailed my motivation.
Marines: I already watched this episode but that description makes me wish I could unwatch it.
We pick up right where we left off, with the FBI examining Nassar's dead body. Atwood instructs some soldiers to bring him the names of anyone who handled his food, DNA, fingerprints and camera footage. Atwood then walks to Hannah and very shiftily comments that now no one knows the truth about Nassar. Hannah's like, "uh, we do...?" But they don't have proof. Hannah says they need to follow-up with the one lead they have: Catalan. Atwood is scared, though, because if they are the only two who know about Catalan, that means they'll be targeted next.
After the previouslies, we’re taken to a prison filled with heavily armed soldiers. An orange-clad prisoner, his limbs shackled and a black sack over his head, is escorted down many, many hallways in slow motion. Eventually the dude is put in a cell and the bag is removed from his head, but even then the cameraman is weirdly coy about showing us the prisoner’s face. We know from both the previouslies and the cheater-y newscaster voiceover that the prisoner is Majid Nassar, so the super-suspenseful music and dramatic buildup to reveal his face, like everything else on this show, makes zero sense. But, hey — at least it’s consistent!
The episode begins with Tom lying awake in bed at 5 am. He receives a phone call that it's time.
In the Oval, the Admiral is going over plans to bomb the compound where Nassar is. He assures Tom that they only hit what they target so a nearby village should be safe. Seth comes in because he was summoned, but only so that they don't tell him anything so that he's not lying to the press. Seth mentions that it would be weird if the President wasn't at the medal ceremony for the first responders, especially as there's no VP to fill in.
In the Oval, the Admiral is going over plans to bomb the compound where Nassar is. He assures Tom that they only hit what they target so a nearby village should be safe. Seth comes in because he was summoned, but only so that they don't tell him anything so that he's not lying to the press. Seth mentions that it would be weird if the President wasn't at the medal ceremony for the first responders, especially as there's no VP to fill in.
Telegraphed Middle Eastern Location. Things are dusty. A man runs up a narrow staircase into a dusty room where he grabs a laptop and a phone and uses them to securely connect. He nervously types as quickly as he can, as more men are now running up the narrow staircase. We see that part of Nervous Man's message is that Nassar's, the guy who sent America the IT WAS ME message last episode, location has been confirmed.
Dani: We begin at the site of the Capitol explosion, where a survivor has been found in the rubble. Hannah (Maggie Q) rushes over, obviously hoping it’s the guy she’s been brooding over for the last two episodes, but it’s not. Poor Maggie Q. I wish the writers would give her something to do other than have reactions to stuff.
Samantha: It's unbelievable wasted potential. I should not keep forgetting that Maggie Q is in this show.
Samantha: It's unbelievable wasted potential. I should not keep forgetting that Maggie Q is in this show.
Hokay. So this episode starts out at the bombing site, still the night of. The head FBI guy, Atwood, tells Maggie Q to look into all the usual suspects and to heighten security. I'm taking a moment to tell you that the playback on the ABC website is shitty, and makes rewatching this episode difficult. Get it together, ABC.
Marines: They also play like 27 years worth of commercials. Get it together, THIS IS THE INTERNET.
Marines: They also play like 27 years worth of commercials. Get it together, THIS IS THE INTERNET.