Janis suggests to Larry that although she personally cannot crack the computer encryption that Renee used to send Jack information, Chloe certainly can. And failing that (after all Chloe is a supposed no-goodnick), her husband Morris is also handy with a computer. Larry asks Morris for help; Morris hesitates, and then sets a deal for Chloe, a clean record and immunity. And then, he works his hacking and cracking mojo, and within a minute he has the information they need. They realize Jack’s next move, and they alert all sorts of TAC teams and the D.C. police. Not surprisingly, Chloe is a bit pissy when she realizes that Morris compromised Jack’s situation just to get her out of trouble.
One of the juicy tidbits of intel that Renee had passed on to Jack regarding Starkwood and the Mighty Quinn, was that Senator “Red” Mayer had his own suspicions about Starkwood and had been investigating the organization. This is Jack’s engraved invitation to pay a visit to his favorite Capitol Hill pal.
Oh, and what a visit! After Red discovers Jack in his home, Jack explains that he just wanted to go down to the basement and hang with the kids, maybe have a Popsicle, maybe sit in the circle, trade jokes with Hyde, and perhaps help Fez with some INS matters.
“Oh you’re a dumb-ass”
“But -- but…”
“Now look, you’re going to pick up all this mess, why are you running my printer anyway? You’re going to clean this up and then go fill up my car out of your OWN POCKET!”
“But -- but -- look, Red…”
“It’s my boot against your ass in about two seconds!!”
Finally Jack explains why he’s there, and asks Mayer to look through his findings on Starkwood. Together they make a connection between Juma, Starkwood, and horrid bio-weapon trials that resulted in nasty deaths in Sangala. Surprisingly and somewhat pleasingly, Jack and Mayer have a conversation about duty and regret. No yelling, no posturing, no thigh-shooting. The 24-verse smiles upon these two for a moment.
Then there’s a knock at the door. “Lemme in, it’s Kelso!” Neither move.
“Candy-gram?”
Jack and Mayer ignore the greeting.
“Landshark!”
Still, Jack and Mayer do not open the door.
Article comments
1 - Mary K. Williams
I wanted to add a disclaimer, or addendum here. Kurtwood Smith has been fabulous as Senator Mayer. Especially in these latter episodes where we got more dialogue from him. But still, the goofy kid in me just HAS to poke fun and call him Red Foreman!