Tuesday, September 29, 1998

Embassy - 63

On his way to visit with the US president, professor Dubotu- peoples poet beloved by Sudanese, was mugged. A car pulled up and chased the mugger away at gunpoint then slugged Dubotu and kidnapped him. Harm and Mac have returned from Russia and H packed up his fathers memorabilia that he kept in his office. He removed his fathers MIA bracelet that he had always worn. Webb and Chegwidden brief them on a "mission" that the SECNAV had authorized. Since the Sudanese president had been assassinated two factions were fighting for power. In the north was Ambassador Ki Moshak, new school, politically savvy and says he'll let there be US presence; in the south was, hard-liner, old school, US hating general Hyad Zulake. Dubotu hadn't taken sides but whoever he endorses would win. H had given a "joyride" to Moshak in a tomcat previously and so was invited to a ball at the embassy. W wanted he and M to tap into Moshak's computer during a 6 second power loss planned for that night. Both C and H "smelled a rat" and questioned W about what he wasn't telling them. They both got into the stairwell during the blackout. M feigned passing out drunk and being sick to draw the two guards from the security room while H entered the ambassadors office and de-focused the camera. M was going to be forcibly removed but she barged back into the embassy room forcing a more rapid initiation of "act one" the take over of the embassy where Moshak was shot in the shoulder. H still up in the office called C and told him of the take over. Then when the camera problem was discovered and repaired he disabled the guard and went to find M. H overheard Moshak talk to the leader of the "rebels," Col Shahala, and tell him not to loose nerve and be ready for "act two." H and M watched as a message from Shahala was broadcast to an external uplink and claimed that they were Gen Zulake's forces, offered to release Moshak for medical attention to which he magnanimously refused.

W who was in Cs office watching the network channels was summoned to the DOD meeting but C refused to let him leave as long as his people were messed up in Ws problem. The SECNAV came ranting with rhetoric until C stood up to him with it was he who had authorized it! Shahala and Moshak went on the air again with "act 2" where Shahala pulled his gun to shoot Moshak but they fought and was shot instead- actually killed with a look of surprise. M went to the roof and H the basement. M was captured and taken to Moshak. H found Dubotu being held in the basement and rescued him only to be lectured about shooting the guard! "Violence begets violence", he said, and "in your country you GO to war, in mine war comes to us." He refused to take a gun from H. Moshak radioed to his guard to "find Rabb" and H flippantly used the radio to say "I'll be right there." Moshak then used M as a hostage to draw H. Dubotu still refused to help. H routed the security camera of the ambassadors office into the external up-link just as the power went off in police "standard procedure." H was captured and taken to Moshak. He declined a drink but asked for a cigar. He stood by the window and flicked his lighter in Morse code "P W R." B, watching the television, recognized Hs shoulder boards and knew the code. He deduced that H was saying "turn back on the power." After obstructing for a minute C pressured him into ordering the power back on. They then saw the video from the office and W recognized a container of Ebola Virus on the desk. C then recognized that W had used his people- again. W said that Moshak had rumoredly expressed interest in chemical weapons shortly before some were stolen from a US lab. C got in his face about "better get them out of there" and W asked "or what, you'll break my nose, again?" He eventually gave the order for his people to "get in there." M told H that she was ok because Moshak "hits like a girl." When Moshak realized what H had done they hurriedly convinced him that his only recourse was to "run quickly to the Iranian embassy for refuge." He did, but took M and the Ebola with him. Dubotu convinced the guards to put their weapons down non-violently and H ran after M. Moshak laid a vial on a cart and rolled it toward H. M called "incoming" and H was able to shoot Moshak in time to catch the vial before it hit the ground. M took Moshak down and told him to "never hit a lady."

they convinced Dubotu to broadcast to his people from the podium. B absentmindedly took a pregnancy test from Harriet then realized while he was talking to C that Ht was pregnant. W told M that she had ruined the government's dress and she said "so bill me." H and M left the embassy arm in arm with H saying "We should go out together more often." M said "yea, I had a wonderful time."

Tuesday, September 22, 1998

Gypsy Eyes - 64

[The long awaited follow-up from last season's cliffhanger which left Harm and Mac in Russia flying their stolen MIG into a cloud and followed immediately by a missile which exploded. Probably the most pivotal episode in the entire series and includes many of the Russian characters we have met over the past years, unknowingly a prelude to this episode. It has a somewhat complicated plot with difficulties in understanding all the motives; but, provides "closure" to at least one of the sub-plots - or does it?] Before the missiles hit Harm and Mac in their stolen MIG, they went into a cloud and punched out! Gypsy brother and sister, Vasya and Ruszka, found H hanging, conconscious without his helmit, in a tree and tried to steal his silk parachute. H was rescued from a knife fight by M who hadn't gotten hung up in a tree, had a gun and money for a bribe. Major Mark Sokol (aka Falcon, KGB) was actively trying to find them. He was connected to Parlovski (also KGB and who had sent H the photo of his father in Russia); but, both were trying to keep their affiliations a secret from H and M. The SECNAV was more than willing to accept that H and M were both dead (from hitting a flock of migrating geese during a 'demonstration ride') as the Russians were claiming. Chegwidden, however, wasn't and had to tell the SECNAV "you don't want to try and stop me" from going to Russia to investigate.

Alexei, the cab driver who took H and M around and arranged their MIG ride, picked Chegwidden up at the airport. Chuck DePalma, ZNN reporter, told C that: "it's September and geese don't migrate in Russia until November"; the Russian pilot had been taken to prison by the KGB; and, Alexi was really working for Sokol. Actually, through the show, Alexi was shown working for: Sokol, Parlovski, the Russian Mafia AND Webb. Webb appeared in Russia and disclosed that ONE of the KGB agents (either Sokol or Parlovski) was procuring six nuclear tipped missiles for the Mafia, which they intended to sell to the highest bidder. Alexei was tracking them all and couldn't blow his cover. Webb said that he didn't know which agent was rogue so C realized that H was being used as the bait. So "whoever kills H and M is your man," he mocked at W!

Meanwhile H and M were traveling with the gypsies who, partly due to the money they were given, befriended the two. Ruszka had a dream where she was bathing in a small pool when four Russian soldiers began attacking her. H came to her rescue but had to fight off her brother who was trying to stop him. H then shot and killed three of the soldiers but was killed by the fourth. The gypsy, who claimed to have been having these type of predictive dreams since she was 12, thought that it meant H would be killed in Russia. H convinced Vasya to take them to the train station. Sokol was there waiting for them. He called out for H and M to show themselves and promised that he was trying to protect them and that he would take H to Beloyka to find his father. M convinced H to follow her intuition and believe her that Sokol was NOT the one trying to kill them..

C, W, Alexi and the Russian CIA office agent were in Alexi's taxi at the airport, watching what would happen. They had intercepted a call to Parlovski that Sokol had found H and M and was bringing them in. W revealed that whoever was the rogue agent was the same KGB agent who had arranged for Harm's father's train transfer to Russia. Angry, C took Ws gun and said that if W had gotten H and M killed he would "put him in the ground" as well. Sokol landed with H and M alive, so they realized that the rogue agent had to be Parlovski. W continued to want to wait and see who Parlovski led them to, even when Parlovski's driver was going for his gun! C slammed his foot on the gas and commandeered the cab through the fence and came out shooting. He killed Parlovski's driver. Parlovski shot Sokol and H shot Parlovski several times; but, then before Parlovski died, H begged him to tell where they had taken his father. He whispered... Suischevo. H was surprised to see C and Webb there. He asked W what he "was doing here" and C replied "getting decked" before he slugged W on the chin, knocking him to the ground.

H & M found a woman in Suischevo, Pitchta, who, many years previously, had found Rabb Sr. in her barn after he had escaped from the work gulag train. R had then worked with her family for two years, never told them who he was or where he came from; but, she said, always looked toward the horizon. She showed H where she, her Brother and Tete (the name she called R) had gone to picnic one day. Then, she described the details of the same incident that had been in the gypsy's "vision." It had been Pitchta who the soldiers were attacking and her brother who had tried to stop "Tete" from intervening. Then she added that her brother, seeing Tete's bravery, had killed the fourth soldier with his bare hands. He had buried all their bodies in the Taiga forest near their home, never revealing the location to anyone lest they were seen visiting the graves. But, he had also died fifteen years previously. The woman became upset reminiscing over her "Tete" and H let her hold him. H turned to the forest and said "goodbye dad, I love you."