Login or register

Desperate Times - Recap

<-- Previous EpisodeNext Episode -->
The episode begins and Michael is being careful about who he shares the new intelligence with. Fiona is upset that he shared it with the CIA, but Michael says he didn't have a choice. Michael then tells her Card called and he's meeting him in one hour. Later, Michael meets Card, who says there were nearly 1,000 partial matches, but Card was able to boil it down to one person who just broke into a munitions warehouse in Panama, he's the same person who flew out of Newark just three hours after Nate was killed. Card tells Michael he can't have a tactical team, but he is sending someone named Brady Pressman. Michael later goes to visit Maddy.

She tells Michael that her job was to protect Nate from him and she "didn't do it". Michael reaches for Maddy's hand and she pulls away. He then leaves. Later, Michael and the crew land and meet Brady Pressman. They set up in an abandoned building. That night, Brady leads them through the details of what they know and where Gray is. Later, Michael notices an electrical truck on the street outside and thinks there's a problem. It's too early and there's no electricity in the building. On the security cameras, they see many armed men headed into the building. The gang escapes through the roof, jumping over to a building across the alley. Michael wrestles a gun away from one man who made it into the roof and makes his jump.

He looks back to see a big, black Humvee pull up and Gray steps out. Michael instinctively takes a couple of shots, but misses and Gray drives away. Having brought just a couple of handguns and some of the ammo for one of the larger special purpose rifles but not the rifle, Michael and Fi set to work making explosives out of the ammo's components. Michael during their task tells her that after he gets Gray, he's out. He's done with all of it. Maddy in the meanwhile goes to Card and tells him she wants answers. She wants to know everything he knows about the operation that killed Nate. He says it's classified and he can't help, but she blackmails him by telling him she knows about Michael being in Panama and will make a scene about it if he doesn't cooperate.

He takes her to a room and hands her the file. He tells her he's only doing it because he trusts Michael. Jesse on the other hand joins Sam and Brady as they look for a place to do their snatch-and-grab. There are heavily armed guards at one spot, but one lookout at another spot. Jesse gets a truck and drives up to the guy, pretending to ask for directions to a gas station. When the guy gets close enough to the truck, Jesse grabs him by the arm and drives him around a corner into an alley where Brady and Sam are waiting. The guy fights his way away from Sam and Brady, but Jesse knocks him out by throwing open the truck's door as he's about to run by.

Later, the crew tries to sort out assignments and Sam is worried about Michael, who took a pretty good shot to the ribs in his tussle with the one gunman on the roof. Meanwhile, they hear radio communication in Spanish with some guys saying they're returning with Gray in about 30 minutes. Back in Langley, Card asks Maddy what more she wants from him and she suddenly opens up. She tells Card about how her decision not to leave her abusive husband and how Michael and Nate ended up so different as a result. He tells her not to focus on the bad things. She cries and asks for a minute. Card tells her to take all the time she needs, but he takes the file with him as he leaves.

Everyone's meanwhile ready for Card's arrival; Michael and Brady end up standing next to each other alone. Michael tries to tell Brady he doesn't have to be involved, but Brady says he wants to be because it was his operation that went south and got Nate killed. He wants to help Michael settle things for his brother. Gray's two cars show up and the operation commences, but Gray thinks quickly, holds one of his own men over one of the explosives and tells his driver to drive away. Sam, Michael and Brady chase him in a minivan and find the Hummer abandoned. Soon shots fire out and Brady is hit in the leg. Michael and Sam duck behind the Hummer and Michael tries to put pressure on Brady's leg with his belt. Brady encourages them to go after Gray, and Michael vows he'll get him.

Michael calls Card and tells him they're going into the building where Gray is hiding, but Card orders them to stand down. He tells them to wait for backup, which is already on its way. Michael says he has a plan and he's going in. Jesse and Fi head over to the west side of the building to focus Gray's attention in that direction. He fires at them and nicks Jesse on the foot. Gray also shoots a hole into a barrel filled with gasoline, and continues firing bullets at the puddle of fuel trying to spark a conflagration. Meanwhile, Michael and Sam try to sneak around to another part of the building. Michael and Sam are on the roof right above the window where Gray is perched. Michael sets up some rope and with Sam as the anchor rappels off the roof and into the window, kicking Gray down to the ground.

He smacks Gray with the butt of his gun a couple of times and then cuffs him with plastic ties. Gray tells Michael that he was actually sent by Card and that this was supposed to be a suicide mission for Michael. Gray was supposed to kill him. Gray tells Michael to call Card and claim that Gray got away. Gray says Card will tell Michael to stay put and wait for help. Michael decides to play Gray's game and calls Card, who says exactly what Gray said he would. Card tells Michael to stay put and even goes so far as to tell Michael that the CIA is tracking Gray and just saw him duck into an alley all while Gray is actually sitting on the floor staring down the barrel of Michael's gun. Michael plays along with Card and hangs up the phone.

Card tells Michael, "I'm proud of you". Gray then asks Michael if Card told him he was "proud" of him, and says that Card had told him Michael would like to hear that "right before he told me to go for the head shot". Michael then cocks the gun and points it at Gray's head, but suddenly screams and swings another backhand to Gray’s face. Card on the other hand says goodbye to Maddy. She tells him he might have opened up her eyes a bit. Card tells her that some of what he said wasn't easy to hear, "but that's the one thing you'll always get from me, Mrs. Westen, is the truth".

Michael and Sam in the meanwhile pack Gray into the minivan and tell everyone about Card's plot. As they drive away they hear a fighter jet and see that Card has ordered an airstrike. Michael says Card can spin any story he wants to justify it. Card on the other hand goes on to tell Maddy how much he cares about Michael and how he was like his own family. Back in Panama, they decide to stop the van and all get out together before the jet comes back around. Brady calls out, "Alright, let's do this". They stop everyone gets out, but Brady stays in and drives away while Michael shouts at him. Seconds later, the jet swoops down once more and fires a missile directly at the van, which goes up in flames.

Card continues talking to Maddy, telling her he knows the agency has cost her a lot, "so, for what it's worth, I am deeply, deeply sorry". She thanks him and tells him she's glad Michael has him. Card watches her walk away, and then turns to make a call. "Please tell me it's done," he says, and then hangs up the phone. Back in Panama, as they all stare at the burning van, Sam asks, "So, what the hell do we do now?" The episode ends at this point.

Share this article with your friends