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Casualties of War
Season:	One
Episode number:	105
First aired:	October 18, 2010
Written by:	Dan Dworkin, Jay Beattie
Directed by:	Milan Cheylov
Previous episode:	A Matter of Life and Death
Next episode:	Loyalty

Summary

• The President negotiates with Thomas for the cure to the Avias 514 passengers' illness.
• Sean and FBI Agent Collier get some unexpected help in rescuing Leila.
• The President works with Sophia to get Thomas back in line.

Story Development

Synopsis

While Thomas asks President Martinez to release Sophia and the rest of the detainees on the phone left in David's backpack, the Avias 514 passengers begin to have nosebleeds and start acting out violently.

Later, the doctor that previously advised the President in the quarantine facility is in the White House Situation Room with the President and his staff. She explains that the hemorrhaging is getting worse, and the passengers' nervous symptoms and cognitive functions are now under attack. She adds that blood tests rule out bacterial and viral infection, and her guess would be a foreign or extraterrestrial organism. Due to this, she notes she does not know what treatment to provide, and if the passengers continue at this rate, they will all be dead by morning.

Thomas then calls the White House switchboards and the President agrees to take the call. Thomas offers to give them an antidote to reverse the process that is affecting the passengers if they release the remaining 96 Inostranka detainees. He adds that they have two hours to make arrangements and he will call back then.

Thomas and Simon examine a radio.

In the Brooks Mountain Range, Alaska, 1944, Thomas and Simon leave with the able-bodied passengers after Sophia asks Thomas to do so. After some traveling on foot, they arrive at a deserted arctic base. Simon and Thomas enter alone to ensure it is safe, and find it empty, filled with food and supplies. Thomas takes apart a radio, and seeing that it is built using vacuum tubes, notes that the society that built it doesn't have anywhere near the technology they will need for them to get home.

In the present, Director Sterling advises President Martinez not to give in to Thomas's demands, noting that what Thomas is doing is an act of war, which he notes is unavoidable to have casualties. The President then says that they will reconvene in two hours and leaves. Afterward, Simon calls Thomas and urges him to give the antidote freely so they can repair the damage that has been done. Thomas refuses and disconnects.

In Snyder, Leila is sitting at Chief Nugent's desk, and talks to him after attempting to call Sean again. She notes that neither Sean nor her parents are answering. The Chief replies that she will be the first to know if Sean calls. Leila then thanks him and complements his family, looking at a photo on his desk. He thanks her, noting they will be celebrating 15 years come this January, and leaves to the snacks room where Vicky and Carter are waiting. The Chief tells them they will have to pull out if he doesn't come by morning, but Vicky says to trust her--that he'll come.

Five years earlier, in Del Mar, CA, Vicky is preparing for a mission. Her commander tells her he just got the final orders, which say they are to take out the entire family. He and Vicky then enter the home, shooting down the family. Then, Vicky locates a baby crying in its crib, and lowers her weapon.

In the present, Sean is in a small grocery store. He uses a payphone to call a friend, Rick, and ask him to track Vicky Roberts's phone number. Rick, at first, says he doesn't do that anymore, cause he has a family to think of; but Sean tells him that Leila is in danger and he agrees to help. Later, Agent Collier comes in the store, and Sean tells her his friend ran Vicky's number, but didn't get a hit. Agent Collier notes that her phone might be off, and Sean responds that his friend will keep trying and phone him if he turns up anything. Sean also notes he has it covered regarding his dead phone, buying a universal charger along with some water and food items. Later, while Agent Collier is driving in the car, Sean listens to Leila's message on the phone and notes she is a police station in Snyder.

Leila is prevented from leaving the police station.

In Snyder, Leila is still in the police station when a call comes in from Sean. The Chief patches the call through to her, and Leila explain some of what happened to her. Sean says he is a little over an hour away, and is on his way there. Their call then begins breaking up some, so they say their goodbyes and hang up. Leila then accidentally touches the computer mouse, and some photos of another family appear scrolling on the computer monitor. Then, she discovers a drop of fresh blood on the carpet, and asks to use to restroom. Once inside by herself, she starts the hand dryer and runs the faucet. She then gets up on the sink and shatters a window with a small trash bin. However, the Chief and another officer enter the room and stop her before she can make it out the window. They take her to a filing room and lock her inside.

In the Bio Quarantine Facility, the Avias 514 passengers and crew are still in serious condition. Michael's heart has to be restarted with a defibrillator and Dan Taylor and some of the other passengers are having bloody convulsions. The main doctor enters in a protective suit and gives the order to sedate them with drugs if they have to.

Meanwhile, in the White House, the President discusses the situation about Thomas and the Avias 514 passengers with his wife. He tells her it is not a simple situation for him, and heads back to the Situation Room. Thomas calls back and the President says he isn't going to release any detainees, and that Thomas will give him the antidote because he will execute all of the detainees if even one Avias 514 passenger dies. Thomas replies that he would not do that, and the President responds that Thomas is wrong and disconnects.

In New Mexico, 1945, Thomas arrives at an apartment, and turns on the lights to find Simon has been waiting for him. Thomas answers that he has been living there for six months, and Simon asks how he could just leave everyone behind without a clue of where he was going or why. Thomas says he knew Simon could handle it, and is working on pushing the country's scientific knowledge so they can be helped too. He displays a uniform and badge for an alias of Edmund Wise at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and claims he has helped out on the Manhattan Project--pushing the timeline for the U.S. government's development of nuclear fission technology to a matter of months instead of decades. When Simon notes that the country is at war, he tells Simon he doesn't care what the U.S. government is going to use it for--that it is only what they want it for that matters.

Director Sterling lays out a blueprint of Inostranka's ventilation system.

In the present, Director Sterling arrives to the Oval Office and talks with President Martinez, and lays out a blueprint for Inostranka's ventilation system on the President's desk. He tells the President that the original construction in 1944 included a means of neutralizing the detainees--a termination protocol where the living quarters would be sealed off and carbon monoxide pumped in to kill the detainees. The President calls it barbaric, but the Director says he thinks it is their strongest option. President Martinez agrees to let Director Sterling set it up, and examines the blueprint as the Director leaves.

Elsewhere, Simon meets with Sophia and tells her he dug out the original blueprints and confirmed the termination protocol is a real threat. Sophia says that President Martinez would not do that, and Thomas would never let the passengers die. Simon replies that things have changed--that he thinks the President would go through with his promise and that Thomas wouldn't listen to him, when he asked him earlier. Sophia then tells Simon to tell Thomas not to let any of the passengers die, and to ensure he understands it is an order.

Later, Simon meets with Thomas at a park. Simon tells Thomas that the President wouldn't listen to him if he tried, and that Sophia wants him to hand over the antidote. Thomas replies that he doesn't care, and is done taking orders from her. Simon doesn't accept that, and asks for the antidote. When Thomas refuses, Simon slugs him in the face, sending him to the ground. Simon tells Thomas that the President isn't going to back down, and Thomas says neither is he. Simon replies that, then, he is sentencing his own people to death and leaves.

In Snyder, Vicky and Carter enter the room where Leila is being held. Carter gloats that Leila is leading her boyfriend right to them, and says he will take the roof. Vicky asks him to call her with a heads up when he gets the visual and turns on her phone. Leila asks Vicky if killing is always that easy for her, but Vicky doesn't answer and leaves, locking Leila in the room.

Five years earlier, Vicky talks with her employer in Denver, Colorado. She mentions that no one told her there would be a baby in the house, and he replies that he didn't see a need. He adds that her orders were to take out the family and burn down the house, and Vicky tells him that it is done. Later, she arrives at home to find the door unlocked. Entering inside, she complains to her mom that she left the door open. Vicky's mom tells her there is some spaghetti left, if she wants it, but Vicky replies she just wants to go lay down. She then heads upstairs to her room, where a baby is laying in the crib. She promises him that he's safe there.

Back in current time, Carter spots the SUV pull up with Sean and Agent Collier inside and tells Vicky by cell phone. He adds that they want to end things right away with his M24, but Vicky says their orders are to be discreet and wait for them to get inside. Sean then gets a call from Rick, who tells him that Vicky is in Snyder, at the corner of 26 Street between avenues M and N. Agent Collier notes that means Vicky's inside the precinct, and says they need to leave. Sean wants to go in himself, and pleads with her to let him go in after Leila. When Agent Collier tells Sean they really don't have any move, he sends Vicky a message--a photo of Adam. Sean then calls Vicky, and threatens to make Vicky's son's photo and address go viral on the internet unless she allows him to take Leila out of there. Vicky notes there are other people in there, but Sean says at least he is giving her a choice and disconnects.

Before exiting the SUV, Sean tells Agent Collier he is going in, and she gives him a handgun to defend himself. From he roof, Carter tells Vicky that Sean is going in by himself. Upon entering, Vicky points her gun at Sean, who turns to face her. Vicky then starts a shootout with the other officers in the room, and Carter begins a shootout with Agent Collier. Vicky takes out a couple officers, and tells Sean that Leila is in the back. As Sean leaves to the back, Vicky takes down the Chief and Agent Collier shoots Carter, such that he falls off the roof. Sean reaches the filing room, and kicks the door in to get to her. After kissing her, they exit to the hallway, where another officer stands off with Sean at gunpoint. However, before either of them can fire, Vicky takes down the officer and tells them to go. They rush out of the precinct and into the SUV that Agent Collier is inside, waiting for them. She quickly drives them away.

Sean and Leila reunite.

While gathering her stuff and heading out of the precinct herself, Vicky makes a call to her superiors. She claims that Sean came with FBI agents and raided the place, taking Leila and Carter with them--that she is the only one left. She says she isn't sure how they knew, and suspects that someone talked. Before disconnecting, she notes she will wait for orders at the rendezvous point. In the SUV, Agent Collier says she will get them someplace safe, and then question the man she captured--Carter.

In the Situation Room, the President Martinez and his staff are waiting. Director Sterling notes it is three minutes past the deadline, but the President says to wait another minute. Then, Thomas calls again with his original demand. But President Martinez says there is no point in any more talk, unless he gets the antidote, so Thomas reduces his demand to only one of his people, Sophia. President Martinez agrees to this, and Thomas promises to deliver the antidote to the CDC as part of the exchange. He asks the President to arrange for Sophia to be put on the Red Line at the Faraday North Metro Station, scheduled to depart at 8:16pm, and for there to be no one on the train or subway station. The President then instructs Director Sterling to put a tracking device Sophia, something that cannot be easily removed, so they can find Thomas. The Director says they have something that can be added to her food and water that should work.

Sophia boards the subway.

Some time later, two agents watch Sophia enter the subway car by herself and leave. Meanwhile, the antidote is administered to the Avias 514 passengers at the Bio Quarantine Facility, and they wake up without the prior symptoms.

Back at the White House, the First Lady talks to her husband at his desk in the Oval Office. She asks him if he would have gone through with his threat if it didn't work out, and he responds that the only thing that matters is that it did work out and that is the only answer he has. She says that isn't an answer, and leaves, saying she is taking David to school.

Memorable Quotes

"The people on that plane are innocent. Some of them are children..."

"...and it's tragic, but what this man, Thomas, is doing is an act of war; and in war, there are casualties. It's unavoidable."

- President Martinez, Director Sterling

"Don't you get it? The President isn't going to back down."

"Neither am I."

"Then you're sentencing your own people to death."

- Simon, Thomas

Character Appearances

Trivia

• Thomas tells President Martinez to put Sophia on the train at the Farragut North Station. However as she enters the station a sign is seen for 7th Street which is at Gallery Pl Station which turns out to be her destination in the following episode. The two stations are only 4 minutes away from each other, however a lot happens during her trip and Justin reports Sophia to be at Van Ness Station which is in the opposite direction from Metro Center and Gallery.

See Also

• For images from Casualties of War, see images from Casualties of War.
• Watch the episode on Hulu.