When the show opens, the American Ar Rissalah terrorists are being transported to the prison. One of them break their thumbs, which allows them to break free of their handcuffs. Meanwhile, Charlie (Katherine Heigl) meets with President Payton (Alfre Woodard) and tells her Nick Vera (Chris McKenna) is with Omar Fatah (Farshad Farahat). She reveals Nick is on his way to meet with Sheikh Hakam, who will be killed, by Jack Dawkins, during the meeting. She shows the president the picture of the soldier, who was killed by Vera. The President suggests an airstrike, if Vera doesn’t make contact with her quick enough.

Although most of the American terrorists were killed, one of them was able to escape. Acting Director Banks (Matthew Lillard) demands the team find and interrogate the escapee immediately. David (David Harbour) meets with Jules (Reed Diamond), who questions him about the murder in the Philippines. Jules insists he would rather have a live interview with the President, while using the murder as leverage. Nick and Omar continue their journey towards Sheikh. The pair arrive at a camp, where Omar begins chanting and praying.

The President discusses the WNR interview with David, who suggests staying off television, until Sheikh and Omar are killed. Charlie investigated the bodies of the terrorists and discovers their broken thumbs, which allowed them to escape their restraints. She discovers the remaining terrorist, Kenneth Travers (Aaron Christian Holwes), likely still has work to do. Kenneth is shown running through the woods.

Back at Langley, Dashiell Greer (Tommy Savas) suggests something big is coming and Travers knows exactly what it is. Lucas Newsome (Adam Kaufman) and Charlie begin investigating Travers’s background. Although Agent Hernandez (Alex Fernandez) spoke with each of his many foster parents, Charlie insists speaking with the Setton’s again, since Kenneth seemed to thrive, when he was with their family. Hernandez refuses to send her, but insists Charlie can speak to them on her own. Jules arrives at the oval office and thanks David, who seems befuddled. Meanwhile, Kurt Tannen (Cliff Chamberlain) makes a big sale, before Emily (Jenny Pellicer) arrives. She invites Kurt to lunch, before flirting with him. Eventually, he goes with her, while Victor Gantry (Adam Arkin) happily watches them leave.

Victor meets with his operative, Sid, and tells him he wants to know everything he knows about Mindanao. Sid insists he is done with the job, but Victor says the only way to protect Charlie is to remain in operation. Meanwhile, Charlie and Lucas meets with the Settons. They discover Kenneth called them a few hours ago, with a potential goodbye, but smashed his cell phone afterwards. They begin tracking down his last known whereabouts.

Meanwhile, the President prepares for her interview. David recommends against the interview, before he begins grilling Payton, who handles it well, but insists she still has a lot of work to do. Meanwhile, Lucas and Charlie hunt through the woods for Kenneth. They discover Kenneth, who rushes out, before being gunned down by Charlie, who refuses to let Lucas call for am ambulance. Charlie grills Kenneth, who admits there is going to be another attack using bomb vests. After a little convincing, Kenneth reveals Professor Ahmadi (Anil Kumar) has the vests.

Vera searches the camp and finds a cell phone, before he is attacked. After he kills his attacker, he is confronted by Fatah, who cuts himself across the stomach. He takes the blame for the killing. When the police rush Ahmadi’s place, he kills himself. Although Lucas is able to find Ahmadi’s hidden room, the vests are all gone. Kenneth tells Charlie about Hakam’s past, while Omar preaches to his soldiers.

Nick finally makes contact with Charlie and gives her the coordinates for the meeting. Nick questions the plans to kill Fatah, before questioning his own future. Charlie insists she will get him home. Charlie calls the President, before the interview and informs her about Hakam. Next, Jules prepares to interview the President. Philip Franklin goes live and informs viewers the interview will be detailed. The episode ends with the President joining everyone at the command center.

Review


The Faithful had a lot of potential, but turned out to be cheesy and wound up falling flat. The cringes started at the beginning of the episode, when the terrorists started breaking their thumbs. The action lacked creativity and seemed unrealistic. Meanwhile, it was fairly obvious Kenneth would be the one to make his escape. The other terrorists were underdeveloped, which makes for predictable circumstances. The scene, where Charlie shot Kenneth, was also sketchy, since she fired several times, but it appeared Kenneth was only wounded in the arm. Katherine Heigl’s interrogation fell flat and felt forced.

The episode’s frequent confrontations between the President and David also lacked emotions. In the end, the episode deserves a 5 out of 10.