Designated Allies

Designated Allies is the fifth episode of series Crisis.

Overview
TBA

Episode Plot
After her father's death, Sharlene Wirth wants to see her mother, but the FBI insists on questioning the girl first. When asked about Gibson, Sharlene explains the kidnappers grilled him about his job at the CIA. Dunn is surprised when Meg picks up Sharlene; Amber's best friend will be staying with her until the FBI releases her mother. Meg advises Dunn to share her story with Finley, but she's locked up tight as a drum.

A burner phone hidden in a cabinet at the Gibson home starts ringing. Gibson tells his own wife, Janice, that she must lure close family friend, CIA Director Gabe Widener, to their house so she can poison him - and save Beth Ann's life. Across town, Widener pays Olsen a visit, claiming the Special Forces soldiers found in the Pakistani Embassy were working for the CIA when they went missing and were presumed dead. It's important that the CIA and FBI work together on this. Widener is just telling Dunn and Finley to let him know when the soldiers wake up when he gets a call from Janice and rushes out. Olsen tells Dunn and Finley that Widener lied to his face, so he lied back: the soldiers woke up an hour ago.

Widener proceeds to the Gibson house with a full team that starts sweeping. Janice nervously offers coffee, then dumps the contents of a vial into Widener's cup. There's clearly some heat and history between these two, but Widener has Janice's number, and he's not going to drink her coffee. Watching from the mansion, Gibson tells Koz the poison is fake anyway; he just wanted Widener to let down his guard so they can hack his phone. But they still need 20 minutes; lucky or not for Gibson, Janice gives in to her impulse to seduce Widener, which gives them plenty of time.

At a secure medical facility, Dr. Jonas Clarenbach (whom we recognize as Meg's former lover and employee) tells Dunn and Finley the two soldiers have been kept in a medically induced coma and have no idea what's happening. When one of the soldiers, Hawkins, wakes up, he thinks he's a prisoner of war, until Finley mentions the mission where he killed innocent civilians. Claiming it was just training, Hawkins becomes overwhelmed with emotion and passes out, so Jonas asks the agents to leave. The CIA is in the building with a court order demanding custody of the soldiers. Telling Finley they're not letting the CIA take the soldiers, Dunn slams a biohazard alarm then smashes her phone, effectively locking the CIA out of the building. She then forces Jonas to help load the soldiers into an ambulance driven by Finley. They're going totally AWOL, as Dunn refuses to inform Olsen of their actions. It doesn't take Olsen long to send the rest of the team after Dunn and Finley, who have parked in the basement of an abandoned building. Dunn is working on their alibi when Hawkins wakes up screaming, begging to stay awake. In his dreams, he's being sent to D.C. to kill more people... by Jonas. Just then, Dunn and Finley get lightheaded and their legs give out. Jonas has stuck them with some kind of powerful tranquilizer. He tells Dunn that he knows who she is before calling Station Orange to request pickup.

A creepy guard approaches Amber in the mansion. What would her mother say if she knew about Amber's affair with her teacher? Beth Ann notices something's wrong when Amber passes her in a daze. After telling Amber they have to protect themselves, Beth Ann passes her a shiv made out of her stolen razor blade. Later, when Kyle asks about the blade, Beth Ann tells him to focus on Hurst, who's a bad, bad man. Kyle's not so sure. The kidnappers gather the kids in a room, then drag Gibson in to read a note. A box cutter blade is missing. The kids have 10 seconds to turn it in or they'll be searched. The search is in full swing when Mr. Nash spies the creepy guard trying to connect with Amber. Nash steps in, and gets choked for his troubles. The creepy guard pulls Ian out of the crowd and forces Amber to tell him that she let Mr. Nash touch her, while Ian is not good enough to even look at. He pushes Ian at Amber, ordering him to search her. Koz turns up Luke's stash of "meds" during the search, but lets him keep them. Afterwards, Beth Ann shares a tender moment with her father, who admits to thinking about his wife. Father and daughter are together, Janice is all alone. Maybe when Beth Ann and Gibson are released, they can give family life another try.

Still groggy, Finley pulls his gun out of Jonas' lab coat pocket, demanding to know his plans for the soldiers. Jonas tells Finley to ask his partner's sister and drives off with a group of presumed CIA agents, who will only say, "We were never here." When they can stand up, Dunn decides it's time to pay Meg a visit. Meanwhile, Jonas calls Widener in a rage from a payphone. Widener promised him this job was about science and what happened today wasn't! Jonas hangs up and disappears. Luckily, Finley swiped Jonas' fake ID, which Dunn presents to Meg. Jonas ran a classified pharmaceutical project on contract with the CIA for her company - and she knows nothing about it, other than the project was classified and it went bad. Meg had to keep her company clean, so she severed the relationship - which Dunn knows means Meg was sleeping with Jonas. Meg just learned Jonas was involved yesterday, yet she's tracked down his wife. It's all too much for Dunn, who tries to tell Finley the truth, but can't, until Finley promises it'll be okay. The FBI will take her badge if they find out Amber is Dunn's daughter, so it's going to stay between the partners. Before returning to work, Dunn and Finley search Jonas' home to find a photo of him and Gibson as soldiers, arm in arm. So is Gibson a hostage... or is he the kidnapper?

Back at the mansion, Ian confronts Beth Ann, demanding she hand over the razor blade she's been hiding in her mouth. Beth Ann wants to know what happened with Amber, but Ian refuses to talk, instead building a shiv of his own. He's just about to attack the creepy guard when Mr. Nash grabs Ian from behind. Beth Ann shows up in time to talk Ian down, but not before he cuts up his hand. When Kyle walks in, Beth Ann blames Hurst for everything. Kyle grabs the shiv and marches to a camera to indict Hurst, prompting Gibson to strike a deal. Hurst is to convince Kyle that he's in on the kidnapping - or Gibson has no more use for Hurst's daughter. In short order, Hurst tells Kyle they're not family, never were and demands he hand over the shiv. Hurst returns to the kitchen and Gibson orders him back in the hole.

Late that night, Gibson finds Jin Liao awake. Jin admits to dreaming Gibson was in charge of the kidnappers... crazy, right? Beth Ann finds Kyle staring at the ceiling. She apologizes for pushing too hard and is kissing him when a guard summons her to join her father on an emotional phone call with her mother. Ian asks Luke to share his drugs while Gibson pours himself a whiskey and reviews data from Widener's phone. Widener called a CIA medical transport vehicle, so Gibson changes their route - now they're headed in Koz's direction... which means the CIA guys are dead, and the soldiers are now in Gibson's possession. The terrible thing his wife did - sleeping with Widener - it was worth it to protect their daughter.

Cast

 * Gillian Anderson as Meg Fitch
 * Dermot Mulroney as Thomas Gibson
 * Rachael Taylor as FBI Special Agent Susie Dunn
 * Lance Gross as Secret Service
 * Stevie Lynn Jones as Beth Ann Gibson
 * Michael Beach as Olsen
 * Max Martini as Koz
 * James Lafferty as Mr. Nash
 * Halston Sage as Amber Fitch
 * Max Schneider as Ian Martinez
 * Mark Valley as Widener
 * Joshua Erenberg as Anton Roth

Trivia
TBA