Directed by Chris Grimer
Written by Tom Garrigus, Jessica Grasl, Pierluigi Cothran, Patrick Cunnane, & Tracey Rice
Kirkman negotiates the release of an American youth held abroad and threatened with hard labor over a minor crime. Meanwhile, Hannah continues her investigation into the source of the "Gamine" hacks and Kendra
Tropes in this episode:
- Bait-and-Switch: Of a sort; the episode is framed to make you think that Agent Wells is breaking into Andrea Frost's house to gather evidence of the "Gamine" hacks, when it's really Dax Minter's house.
- Double Subverted with Hannah's firing. She didn't get fired, the President just pretended to fire her to give her a cover; then after her mission is done, she turns in her badge so she can hunt down Damian's killer on her own.
- Bittersweet Ending: Dax Minter is outed as the "Gamine" hacker and arrested, while Matthew Jennings gets to come home to America, but Kendra's investigation of her former mentor leads nowhere good, and Andrea Frost leaves for San Francisco.
- Broken Pedestal: Kendra has one of these regarding her former mentor, not that it isn't justified.
- But Now I Must Go/Put on a Bus: Andrea Frost leaves D.C. long-term to head up a crucial project for her company in San Francisco, but not before a bit more Ship Tease between her and Kirkman.
- Commuting on a Bus: Right after Ethan West was seemingly Put on a Bus at the end of "Capacity", he returns once again. That said, there may have been a Time Skip between episodes, as "Capacity" and "Target" seem to be several months to most of a year apart.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Dax Minter goes on a Motive Rant to explain that hacked and undermined Kirkman to weaken government oversight of tech companies like his own, so that corporations could operate "without interference". Kirkman isn't buying it.
- The Cracker: Dax Minter is behind the "Gamine" cyberattacks.
- Dirty Old Man: Not that he's particularly old, but Kendra's former mentor does show a pretty clear predilection for younger women throughout the episode. The ambiguous sexual misconduct ultimately sinks his potential nomination to the D.C. appellate court.
- Felony Misdemeanor: Matthew Jennings spray-painted a smiley-face on a wall, for which he is threatened with years of hard labor in a prison camp.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ethan West may be abrasive, but he genuinely wants to help the Jennings family get Matthew back home.
- Kansas City Shuffle: Hannah's actions are revealed to be this; she and Kirkman had worked out the location of Minter's bug in the Oval Office, and staged her public harassment of Andrea Frost as well as her "firing" in the Oval Office to give the hacker the false impression that suspicion had fallen elsewhere. Wells then went to Minter and arranged to have him meet up with Frost so that she could gather evidence from his home while he was away. With his guilt assured, Kirkman and Wells then got Minter to come to the Oval Office on the pretense of a meeting in order to arrest him.
- The Reveal: Dax Minter was behind the "Gamine" cyberattacks, not Andrea Frost.
- Ripped from the Headlines: An American youth being sentenced to years of imprisonment and hard labour? That hasn't been in the news lately, has it?
- Special Guest: Michael J. Fox as Ethan West ... again.
- Tranquil Fury: Kirkman, when confronting Dax Minter.
- Unwanted Assistance: Ethan West's fumbling assistance with the negotiations over Matthew Jennings ends up causing more problems than resolving them, until he and Kirkman can get on the same page.
- Voice with an Internet Connection: Chuck Russink serves as this for Hannah as she infiltrates Minter's house.
- We Used to Be Friends: Kirkman makes it very clear that he takes Minter's attacks as a personal betrayal. Conversely, Minter resents Kirkman for maintaining and strengthening corporate oversight laws.
