The Unit
Extreme Rendition
Episode 2.2 - Sept. 26, 2006
Lee Tergesen guest starred as Alex Deckard in this
action drama that follows a covert team of Special Forces operatives on undercover missions around the globe.
At the conclusion of the episode, it appears that Alex Deckard
may be making a return appearance on the show. Indeed, in the
commentary track on the DVD, the producer reveals that they wanted to do an episode to bring him back, but Lee
is a
popular actor and isn't always available. "It's a matter of finding
the right episode and finding that we can get Lee back."
Deckard is a former Unit operative who had been moonlighting as a
hit man. Eventually, he gave up his day job with the U.S. military
and plunged into dealing weapons. He's caught after a traffic accident in Bulgaria -- the vehicle he was driving happened to have 2,000 automatic weapons in it. He's in a
Bulgarian prison when The Unit determines he could help them catch (or assassinate) the top arms transporter on the planet, Victor Brana.
They send Unit rookie Bob Brown (actor Scott Foley) into the
prison while other members of The Unit pose as members of a company selling fancy computer chip tracking devices to monitor inmates. During the
demonstration, Deckard goes missing, but the Unit thwart his escape.
Or, rather, they help him escape -- with them.
Turns out Deckard has a history with Unit leader Jonas Blane
(actor Dennis Haysbert) and may have even saved him from trouble in
the past. But the good deeds are long gone. Now his only hope is to
help them and hope for leniency. But he wonders what their true motives are. "You expect me to believe that your mission was extreme rendition in a country with an extradition treaty? What do you really want?" What they really want is information about the whereabouts of Victor Brana, who apparently has become the major mover of missile components into Iran. Jonas also tells Deckard that Brana is eliminating Deckard's consortium.
So, Deckard leads The Unit to a Turkish city to try to get some
key information from a partner in the gun-running business -- a guy named Yuri, who poses as a travel agent. He is really Brana's coordinator. Lee-as-Deckard is his charming self, especially when selecting his
Unit partner for the mission. "My bunkmate ... I always had a
soft spot for newbies," he purrs.
Deckard and Brown have drinks and bullshit with Yuri but soon enough,
the bullets start to fly, and Deckard really does get away this
time.
At the conclusion, The Unit learns that Brana has
been assassinated, and it looks like their good buddy Alex Deckard
was behind it.
The question they pose: "You've got a rogue ex-Unit member who's just killed the world's leading arms transporter. How do you hunt him down?"
It was a perfect set-up for a return appearance by Lee, but
unfortunately, it never worked out.
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