By Kofi Outlaw

You would’ve thought THE UNIT was doing its best HOUSE imitation with the amount of surgical procedures that were performed on this week’s episode, aptly titled “Inside Out.”

Jonas, Mack and Hector were on assignment in Europe, tracking an agent who was in possession of a microchip containing the identities of American operatives who had infiltrated a terrorist network. The only problem was that the chip had been surgically embedded in the agent’s shoulder was programmed with a GPS signal that let the bad guys track its movement. At first the assignment was easy enough: grab the agent, elude the bad guys, cut out the chip (Hector is a doctor apparently) and save the day. However when Jonas saw an opportunity to lure out the leaders of the conspiracy, things got complicated, and messy.

At home Kim was having slight turbulence with her pregnancy, landing her on bed rest and Bob in the role of Mr. Mom for a day. Not nearly as skilled in the kitchen as he is on the battlefield, Bob didn’t last too long before Kim had come off the sidelines to ‘relieve him of duty.’ Things only got worse when Kim caught Bob working on his muscle car instead of doing house chores, and then even worse when Bob confronts Kim at the radio station for skipping bed rest to premiere her new talk show. Tiffy, meanwhile, got fired from her teaching job and learned that the DUI she got covering for Charlotte Ryan will bar her from any future positions. To make ends meet she went to work as a cocktail waitress at a seedy bar. When the owner suggested pole dancing as a way to make extra cash, Tiffy promptly refused—at least, at first.

In Europe Jonas ‘persuaded’ the courier agent to have the chip surgically re-implanted in his body and to deliver it as promised to his employers, thereby drawing out the conspirators. The ploy worked; but when the buyers went to retrieve the chip with an ax instead of scalpel, Mack disobeyed orders and dropped them, nearly letting the leader escape. The agent, having had his fill of espionage for the day, had Mack cut the chip out with a pocketknife before fleeing to safety.

Bob finally sold his cherished boyhood car, realizing that he is now a man who has to put his growing family first. His plan was to use the profit to pay for a bigger car and a housemaid, allowing Kim the freedom to pursue the career she loves. At the bar Tiffy gave in and agreed to work the pole. When the time came to hit the stage she chickened out, until Mack walked in, trying to strong-arm her out the door. As a big “F-you” to her soon-to-be ex-husband, Tiffy danced the night away while drunk and horny louts ogled her up and down.

This week’s episode was just okay, nothing really special to rant about except that in terms of consistency, THE UNIT does well, often. This show (like 24 in its infancy) deserves more of an audience and acclaim than its getting.