With just three weeks left in the series (the last week will be a two hour spectacular), the final confrontations are taking shape, the sides are firming up, and we can now indulge ourselves in some intelligent speculation about how this thing is going to shake out.
THE GOOD GUYS
Martha
Emotional, unbalanced, maybe a little drugged up, but I’m pretty sure she will play the most important role in the upcoming confrontation with Jellyfish. She is as close to the edge of sanity as possible without being measured for a straight jacket. What might she do to stop her husband? Chew on that for a while but if I were the Secret Service, I wouldn’t let her anywhere near a gun.
Secretary of Defense Heller
...Is dead. Probably. Don’t bet the house on it.
Audrey
Out of action. Since she’s going to be in the CTU infirmary, when Henderson makes his inevitable escape attempt she may have to endure one more hostage situation.
Granny Hayes
Fully on the right side now that Jack has the recording. Still cannot trust any of her people. Watch for her and Bill to utilize CTU resources to help Chloe.
Bill
Will probably end up giving us what we all crave – a closed fist smackdown of Miles.
Chloe
Will do her geek thing. Will end up falling in love and marrying the Travelling Salesman, who it turns out, loves being tasered by anally retentive geek women.
Jack
Your guess is as good as mine. Since the writers have never allowed the shadowy groups behind all the series plots to be captured, Jack’s ultimate confrontation will probably be with Henderson who could be released from CTU custody by orders of the President as early as next week.
BAD GUYS
Logan
Will die. Bet the House on it.
Henderson
After being released from custody, he will realize that since Jack has the recording, the jig is up and he will attempt to flee the country.
Agent Stone Face
Aaron will reappear briefly to take care of him so that Logan will be vulnerable to an assassin.
Miles
Will turn into a weasel, but not before tattling on Granny Hayes to the President who will then try to replace her.
Mr. Big & Co.
Will get away scott free.
Feel free to add your own speculation in the comments. On Sunday, I will start my “24 till 24” posts where the best, the funniest, and the most intelligent speculation from comments made below will be highlighted.
SUMMARY
Per Granny Hayes warning, Chloe is frantically getting her gear together so that she can escape before CTU agents swarm Bill’s house. Sneaking out the back door just in time, Chloe makes her way to a motel bar where, because of the curfew, the Karaoke contest has been cancelled but it still appears to be happy hour.
Back at Bill’s, the agents knock on the door demanding entrance. Bill tries his best to muss himself up to make it look like he had been sleeping but the best he could do is move one hair out of place. The CTU agents politely violate Buchanan’s constitutional rights and search his house looking for Chloe. Finding evidence that Bill’s desktop was used to hack into CTU, Bill refuses to talk to the Homeland Security flunkies and demands to speak to Granny. And when Granny agrees, Miles bureaucratic antennae emerges from his head like Ray Walston’s feelers in My Favorite Martian. You can almost see the wheels turning in the lickspittle’s head as his suspicions are heightened about Hayes.
At the bar, Chloe gets Granny to download the passenger manifest from Flight #520. After calling Jack (who is still in the luggage compartment) with the good news, she cross references the info and discovers one passenger who has a possible connection to Henderson. Passing along that information as well as where the Air Marshall is located, Jack makes his way into the cabin, sits next to the Air Marshall, and dispatches him quite nicely with a vicious elbow to the face. Ever the gentleman, Jack gives the unconscious Marshall a pillow to rest his head on.
Jack uses subterfuge in luring his suspect back into the galley so that he can interrogate him. Subduing the businessman with ease, Jack crawls back into the luggage compartment with the German as easily as a spider retreats to a corner of his web.
At the ranch, Martha is beginning to fall of the edge of the sanity cliff. She demands that Agent Stone Face get her some drugs to assuage the psychic pain of her discovery about Logan’s treachery. Stymied there, she calls Mike who obediently comes to her side only to become perplexed when Martha almost lets the cat out of the bag about The Plot. Confused, Mike sees the President and once again, Jellyfish weaves a tissue of convincing lies – well, mostly convincing. Mike is starting to put two and two together and is becoming very concerned.
Logan calls Mr. Big who informs his underling that Jack Bauer must be found and caught. Duh. For all the conversations between Logan and Mr. Big, we have precious little information about him and perhaps the ultimate and unrevealed part of the plot.
In the belly of the plane, Jack interrogates the German as the truth begins to dawn on him; just because someone worked for Omicron doesn’t make them a bad guy. Jack’s fruitless search for the tape takes on a tinge of desperation as the plane makes a slow turn and heads for home.
Chloe, who is in the process of double checking her info on the German businessman with customs, is hit on by the drunk Travelling Salesman. You will recall the Chloe has already had her self-allotted sex for the month having bedded down CTU analyst Spencer during the show’s first hour so she appears not to be interested in the slobbering drunk’s advances. One would think that offers like this don’t come along very often so perhaps she’ll change her mind at some point.
On the plane, things have taken a turn for the worse as the crew discovers the unconscious Air Marshall which causes the Captain to make the dash for home. Realizing there is only one place that Jack could be hiding, the Air Marshall gets the Captain to de-pressurize the luggage compartment. As air begins to hiss out of the compartment, Jack asks Chloe to put him through to the cockpit.
At the ranch, Mike brings Martha her pills and after re-interrogating her, appears to have reached some kind of decision…almost. Either he can’t quite believe his suspicions or is waiting for more evidence before jumping off the Logan team.
Meanwhile, Chloe calls Jack and tells him that the German is not the guy he’s looking for since the timeline for Meyer’s boarding the aircraft doesn’t add up if he indeed met up with Henderson to take the tape. Back at square one, Jack now concentrates on getting air into the luggage hold. Chloe gets Granny to use her CTU pull and is able to put Jack through to the Captain.
The Captain is, to say the least, skeptical. He can’t get past the fact that Jack attacked the Air Marshall and took his gun. Good for him. I wouldn’t let Jack out if I were him either. He hangs up on Jack as the air continues to hiss out of the compartment.
But Jack doesn’t give up easily. Going to the aileron panel in the luggage compartment (No. Do not ask how he knew where it was. That way lies madness), Jack removes the Styrofoam ceiling, takes his belt, wraps it around the control lines, and pulls down very hard.
Immediately, the plane noses over and begins to dive. Jack tells the Captain he will bring the plane down unless he opens the door to the cabin. In what has to be the greatest kneecapping of Jack’s career, the Captain complies.
Chloe, puts the Travelling Salesman on ice, saving him perhaps for later, by tasering the poor guy. One wonders what other toys Chloe uses when engaging in foreplay.
At the ranch, Logan informs Mr. Big that Jack is indeed on Flight #520 and that he’s hijacked it in order to get his hands on the tape. Mr. Big orders Logan to have the plane land and take Jack into custody. Another useless phone call except to give Mr. Big face time.
Meanwhile, at CTU, Bill does the perp walk much to the delight of Miles whose insufferablility quotient rises by the hour. Bill chops him down to size in one of the more satisfying exchanges of the year:
MILES: What is Bauer doing on Flight #520?
BILL: You have no idea what you’re doing, you little ass-kisser.
Give that man a standing ovation.
But Miles’ deviousness will not be denied. After he finds out that Granny is going to do a “soft” interrogation of Bill (questioning why she brought Buchanan back to CTU in the first place rather than have the agents on site do the questioning), Miles does what bureaucrats are most adept at; he stabs Granny in the back by running to Mike Novik and tries to undermine her authority. Mike listens impatiently to the twerp, dismissing his concerns out of hand by, in effect, saying “I don’t have time for this crap now.” I would say the chances that Miles gets in direct contact with the President are as close to 100% as you can get on this show.
In holding room #1, Granny tells Bill that she’s out on a limb now and that Jack has got to get that evidence of Logan’s complicity or she will abandon the cause. And when Logan calls to get an update on Flight 520, Granny is barely able to cover up her suspicions that the President of the United States is a murdering crook. But she hasn’t jumped completely – not yet.
At the bar, Chloe zaps the Travelling Salesman again (he appears to like it) and discovers who Henderson’s true accomplice is; the copilot, who was a last minute replacement. The Captain, hearing about the switch from Jack and confirming it with the clueless copilot, tries to pull the old “I’ve got a cramp in my leg” trick in order to open the door and let Jack in but his cockpit mate doesn’t fall for it. He cold cocks the Captain but not before he succeeds in opening the cockpit door.
Jack rushes in and corners the man he has just broken every civil aviation rule in the book to capture. Realizing he is the only one who can fly the plane (We think. Do not put it past Jack to have 1000 hours of sim time on a 737.) Jack holds off on adding the copilot to his body count. And, as the music swells triumphantly, Jack takes the incriminating tape from Henderson’s accomplice. He calls Chloe who is almost moved to tears with relief. Bauer tells the copilot “You’re going to land this plane or I’m going to put a bullet in your head,” which makes one think that Jack can indeed, fly a commercial jetliner.
Martha, now in a drug induced stupor, calls Jellyfish and whines about how far apart they’ve gotten. Logan tells her that she’s been “one click away from a nervous breakdown for the last three years” and that he can’t count on her anymore. As Martha descends into her own personal hell, Mr. Big calls.
He informs Logan that Jack has the tape and that now he has no option: The plane carrying Jack, the tape, and more than 50 innocent people must be shot down. Otherwise, says Mr. Big, “You go to prison for treason and murder.”
BODY COUNT
The Grim Reaper took the night off, resting up for next week as Jack may have to wade through a lot of blood in order to reach his ultimate objective; Henderson.
JACK: 30
SHOW: 184
Don’t forget to leave you best speculation about upcoming episodes in the comments. The best, the funniest, and the most outrageous will be included in my Sunday post “24 Till 24.”
8:04 am
3 weeks left, maybe, but 4 hours left for Jack & Co.
9:03 am
My father used to tell me stories of having to pay a nickel or dime every week to go watch the matinee, however, it was mostly to see the next serial of Buck Rogers or some cowboy thriller. He used to tell of being so excited about the next serial. I never really understood that concept till this week.
Question: If Jack’s use of a cell phone didn’t hinder the flight, can I start using my cell phone next time I fly?
another point to ponder. I would hope that after 9/11, next time a guy flashes a gun at a would be “hi-jacker” there would be more than a half-hearted attempt by one guy to subdue to gunman.
9:12 am
[...] Last night’s episode was a little slow for my taste. As always, The Right Wing Nut House has an excellent recap. He’s also going to be posting some of the more “creative” prognostications regarding the final outcome. [...]
9:23 am
Just one question: Now that Jack has the ‘tape’ (really a digital recorder, but hey… what are details?), why has it not occurred to him to just tell Chloe to hit ‘record’ on her handy-dandy all-the-bells-and-whistles laptop, play the recording to her through his cell phone (which is actually [most likely] an Irridium satelite phone – notice he never has trouble with dropped calls – and has he ever gone to the bathroom in ANY of these shows? Non sequiter, I know), tell her to hit ‘send all’ on her e-mail list and e-mail a wave file to a couple thousand people?
10:04 am
I agree with Hector and made the same point about post 9/11 hijackees on my site. But remember, this is a diplomatic flight, full of Europeans. I’m sure the French delegate was in the rear lavatory working out the details of his eventual surrender.
10:24 am
favorite moment, again delivered by chloe: frowning into her laptop, furiously pounding away on the keyboard, barely looks away and picks up her phazer and zaps the dude and keeps on going. later in the show she does it again without missing a beat with her task. i love the weekly chloe-isms.
10:33 am
Mpro: Thank you for my first chuckle of the morning!
I was watching that seen and wondering if Jack would finally be taken down by the brave, let’s roll, crowd. Should of known better, international flight, no way was that goin’ to happen.
10:36 am
When Martha told Mike that he could even watch her take her pills, it occurred to me that she may try stockpiling her drugs in order to OD the weasel.
I haven’t watched a slow episode of 24 yet!
12:30 pm
Hubby and I are BIG TIME 24 fans and we agree:
JELLYFISH IS GOING DOWN
LOL!
Carol
PS: We LOVE Chloe!
12:55 pm
THE question is : who will kill the Weasel?? Will it be Martha, in a moment of (in)sanity?
Or maybe good ol’Jack hammer?
Maybe will it be the evil glasses wearer whom will send the order…
As for me, I would bet the house on a suicide attempt that will not quite work but put him out of play for good.
So, 24 writers…please let it be something else than those 4 plausible schemes…
Let it be a little surprising! As if it wasn’t the exact motive of this show…surprise!
1:39 pm
Weasel is too spineless to off himself. I’m still thinking that Martha will pump her pills into him. She’ll pretend to take them while she stockpiles them. Maybe she’ll crush them up and slip them into his wine. But I can’t see Weasel committing suicide.
2:30 pm
Here’s a wild one—what if Henderson escapes and runs to Weasel for protection. When Logan refuses, Henderson offs him and runs for cover in Germany.
2:53 pm
And where in the world is Aaron Pierce?
3:21 pm
Did you notice that Baldy told Jellyfish that he intercepted Chloe’s phone call to Granny telling her that Jack had the recording again?
So now the bad guys know that Granny isn’t playing for Team Logan anymore (and that she has comms with both Jack and Chloe).
3:24 pm
The FINAL SHOWDOWN will involve the intrepid Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce.
One possible scenario has him taking a bullet to protect Crazy Martha … the smoldering passion between the two is undeniable.
Have the crosstown logistics of LA finally caught up w/ “24” ... are we to assume that it is taking over an hour to get Henderson to CTU? His stay in CTU “maximum security lockdown” will be less than 10 minutes resulting in the deaths of at least five anonymous CTU security geeks. Have CTU security guards ever stopped anyone from doing anything?
Miles has replaced “dead Hobbit” as “24” character you would most want to hit in the face with a shovel. Miles reminds me of the jackass reporter on the plane in Die Hard 2.
Secretary Heller “sleeps with the fishes”.
BLS
4:57 pm
Heller is not dead but will, in fact, be the one to take down Logan; possibly aided by Martha and Mike. And I think poor Aaron might be dead. Meanwhile, Jack will be the one to take out Henderson.
As to the CTU conspiracy (Karen, Bill, Chloe, Jack) I don’t think Logan cares that Karen was helping them. He certainly didn’t seem to. With Jack located and in a corner (so to speak) and Karen, at least nominally, following his (Logan’s) orders, I don’t think it’s going to matter. The way it was said, I think he already knew that Karen and Chloe were working together.
I like Miles. I like him more with every hour. I don’t know why, I just do. So here’s my prediction for him: he tries to tattle on Karen to the President, who already knows and doesn’t care, and gets the brush off. He tries to confront Karen, who (with Bill’s help) talks him onto their side.
Chloe gets more awesome with every episode, though I do wonder how many times in a row you can taser a person without causing permanent damage. I hope she knows because at this rate the travelling salesman’s going to get it in the arm about six times next hour. I almost feel sorry for him. Almost.
6:38 pm
When you try to figure what’s happening on 24,
Navigating through treachery, geeks and gore.
That Jack doesn’t eat, sleep or go to the john,
Musn’t sidetrack you; you must push on.
Plots twists will threaten to come to grief,
And test your willing suspension of disbelief.
The talented writers are a dramatic blessing,
Who keep us all forever guessing.
No matter how grim it gets we ultimately grin,
Because we know the good guys will win.
7:41 pm
Before giving way to the probable conclusion of this years mega adventure. I would think that we as avowed listeners and for the most part silent CTUers should meet the first obstacle before giving vent to our imaginations.
Karen Hays is vieing for the recording of Pres. Logan selling out the country for whatever reason. So much so that she is sending a crack team from CTU (probably including Curtis) to the airport to escort Jack (and his recording) back to CTU. (One suspects here that she is only too willing to take down the Pres.) Meanwhile back at the WH the noose is tightening around Logan’s neck. Everyone around him suspects his duplicity. Anyway he also is sending a team of WH secret service to the airport to greet Jack when he deplanes. Here will probably be the next fire fight as overly zealous Secret Service Agents tangle with also overly zealous CTUers.
It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to realize that when the smoke clears, the recording isn’t goint back to Logan. Sooo my guess is it goes with Jack back to CTU.
Now what does Karen do with the proof she suddenly needed so desparately.
The probable scenarios are:
1. She and Jack and Bill to the WH to confront Logan.
2. Logan panics and decides to off himself. (Not likely considering his cowardly demeanor) 3. Mr. Big in an effort not to be implicated in the scandal (bigger than we know) has Logan wacked and packs up shop and tries to escape. 4. Henderson decides that no matter how big this whole magilla is, he is just too tired to continue running and spills the beans.
5. Mike who by now has figured this thing out (with the help of Mrs. Logan,) goes to the VP and they have Logan arrested
6. Mrs. Logan calls Aaron and rats out her husband and Aaron has the Pres. taken down only to find him hanging by his necktie from the ceiling fan.
In any event it doesn’t take much gray matter to see Logan go down for the count. Except we must protect the office of the President so an elaborate plan is hatched to conseal the affair. The only remaining enigma is what in Judas Priest’s name was the whole plot? My guess is (insert drum roll here) A master plot by the Internationalists is subvert the Presidency and thereby weaken the government causing panic in the streets and pandemonium is foreign affairs. A one world government would then prevail.
The final results would be thus:
Jack is reinstated at CTU, and awaits the next international crisis.
Chloe is reinstated at CTU. and awaits the next international crisis.
Bill Buchanan is reinstated at CTU. and awaits the next international crisis.
Audrey and Jack go off into the sunset happy to have found each other again.
Everyone lives happily ever after. Fin.
P.S. As our host has often said, “Anyone left alive at the end of this year will most likely be back next year.”
Its been a great season full of action, romance and intrigue. I especially liked watching it in HD with dynamic sound. And it was free.
10:42 pm
Tony Lafauce in post 18 above covered a lot of ground. I can only add this.
Logan must have an enforcer with him at the WH West. Probably the Secret Service guy he has holding Martha. This will be the guy that killed Walt Cummings and is someone Logan believes is loyal to him alone. This guy will be Mr. Bigs inside man who will be tasked with killing Logan when the “tape” cannot be destroyed and Mr. Big sees Logan as a liability now not an asset. Aaron or Martha may save Logan and he then spills the beans on Mr. Big. Jack then goes after Mr. Big.
I’m still wondering who Mr. Big and company are? They appear to be maybe 35 to 40 years old which is quite young to have so much power. I would have expected them to be late 50s or 60s to get to such a height. There maybe another level yet to be revealed.
All in all a great season this year.
9:16 am
I’m guessing that the bald guy is NOT Mr. Big, but is acting at Mr. Big’s instructions. Mr. Big wouldn’t get so directly involved that he could possibly be implicated in anything. So getting Henderson to give up Logan to give up Big still doesn’t get Jack to the top of the food chain.
11:09 am
In the next show we find out the co-pilot was dupe by Henderson who helps Jack get back on the ground.Then in the last show Chloe is picked up because Miles finds her location. She is taken to the president who tries to make her talk. Maybe they even use her own stun gun on her!
This whole season has been about Jack and Logan when you think about it. Logan trying to get Jack and Jack trying to get the president. They have to meet up. So Jack somehow gets to the retreat. Killing several people along the way. Including Miles.
In the last few minutes the first lady kills herself. Aaron escapes and finds the first lady dead. Then Jack shows up. Jack, Aaron, the vice president and Mike find their way to Logan after killing a few people. Logan is in torturing Chloe to find out where Jack is at. They burst in and Aaron takes a bullet to save Jack. Logan tells us why he did what he did and starts to kill Chloe. Jack puts a bullet in the Presidents head. Jack runs over to a almost dead Chloe. She looks up and says “Jack,Jack”,then the clock hits 24.
1:13 pm
Martha shoots Jellyfish dead. Claims insanity.
You obviously missed the comment at the end when “Mr (Big) Microphone” says that Jack has the recording, indicating that they heard it in an intercepted call from Chloe to Granny Hayes.
Miles will still throw a tantrum the size of Chicago.
1:28 pm
One thing I’ve thought about but not seen discussed (that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been) is that although 24 is shown in real time, unless you do a DVD marathon, it is viewed in slow-motion. 1/168th speed to be exact. This means that events that happen only hours ago from the characters POV, happen months ago from the viewers POV. I bring this up because it still bothers me that just before Henderson first tried to kill Jack he talked to a woman on the phone. Telling her that Jack had been taken care of. Now that we have seen Henderson always talking to Logan I wonder who was the woman he talked with back then. I believe the writers have as many surpises in still store for us this year as they did in the 1st season.
3:11 pm
I fear that First Lady Martha Logan is in grave danger. Prez Logan will have to stop her and not by shipping Martha off to a “resthome” he dare not take the chance that someone would believe her rantings! SillyFace in specs. will convience Logan that Martha is a threat to their shared goals. Probably throw in that Logan would go down in history as a Seditious Traitorous Bastard.
Now if Martha could meet with an accident this would serve to not only protect them from her talking but would have the country coming to his side as the breaved husband.
Apparently it was too well known that Martha and Aaron were getting close or why ship him off. I hope that he gets back here to protect Martha from Logan.
Spec-face will not allow all these loose ends and he holds the cards and can crush Logan whenever. Logan will have no choice but to try to eliminate the little woman. Aaron will be there to stop him?
Of course Jack can fly the plane, but can he land it?
Chloe is great as always but have you noticed that she is able to break laws, skirt rules, kill someone, zap the hell out of a helpless drunk and never have regrets? You got to have regrets. Wouldn’t be suprised if she folds herself up, inserts self into lap top and lies in wait for the next season! But being fearful that her lap top wouldn’t be returned to CTU she will have to insert self thru phone lines, bypassing all governors only she knows where placed. Once at homebase Chloe lies in wait until Jack rehydrates her systems. How will he unknowingly do that? By saying “where’s Chloe, I need her.
3:31 pm
Does anybody else see the separated-at-birthedness of Chloe and Miles? Just think back to the first time we met Chloe, and how truculent and annoying she was… every order she was given caused her to say, “why?” She would also usually explain how she could accomplish some task through her super-duper-geek powers, instead of actually doing it, or brag about what techie talent got the data they were looking for… just like Miles (okay, just like every tv geek, but especially so with Miles this past hour). When crossed, they both put on that pouty face.
Miles is Chloe’s evil, testosterone-deprived twin, and we’ll see DNA proof in the final hour of this day.
4:34 pm
What America (no, the whole world) wants to know is what long distance carrier Jack is using for his cell phone, what long distance plan has he subscribed to, and how many hours can his battery charger keep the phone operable. No matter where he is, like 15,000 feet in the sky locked in the baggage compartment, his cell phone works perfectly. His fans only hope that roaming charges are included in the basic plan.
9:49 pm
leucanthemum: Separated at birth, naugh. Before the day is out I expect Chloe to Bitch Slap that over-estrogened wimpy wrist fool. Now when he does get the slapping, look for him to jack up one hip, with his hand on it and roll his eyes!
Wouldn’t it be funny if he is the one to come to the rescue? Just in cse, I want to be the first to semi-perdict it.
9:00 am
My predictions: Logan will live; the writers haven’t decided what to do with Aaron yet; this is probably the end for Jack (in every interview Kiefer S. has done lately, he talks about not having time for anything but work, so he’ll probably change hats from actor to full-time producer soon).
I can’t believe that nobody has commented on Chloe’s change from psycho woman to sweet girl before she tazered the guy the first time. Maybe she’ll take Jack’s place. Jack may be invincible, but could he do half of what he does without Chloe’s help?
And Jack does eat. I can’t remember whether it was this season or season 4, but while he was waiting in the interrogation room, he wolfed down a frozen meal—so fast he probably didn’t taste it.
12:33 pm
There is always a contingency plan.
Is Kim Bauer sleping with a potential kidnapper?
RoboCop did state, or was it Kim, that he spen a lot of time with her while dealing with the grief from her fathers death.
I’m sure the Breathing Master crossed pathes with Robocop on more than one occasion while working on Kim. He is either simply an informant or another kidnapper/assasin.