My 30 day countdown post to the season premier of 24, as much a holiday tradition here at The House as roasting liberals over an open fire, has always started the juices flowing, building excitement for the shows opening two night, 4 hour extravaganza (January 14-15 at 7:00 PM Central). This year, judging by the preview clip released by Fox in October, it appears we’re in for another edge of your seat thrill ride as the best dramatic production team in television pulls out all the stops to entertain us, amaze us, and maybe even scare us a little.

As I have done for the past two years, I will post a summary and analysis every Tuesday morning following the previous evening’s show filled with snark, speculation, and my much copied but never equalled body count. Last year, the Official Body Count for Jack Bauer was 35 confirmed kills with the shows total at 201. As I’ve explained, the number of deaths for the entire show is almost certainly much higher but I only count deaths that can be confirmed on camera. The same goes for Jack’s number, although it is much easier to keep track of his kills since he literally kills almost everything he shoots at. Jack Bauer is the most efficient killer in TV history. An analysis of his body count to ammo expended would be pretty close to 1:1.

If you haven’t seen the trailer, click on the link above and then come back. Or if you want to be totally surprised on opening night, stop reading. This is a spoiler free site but since the trailer has been out there for two months, I’m not going to be commenting on anything that most of you haven’t already seen.

As I see it, the show this year is entering very dangerous territory for a long running drama; how do you top what you did the previous year? For 24, the answer last year was to shrink Jack’s universe by killing off his closest friends, making his quest to bring down the bad guys almost a personal vendetta. I commented last year at the cold blooded way he killed Palmer’s assassin as well as his execution of Henderson and thought that this marked a divergence for the character:

The shooting of the actual assassin of David Palmer in cold blood was shocking to me. If he had done anything similar in past years, it didn’t register. There was no reluctance, no hesitation. He could have been putting a bullet in an injured buck for all the emotion he showed in killing him. I got a similar reaction to his execution of Henderson, although admittedly, the feeling that old Buckaroo had it coming to him was also present. But it seemed that with those two murders – and there is no getting around it, that’s what they were – Jack has crossed a line and there’s no turning back. Can he really be any use to CTU and the United States in any official capacity any longer? My prediction is that Jack is going black from here on out and that any help he gets from the government will be off the books.

It’s hard to tell from the preview clip precisely what Jack’s relationship with CTU is going to be but it would not surprise me if he ends up at odds with the entire government and only his personal friends at CTU on his side. This would be in keeping with the shows shift last year to a darker, more troubled Jack Bauer whose personal life is so crummy that there are times that it almost appears he would welcome death. From the clip, it looks like Jack will be asked to sacrifice his life to save the country from a wave of terrorist attacks carried out by (go to hell, CAIR) Muslim terrorists. In fact, the car and truck bombings in several cities simultaneously are probably more realistic as far as what we might expect from the next attacks on US soil rather than a bio/chem or nuke attack as the show has dealt with the last 5 seasons.

Actually, it makes sense from the shows standpoint. About the only way you could top a nuclear or biological threat on American soil would be to write in a rogue asteroid about to hit the earth; exciting but unrealistic. And not much that Jack Bauer could do to stop it either.

The preview clip (and others I won’t link to because they give too much away) reveal a much more fatalistic Jack, a man resigned to the fact that his life is really not his anymore, that whatever happens to him is secondary to giving his life meaning. If that can be done by dying, Jack will embrace death willingly. In this sense, he becomes an even more vulnerable character – one that we are compelled to protect and keep safe. I predict our emotional attachment to Jack will be even more powerful which is surely what the writers intend.

As for other characters, here are a few that have been written about in various entertainment media so there’s no real surprise if we look at them.

CHARACTERS

Old Friends:

Mary Lynn Rajskub as our favorite bitch with a heart of gold Chloe O’Brian

D.B. Woodside as Wayne Palmer. Wayne played a minor role in last year’s investigation into the death of his brother, the ex-President. This year, he rides a sympathy vote all the way to the White House and plays the President.

James Morrison as “By the Book” Bill Buchanan returns as CTU chief.

Jayne Atkinson as Karen Hayes. Karen moves to National Security Adviser to the President.

Carlo Rota as Morris O’Brian. Chloe went out for pizza with Morris, her ex husband, at the conclusion of last year’s show. Could this be the restart of a beautiful friendship?

Eric Balfour as Milo Pressman. Milo, last seen 5 years ago working on a CTU key card, will be a regular for season 6.

Gregory Itzin as Charles Logan. Why isn’t this guy in jail for the rest of his natural life? His will be a “reoccurring role” which probably means he gets a very satisfying bullet sometime during the course of the show.

Jean Smart as Martha Logan. Not still together I hope. Still, an interesting character with a lot of moxie. With her connections, she could be useful to a man on the run from the government.

Glenn Morshower as Aaron Pierce. Probably still protecting Martha. The straightest arrow on the show.

Kim Raver as Audrey Raines. Forget Jack and find someone else, Audrey.

Roger Cross as Curtis Manning. The only man to partner with Jack Bauer and live more than an hour.

Paul McCrane as Graham. The shadowy bad guy from last year and head of the so called “Blue Tooth” mafia – named after the Blue Tooth cell phones used by all the bad guys.

Tzi Ma as Cheng Zhi. The Chinese consular official who captured and tortured Jack.

William Devane as James Heller. Another straight arrow but someone unlikely to be very helpful to Jack.

New Characters:

James Cromwell as Phillip Bauer, Jack’s father. One more potential hostage for Jack to worry about.

Peter MacNicol as Thomas Lennox. Karen Hayes and Lennox will be the ying and yang of the liberty vs. security debate in the White House.

Powers Booth as Vice President Daniels. Booth is a versatile actor, having played Jim Jones as well as good guys in the past. Should be interesting to see how they use him.

Rick Schroeder as CTU Agent Doyle. I liked him in NYPD Blue. But is he tough enough to team up with Curtis and Jack?

There are also scads of Middle Eastern bad guys – a welcome sign that perhaps this year Fox will embrace the concept that while Chechens and South American drug czars are also terrorists, that the existential threat to America comes from Muslim extremists. Expect howls of outrage from both CAIR and the politically correct left. But if Fox doesn’t back down and carries through with the plot, it will be a welcome change from the milquetoast portrayals of terrorists in the past on this and other dramas.

Only the brilliant Marwan from Season 4 (who was aided by rogue American intelligence operatives) gave us a glimpse into the mind of our major enemy. Let’s hope that they do half as well this year.

From what I’ve seen on the preview clips, this may be a season with just as much suspense as in the past but perhaps less bloody and more of a chess match between Jack and our enemies. Whatever happens, I’m sure the writers will not disappoint us too much – as long as we are willing to suspend belief, don’t take the show literally, and simply enjoy being drawn in and captured by the characters as we live their lives vicariously one pulse pounding hour at a time.

As Jack Bauer sails away to an uncertain future aboard the proverbial slow boat to China, I thought I’d take a few lines to sum up this past season and give some final thoughts about Jack, the show, and the United States of America.

Yes, I sometimes take the show and Jack Bauer way too seriously. After all, how much importance should you attach to a television program watched by at most, 5% of the population of the country (ratings showed about 13.5 million viewers per week, up 14% from last year)?

But I suspect a breakdown of those 13.5 million would show a large percentage of politically aware people in the mix, what some refer to as “the political class” in America. And that’s because much more than NBC’s West Wing or ABC’s Hillary-in-Waiting Commander in Chief, Fox’s 24 creates a universe that while unbelievable in many respects, gives us permission to indulge some of our fears about the threat facing the United States while at the same time presenting us with characters that are a fascinating mix of good and bad, noble and ignoble. Ultimately, we hope that most of the people portrayed on our side are actually on guard, protecting us in some way. And this is because the dedication and loyalty displayed by the characters to each other and the United States is very comforting in these uncertain times.

As with any story – whether told around a campfire or beamed by satellite to millions – it is the characters who draw us in, hold our attention, and determine our level of interest. In the case of 24, the added attraction of a real time experience forces us to live the entire day in the program’s universe, standing next to Jack as he tortures a suspect or sitting with the President, listening while he sells his office and the country down the river. In this way, we internalize the characters and adopt them as our own. We can identify with the dilemma of an Audrey or the decision that Jack has to make about letting a terrorist go because we so completely understand them.

This is the addictive part of the show – living a life vicariously through someone else. Good novelists can do it. Television programs accomplish the feat much less frequently. Much of the credit should go to the creative team of Joel Surnow and Howard Gordon who are faithful to the parameters of the universe they create (with obvious and sometimes unintentionally comical exceptions) while at the same time, delivering a first-rate, technically brilliant production. The writing, editing, design, and photography are the best of any drama on television. The special effects are superb and horrifically expensive for a weekly television series. By not being cheap in its design or FX, 24 treats its fans with a respect often lacking in other action TV dramas.

The show this past year seemed to shrink a little bit, becoming more personal for Jack as the war on terror claimed his closest and only friends (Chloe is a co-worker. I somehow can’t see Jack going out for a beer with her after work, can you?). Less bloody than in years past, there were two points that I thought the character of Jack Bauer changed forever and where his relationship with CTU and the US government may become problematic.

The shooting of the actual assassin of David Palmer in cold blood was shocking to me. If he had done anything similar in past years, it didn’t register. There was no reluctance, no hesitation. He could have been putting a bullet in an injured buck for all the emotion he showed in killing him. I got a similar reaction to his execution of Henderson, although admittedly, the feeling that old Buckaroo had it coming to him was also present. But it seemed that with those two murders – and there is no getting around it, that’s what they were – Jack has crossed a line and there’s no turning back. Can he really be any use to CTU and the United States in any official capacity any longer? My prediction is that Jack is going black from here on out and that any help he gets from the government will be off the books.

This should isolate him even more than he already is which, given his personal relationships with Audrey and his daughter, is probably just as well. They are both better off without him. Wherever Bauer goes, pain, death, and chaos follow. Anyone unfortunate enough to know him well is bound to be desperately unhappy.

This isolation will make Jack an even more attractive character. Thanks to Kiefer Sutherland’s excellent portrayal, most people feel fairly protective of Jack. They want to help him. And given that he seems to be such a nice fellow (at least on days where the United States is not about to be destroyed), we want to feel close to him too.

I imagine the show will begin next season in an unexpected place, perhaps Jack arriving back on American soil after being exchanged for a Chi-com spy, with more terrorists to deal with probably assisted by more American traitors. Remember, Mr. Big (Graham) is still out there with his compatriots and his spidery tentacles spread out all over government. The series could have Jack continue his quest for revenge very easily. Whatever Surnow and Gordon have in store for Jack, we can be sure it will be exciting.

Thanks to all of you for visiting this year. I hope you come back often for coverage of the election in November as well as other stories that you might not see on other sites. But if your tastes lie elsewhere, Season 6 starts in January of 2007 and I fully expect to be writing about it again.

PART II CONTINUES BELOW

My very first summary this year was entitled “This Time, It’s Personal.” And indeed, it was.

Once again proving that the creative and production teams are among the most innovative and provocative in television history, the first 22 minutes of last night’s superb season finale were shown without commercial interruption. Given the circumstances – a real time assault on the Russian sub being held by Bierko and the terrorists – it made for some scrumptious television drama.

In a purely technical sense, the sequence of events leading to the successful takeover of the sub and disarming of the missiles was brilliantly done. The music, the claustrophobia of the sub, the taut, spare dialogue, the sharp editing as we cut from scene to scene, back and forth between CTU and the sub, and then the final confrontation between Jack and Henderson all combined for what must be considered some of the best moments in the history of the show.

Television, a medium much maligned and rightly so for its appeal to the lowest common denominator among us, showed that in the right creative hands, it has the ability to move us and entertain us beyond mere titillation and voyeuristic thrills. This ain’t your daddy’s sitcom nor was it your run-of-the-mill courtroom or hospital drama where the good guys usually win or the doctors discover what strange disease is afflicting the patient. This was raw. It was edgy. It was shocking. And in the end, where triumph mixed with anticipation for what will happen next season, we were left gasping for breath and on our feet applauding.

I’ve divided my summary into two parts for easier editing and polishing. Part II will be posted around 10:30 AM Central time. I will also have some final thoughts as well as a speculative preview for season six.

SUMMARY

As Beirko and his men set the stage for their missile attack (“The Americans will pay for their alliance with Moscow”), Audrey gets on the horn to Admiral Kirkland and asks him to scramble some fighters to sink the sub before the missiles can be launched. Alas, it will take the jets 22-25 minutes to reach the target – too late to stop Bierko’s mad plan to kill tens of thousands of Americans and cripple the economy.

It is at this point that the clock within the clock starts ticking down as Jack, Henderson, and Agent McCullough race to stop the attack before Bierko can launch.

T-MINUS 20 MINUTES

Hiding near the sub, Jack sees a communication buoy pop to the surface. Someone on that sub survived the nerve gas attack and is calling for help. Asking Chloe to scan the emergency frequencies, we discover that the lone survivor is Petty Officer Rooney, a fresh faced kid with a New York accent, a little scared and confused as well as overwhelmed by the situation. When informed that in order to open the hatch, he is going to have to kill a terrorist, Rooney balks. He’s only an engineer he says. Jack, slipping back into his personae of Delta Force Commando, starts to address Rooney like he’s the kid’s commanding officer. This seems to settle young Rooney down and he makes for the hatch.

The crisis on the sub has tied up Mike Novik with Logan, preventing Martha from bringing him into the counter-conspiracy with Aaron. All they can do is wait while Aaron remains pretty exposed at the Secret Service building.

Before the assault begins, Henderson asks for a gun. Jack reluctantly gives him one at which point we are absolutely sure there will be a final confrontation between the two. For both of them, it’s no longer about “the Plan” or “the Country” – it really is personal. Each has been the cause of terrible personal pain in the other’s life. And it can end only one way.

But that’s in the future. Right now, Jack must get on that sub. And the clock is ticking.

T-MINUS 9 MINUTES

The kid Rooney has made his way to the forward hatch. We wonder whether or not he’ll be able to carry out his assignment. Jack, as if teaching a raw recruit, instructs Rooney in the art of the silent kill. Again, Rooney wavers – until he glances down the hallway to the hatch and sees one of his shipmates lying dead in a doorway. That cuts it. Rooney gets a killer glint in his eye and makes his move. A short, violent struggle and it’s over. Rooney opens the hatch.

Having easily dispatched the topside terrorist, Jack, Henderson, and McCullough slip into the boat and start for the control room. Jack then has Rooney make his way to the other side of the con and create a diversion so that the room will empty of hostiles. The kid, a real unsung hero, knocks over a tray outside of the control room which gets Bierko and two other terrorists to leave and investigate.

T-MINUS 3 MINUTES

With only the missile programmer left, Jack slinks toward the geek terrorist’s console and with perfect timing, rises from the floor and stabs him in the throat. Henderson sits down and informs Jack that the missiles will have to be disarmed one by one, manually. Jack and McCullough hurry off to confront Bierko.

The feeling of being closed in is palpable as the narrow corridors and hatchways offer perfect cover. We just don’t know what’s around that next corner. Finally, hearing a noise ahead, Jack and McCullough creep up on Bierko and his men.

But McCullough isn’t careful enough. Coming around a corner, a terrorist hears him and turns to fire. A short burst from an AK-47 sends McCullough to the same place all other CTU agents who aren’t series regulars and who work with Jack Bauer go.

T-MINUS 1 MINUTE

Jack fires back killing one terrorist and wounding Bierko. He jumps a third man and in the ensuing struggle, forces his opponents face into a spray of live steam that was opened by a stray bullet. Bierko, grabbing a wrench, attacks viciously. But in the best tradition of the WWE, Jack gets Public Enemy #1 in a choke hold with his thighs. Unlike the WWE, however, Jack gives his legs a twist and the sickening but satisfying snap of Bierko’s neck is heard.

Chloe is urging Henderson on but it’s slow going. The clock is ticking relentlessly. When Chloe calls out “10 seconds” Henderson is just finishing up disarming the missiles. The panel goes black with less than 5 seconds to spare.

Jack makes his way back to the con only to find that Henderson has taken the opportunity to split. Informing Bill that there’s a lot of interference with his com, Jack turns off his mic and plunges after Henderson, hell bent on exacting his revenge.

Making his way topside, his nemesis is nowhere to be seen. And then he hears the noise behind him and his heart must have sunk to his toes; Henderson has the drop on him and there is nothing he can do.

There is a look of immense satisfaction and triumph on Henderson’s face as Jack turns around for his execution – which makes his look of utter befuddlement when the gun fails to fire all the more satisfying for us. Jack has him. He’s cornered and there’s no escape, nothing to bargain with, nothing to do but listen.

And Jack, now a self-appointed avenging angel, moves slowly and deliberately toward his foe, reading the charges and pronouncing him guilty:

JACK: You are responsible for the death of David Palmer, Tony Almeida, and Michelle Dessler. They were friends of mine.

HENDERSON: That’s the way it works.

No, my former friend, it’s not.

Petty Officer Rooney has witnessed the entire thing. He looks at Jack exactly the way we would if we were in his place. What Jack has done is so far beyond what goes on in our safe little corner of the planet that we are shocked, horrified, and yet unable to tear our eyes away from the sight. The Angel of Death has descended to earth and we are both terrified and awestruck.

The looks exchanged between Bill, Karen, Chloe, and Audrey at CTU when Jack informs them that he shot Henderson in self defense are also quite telling. None of them wish to contemplate what they know in their hearts really happened to Henderson. They accept it because they must. But even his friends take a step away from him emotionally as a result of what they are convinced was nothing less than a cold blooded execution.

But the Avenger isn’t done yet. On a pretext, he gets Chloe alone on the line and asks for her help. Excessive loyalty being one of her many faults, Chloe agrees and begins work on a project that involves some complex communications equipment.

Back at the ranch, Logan tells Mr. Big that not only is the terrorist attack averted but that Henderson is dead. When informed that there was still Jack Bauer to deal with, Logan informs us that he has already made plans to “take care of Mr. Bauer.” We don’t know what that means until the very end of the show.

Martha is finally able to waylay Mike in the hallway. Pleading with him to follow her, they make their way to where Aaron has been hiding. Listening to the conspiracy charges against Logan, Mike immediately makes the right choice and joins the counter plot to bring down the President of the United States. Before taking Aaron off the grounds to safety, Martha and her Secret Service agent have a nice, last moment together. All the speculation about the two being lovers was apparently incorrect. They are, in the end, just good friends who like and respect each other.

Away from the ranch, Jack calls Mike looking for Aaron. And together, the three of them come up with a bold plan; substitute the co-pilot on the Navy helicopter with Jack. What does he plan to do, Mike asks? Get a confession, Jack answers. “How far are you willing to go?” asks Mike. “As far as I have to,” replies Jack.

But the conspirators have a huge problem. Jack is still 20 minutes out from the ranch. But Logan is ready to go to the airport for a ceremony involving his predecessor’s dead body – a death that he was responsible for. Somehow, the President must be delayed. Mike says he’ll ask Martha to help.

At CTU, Chloe needs help configuring the communications equipment that Jack will be using. She asks Bill to authorize a workstation for a guy named Morris. We are surprised to find out that Morris’ last name is O’Brien, the same as Chloe. And that’s because Morris is Chloe’s ex husband.

All we need to know about Morris is that his current job was selling shoes in Beverely Hills. He is the perfect match for Chloe – as charming and easy going as she is uptight and anal. Plus, he is evidently even more of a super geek than Chloe, something we find hard to believe but is borne out later.

As Morris helps Chloe, Martha is getting desperate to keep her faithless husband from taking off for the airport. As a last resort she uses the oldest trick in the book and something that every male in the history of the human race has fallen for at one time or another – the lure of the female body. I guess even President’s succumb because Logan falls for it hook, line, and sinker.

Meanwhile, Jack gets the proper documentation from Chloe. They lure the real co-pilot to the Secret Service outbuilding where Jack dispatches him with a sleeper hold. Their deception running smoothly, Jack boards the helicopter, ready to do whatever it takes to bring Logan to justice. Just what that means in this case, we are unsure. But it is at this point, we begin to fear for Jack’s immortal soul. Will he betray everything he has fought for and worked for by assassinating the constitutionally elected leader of the United States?

The fact that we’re not sure says a lot about how very personal this has all become for Jack. There are a lot of dead bodies Logan must answer for and Jack is determined to see that he does.

PART TWO CONTINUES BELOW

The second half of the show while not having the slam bang action of the first hour, nevertheless had more than its share of twists and turns, surprises and, of course a final shock.

A general observation regarding the entire two hour finale is that the writers seemed to take more care this year than in year’s past in not only tying up some loose ends but also giving us a genuine preview of where the series will pick up next January. What I hope doesn’t happen next year is Prison Break II – Jack on the lamb from the Chinese after escaping from some jungle prison.

And if Jack is actually going to be a “counter terrorism agent,” would it be asking too much that he battle the people responsible for 95% of the terrorism on the planet? I know that America is becoming hyper-sensitive to portraying Muslims in a bad light, but if the show is going to maintain even a semblance of realism, it’s time for shows like 24 to show a little backbone and face down the CAIR bullyboys with their threats of boycotts and name calling. The global enemy we are fighting are not “Russian separatists” but rather fanatical Islamists. The more we are reminded of that fact, the better off we’ll be.

SUMMARY

There is an emptiness in the afterglow of the Logans lovemaking. Martha appears to be physically ill from the experience and perhaps even a little disgusted with herself. But she has succeeded. Jack is in place on the helicopter as Logan boards. Using their recent physical intimacy as a crutch, she begs off leaving with him on the airplane, feeding his ego by saying that he deserved to be seen coming down the steps of the helicopter alone – “A picture that will be seen throughout history” – all the while her stomach churning from her recent close encounter with a man she no longer loves and holds in such utter contempt.

Once airborne, Jack takes control of the helicopter with ease. After threatening the pilot, he tasers Logan’s Secret Service bodyguard. Taking off his flight helmet, Logan sees immediately that he’s in big trouble. Having had a taste of Jack’s methods during the Walt Cummings interrogation, Logan begins to use the only weapon available to him – his gift of gab.

He tries to explain himself to Jack as Bauer sits passionless and unemotional in front of him, eyeing the President of the United States as a cat gazes fixedly at its prey. He tries whining, wheedling, finally begging Bauer. But for what? For mercy? Not hardly.

Setting down in an abandoned industrial park, Jack tasers the pilot and leads the handcuffed chief executive inside one of the buildings. He is met there by Morris who has configured a miniature video and audio display in order to tape Logan’s expected confession. And we do indeed expect it. Jack hasn’t failed yet. If anyone can get Logan to spill his guts in front of the nation, it is this fish-eyed avenging angel who seems to have taken over Jack’s body.

Before seating him unceremoniously, Jack searches Logan, removing his phone, a pen, and a few other personal items. And then he begins.

Logan is unmoved. He points out that if he’s tortured, no one will believe anything he says. Logan also knows that help is on the way and time is on his side. Presidents just don’t go missing. And with half the US Secret Service, LA Swat, and other military assets bearing down on him, Jack also realizes it. There’s a clock ticking in Jack’s head and he sees that there’s just no time to soften up his subject the usual way. Instead, he goes for the gold.

In a speech both chilling and shocking when all the facts are laid out in front of us, Jack confronts the President by listing the charges against him just as he did with Henderson. He has killed an ex-President but more than that, his good friend. He has killed other friends. And it is time for him to face justice: “Every American who died today as a result of a terrorist attack is another murder you are responsible for.”

Logan denies everything with the practiced ease of the consummate liar. And with the clock ticking down, Jack goes for broke: “You are going to tell me what I want to know or so help me God I will kill you.”

Does Logan believe it? His brave front is beginning to crack. And when Jack gives him until the count of three to confess, the veneer of Logan’s Dorian Gray-like facade begins to give way and the sniveling goat of a man emerges. He tries to bargain with his executioner. He tells him he, Logan, will enter the pantheon of martyred Presidents while Jack will be remembered in the same breath as John Wilkes Booth and Lee Oswald. And when Jack reaches the count of three, we fully expect him to confess – or Jack to pull the trigger.

Neither happens. There is still something of the honorable Mr. CTU agent in Bauer and he just can’t bring himself to put a well deserved bullet into Logan’s head. Sensing danger has passed, Logan carefully talks Jack down as agents swarm the building. Jack is taken into custody. And Logan takes back his phone and pen.

Arriving at the airport, he is greeted by Martha who has been informed of Jack’s failure to get him to confess. Realizing her emotional sacrifice to buy Bauer time went for naught and caught up in the solemnity of the airport scene with David Palmer’s casket, she appears to lose control and lashes out at her husband, accusing him of murder. The Secret Service hustles her into an empty hangar followed by her husband who dismisses the agents in order to be alone with her.

The sound of the face slap by Logan is jarring. It shows a side of him we had not seen and only guessed at; a viscousness that explains much as to how he rose to the highest office in the land. We see he is capable of anything.

He searches Martha for a wire, ripping at her clothes while spitting out his spite and hate. He threatens her with a fate worse than death; a drug induced fog in a mental institution with no chance of ever getting out. We can see she is plainly terrified – but not too frightened to once again accuse him of being a faithless public servant. Almost by rote, he tries to explain himself again to her. He didn’t mean for things to go so horribly wrong with David Palmer. He didn’t know the terrorists would double cross him. He didn’t mean to cover everything up. Shallow words from a shallow, empty suit of a man.

After pulling themselves together, the first couple make their way to the stage for Logan’s speech, the President an apparent victor in this high stakes game. But unbeknownst to all but Chloe and Jack, the river card is about to be turned over.

“There’s always a back up plan. You know that Jack.” (Chris Henderson to Jack Bauer, Episode 14)

At CTU Chloe has had the audacity to contact the Attorney General of the United States in order for him to listen to a recording of some kind. Bill and Granny Hayes come into the situation room and are surprised, as is the AG who is totally in the dark.

Chloe clues him in. It’s a recording that just took place in the hangar between Martha and Charles Logan. Despite his protests that he doesn’t want to hear it and Granny’s attempts to apologize for taking the AG’s time, Chloe hits the play button.

At the airport, the President is droning on, giving one of the most hyper-hypocritical speeches in history – eulogizing a man he is responsible for killing. Martha and Mike stand behind him, apparently defeated and resigned to the situation. Cut to a man taking a phone call on the tarmac. It is a federal Marshall and the call comes from the Attorney General himself. After asking for verification, the Marshall turns to nearby Secret Service agent and, along with another team of agents, approach the stage and mount the steps.

Logan knows exactly what has happened. He doesn’t know how, but he knows what it means. Quickly finishing his speech, he demands to know the meaning of the phalanx of agents that now flank him. The Federal Marshall whispers something in his ear and Logan deflates like a dead jellyfish. The Marshall then shows Logan what was his undoing; a tiny transmitter hidden in the pen he took following Jack’s attempt at getting a confession. He tries to order the Secret Service to save him but to no avail.

Not quite doing the perp walk but still all but in custody, Logan marches to the waiting limo while a 21 gun salute to David Palmer goes off and the 24 theme music swells in the background dramatically.

Perfect.

In the parking lot where the SWAT team has released him, Jack sees Audrey get out of the car. They make plans to be together when an agent tells him he has a call “from his daughter.” After promising to be right back, Jack goes in a hangar to take the call where, instead of talking to Kim, he is quite literally shanghaied – chloroformed and dragged away by unknown assailants.

At CTU, Bill and Karen say their goodbyes, comrades now after having stormed the battlements and brought down a President. Hayes promises Bill that he can still run CTU which bodes well for next season – perhaps for both of them.

Seeing Chloe ready to leave, Bill hands her a picture of Edgar and Chloe in happier times. As Chloe begins to cry, Morris comes up and suggests they talk about it. The two of them leave together, a sign we hope of things to come next year.

After several minutes, Audrey goes inside where Jack took his phone call only to discover Jack missing. Alerting the other agents to Jack’s disappearance, it looks like poor Audrey is destined to go through another horrific day next year without her love.

And Jack? We discover that the Chinese, probably alerted by Logan to Jack’s existence, have kidnapped and beat our hero severely. Lying on a dingy floor (in what we later see is the cargo hold of a ship bound for…Shanghai), we are reacquainted with the Chinese chief of security at the consulate who reminds Jack that the Chinese have very long memories. Thinking he is to be executed, Jack begs to make a phone call. Who would he call? Audrey? Kim? It doesn’t matter because the Chinese have other plans for him. “Kill you? You’re far too valuable to kill, Mr. Bauer.”

Lying on the floor, beaten and in chains, heading for an unknown destination and uncertain future, we hear from Jack’s lips what we always felt was in his heart and mind but that he never expressed before.”

“Kill me….Please kill me…”

This from a man who has faced death a thousand times, a thousand different ways. Has Jack Bauer had a death wish all along? Or does the prospect of spending the rest of his life in a Chinese prison make him think that death is preferable to an existence without friends, family, or purpose?

BODY COUNT

This year’s body count for the show is surprisingly close to last year’s totals. We don’t know how many died in the submarine nor do we know a few other loose ends like Evelyn and her 8 year old daughter left by Henderson’s men in the motel room as well as a few others. But Jack’s total of 42 from last year is close to this year’s butcher’s bill.

Petty Officer accounted for one terrorist while Jack, using a tremendous variety of weapons (including his thunder thighs) took care of 5 bad guys. Poor Agent McCullough should have called in sick.

JACK: 35

SHOW: 200

MARTHA: 1

If you’re interested, I’ll have some final thoughts on the show posted later this afternoon.

Make sure to stop by Blogs4Bauer for the best summaries and info on 24.

With excitement at a fever pitch as we approach the 2-hour blockbuster season finale, several major question remain to be answered.

Judging from past experience, some of those loose threads will not be tied up. Questions about some characters who have appeared in past episodes will not be answered such as the fate of Evelyn and her 9 year old daughter. (Did Henderson’s men really kill both of them?) And some plot threads involving Graham and his cohorts (Mr. Big) will also probably fall by the wayside as the writers try their best to have a slam bang finale while trying to set up something for next season.

My expectations therefore are reduced quite a bit. But that doesn’t mean that we aren’t able to speculate what in fact will be the outcome of several loose ends:

1. The ultimate fate of President Logan.

2. Ditto Martha.

3. Add Henderson.

4. The future, if any, for Jack and Audrey.

This is your chance to show everyone how good your prognosticative skills are. Let ‘er rip in the comments!

There have been many superior episodes in the history of the series and I’m sure you have your favorites. The “outing” of Nina in Season 1 should be near the top of everyone’s list. And it was hard to top the utter shock and sheer drama of the episode where Jack was forced by circumstances to execute his putative boss Ryan Chappelle on the orders of a terrorist.

And, lest anyone forget, simply saying the word “hacksaw” brings back a flood of fond memories.

But last nights taut, well written installment needs to be considered right up there with the best of them. There was drama, tension, misdirection, hidden clues, and the audience satisfaction of watching as Hayes gave Miles a Judas slap – in short, all the things that are so addictive about the show and have inspired me for two years running to write my little weekly summaries.

In this week’s New Republic, staff writer Christopher Orr analyzed the politics of the series and asked the obvious question; why its popularity?

“24” is, in some ways, the perfect cultural artifact for this post-September 11 moment. It extols patriotism but doesn’t quite believe in it, preaches a self-sacrifice it practices only intermittently, and offers up a world in which the choices are always impossible but the answers are always right. On the surface, it flatters our belief that we’re better now, more stoic and unselfish, committed to ideals larger than our individual wants and needs. But, below, it reassures us that it’s OK to place our own households first, that politics is empty if not actively corrupt, and that belief in a cause will only lead to disillusion or betrayal.

It’s been four and a half years since “24” first stepped out into the unexpected shadow of a national tragedy. But it remains to this day what it was from the beginning—the orphan of a more frivolous age, trying hard to prove it is tough and serious enough for the rigors of a post-September 11 world. Just like the rest of us.

If you can get beyond the subscription wall, you will want to read the whole thing if only for Orr’s prescient analysis of the conservative/liberal political argument about the show. I disagree with Orr in that the show has always seemed a very well written cops and robbers series with elements of a morality play and superhero comic book. The show is what it is and functions without apology to critics like Orr nor to conventional wisdom in general. The 24 universe doesn’t need politics to function properly – all it needs is the heroic self-sacrifice of most of its characters and the absolute ruthless determination of Jack Bauer and the terrorists to succeed.

This, of course, has always been the series’ fascinating dichotomy; Jack’s goals are different but perhaps he’s so good at going after the terrorists because in some very basic ways, he is just like them. This is a theme well explored in literature through all the ages and in every culture and answers an atavistic need in all of us to discover the roots of good and evil. It’s why human civilizations have laws and conventions. Without them, we actually wouldn’t be able to see the difference between Jack and the terrorists.

This has been an interesting year for the series; not quite as bloody, a little more introspective, and a more personal quest for Jack as he has lost so much, so many friends. And I learned the hard way last year not to expect too much from the finale. If we do, we are bound to be disappointed. Not all loose ends will be tied up, some plot holes will remain, and clues about next year will probably prove to be wrong.

But wild horses won’t be able to keep me from watching it.

SUMMARY

After getting the Attorney General on the phone for a conference call about the tape, the gang discovers to their horror that the voices have been erased. Hastily cancelling the call, Jack and Chloe put two and two together and come up with the prime suspect: Miles Papazian.

Jack, an avenging angel, swoops down on Miles, brushing aside the pitiful attempt to stop him by hapless CTU security. He grabs the traitorous lout by the throat. His actions, while satisfying, will not bring the tape back. Finally realizing this, he releases the toady who is then forced to confront his ex-boss Granny Hayes. Der Tru Miles, who has stood by her for years, has betrayed her and the country – not for thirty pieces of silver but for an office in the White House. He doesn’t bat an eye when he coolly informs Hayes that he is untouchable now that he is working for Logan.

The sounds of Granny’s hand smacking his face is loud and crisp but doesn’t faze Miles very much. The fool, not realizing how truly worthless his existence is to people who would no sooner give him the time of day as put a bullet in his bureaucratic brain, leaves CTU in disgrace.

The topper comes when Logan has the balls to call Hayes and inquire about the now cancelled conference call with the Attorney General. He also casually mentions that after scrambling her command for the last 5 hours in a fruitless search for Jack, she can now let Bauer go “at her own discretion.” He is oily, smarmy, and insufferably triumphant – for the moment.

That’s because Bill breaks in to inform them all that Bierko has escaped. The lone surviving agent informs them that Bierko is planning another nerve gas attack which sends the team scrambling to get on top of the situation.

At the ranch, poor Martha doesn’t know what to do. Almost swallowing enough pills to off herself, she changes her mind at the last minute. Finding Aaron’s cell phone, she asks a nearby agent to return it to him “in Washington.” The look on the agent’s face seems to convince her that somehow, Aaron is not there.

And he is not. He is in an outbuilding of the ranch, tied up in a chair, bloody but unbowed. Logan finds this out personally when he pays Aaron a visit, asking him to cooperate and forget about the tape. Aaron gives him the answer we all were hoping for:

AARON: There is nothing you have said or done that is acceptable to me in the least. You are a traitor to your country and a disgrace to your office. And it is my duty to see that your are brought to justice for what you have done.

Is there anything else?...CHARLES?

That last word is drawn out with venomous irony. It is the ultimate slap at Logan – a man formerly charged with guarding his life shows him the ultimate contempt by using his first name. Unable to answer, Logan leaves the room followed by the lickspittle Agent Adams who seems eager to off Pierce. With a look, Logan orders it done.

Jellyfish then calls Mr. Big who is surprised that the President of United States has not committed suicide. Like a 7 year old little boy telling his parents what he did in school that day, Logan tells Mr. Big how things are going swimmingly now that the tape is destroyed and Jack Bauer being out in the open so that he can be dealt with. And like an approving parent, Mr. Big tells Logan what a great job he’s doing.

Logan seems immensely pleased with himself until Mike Novik gives him the bad news about Bierko. Throwing another tantrum, Logan demands constant updates (as if they were going to keep him in the dark).

Back at CTU, the gang seems stymied. Hayes sees a possible answer first; distasteful as it may be, they will have to give an immunity deal to Henderson. Bill concurs while Jack, clearly locked into single combat mode with Banzai, violently disagrees. But there’s nothing for it, Henderson is their only hope. Jack gets Granny to let him present the deal his own way.

The scene in the holding room between Jack and Henderson is one of those delicious moments in the series that needs to be savored. The confrontation between the two – long anticipated since the first hours revealed Henderson as the bad guy – was unusually well done.

Bauer doesn’t talk to Henderson as much as he spits out his hate. After entering the holding room, the two size each other up. Jack, trying to be menacing. Henderson, curious but at ease. Jack informing Henderson of Bierko’s escape hardly causes Buckeroo to blink. And he sees almost immediately what’s going on; Jack needs him and will offer him a deal to help catch the terrorist. Appealing to his patriotism doesn’t work. And Henderson’s speech justifying his actions echoes the words of every traitor from Klaus Fuchs to Philip Agee who has tried to justify their crimes by hiding behind the flag:

HENDERSON: I’m sorry about David Palmer. I am. But what I did, I did in the interest of the destiny of this country and I’m not talking about the version you read about on the OpEd pages of the New York Times. I’m talking about the politics of survival, the way the world really works.
(Pause)

JACK: You want immunity or not?

HENDERSON: Immunity is worthless.

That’s because the tape was the only thing standing between Henderson and an ignominious death at the hands of his co-conspirators. When Jack asks who they are, Henderson laughs him off; “You don’t think Charles Logan masterminded this whole thing, do you?” Jack drops his inquiry into the conspiracy for the moment and concentrates on Bierko. Yes, Henderson will help but on his terms.

The information that Henderson gives CTU strikes gold; one of the names on the list, arms dealer Joseph Molino, has been in recent contact with Bierko. Henderson convinces Jack that he should go in alone to confront Molino in order to get the information on the arms dealer’s computer.

Jack doesn’t trust him but has little choice. Curtis takes a TAC team along with Jack and Henderson to Molino’s address.

Back at the Ranch, Martha sees a car pulling up to one of the outbuildings. Curious, she approaches only to discover it is Agent Adams dragging Aaron Pierce into the car’s trunk. Not able to talk Adams out of it, Aaron desperately fights for his life only to be interrupted by Martha. Half in the bag from pills, exhaustion, and the day’s horrific events, Marth unsteadily approaches Adams who has a gun on her. She asks “You’re going to shoot me? I’m the First Lady. Are you going to shoot the First Lady?”

Good question. Since this seems to be way above his pay grade, Adams takes out his phone, probably to call the President and ask him what to do. He never gets the chance to talk to Logan because Aaron delivers a kick to the back of Adams’ knee that sends the gun flying. At a disadvantage because his hands are tied, Adams subdues him and reaches for a knife in order to dispatch the agent, only to stop short. We hear the muffled cough of an automatic weapon and Adams falls to the ground. Chalk one kill up for Martha.

At Molino’s place, Henderson convinces Jack that he should go in without a wire. Reluctantly, Jack agrees but as Henderson rings the bell, Jack is making alternate arrangements to listen in on what’s happening. He climbs to the roof and places a listening device on the skylight.

Immediately, it appears that Henderson is betraying CTU. He tells Molino to destroy his files because a “phalanx” of CTU agents are outside waiting to come in. As Molino begins to erase the evidence, Jack breaks in through the skylight and makes his way downstairs. Before Molino can get very far in destroying his hard drive, Jack intervenes and in the short firefight that follows, Molino and Curtis are slightly wounded. Henderson explains that he was playing Molino, getting him to defang his computer firewalls so that the information could be accessed. Jack doesn’t quite believe him but downloads the files to CTU so that Chloe can get busy with the encryption.

Tending to Aaron at the ranch, Martha volunteers to help Aaron get rid of the body. But Aaron has other plans. He will get rid of the body while Martha, returning to the ranch house so as not to arouse suspicion, will spill the beans to Novik and tell him to meet Aaron where he lies, beaten and bloody but apparently still kicking.

Chloe breaks Molino’s codes in record time and discovers Bierko’s final gambit; the hijacking of a Russian sub anchored in the harbor being inspected by Americans as part of the recently signed Anti-Terror Treaty. We are informed by Henderson that the ship is equipped with 12 missiles, all MIRVed up and ready to fly and hit dozens of targets.

Not losing a moment, Jack gets in touch with the ranking American officer on the sub and tells him about the plot. Battening down the hatches, both the Russians and Americans scramble to make the ship secure. The American commander for some reason, goes topside and opens the hatch presumably to look around. He is immediately taken out by Bierko who was evidently waiting for just such an opportunity. Without hesitation, Beirko arms that last cannister of nerve gas and tosses it into the sub where it does its deadly work quickly and silently. Within minutes, Bierko is able to enter the sub and take control of its missile systems.

And so the finale is set. In what is sure to be a heartstopping two hour blockbuster season ending extravaganza, Jack will have to stop Bierko, expose Logan, save Aaron and Martha, take CTU away from Homeland Security, and deal justice to the lickspittle Miles. And that’s just the first hour and a half. The last half hour traditionally has been something of a goodbye and preview of next year’s show.

One thing for sure; Jack is going to be busy next week.

BODY COUNT

7 of 8 CTU agents killed in Bierko escape. Agent Adams will now be protecting the Gates of Hell. And an untold number die on the sub but we’re sure of the American officer’s demise.

JACK: 30

SHOW: 193

MARTHA: 1

Why not? It’s her kill. Let’s give her credit where credit is due.

And make sure you stop by frequently over the next week as I will have several items of interest for 24 fans as well as some great speculation, all building up to the fantastic 2 hour finale next Monday night.

UPDATE

Make sure you check out Blogs4Bauer today and the “Ask the Maharishi” quiz about how everything is going to turn out.

Sorry for the delay in posting the summary this morning. Late night meant getting a late start on my routine.

My 24 summary should be up by 10:00 AM Central.

Thanks for your patience!

CONSIDER THIS AN OPEN THREAD TO SPECULATE ON TONIGHT’S EPISODE (BEGINNING APPROX. 9:20 EST DUE TO THE PRESIDENT’S SPEECH) AS WELL AS NEXT WEEK’S BLOCKBUSTER FINALE.

HAVE AT IT!

Like a man on death row being saved from execution by that last minute call from the governor, Charles Logan was granted a reprieve from taking his own life by a bureaucratic slimeball not fit to lick Jack Bauer’s running shoes.

The betrayal by Miles – predicted here and everywhere – was nevertheless a shocking event thanks to the sheer nakedness of his power grab. Not for country, not for loyalty, not for love did Miles sell his soul and cast his lot with the traitors. He did it for his own personal aggrandizement, for advancement, for a seat at the table with the big boys.

It certainly was a tempting opportunity. After all, how many times in your life can you force the President of the United States to become beholden to you? What Miles doesn’t realize, of course, is that the President is never really in your debt – especially in life and death matters. Because once that tape is destroyed or in Logan’s hands, Miles becomes just another loose end to tie up, a man with a great big bullseye on his back. Henderson realized this and made the appropriate arrangements. But Miles does not appear to have that self-preservation instinct that separate true predators such as Henderson from other species. In short, Miles is living an illusion, a fact that he will probably realize before he dies a horrible, deserved death.

It was typical of Logan to take the easy way out and then try to justify his suicide by thinking that he was sparing the country a traumatic Presidential trial. When we first witnessed his transformation from simpering fool to evil conspirator, I thought that he might exhibit more of his darker side, the stubborn, ruthless manipulator. Instead, we see Graham (Mr. Big) running him like he was a mark, a grifter’s plaything, with the shadowy mastermind knowing exactly which emotional buttons to press and when to press them. Graham has always been the one in charge as he has played on Logan’s grandiloquent view of himself as super-patriot to advance the plot along. It appears now that the conspiracy was about oil after all, kind of a let down but typical of the venial nature and personality of Logan that he would see himself as some kind of savior rather than the tool he so obviously is.

Logan’s reprieve will be shortlived. One gets the feeling that even if Miles succeeds in destroying the evidence, Jack will find a way to mete out the rough justice that this jellyfish of a man so richly deserves.

SUMMARY

Even though he has the tape, Jack is hardly out of the woods. He realizes that with the plane landing, he will be vulnerable to being picked up by Logan loyalists and “disappeared” rather easily. Conferring with Bill and Granny Hayes, they all agree that Curtis should go out to the airport to meet him and bring him back to CTU. Jack asks about Audrey who is in the CTU infirmary being treated for her sliced vein.

And this is where we find Audrey when Curtis bursts in to inform her that her father Secretary Heller survived a 60 foot plunge off a cliff into a lake – upside down no less. Or, Heller bailed before the car went over the cliff. Curtis doesn’t say and frankly, we don’t need to know. It appears that the Secretary is either in negotiations with Fox or has already been signed for next year. One wonders if Jack will find it in his heart to forgive his future father in law for betraying him at the warehouse. Come to think of it, he had his own daughter hogtied to that pole as well. Wonder how Audrey feels about that?

Mr. Big gives Logan his marching orders about the shootdown. The plotters (who seem to have access to all sorts of technical wizardry) will fake a “VCI Distress Signal” which lets air traffic controllers know that a plane is hijacked and the pilot is planning on using the aircraft as a weapon of mass destruction. Logan seems to be having second thoughts until Graham reminds him of the consequences if that tape were to fall into the wrong hands.

Back at CTU, now that Jack has the tape, Granny releases Bill from custody. This is getting to be too much for Miles whose bureaucratic sense of protocols is being horrifically violated. His lower lip quivers at the impropriety of it all and one gets the sure sense that the tipping point for the lickspittle is coming soon.

At the ranch, Mike rushes in to tell Logan what he already knows about the VCI signal. In a pretty convincing act, Logan appears reluctant to shoot down the plane but with the Admiral in charge of air defense (?) egging him on, he appears to finally give in and order the plane shot out of the sky, much to Mike Novik’s displeasure and disbelief.

Almost immediately, CTU gets word of the shoot down order and Granny phones Jack to give him the bad news. Henderson’s pilot informs Jack that he needs at least 5,000 feet of runway and Jack gives Bill the task of looking for a landing area on the freeway. In the middle of this, Chloe walks casually back into CTU which really doesn’t sit well with Miles at all. In the situation room now with Bill and Granny, Chloe and the gang work to bring Jack safely down with that tape.

It’s not going to be easy. An F-18 is zeroing in on the plane while Bill finds a stretch of freeway that will just have to do – even though it’s only 4,000 feet – a thousand feet short of what the pilot requested but what’s 1,000 feet more or less for a 737? Jack phones Curtis who is somewhere in the Los Angeles metropolitan area to tell him of the landing zone.

Things are getting dicey on the plane. Chloe informs Jack that the F-18 will have missile lock shortly which spurs Jack to order the pilot to nose the plane over and go into a steep dive. The frightened pilot obeys as the passengers experience the absolute terror of an airplane about to crash. In a great series of cuts, we go from the cockpit of the plane, to the radar showing the proximity of the F-18, and back to the cockpit as the ground starts coming up to meet the diving plane. As the ground proximity alarm goes off, Jack and the pilot attempt to level the airliner off.

The F-18 pilot informs Logan that the plane is trying to land and that he’s got missile lock. For the briefest of moments, we hang suspended in mid-air as Logan frantically orders the shootdown to continue only to have Mike talk him out of it. Instead, he orders Marines to cordon off the area so that Jack can be picked up.

But Jack’s not on the ground yet. As the plane touches down, passengers are thrown all over the cabin as the jet fights to slow down before it runs out of freeway. Coming to a dead stop just yards from an overpass, the passengers begin an emergency disembarkation hurried along by Jack who ducks out the door over the wing and tries to disappear into the night.

Mr. Big doesn’t sound very confident as he hears the news that Jack and the plane made it down safely. Logan assures him that the Marines will pick him up and that all is well. We know better. Logan only sent two battalions of Marines to handle Jack which everyone knows will turn into a slaughter – of the Marines that is.

We’ll never find out because Curtis arrives precisely where he needs to; on the other side of the freeway. Jack hops in and things are starting to look up for the boys until they run into a roadblock of some very mean looking Marines. But Curtis is able to bluff his way through and Jack heads to CTU with the tape that will bring Logan’s political career to an end.

Before Jack arrives however, Miles has had enough. Watching Bill and Chloe walk around scott free after helping Jack, who he believes to be a federal fugitive, violates every rule he’s got crammed into that bureaucratic brain of his. He threatens Granny with exposure unless let in on the secret. Hayes realizes she has no choice and fills in her long time assistant who is shocked, just shocked at the lapse in protocols. After telling him “It’s imperative this stay between us,” Granny gets back to work while the rest of us know full well there’s not much chance Miles will keep his promise.

Hayes moves on to the transfer of the terrorist Bierko who after politely informing the thug he will enjoy the hospitality of CTU’s main holding facility, makes his way to the van where we see significant looks of recognition exchanged between the driver of the van and Bierko. One begins to wonder if CTU recruitment posters are plastered all of the walls of terrorist hideouts worldwide, so easy it is to infiltrate this organization.

At the ranch, Mike gives Logan the good/bad news about Jack escaping the Marine dragnet. Looking like a little lost boy, Logan realizes the jig is up and immediately begins to think of a way out. Only one door appears to be opening and we all see it – suicide.

Jack’s reunion with Audrey at the CTU infirmary is too tender, too affecting not to set off warning bells in our heads. Since Jack is destined not to be happy in his life, we can only surmise that the clock is ticking on Audrey and it’s only a matter of time and the manner of her death that are in question.

The President’s conversation with Mr. Big is not very revealing. We already know his decision to kill himself has been made. I found it interesting when he said that “a trial would expose certain ‘harsh realities’ that should never see the light of day.” Typical politician who doesn’t trust the American people with the truth. After hanging up, we see the nice, shiny, silver automatic pistol that Charles has brought to his desk in a beautiful wooden box.

With Logan resigned to his fate, he makes one last visit to Martha in order to ask her forgiveness. Martha ain’t drinkin’ that Kool Aid:

LOGAN: I want to tell you how sorry I am for everything.

MARTHA: When you forget to give me something for my birthday, that’s when you say you’re sorry.

She congratulates him on being such a good liar; “If I wasn’t so horrified by the fact that I’m married to you, I’d actually be impressed.” And with that, Charles goes back for the gun.

Sitting at his desk, he looks perfectly comfortable with his decision. A last look around. A last drink (Single malt scotch? Good choice.) And then Miles oozes over the phone with his offer of salvation that Logan grabs onto with the gusto of a shipwreck survivor being tossed a lifeline. We don’t wonder about what motivates Miles to turn traitor when Logan says “Miles, I won’t forget this.” To which the snake replies “That’s all I wanted to hear.”

Reprieved indeed.

BODY COUNT

I’m very glad I didn’t add Heller to the body count which means I don’t have to take him off. And Mr. Death is certainly well rested as for the second week in a row, nary a soul is sent packing.

JACK: 30

SHOW: 184

SPECULATION

I apologize for neglecting to post the speculation on Sunday night as I promised but real life briefly intruded and I had to forgo the pleasure.

We’ll try it again this week.

UPDATE

It’s Jack Bauer Appreciation Day at Blogs4Bauer. Stop by and appreciate Jack! And while you’re there, check out the best summaries and photoshops in the 24 universe.

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.”