4.22: 4:00am - 5:00am - It Was The Best of Times

4.22: 4:00am - 5:00am
~ It Was the Best of Times...~ 
2005.04.16

4:00

The CTU agents are holding onto Marwan. Jack is on COM with CTU and they are unable to get a lock on the origin of the missile or where it’s going. Jack is going to send everything to CTU and get Marwan there as well. They will be able to reach him on his cell. Jack wants a team to scan of the building they are in.

Bill Buchanan can’t believe that they managed to get the nuclear warhead onto a missile. Michelle explains it’s an ‘S Series' Cruise Stealth missile, they must have assembled it piece by piece. They are not going to be able to get any radar coverage of the missile and they don’t know the target. The missile is fast enough to make it to either coast from its possible take off location in under three hours. Bill knows that the missile can come down at any time.

Curtis is into Marwan’s laptop and cell phone, Jack says to upload all the information from both to CTU but there isn't much on the laptop. Jack’s phone rings and Logan has just been told about the missile. They are trying to find the trajectory at CTU but it’s going to be difficult. Palmer asks about Marwan and if Jack thinks he will be able to break him. Jack reminds them that Marwan planned and organized today’s events, he’s committed and prepared to die. Palmer knows Jack will do his best. Palmer addresses Logan, they have to tell the Joint Chiefs about the possible attack. Mike figures that they have to assume Washington, DC is the target, they need to start a quiet evacuation of government. Palmer tells Mike where to take the members and thinks that they shouldn’t be telling the public yet that it’s a category one emergency. They decide to wait and see what Bauer comes up with.

Curtis heads over to Jack and they agree that Marwan will die before he talks to them. Jack has the agents stand down and approaches Marwan. He sits down and admits that he wants to kill him but they are running out of time, what does he want? What Marwan wants is already happening. Jack says that the death of destruction of all those lives is a means to an end. Jack wants to know what the end is, what is it Marwan wants to change. Marwan has no interest in having a political discussion with Jack but Jack has the ear of the President, he can get any deal he wants. Jack promises that it will do more for Marwan’s case if he cooperates than if he lets the missile hit the target. The president will listen, right here, right now. Marwan already has what he wants. After today everyone will know that American can not interfere with their lives. The president only sees Marwan as evil. This is how Marwan sees the US, and he sees it as vulnerable.

Edgar stops Chloe walking in CTU, he shows her what he just pulled off the SIM card on Marwan’s phone, one the names on the screen for the list of people that called Marwan is Richard Heller, Secretary of Defence Heller’s son. He called a week ago. Edgar hasn’t let anyone know yet, they need to tell Buchanan. Nearby Audrey works and Buchanan observes that with every minute the target zone widens. Chloe goes to where Tony is and tells him about the call from Richard Heller. They are positive on this, they ran the phone, Buchanan asks where Heller is now, and Chloe assumes that he’s at home since it’s 4 in the morning. He lives in Van Nuys and Chloe looks to see if there are teams in the area. She finds that there is a team nearby and Buchanan wants them dispatched and he will call James Heller himself and let him know. Tony asks Chloe if Audrey knows about this, Chloe tells him that ‘it’s more of a management conversation, don’t you think?’ Tony leaves the conference room and goes straight to Audrey. He explains about Richard’s phone coming up on Marwan’s and Audrey seems angry at the proposition. He was already into CTU today and was cleared. The call happened about a week ago but Audrey says that’s absurd. They are sending a team to pick him up since he definitely connects to Marwan and the missile. Audrey doesn’t know who her brother is associated with but it’s not a terrorist. Tony finally tells her that Richard’s number was found on the receiving registry on Marwan’s SIM card. Tony says that Buchanan is calling James, Audrey’s father, right now. Tony says he’s sorry and leaves.

Curtis was on the phone and when he hangs up he tells Jack about Richard Heller. Jack asks if they’re sure and they are, they’re bringing him into CTU now. Jack wants to question him himself, they have to get back there now. The other agents grab Marwan and head out, as he passes Marwan tells Jack that it doesn’t matter where he takes him. Jack coolly says they’ll see about that. Marwan is led out and Jack’s phone rings, Buchanan wants to know if Jack found anything. Walking out to the SUV Jack says they are heading back to CTU, they are about 10 minutes out. Out of nowhere a rocket-propelled grenade comes up the alley and blows up the CTU vehicle. There are shooters on the roof and they take down two of the team. Jack takes cover behind a dumpster and Curtis is across the alley also covered. Jack makes sure Curtis is okay as he notices that a man has come and gotten in the drivers seat of the vehicle Marwan is in. They squeal out of the area but Jack and Curtis can’t do much, there is a shooter on the roof. They both fire back until the shooters take off. Jack says to notify the perimeter teams that Marwan is no longer in custody. Jack continues to fire at the SUV until it's out of sight.

4:10

4:15

Chloe is working on her computer. Buchanan asks what they have of Marwan. He has ditched the tactical vehicle. They must have been at that location before CTU, it was a secure location. Buchanan wants more personnel tracking the missile. Tony tells Jack over the phone that they lost Marwan, he got rid of the car and they are trying to get him on satellite but the images are too noisy. Buchanan is asked how he wants to play this, he says that they are to peruse primary leads only, they have to get the information out of Heller. Jack will interrogate him himself and is on the way in. Heller needs to be in first position ready for interrogation. Jack gives the update to Curtis as they prepare to leave.

Logan enters a room where some of his cabinet members are. He tells them to sit down and apologises for the abrupt removal of them from their offices and homes. They are in a Category 1 Emergency state, a missile with a nuclear warhead has launched and is headed for possibly Washington DC. They are doing everything in their power to locate and stop this missile. The Speaker, Donald Ashton, clarifies that not only has this missile gone off but they don’t even know where it is. He continues to ask why they are not informing the public about this, Logan explains that ‘we don’t think it’s in our best interest’. Ashton asks who ‘we’ are and Logan changes it to ‘I’. Logan is pressed that the public has the right to know the truth but Logan takes off out of the room saying that’s all he has for now, they will be updated when they know more. Ashton stops Logan before he can get out of the room and says that he didn’t wish to question him in cabinet but he thinks Logan is making a grave mistake not telling the public about the threat. Logan has thought a lot about it and he is certain that it’s the right decision. Ashton picks up that Logan doesn’t seem certain. Logan brushes it off saying that it’s a difficult day for all of them. Logan excuses himself.

Ashton quickly intercepts Mike and asks him what’s going on, Logan was sworn in a few hours ago and he hasn’t asked for help anywhere. They figure he would need all the help he could get. Mike urges Ashton to give it time, he leaves to join Logan and Palmer. Ashton sizes up the situation of the two men talking though the glass door.

Michelle has just finished meeting with another employee in her office and Tony enters as the other girl leaves. He brings Michelle up to speed that tactical is at Richard Heller’s house and they are going through his things, he’s on the way to CTU. Michelle wants to know where Jack is and Tony says he’s on the way back as well. Michelle says that someone has to tell Audrey that Jack is going to be interrogating her brother. Tony doesn’t think Audrey will let Jack near her brother. It can’t be helped, Michelle adds, if Richard knows something. Tony, almost thinking out loud, says that it’s funny, this morning Jack and Audrey were planning their future and now he is responsible for her husband’s death and he may have to torture her brother. Michelle defends Jack, every move he’s made is the right one. Tony adds it’s not if he wanted to be with her. He sits on the couch next to Michelle and says that everything that’s happened here today, it’s been hard going through it with her. Michelle admits it’s been hard for her too. Tony continues, ‘And I look at what this job does to people in our positions and I realize, I want us to be together again, but it’s gotta be away from all this.’ Michelle is incredulous and asks, “You want us to leave our jobs?” Tony nods. Michelle, not really getting this, says ‘We spent the last 12 years of our lives doing this, where would we go? What would we do?’ Tony doesn’t care, “People start over every day if it’s important to them.” Michelle says that Tony is asking her to leave the only thing she’s ever done. Tony is, he looks at her and she meets his eyes and then looks away, thinking.

Richard Heller is being hauled into CTU flanked by 2 guards. He is screaming that they can’t be bringing him back here. He yells as he’s brought through the atrium and Audrey steps out for a second. She tells him that his number came up on the cell phone of a terrorist. Richard knows that what they said and Buchanan guides Audrey away, they have to get Richard ready now. He yells for Audrey not to let them do this. Audrey asks who will be interrogating him and Buchanan says Jack. Audrey has time to ask, “What?” before Jack and Curtis come into CTU. She goes to Jack and tells him that he’s not doing this, he is not going to torture her brother. Jack tells Curtis he is coming and explains to Audrey that he doesn’t want to hurt her brother but he needs to know what he knows. Audrey asks what if he doesn’t know anything. Jack informs her that the number came up on his cell phone. Audrey wants to try and talk to Richard first. Jack clarifies that she wants to interrogate her own brother. Audrey thinks because he’s her brother she might be able to get something out of him that Jack can’t. She asks please and Jack quietly says that she can take 5 minutes. She thanks him.

Don Ashton stops Mike again and asks how Logan is doing. He sees that he brought the ex-president. Mike confirms that former president Palmer is here to advise. Ashton, with chipped words, says that if he’s not going to ask the cabinet for help he’s glad Logan is in good hands. Catching Ashton’s tone, Mike enquires if there’s something else he wanted to say. Ashton says that if there’s a problem Palmer shouldn’t be the one that steps up but him, the Speaker. Mike assures him that Logan can handle it and he is in complete control. Mike has to get back to work. Palmer and Logan are working and Mike says that they may have a problem with Don Ashton. He is raising concerns as to why Palmer is there. Logan says that’s too bad but as speaker he can create problems that they don’t need, he will be willing to exploit any angle to gain control now that he’s one step away. Logan questions if he would be willing to put national security ahead of his own ambitions but Palmer thinks he will see them as one in the same. Logan asks what they should do and Palmer figures they should show him who is in charge.

4:23

4:28

Jack lets Audrey into the interrogation room where her brother waits. He right away says that he didn’t do anything. Audrey wants him to tell her what he knows about Habib Marwan. Richard doesn’t know about that. Audrey says that Richard called his phone last Thursday at 4 in morning. Richard begs that she has to believe him, he doesn’t know. Audrey just asks why he made the phone call but he claims he didn’t make any phone call. James Heller arrives behind the glass and asks what’s going on. Jack says they let Audrey go first but he hasn’t confirmed anything yet. Richard doesn’t know where they’re getting their information but it’s all bull. Curtis is watching the monitors and notes that he’s spiking, he’s holding something back. Audrey pleads with her brother to talk to her, she is upset and explains that ‘If you don’t there is a man that will come in here and get this information from you. I saw him torture someone today, it’s what he’s trained to do and he won’t stop hurting you.’ Richard has a chance to fix this but Richard has dissolved to tears. James Heller observes that this is not working, they don’t have time to coddle him. He says that he doesn’t care if it is his son, this has gone far enough. Heller wants to be let into the room as well. He demands that Richard tell them everything he knows or ‘I will let them use every piece of equipment that they have to drag it out of you.’ Audrey starts to try and get her father to back off but he tells her to leave the room. Richard begins to plead with his father but James again wants him to tell him everything he knows. When James presses his son more he tells him to go to hell, he didn’t do anything wrong. Heller explains that there is a nuclear warhead about to detonate someone in the USA and he asks if he really wants to lives lost hanging over his head. He will be a murderer. Richard finally says that he didn’t mean to do anything wrong. James asks, “What did you do, Richard?” He asks what his son has done. In a stronger voice but still crying he explains that he was at the bar about a week ago and there was this girl and her boyfriend there. He doesn’t know their names but he did know that they wanted to party and they went back to Richard’s place. They got high and then he guesses that there was time for one of them to make a call on his phone. James wants clarification, how could there be time for a phone call? Richard says that while they were in bed. James assumes, ‘While you were in bed with her he used your phone in the other room.’ Richard corrects his father, he was in bed with him, and she must have been the one that made the call. He was set up. With questioning they find Richard has no phone number or address on them, he drove them there and they took a cab home. He doesn’t know the company. In the other room Jack asks for every cab company’s logs in that area. Curtis asks someone else to do the monitoring while he starts this. In the room Richard tells his father, ‘So, now you know. I suppose your even more disgusted with me.’ Heller, on the way towards the door, says that this is not about how he chooses to live his life but the things that happened yesterday may not have happened if he had just told them what he knew. Richard didn’t know at that time that this had anything to do with what they were looking for. Jack will wait outside and James, getting ready to leave, says that Richard has made a profound mistake today.

4:34

4:38

Jack is with Buchanan and they are working out a contingency plan. Chloe and Edgar come in and they not only have the cab company, they have the driver. They were dropped off at a place in Mercerwood and when they gave the description to the manager he says that he know what unit they are in. Jack wants the best field operatives on this, he’ll take Curtis and Castle. Buchanan needs Curtis at CTU so Jack enlists Tony. Edgar explains that the phone that Richard had was duplicated by the pair so they could get all of the calls made on it after that night. That must have been how they tracked Audrey and her father. They wonder if the president is going to be making an announcement about the missile but they figure that it would do more harm than good.

Logan re-enters into the room with his other members of government. He explains that he has brought in ex-president Palmer. Ashton asks what position he is in and Palmer says that he is solely an advisor to Logan or anyone else who may ask. He is outside the chain of command. He makes sure that that is what Ashton was wanting to know. They discuss the location that the missile is likely headed to, they assume that it is one of the coasts, either DC or New York. Palmer defends the choice not to evacuate because of the problems associated with large moving populations, Ashton wants to hear it from the president himself. Logan agrees this is his assessment as well. They discuss air defence, the cities are unguarded. Palmer doesn’t think it’s wise to have F18’s, which are limited in number, simply waiting for something to happen. Ashton addresses David as Mr. Palmer and attacks what he has just said. David reminds Ashton that he is to be addressed as ‘President’, Logan backs this up but reminds Palmer that it’s not a functional title, Palmer has been here before but they are there now. Logan agrees Ashton has made a good point and David rather sheepishly excuses himself from the room. Logan wants to address Ashton’s concern. David leaves and a small smile crosses his face, he catches Mike coming out of an adjacent room. Mike is happy, he saw the proceedings on an inside feed and it went exactly as he had hoped. They won’t have any more problems with Ashton today. David hopes Mike is right.

Michelle is talking to Tony as he heads out. She will be monitoring everything on channel 3. Tony heads towards the door leaving Michelle behind. She calls him and tells him to wait. He comes back a few steps and, tears welling in her eyes, she says, “I can’t spend another day without you. I’m ready to leave here, I'm ready to go with you.” Tony cuts her off by reaching out to her and kissing her. After a few seconds he pulls away and then leaves. She tells his retreating back to be careful. He looks and smiles and goes out the door. Michelle sighs, collecting herself.

James Heller says that they have set up a feed so that Richard can ID the pair when the teams get there. After that they should let him go, his motives were not seditious. Audrey confesses to her father that she feels lost. He sympathizes with her. A phone call comes through and Audrey is told that Jack Bauer is on line 2 for her. Heller says to take it, he’ll be on the floor. Audrey stares at the phone for a second and then moves over near it and looks at it some more. Finally she answers and she speaks to Jack who is on a chopper. He starts right out saying there are a few things he needs to say, he wants her to listen. Everything that’s happened today she has seen him do things she thought were unimaginable. She quietly admits that she would have been happy to skip today. Jack agrees he would too. The is going to tell her the truth, ‘I never believed that you could ever really love me if you’d known about everything I’ve done.' She tries to interrupt but he wants to finish, 'These were the things that I was running way from, why I moved to DC, why I stopped doing field work, why I don't work at CTU.’ All Audrey knows is that now he’s back in it and she can’t handle it. Jack tells her that the last thing he ever wanted was to push her away from him, he loves her, this is how it has to be done and he’s sorry it’s involved her and people that she cares about. He tells her that she doesn’t have to say anything now, he wants her to promise they can talk when this is all over. Audrey sniffles and Jack waits for an answer. The agent next to Jack, McCallan, calls him, Jack says he will cal Audrey back later. Jack puts on the headset so he can hear his team member who tells him that Edgar has sent the composite sketch that they got from Richard.

Mandy and a man named Gary are in bed. They kiss and he wants to know if they can go now. Mandy says they have plenty of time to get to Marwan but he is concerned, he doesn’t like cutting it this close. He gets up and puts some underwear on, Mandy hears the chopper approaching. She goes to the window and looks outside seeing nothing. She puts a shirt on.

Jack has the sketch of the man, Gary. He and the girl are their only lead, once they’ve identified the suspects it’s vital that they take them alive.

Jack makes a call to Curtis at CTU. He makes sure everything is set and is told that Richard is ready to make a positive ID as soon as they find them. They are a go.

The chopper lands and Jack goes to the LAPD SWAT leader and makes sure that they know that no LAPD units are to be inside the perimeter. They are clear so Jack gets in the van and goes.

Mandy is again looking out the window and says that they have found them, a helicopter landed a block away. Gary doesn’t see the significance but Mandy says they’re coming and the two of them can’t go together. One of them has to stay so the other can get away. Gary doesn’t get it, he asks if one of them is supposed to get captured so the other can get away, Mandy says yes, and it’s going to be him. She shoots him in the chest.

4:49

4:53

Jack, Tony, Castle and the rest of the CTU team arrive. Jack sends Tony and Castle to the roof and makes sure the other teams are in position. Jack radios for an entry code to the building and he gets in. From the courtyard he sees movement in the apartment and lets the others know. He sends another agent around the opposite way and after clearing his side, the pair meet at the door. He tells the other agent to pick the lock and he does, they two of them enter the apartment. They clear most of it and find Gary sitting in a chair in front of the TV with his back to them. Jack tells him to put his hands where he can see them but Gary doesn’t respond. Jack moves up next to the chair but when he gets there he kicks it so it spins revealing Gary dead. Jack tells McCallan to get a picture and send it to CTU. Jack radios Tony who has no movement outside. Jack says the man is dead and the girl has to be somewhere outside, the perimeter teams need to maintain position. Tony will hold his position and Castle comes around the edge of the building. Quickly Mandy appears and shoots Castle in the arm. She grabs him and comes back around the corner using Castle as a shield. Tony, who had heard the shot, has his gun drawn. He aims it at Mandy but she demands he drop the gun. Tony does nothing and Mandy shoots Castle in the leg. He drops to his knees and she goes down after him still using him as a shield. She tells Tony again to drop his gun and he surrenders putting his gun on the ground. She instructs him to kick the gun away, which he does. Tony tries to cut a deal, Castle is injured and Tony wants Mandy to let Castle go, take him instead. Mandy doesn’t agree but she wants Tony’s COM unit, he takes it out of his pocket and tosses it on the ground. She tells him to turn around, get on his knees and put his hands on his head. From the ground Castle can be heard breathing hard, Mandy tells Castle to cuff Tony. He gets up painfully and staggers over to Tony, hardly able to keep his balance. He drops behind Tony and puts the cuffs on and then uses Tony’s shoulder to get up. Mandy lets another shot go at Castle and he falls next to Tony. Appearing a little worried Tony gets up when instructed and takes one last look at Agent Castle on the ground. He goes first with Mandy on his heels.

Jack is searching the apartment and the want the photo of Gary uploaded and sent to CTU. It’s sent and Curtis watches Richard as it comes into focus. All he says is ‘Woah.’ Curtis asks twice if it’s the right guy before Richard confirms it. Curtis says that the positive ID has been given, Jack wants 5 teams of 2 to search the outer buildings and move in. Jack radio’s Tony and to tell him they have initiated a search. When Tony doesn’t answer Jack asks Castle why Almeida is not on COM? The screen splits and we see Michelle start to panic as Jack takes off running out of the apartment frantically asking Tony if he copies, trying to get him to come in.

In the split screen we see Michelle waiting for an answer, Tony being gagged by Mandy and Jack running upstairs after clearing the section.

Jack reaches the top of the staircase and crouches looking for trouble. He sees Castle’s gun on the ground and senses something wrong. Jack slowly looks around the corner and sees Castle dead. He crouches next to the body and takes his pulse. Noticing the gun nearby Jack looks closely at it. He gets on the radio and announces to all teams that Castle is down and Almeida is missing. He repeats that Almeida is missing a possibly a hostage. Their frequency has been compromised and they need more tactical personnel. Jack asks Michelle specifically if she copies and Michelle who appears stunned, snaps out of it and says ‘You heard him, people, shift profiles, we may have a hostage situation.’ She pauses and yells, “Move, now!”

5:00

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

-After all that hate, all the build up, Jack never got to kill Marwan, yet. Hopefully if he does it’ll be sweet.

-I guess the other option is making Marwan the new Nina. He is a great actor. Make sure you catch him on 24 Inside.

-Bill needs to realize that they DID manage to get the nuke onto a missile and deal with it instead of standing around saying he can’t believe it.

-As Chloe would say, they’re being beaten by their own technology. They need to find that missile.

-Wise decision of Jack to not even try to break Marwan, that guy isn’t saying anything.

-Earlier Dina told Jack that she wanted to kill him, I guess now he’s returning the favour to Marwan. Pay it forward, right?

-Where exactly would Jack keep the ear of the president? Do you need a special case for that?

-Good for Tony to go straight to Audrey when he finds out about Richard.

-I like how Audrey didn’t believe Tony about her brother until he talks about the SIM card. Like he’s make something like that up at a time of national crisis just for kicks… although I hear Carlos Bernard is quite the comedian but still.

-Okay, officially tired of Chloe. She’s ridiculous and it was funny. Now it’s just annoying.

-That’s gotta suck. You get hauled into CTU and interrogated, you get sent home, YAY! You get brought back to be tortured some more, DOH!

-Good to see Daddy Heller back, I see the pay budget went back up.

-Love Jack’s passing ‘We’ll see about that.’ To Marwan. Classic cool Jack looking like he really doesn’t care one way or the other.

-Michelle doesn’t seem to realize that Tony is unemployed. He’s not leaving anything to be with her except a crummy apartment with dog crap on the lawn and a bitchy girlfriend.

-You know, when that car blew up when they were going to transport Marwan I was very worried that Curtis was in there. Now, I’d pay to have Curtis in there and not have Tony in mortal peril.

-Marwan is just too good at this getaway game. He’s got contingency plans for contingency plans for contingency plans. This guy has a lot of time on his hands.

-Ashton is a real jerk. Hate him. ‘Nuff said.

-Did Edgar really need to tell Chloe that Richard Heller is the Secretary of Defence’s son?

-Logan seemed pretty certain to me when he was explaining things to the idiot, Ashton.

-You know, Tony, there’s a lot of things I would call Jack’s predicament with Audrey, funny isn’t quite one of them.

-I’m not sure what I’d be angrier about, the writers writing Tony and Michelle out of the show to live happily ever after or Tony dying next week. I guess if they write them out they can always write them back in, if they’re dead, well, they’re not coming back.

-Line of the week contender: Richard Heller: “THIS IS SO ILLEGAL!” Ah, but it’s still happening, isn’t it.

-Once more for the record, Ashton is a dick. I hope wherever the missile lands it’s where he is.

-How many times can you walk into a room and say “Excuse me Mr. President?” and get more than one person turning around. Weird.

-Palmer, always thinking. Very nice.

-Heller Jr. did a wonderful job of putting up a fight. That must have been fun to film but I wonder if he kicked stuff over by accident, his legs were going good there.

-I wonder how Jack feels about being the big bad man that will torture Richard. I don’t think he would care normally but because that’s how Audrey sees him right now it would probably be terrible.

-Could Richard Heller say Audrey’s name more times?

-I thought I almost heard Heller Jr. use the F-word when he says “Look … information is all bull.” The ‘Look’ didn’t really sound like look.

-Line of the week: James Heller to Richard Heller: “Tell us what you know or I will let them use every piece of equipment they have to drag it out you.” Methinks we’ve only seem some of CTU’s gear.

-Heller Jr. went from crying to saying ‘Go to hell pretty fast.’ Then he jumps right back to crying.

-I’m not sure if Audrey and/or SOD Heller would be able to get the kind of security clearance they have with Richard doing drugs.

-Kudos to Heller Jr. for finally coming clean completely, it would have been just as easy to say that he was with the girl and deal with the fact that he’s gay on a less stressful day.

-Good thing Richards not a cop ‘cause he’s about the most unobservant person ever. “Gee, I don’t really know anything about them at all, in fact, I’m not sure they exist at all.”

-That was supersonic research by Chloe and Edgar. They got all the stuff on the cab instantly.

-I agree with Palmer about the fact that they’re not clear that that missile is going to New York or DC. LA or anywhere else large could be a likely target.

-The little play with Palmer and Logan was well done but I hope the others don’t think less of Palmer.

-As soon as Palmer backed down it became pretty obvious it was a game, he wouldn’t back down like that.

-It’s so nice to see Mike and Palmer working together again.

-It’s also nice to see Palmer swallowing his sometimes rather large pride and taking one for the team, not that I ever doubted he would.

-The scene with Tony and Michelle was so electric when they finally kissed. It was beautifully written and executed and the kiss, well, I’d believe that Carlos Bernard and Reiko Aylesworth are really in love.

-We had a little mushy section there with Tony and Michelle and then Jack and Audrey and then Mandy showed up and killed it all (pun intended).

-Did anyone else get the joke about being "in good hands"? Dennis Haysbert (David Palmer) does commericals for All-State insurance. Their motto? "You're in good hands with All-State." So, the country is in good hands with Palmer according to Don.

-It was great to see Jack open up to Audrey like that but if Tony and Michelle get together and live happily ever after I can’t see Jack and Audrey doing the same. It’s just too mushy for 24.

-So, since we never answered the question in season 3 about what Jack was taking the drugs to get away from, I wonder if this is part of the answer. He resents having to do what he does at CTU, the torture and the killing.

-How could Audrey possibly hear what Jack had to say on the phone while he was on the chopper? Jack couldn’t even hear the agent next to him without the headset on…

-I gotta say, those flash drives like the one Curtis gives Edgar with the image on it, are great. I’ve got a bunch of them and they’re just spectacular.

-Mandy, Mandy, Mandy. Oh how we missed thee. If you don’t know who Mandy is, here’s a little quote from my own 2.24 summary about Mandy in season 1 “The return of everyone’s favourite Gaines hench (wo)man. For those of you that don’t remember, Mandy first appeared in the first episode ever. Played by Mia Kirshner, she joined the mile-high club with the real Martin Belkin, stole his wallet with his ID in it, then proceeded to blow up the 747. She had a lesbian lover that hid the ID and demanded another million, which Gaines agreed to deliver. After they went and picked the ID up, her lover was killed by a sniper that belonged to Gaines, Mandy was given an ultimatum to either help out ‘next summer’ on a job. She agrees and she goes back to the compound with Gaines. Hereafter she disappears, not showing up at the compound and also not being killed by Andre Drazen with the rest of Gaines’ men.” In season 2, episode 24, she reappeared and delivered the infected handshake to President Palmer causing him to go down outside his limo. She then reported to a man by the name of “Max”, the mystery man on the boat. This could cause some interesting connections.

-Mandy’s like a praying mantis, every male we’ve seen her sleep with she’s killed.

-McCallan is just not as cool as Baker. What ever happened to him?

-Speaking of ‘whatever happened to’s’, where the hell is Behrooz?

-Did Jack really think that Gary would just be sitting there waiting?

-Tony took a lot of flack, I think, for surrendering himself to Mandy. Although it may not have appeared to be the right answer, what were his other options? Send Castle and let him get killed for sure, probably soon so he can’t help CTU or he can try and shoot Mandy, shoot the hostage and hope like hell that she doesn’t die ‘cause if she did then they are officially out of leads or do what he did and hope that she keeps him alive long enough that he can manage to communicate something to the CTU team (remember, he knows how Jack thinks) or be used as a bargaining chip or even somehow manage to get away. Really, she would have killed him anyway before she left with Castle.

-Castle better have had enough brains to not tighten those cuffs too tight. If they’re loose enough Tony might be able to get out of them.

-How’s Jack gonna feel if Tony ends up dead today, if Jack hadn’t called then he’d still be at home watching the soccer game in Spanish. … scratch that, he’d be at home sleeping off a night of drinking, or, worshipping the porcelain gods.

-Tony’s probably wondering if he really made the right choice about giving up, right there he’s basically trusting his life to Jack because he knows that he will be the one to save him, although, if I had to pick on person to save me, it’d be Jack.

-Last time we saw Jack go running after Tony like that was when he got shot in the mall last season, then I was thinking the same thing as I am now – Don’t kill Tony!

-The irony of this is now Michelle might have to make some decisions about Tony’s life similar to the ones that he made to save her last season, landing him in jail. If she puts his life ahead of the country’s… well, we all know what that will mean.

-Poor Castle, he almost made it through the day.

-This show is going to give me an ulcer, or at least some kind of stress disease. As soon as I realized that Tony was going out instead of Curtis I knew that it was setting up for him to be part of a huge plotline. As much as I hate it, I really think they are going to kill him. Just look at the events leading up to the kidnapping. a) He reconciles with Michelle. That’s usually what happens before people die in this show, they think they’re going to have a happy life. b) He goes out on the chopper with Jack on this op. He’s been inside all day, why would they send him and not Curtis? If Curtis was kidnapped it would be good too, but if Tony’s kidnapped and killed it will mean more to the fans. Finally, c) Mandy’s a big character. A huge character. She’s loved (and hated) by the regular fans of this show. Look what happened last time she showed up. I really can’t see them bringing her back unless it’s something REALLY consequential. It just woudn’t make sense ‘cause they seem to reserve her for all their biggest set ups and problems. I doubt they went out and re-cast her just so she can play a minor role. It’s going to be big, B-I-G, big. Having said all that, at this point, killing Tony is VERY predictable, I guess they have to decide what the writers pride themselves on more: shock value or unpredictability? Here’s hoping they like to be unpredictable better and Tony lives.

-At the end of this show we’re looking at the best characters from the best times of 24, we only need to add Nina and maybe Sherry Palmer (like that could happen) and this is all of the best cast back. The characters that really stick out as spectacular have been, and continue to be, Jack, Tony, Michelle, Palmer and Mandy. I’m afraid this may be setting us up for a ‘worst of times’ scenario – which is why I chose the title that could maybe be finished that way for next week depending on what happens.

-Finally, there has yet to be a silent clock this season, last time we went this long it waited until Teri Bauer at the end of Season 1. Tony is the only Season 1 character left (other than Jack) and, well, dammit, if the producers care what this lowly webmaster has to say, all signs pointing to Tony’s demise is bad news. Tony needs Jack, and Jack needs Tony. One without the other is just not right. SAVE TONY!