6.01: 6:00am - 7:00am - Lost Boy

6.01: 6:00am - 7:00am 
~ Lost Boy ~
2007.01.14

6:00

In Los Angeles people wait around a bus stop watching news coverage on televisions on a pole. The reporter is giving a recap about what has been happening in the US over the last 11 weeks. Terror attacks have occurred in 10 different cities, 1100 people are dead and it is thought to be the work of Islamic Militants. The reporter describes the mood in LA as tense and fearful. The department of Homeland Security is advising people to report suspicious people and activities. The reporter quotes that the government does not want to start a witch hunt but is urging citizens to be vigilant. The public is their best line of defence against terrorists.

A Middle Eastern man who has been watching the coverage notices that his bus is leaving. He runs after the bus and knocks on the door. The driver has stopped and he looks at the man deciding what to do. People on the bus see what is going on, some of them look concerned. The man trying to get on says that he has to get to work. He asks the driver to open the door. After a pause the bus driver leaves the man there. He yells after the bus, “I can’t believe you didn’t open the door! I have as much right to be on the bus as you do!”

A younger man sits on the bus as well. He manipulates the buttons on his mp3 player and follows the cords that should lead to his headphones into his backpack. The bus stops at a traffic light and the man pushes a button on his player closing his eyes. The bus explodes is a massive firebomb.

We move to Washington. Thomas Lennox speaks in the Oval Office with Karen Hayes and other presidential advisors. He argues that the country is under siege and they have to do something. Karen accuses him of opening up concentration camps but he corrects her as ‘Detention Facilities’ and the criteria for who is incarcerated are reasonable. Karen picks up a booklet and tells him that his revised plan justifies locking up every American that prays towards Mecca. Tom doesn’t agree but Karen says that the Muslim community has been an asset to their investigations and none of them have been implicated in the attacks. Thomas answers, ‘so far.’ He turns to the president who is revealed as Wayne Palmer and appeals to him that they have to do something. Karen is concerned about the civil unrest an action like this would create and as she continues to protest Thomas speaks over her, ‘Security has its price.’ After the yelling subsides Wayne answers calmly, ‘So does freedom, Tom.’ Wayne doesn’t see how he could sign of on something like this. Just 3 months ago he took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the constitution. Thomas argues that he also has to preserve, protect and defend the rights of the citizens. The measures he has proposed are all legal and Blake, a man sitting nearby has been all over this with the Attorney General. Blake uses Lincoln and Roosevelt as examples but Wayne, getting up, reminds him that Roosevelt imprisoned over 200,000 Japanese-Americans in what most historians agree is a shameful mistake. Thomas still stands by his word while Karen received a briefing. She looks over it and then standing calls the president’s attention. He can read on her face what she is about to say, there has been another attack. This on is in Los Angeles and there are 23 people dead including the suicide bomber. Wayne steps away from his advisors and looks at a folder on his desk that shows the name ‘Hamri Al-Assad’ and his information. He asks them if they are still certain that he is the one behind the attacks. They are, he arrived 3 days before the first bombing in San Antonio and he has been calling for the destruction of the United States for 20 years. Karen approaches Wayne and says that her analysts believe that Assad’s organization can not survive without him. Thomas sombrely advises that the probability of the attack being successful is 75% and that is a generous assessment. Wayne questions his negativity, he sounds like he is anticipating failure. Thomas thinks that the only option is going to be to activate the contingency plans. Wayne concedes that this is all well and good but they need to eliminate Assad. God knows they are paying a steep enough price to get him.

Milo Pressman walks over to Morris’ work station. He has told Morris 20 times that he can’t send things without certified headers. Morris, unconcerned, says that this is the 21 st time, he should update his count. Milo asks if Morris ever opens his mouth without sarcasm spewing out. If he doesn’t fix this he is going to be back selling ladies shoes in Beverly Hills. Morris takes a shot at Milo informing him that he’s settling well into the whole middle management thing. Milo wants to know what the problem is and Morris lightly says that he was a good worker but as a boss, he’s a bit of a bore. Milo doesn’t react, just scoffs and walks away. Milo passes by Chloe and tells her to talk to her boyfriend, he’s on self destruct. Chloe now heads to Morris’ desk and reminds him that he promised her he would get along with Milo. He wanders away from her and she follows saying when she started she had problems with departments heads too but she learned how to fit in. Morris moves close to Chloe and says that it’s because she is pretty lady. She denies it and he calls her a hottie, grabbing her ass. Unconvincingly, she scolds him that they are at work. He asks if she is saying she doesn’t like it and that’s not what she’s saying. She came to see if he got a priority request from Homeland. He did not and she wonders why they sent it only to her. Morris doesn’t know. She wants him to try and get along. Because of her, he says he will.

Chloe walks over and speaks to a woman about her age, obviously a CTU higher up. She calls her Nadia and explains about her request from Homeland about a opening a channel, she is clearing it with her first. It has to be formatted to military spec. Obviously knowing what’s going on Nadia answers questions minimally until Chloe manages to get out of her that there is going to be an assault on Assad, they have a lead, even though Chloe doesn’t know about it. They are getting his location through Jack Bauer. Chloe, back to smart ass mode, answers that Jack is in a Chinese prison but Nadia explains that the president negotiated his release 2 days ago. Nadia can’t tell Chloe much about the operation but she presses Nadia on it. She asks if Bill Buchanan can tell her about it but Nadia says that she is at Point Magu meeting Jack. She tells Chloe to open the military channel to the conference room.

Buchanan and Curtis are accompanied by soldiers at an airfield. They stand in a line waiting for the plane to land. A cargo plane taxis in and starts to stop. Curtis observes that the president must have given up a lot to make this happen, Buchanan wishes Jack were coming back under different circumstances. They don’t know what his state of mind will be; Bill looks significantly at Curtis who checks his weapon. They approach the plane along with a bunch of soldiers that are there and the back hatch opens, a red glow illuminating the figures that slowly emerge. First off the plane is Cheng followed by Jack who is flanked by two Chinese soldiers and wearing loose fitting, blue, prison garb. He is handcuffed and appears that he hasn’t been able to wash or certainly cut his hair in a long time. Jack is sporting a shaggy beard and long hair. As he steps off the plane he looks around but then quickly returns his gaze to the ground. He looks small and weak. Once Buchanan has seen Jack he doesn’t take his eyes off of him. Cheng is unconcerned as Buchanan gawks at Jack and says casually that he has a release document that Buchanan needs to sign. Without looking at Cheng, Buchanan quietly orders, ‘Take those cuffs off him.’ Cheng relays the order in Chinese and a soldier springs into action releasing Jack’s hands from their binds. As they are freed Jack quickly grabs his right hand and holds his wrist with his left. His right hand appears to have been burned and then infected; the scarring extends all the way up his wrist and onto most of his fingers. Curtis has crossed over Bill so he is facing Jack. Kindly, he calls Jack’s name, tells him that it’s okay and asks Jack to come with him. Jack practically shuffles away from the plane but looks up as he passes Cheng. He has an unreadable mixture of pride and loathing on his face as he passes the man responsible for his suffering over the last 20 months. Buchanan still watches Jack closely and once he and Curtis are away Cheng tells Buchanan, “Please convey to your president that Mr. Bauer never broke his silence, he hasn’t spoken a word in nearly 2 years.” He continues that the President has paid a high price for Mr. Bauer’s freedom, what he wants from him must be very important. Buchanan has not a word for Cheng and he leaves him towards the hangar. Curtis and Jack, even with a head start, are not too far ahead of Buchanan and Jack sits down in an uncomfortable looking chair in front of a table. Buchanan starts speaking to Jack immediately saying that President Palmer wants to speak with Jack himself after he has been briefed. Although Jack does not meet eyes with Buchanan or Curtis he is obviously confused by this statement. Buchanan sighs and apologizes, how could Jack know? Wayne Palmer is president now and he negotiated Jack’s release. Delicately, Buchanan sighs, “I can’t begin to imagine what you’ve been through over there, Jack.” There is a reason Jack is here now. Over the last 11 weeks American cities have been targeted by terrorist attacks. Jack takes in what Bill is saying with a slight nod, still gripping his right hand. They have been attacking busses, trains, shopping malls, the last attack was 15 minutes ago here in LA. Buchanan puts a photo down on the table in front of Jack introducing him as Hamri Al-Assad, Jack makes a slight movement to see the image. Buchanan says that he is here and a few days ago one of his men contacted them and said they would give him up for 25 million dollars. He is demanding something more than money, “He wants you, Jack, he wants you dead.” Jack continues to look at the photo. Buchanan produces another photo saying it is Abu Fayed. “He wants his pound of flesh for what happened in Beirut.” Recognition dawns on Jack’s face, he knows this man and knows what Bill is talking about. They offered Fayed an alternative, they offered him everything they could think of but the only was he would give them Assad was in exchange for Jack. Curtis speaks now, saying that he has demanded their surveillance protocols, they can’t risk an extraction. Once Fayed has him Jack is on his own. Buchanan continues that Jack knows what this means, “We’re asking you to sacrifice yourself so we ca get Assad.” Finally, Jack has something to say to all of this. He mouths almost wordlessly and Buchanan, leaning forward, can’t hear him. Jack coughs, sputters and clears his throat. The word comes clearly this time, “Audrey.” Buchanan’s look of concern deepens and, voice cracking slightly, says “She doesn’t know you’re back.” Next Jack asks, “My daughter.” Buchanan confirms that Kim doesn’t know either. Finally Jack raises his eyes from the table and looks directly at Buchanan. He warns, “You keep it that way.” Buchanan says nothing but nods in agreement. Jack now directs his speech to Curtis, “I know what’s being asked of me, Curtis, you don’t need your firearm.” Appearing more emotional, Jack has a request, “Before we do this, I would like to clean up.” Curtis confirms that they have an area set up for him and they brought him some new clothes. Still holding onto his wrist and in one motion, Jack stands with a wince and walks slowly over to a makeshift room created with curtains. There is a table with shaving needs and a bowl of water there along with a mirror. Buchanan is still watching Jack as he goes to the mirror and looks briefly at his own reflection. Then Jack steps back and pulls his robe-like shirt off his shoulders. As he pulls it away numerous scars are revealed all over his back and arms. Jack returns to the mirror.

6:13

6:19

Buchanan makes a phone call, Karen Hayes’ phone rings. She answers with his first name and he says that they have Jack. Karen is happy but Buchanan is not. ‘I thought I was prepared for this but he’s worse than I expected, much worse.’ Karen understands how hard this must be but everything depends on this operation. Buchanan is well aware and she knows that he understands. She looks down at her left hand that now bears a wedding ring. She tells Buchanan lovingly that she wishes she were there with him. He responds that she is where she needs to be. They tell each other that they miss them and Buchanan has to go and take Jack to the drop point. They hang up

At CTU Chloe is watching a newscast talking about LA being added to the list of cities for terrorist attacks. The threat level is red, the highest since the list was formed. Chloe sees Nadia and walks over to her; she needs to talk to her. She has opened the military channel but she has been trying to locate Buchanan or Curtis to find out about Jack but both of them are off line with a blocked status. Chloe tells Nadia that she has only been here a few months but if she had been here longer she would know how much Jack Bauer means to her and that sooner or later she will find out. She demands to know what is going on or she will call division and tell them about the time that she left the Jarvis firewall unsecured. It’s because of Chloe that they didn’t fire Nadia for that. Nadia fills Chloe in that Fayed, a man who works for Assad contacted them a few days ago and he is willing to give them Assad’s location but he wants Jack among other things on a list of demands in return for his cooperation. He wants Jack for retribution; Fayed’s brother was in a cell that bombed their embassy in 1999. Jack was supposed to grab him and get the names of the other members. Fayed’s brother died while Jack was interrogating him and now he wants Jack dead. Chloe can’t believe that they are just going to hand him over, she wants to organize a rescue but they can’t, they have given them access to their frequencies and he is not giving them anything until he is free and clear with Jack. Chloe is going to call Karen Hayes and she can talk to the president. Nadia tells Chloe that Karen already knows, the President authorized this action. She puts the phone back down. Nadia is sorry about her friend but there’s neither either of them can do, it’s the only way out of this crisis. ‘If we want these attacks to stop, Jack Bauer has to be sacrificed.’ She takes her things and leaves Chloe in the room alone.

Chloe wanders out of the room towards her workstation. Morris sees her and that she is upset and calls her extension. Chloe ignores the phone and before Morris can go over there Milo shows up. He tells Morris that he has half of the uplinks; he will get the rest of them. Morris absently walks away towards Chloe as Milo says he needs them 10 minutes ago, and he can’t expect Chloe to keep running interference with him. Morris has already gone over to Chloe and he asks her what is going on between her and Nadia. Sounding like she doesn’t believe it, Chloe tells Morris that the president got Jack back from the Chinese. Morris figures that this is good news but she corrects him that it’s not.

Curtis drives the CTU SUV and Buchanan’s cell phone rings. It is President Palmer calling and Buchanan lets him know that they are almost at the drop point. Wayne would like to speak to Jack and following orders Buchanan leans into the back seat of the SUV calling Jack’s name. Jack, fresh with a new haircut and clean clothes, looks silently out the window watching the scenery go by. Buchanan again tires to alert Jack but gets no response. Finally Buchanan reaches out and touches Jack’s arm to get his attention. Jack jumps upon being touched by Buchanan and looks at him in fear for a split second before he recovers. Buchanan hands the phone over telling him it’s the president. Jack takes the phone and in a gravely tone begins, ‘Mister President.” Wayne seems lost for words, he tells Jack that he has been trying to think of what he could possibly say to him after all he has sacrificed for the country, for Wayne in the past and for what he has done for his brother David. Wayne knows that this is a desperate measure but it is a measure of their desperation, the people are afraid to leave their houses and they are turning on each other out there. Jack understands what is expected of him, Buchanan explained it to him. For a few seconds we see Bill sitting in the front seat appearing to have trouble dealing with his emotions, blue eyes shining. Wayne promises Jack that his sacrifice will not be in vain. Jack thanks him and hangs up.

Wayne hangs up his phone and turns to Tom. He thought he understood this job, he was beside his brother David when he had to choose between bad options but now that he is sitting in that chair he is starting to wonder if he is the right person to lead this country. Tom puts in his opinion, it doesn’t matter. Wayne will lead this country whether he wants to or not. He is the president. Wayne just can’t shake the fact that handing over Jack Bauer is a mistake. Tom reassures him that he is not, and if his brother were here he would be doing the same thing. Wayne knows that it doesn’t make it right. Again, Tom agrees, it doesn’t make it right, it doesn’t make it wrong. Bauer has to be sacrificed so that this country can survives. He leaves Wayne alone.

Karen catches Tom outside the oval office and says that she heard a rumour that Tom authorized the National Guard to set up detention centres at convention centres and arenas in Philadelphia, Detroit and Los Angeles against the president’s orders. Tom was standing right beside Karen when the order was given, he knows about it, he just hasn’t rescinded his orders yet, they haven’t been implemented, and he is just preparing for when the president changes his mind so they will have wasted less time. Karen clarifies for him in plain English he is second guessing the president. Plain English doesn’t allow for the nuances of Tom’s job. Karen isn’t buying it and he tries to convince her, they need a wider net with tighter mesh. Karen asks what happens when innocent people get caught in the net. On his way out Tom reminds her that it’s like he told her, security has his price. Get used to it.

Buchanan, Curtis and Jack are walking in what appears to be a water spill off. Buchanan’s phone rings and Fayed is on the other end. He demands that Buchanan secure Bauer’s wrist to the grate. Buchanan asks for the location of Assad first but this is not a negotiation. Fayed tells Bill he is watching and once he is away with Bauer he will call him. Buchanan isn’t having any of this and threatens Fayed but Fayed hangs up leaving Buchanan with no choice. Grimly, Buchanan tells Jack about the order and Jack tells him to do it. He walks over and prepares as Buchanan follows. Once Jack is secured Buchanan sighs admitting he doesn’t know what to say. Jack asks quietly, “Do you understand the difference between dying for something and dying for nothing. The only reason I fought so hard to stay alive in China was because I didn’t want to die for nothing. Today, I can die for something. My way, my choice.” Jack pauses and continues somewhat quieter, “And to be honest, it’ll be a relief.” Buchanan looks away and back saying that he’s sorry. Jack tells him not to be. After another few seconds Jack tells him, “Bill, you need to go.” Obviously not wanting to leave Jack like this Buchanan looks down and then Jack nudges him again, “Go.” Without another word Buchanan squeezes Jack’s shoulder, turns and walks away straight past Curtis. Curtis takes one last look at Jack and follows his boss. Jack takes a quick look at his dismal surroundings and sighs.

6:30

6:36

In a residential kitchen a husband and wife watch the newscast of a fire at a mosque in Culver City. The reporter is speculating that it is retaliation for the bus bombing this morning. The man, Ray, doesn’t think that their son, Scott, should be going to school. His wife, Jillian, does not want to scare their son and asks what they are supposed to do, hide inside their house? Scott enters carrying his laptop and his parents ask if Ahmed was able to help him out. Grimly Scott answers no, he didn’t get to see him because the FBI is arresting Ahmed’s dad. The family goes to the window and watches the scene across the street. Ahmed is appealing to the silent FBI agents that his dad is not a terrorist, this is a mistake. Meanwhile, 2 men watch off to the side of the house as Ahmed’s dad is loaded into and FBI vehicle and they drive off. Ahmed is left alone and the two men see him. Sensing what is about to happen Ahmed flees into the house and closes the door; the two men follow and bang on the door calling for Ahmed to open it. Ray and Jillian agree that the man is Stan, a contractor from down the street. Ray decides to call the police to try and help Ahmed but Stan is getting more and more aggressive. Scott has seen enough and heads to the door but his parents stop him. He complains that he is not going to stand there and watch as his friend gets beaten up because they are too scared to do anything. Ray tells Scott to stay put, he will got and help Ahmed. Jillian and Scott watch from their house as Ray crosses the street as the door gets kicked in by Stan. Inside Ahmed’s house he stands in the hallway with a chair ready to use it as a weapon if need be. He tells them to get out of his house and Stan claims that they just have some friendly advice for Ahmed. Ray arrives and asks them what they are doing. Stan claims he is trying to protect his family but Ray defends Ahmed, he is no more of a terrorist than either of them. Stan asks why they arrested his dad then, Ray answers because they are scared. Stan takes a few steps at Ahmed and Ray gets in the way giving Stan an ultimatum: in order to get to Ahmed he will have to go through him. Stan threatens that this isn’t over and leaves the house with his friend. Ahmed puts the chair down and is relieved. Stan asks if he is alright, which he is and then Stan tells Ahmed that he thinks he should come over and stay with them until the things get sorted out with his father. Ahmed starts to decline thanking Ray for what he just did but Ray insists, this guy is a jerk and he is not going to take no for an answer.

Buchanan calls in and speaks to Nadia. He is the passenger in the CTU SUV that Curtis is driving. He lets her know that Jack is at the drop point and asks about the teams that will apprehend Assad. She tells him that they are all out and can be at any destination needed within 20 minutes. Buchanan reiterates how important this is, Jack is giving his life for this operation and he doesn’t want any problems. Buchanan wants to be looped in if Fayed calls before he gets back. Nadia will do it and she lets Bill know that she took Chloe off of this operation, she is to emotionally involved. Buchanan asks what Nadia told her, Nadia told her the truth. Buchanan will talk to Chloe when he gets there.

Morris comes over to Chloe’s station and whispers for her to move over. She wants to know what he is doing; he is trying to get a visual on Jack. He starts babbling about how he was working for a private company and he needed the money and it involved satellites and he the little bird might still be flying. Soon enough he finds the ‘little bird’ and logs on but he doesn’t know if he can reposition the camera from here. Chloe starts to talk but he warns her not to thank him yet.

Jack is still handcuffed to the grate and a van pulls up near him. 3 men get out, one of them being Fayed. The other two head over to Jack and take the cuffs off of him. They bring him over and stand him in front of Fayed who stares down Jack. He admits that he has been waiting for this for a long time. They take Jack to the van and pause for a second, one of them takes the opportunity to hit Jack in the head and they throw him in the van. Jack doesn’t fight and just lays on the floor of the van, blood gushing from the wound in on his head. Fayed gets a call and one of his workers says there is a problem and he shouldn’t move out of the tunnel yet. He has intercepted a signal from a privately owned satellite using a government frequency. He doesn’t know what it is yet but it could be moving to Fayed’s location. Fayed wants to be connected to CTU.

Nadia is briefing personnel about preventing civilian losses but that their priority is to take out Assad. Nadia is told that Fayed is on the phone and he immediately demands that they redirect the satellite that is at their position. Nadia is confused not knowing what he is talking about and Fayed gives her the frequency that the satellite is on. Milo is listening and checks the frequency as it comes in. He quickly is able to confirm that the terminal using the satellite is Chloe’s. Nadia goes right to her station and before she even gets there she is ordering them to redirect the satellite. Morris has it under control but she reiterates her order and then tells Fayed that this was a rogue operation. He gives them 10 seconds to redirect the satellite. Chloe now wants it done as well and Morris starts frantically tapping on the keyboard as Fayed counts back from10. Fayed’s worker lets him know that the satellite is moving away, all channels are clear. Fayed threatens that because of their deception he will have to think about giving them Assad’s location. Chloe realizes the ramifications of her actions and puts her hand to her mouth. Nadia tries to convince Fayed to still give them Assad’s location by picking up the phone and asking him in Arabic where his honour his. Fayed hangs up. Before what has happened can sink in, Buchanan arrives at CTU hanging up his cell phone as he enters the floor, Nadia tells him that they may have lost Fayed. Buchanan already knows what happened; he heard it on his phone. He is furious and screams in Chloe’s direction, “Dammit! What were you THINKING?” Chloe stares down at the terminal in front of her and gives Buchanan permission to fire her. Buchanan would fire both of them but he can’t afford to lose the manpower. He steps right up to Chloe and demands that she look at him. She would rather not but he persists and she does. Eyes emotional Bill tells Chloe “Don’t think you’re the only one mourning Jack, you’re not.” He continues that that may have been their only option and she had better hope that Fayed gives them Assad’s location or they may have sacrificed Jack for nothing.

6:46

6:52

Karen Hayes calls Buchanan and they discuss if they have heard from Fayed yet. He tells her what happened, that Chloe thought there was a work around and Fayed caught them. Karen is angry about this as well and tells him that there are people here that are willing to tear up the constitution in the name of national security if Fayed isn’t captured. Bill doesn’t need a lecture; he knows what’s at stake. Buchanan reassures her that as soon as she hears from Fayed she will be his first call. She apologizes for snapping at him but he says it’s fine, they are all feeling it. Karen has to go and hangs up.

Jack is dragged into Fayed’s hideout half conscious by the two men that picked him up. His new shirt is ripped open and bloody already. The man that stayed behind tells Fayed that the money has been transferred, does he want to call CTU? Fayed says not yet and they drag Jack into a separate room. There are tools laid out on a table and a chair, at the sight of torture devices Jack’s eyes widen and he groans slightly. The two men stand Jack up face to face with Fayed and Jack tells Fayed that he needs to call CTU. Fayed’s only answer is to punch Jack twice in the face and in the stomach. Jack has doubled over and is moving out of consciousness again. Fayed tells his men something in Arabic and they sit Jack down in the only chair in the room. His head falls back and they chain Jack to the chair while Fayed unrolls his tools. Jack comes around and they hook up a heart rate monitor to Jack’s arm. Fayed comes to Jack and says that he won’t let him die until he is ready. He observes that the Chinese didn’t leave him much to work with but before he dies Jack is going to feel what his brother felt. Fayed saw his brother’s body, he knows how he died. Fayed picks up a knife off the table and says he knows what Jack did to his brother. He speaks to his men again and one of them grabs Jack’s head and pulls his chin the other way from Fayed. Fayed stands over Jack with the knife and observes casually, “You don’t need me to tell you that the nerves are bundled here.” He takes the knife and cuts Jack’s shoulder just above his arm pit. Jack grunts with pain but the heart rate monitor hardly changes. Fayed walks over to the table again and grabs a bottle with unnamed liquid in it. He walks behind Jack who is breathing deeply and dumps some of it onto the wound. Jack screams and writhes in pain and the heart rate monitor beeps very fast. Once it slows down again Fayed says, ‘Better.’ Jack winces and moves his head and then tells Fayed again that he needs to give CTU Assad’s location. That was the deal. Fayed has gone back over to the table with the torture devices and casually picks up a couple of different ones, observing them. He tells Jack that Assad has lost faith in their fight. Jack realizes what Fayed is saying and Fayed continues that Assad thinks that their tactics are failing and he has begun thinking about compromise, about laying down their arms and negotiating. Jack is listening intently now as Fayed moves around behind Jack with a new weapon. He continues to tell Jack that there is no compromise, no negotiating. Assad is a traitor and soon he will be dead. Fayed has a long rod behind Jack and he leans in and tells Jack quietly, ‘That’s right, Jack, CTU is about to kill the wrong man. Assad isn’t behind these attacks; he’s come here to stop them. He’s come here to stop me.’ Fayed shoves the rod deep into Jack’s back and Jack arches his head back and gasps for breath. Jack passes out as Fayed removes the rod and tosses it on the ground. Fayed passes by Jack again and hits his head with his hand pushing Jack’s forward and waking him up. Jack is conscious again and Fayed takes the chance to tell him, “You will die for nothing.”

Buchanan, Nadia and the other CTU agents involved in the operation wait around the conference room nervously. Buchanan leans to Nadia and whispers that if Fayed hasn’t called in 5 minutes to reassign everyone there. While he speaks the phone rings. Nadia has been told that it’s him, Fayed is calling. Fayed is now satisfied that they have kept their end of the deal. He has a transmitter at Assad’s location; he gives them the coordinates for a GPS locator. Jack, who sits with his head down, is listening and quietly repeating the information to himself. Nadia asks Milo where it is, he is checking and tells them it’s in Inglewood. They are mobilizing the strike and order access be cut off for Fayed to their satellites.

Outside, Chloe is watching everything through a window. A tear falls and Morris comes behind her. He attempts to comfort her, they did everything they could and he knows that it’s truly awful but if this stops the attacks then it’s for the greater good and no one understands that more than Jack. Chloe turns and hugs Morris.

In the split screen we see Ahmed, Scott and his family, Wayne in his office and choppers taking off for the attack.

Fayed kneels next to Jack in front of him. One of his guys is already holding Jack’s left index finger out. Fayed has a pair of cutters and as he closes in on Jack’s finger he asks if he remembers doing this to his brother. Fayed puts the cutters onto Jack’s finger and Jack breathes quickly preparing for the pain. Another man comes in the room and has a phone call for Fayed. He remains where he is with the cutters for another few seconds, Jack waiting, but then he decides to take the call without inflicting more pain on Jack just yet. Fayed gets up and answers the phone finding Ahmed on the other end. He says that they have a problem, the FBI took his father away and he is innocent, he has no idea what Ahmed is up to. Ahmed says he is at a neighbours and Fayed says that if his father is meant to be sacrificed then that is how it will be. He wants to know what the FBI said.

Jack is conscious and watching what is going on. He sees that there is one man left guarding him and when he steps away Jack takes the chance to use his teeth to rip the heart monitor from his arm. He pretends to be unconscious and the monitor is flat lining. The terrorist comes over to Jack and sees that the heart monitor has come off. He reaches down behind Jack to grab it and Jack uses the only weapon he has, his teeth. He bites his captor hard in the neck, holding him there while he digs deep in. Once the man passes out Jack has him close enough to grab the handcuff key from his pocket. Jack leans forward and the man falls back while Jack spits out flesh aside. He quickly uncuffs himself.

Fayed is still on the phone with Ahmed who is sure that the FBI didn’t find anything, the package is well hidden. Fayed says he will need to deliver it soon. They hang up and Scott comes around the corner asking Ahmed if everything is okay. Ahmed says it was his uncle who is trying to find out where they took his father. He invites Ahmed to come and eat. They join Scott’s family.

Fayed tosses his phone to his worker and then tells him to follow. They head down the hall and Fayed sees his man on the ground, blood all over the floor and washing down a grate in the ground. Fayed sees an open grated entrance to the sewers that he assumes Jack has taken. He yells for the others to come and help.

Underneath the grate on the ground, Jack crouches and waits for his time to move, taking a second to wipe his mouth on the cuff of his sleeve.

7:00

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

-This might be a stupid question but do they really have those TV’s on power poles anywhere? I imagine that L.A. would be the best place to pilot a project like this since if it is possible to steal them, the thieves in LA would be able to figure it out.

-Who gets to pick what they watch? Does anyone ever argue about what channel they should be on?

-Throughout the history of 24 they have used news channels to give us information and show that things are ‘real’. I thought this was a really interesting way of bringing us into what has been going on in the world of 24 without a silly monologue from a character that is out of place and senseless.

-I think that by telling the public to be vigilant and report anything is pretty much starting a witch hunt.

-The guy that was trying to get on the bus should have had a bigger part. He was really good and I was very convinced.

-I’ll bet he was happy that the bus driver was a bigoted a-hole. If he was a regular nice guy then the late for work guy would have been dead.

-That was sure a lot of explosions for the bomb being in the backpack. I think it would have required a few more charges to make the bus blow that big.

-For the record, it seems this is the first time we have seen the president in the Oval Office. It’s nice to see this but we’ll see how long it lasts.

-This is a great thing about 24. It walks the line just enough to get people talking. What really is the right answer? Should they be opening these ‘detention facilities’ to try and protect the public or should they wait longer with the knowledge that more attacks will probably happen in the mean time. I’m glad it’s not my decision to make.

-In case you’re not sure, Tom, Wayne’s advisor is NOT the same guy from last year that double crossed Karen and deleted the recording of Logan talking about Palmers murder to Henderson (his name was Miles). He just looks a whole lot like him.

-That’s a dangerous argument that Tom makes, no Muslims have been implicated ‘so far’. You can’t lock up thousands of innocent people because you think that you know eventually someone of their race will be implicated and then when you are questioned on it you say, ‘well, they will be implicated.’

-If you don't know, Mecca has been called the Holiest site of Islam (learn more)

-A word about Wayne Palmer as president. I buy it, completely. David Palmer was a great man and a great president. He was honourable and a comforting presence. Then Keeler was elected and was injured/killed in an attack. Logan took over and we all know what he was like, stammering and unsure, unsettled and unsettling. We don’t know what actually happened with him but the public was probably aware of the scandal that happened last season. Because of that they would want to elect someone that they can trust, someone like David Palmer. Who better to fit that role than his own brother?

-The timeline is very interesting, though. This season is 20 months after Season 5. Wayne Palmer has been in power for 3 months. So who was running the country for the other 17 months? I think we can assume that Logan was moved out of power, so was Gardner running the country? Would there not have been an election sooner?

-WhileI was happy to see Milo back I think that this is a sign that they have run out of characters that the audience knows. If you don’t remember Milo he was the pistachio-eating outside contractor from Season 1. He was good and funny and helped Jack out and people have been yelling for his return since he disappeared.

-Speaking of people from the past, it’s Chloe’s ex-husband Morris. She brought him in at the end of last season to help her and CTU out because he’s really good at what he does. I can see how he got canned, though. He’s a smart ass. Perfect for Chloe.

-Although it’s a little annoying to watch the arguing and petty bickering, it’s nice that Chloe’s not involved in it for a change. I think this is the first time there have been 2 strong character analysts at CTU.

-Did anyone else laugh out loud when Chloe said that she “Learned how to fit in”? I must have missed when that actually happened.

-Isn’t it a little ironic that Chloe is giving someone else advice about how to act appropriately in the workplace?

-Morris and Chloe are cute together.

-Nadia must be new at working with Chloe because she should know that Chloe is relentless until she gets what she wants.

-I’d be very interested to know what Wayne had to give up to get Jack back.

-The red lights in the plane were a nice touch. It gives this kind of hellish glow that makes us already know that Jack has not had a good 20 months.

-Cheng is a character that I personally love to hate. The man is a fine actor and does a really nice job.

-Speaking of fine actors, Buchanan is growing on me like mould. I can’t stop it but I’m really starting to enjoy his presence. It's contrary to my newest mantra of not getting attached to any 24 characters because as soon as you do they all end up dead.

-The change in Buchanan’s demeanour from before and after he sees Jack are obvious. He is shocked by what he is seeing. This agent, probably the best he’s ever known, reduced to this shell of a man.

-I’m not able to figure out what they were going for with Jack staring down Cheng as he passed him. Is he giving him the ‘screw you’ for not killing him or the ‘I’m going to kill you one day’? I can’t read the expression, must be all the hair in the way.

-Although Cheng is technically right about him not speaking, Jack did give up some information that we saw in the prequel.

-They couldn’t have gotten Jack a laz-y-boy or something to sit in when he comes back. He’s obviously hurting, you can see it on his face when he sits and stands.

-Not only is Jack not aware of Wayne being president but he probably doesn’t even know how long it’s been that he was incarcerated.

-I can’t really say too much about the Jack briefing. It was played perfectly by Buchanan and Jack, the only sort of sore thumb was Curtis’ lines. They felt a little forced in contrast to Buchanan. James Morrison was awesome in conveying the man who has to be in charge of all this but is about to sacrifice a friend. His little pained expressions and barely cracking voice are perfect. Judging by his reaction to everything going on with Jack we all know damn well that there is no way Audrey or Kim are ever finding out about this.

-It was touching that his first word after coming back was 'Audrey'. I wonder if we are going to get to see her this season. I know that she is contractually available but I don't know if they are going to use her or not.

-Jack obviously still has his CTU agent analytical skills, he noticed that Curtis had his gun out, even though he was hiding it.

-We kind of had an idea what Jack’s body might look like after 20 months of torture by the Chinese but it was still ghastly to see. Poor Jack.

-Currently I’m 50-50 on the idea of Buchanan and Karen being married. Sure, I’m all for character development but it’s pretty Tony-Michelle-ish. I quite enjoyed Buchanan as the perpetual bachelor.

-Ah, Chloe has learned the ways of CTU. Extort, extort, extort.

-Chloe must not be thinking very clearly because there is no way they would have been able to get Jack back without the president knowing. He is a high value prisoner and there’s not much CTU could give the Chinese.

-Wow, Jack did a nice job on his hair in such little time and with limited tools.

-I wonder if they got Jack some drive-thru on the way. The man’s gotta be hungry.

-It was kind of scary to Jack so lost in himself that he didn’t hear Buchanan’s calls. Scarier was Jack’s reaction when Buchanan laid a hand on him. In case we weren’t sure before, this guy is now damaged goods.

-I love how it’s tossed in not so subtly that David was Wayne’s brother. You know, just in case we are unsure.

-As much as we hate Tom he does have a point. It doesn’t matter whether Wayne thinks he is the right person or not, he’s running the country and there’s nothing he can do to change that.

- Wayne should go with his instincts. As Aaron Pierce told his brother had good instincts, I believe Wayne does have them as well. Right now he’s just listening to Tom is on autopilot.

-I can’t wait to see the situation between Karen and Tom come to blows. I just hope it happens soon with not much more White House bickering. It’s starting to remind me of season 2.

-Jack seems ready to do this whole thing, right from the time he tells Buchanan to cuff him to the grate like not doing it is the silliest thing he’s ever heard.

-Curtis a man of little character development… I mean, a man of few words.

-Buchanan, a man of not too many but the right words.

-As soon as we laid eyes on the family we all should know 24 well enough to know that either Ahmed or one of the family members is a terrorist. Why else would they be in the show?

-Some questionable acting, particularly by Ray, Scott’s dad. Sorry, the FBI is what now? Scrrrd? Oh, oh, scAREd. Got it.

-I didn’t think you could get anywhere in LA in 20 minutes, let alone have teams that could be ANYWHERE in LA in 20 minutes.

-I can’t see them ever putting Chloe on this operation in the first place. Chloe always gets emotionally involved. Buchanan knows that he is going to have some consoling to do when he gets back to CTU.

-Morris + Milo = Annoying. Morris + Chloe = Hilarious.

-I’d like to hear Morris say ‘little bird’ again. Love the accent.

-Wouldn’t it suck if the thugs forgot their handcuff key?

-How could Morris and Chloe not know that Fayed would see they are on the satellite? He has access to all their frequencies.

-As soon as Morris and Chloe got busted the first words out of my mouth were, ‘Buchanan is going to be SO pissed.’

-Buchanan keeps pouring the salt on the wound with Chloe; he knows what to say to make her feel bad. First he yells, then he speaks like Jack is already dead, he tells her they may have blown the whole operation and to top it off, Jack died for nothing. Wow. He’s good.

-Well, it didn’t take long for Jack to get dirty and shabby looking again, did it?

-Question, though, why did they rip open his shirt on the way over? Just checking out the damage already done or what?

-Good idea to hook Jack up to the heart monitor.

-Jack’s reaction when Fayed says that he is going to feel what his brother felt tells us that it must have been a pretty rough interrogation.

-Here’s where Jack’s training in resisting interrogation makes things worse for him. He controls his pain when Fayed cuts the nerves in his shoulder so he has to do something worse to cause more pain.

-Medical lesson. The nerve bundle in the shoulder is called the Brachial Plexus. All the nerves that run down to your arm and hand come together there before they disperse. (learn more)

-It’s not really a good idea to piss off Jack before you plan on killing him. Remember, killing Jack Bauer doesn’t make him dead, it only makes him angry.

-Unsettling line of the week, Jack to Buchanan: “To be honest, it’ll be a relief.”

-If I’m Assad, I’m starting with Jack’s trigger finger, not his left one.

-That might have been the most disgusting sound I’ve ever heard, the sound of what Jack spat out after going all vampire on his captor.

-Speaking of vampire, are we channelling Kiefer’s hit movie Lost Boys or what?

-Jack is kind of a Lost Boy in this show. He doesn't have anything to live for, he was prepared to die but now isn't going to. The man needs a path.

-Nice getaway. I love it.