24

5:02 P.M.-5:05 P.M.: Jack announces to his team that Alexis had planned to go straight from his date to a business meeting, where he'd be making a payoff to a man in a red baseball cap at California Plaza, meaning somewhere in the hotel room is money, which Jack needs them to find. Palmer demands that Elizabeth be let off the hook; Jack responds that he doesn't recall asking her to give Alexis an emergency appendectomy with a letter opener. After his temper subsides, Palmer realizes Jack is just trying to protect him, and agrees to back off and let him do his job. Nina and a few other agents quickly find the money -- in bearer bonds. She hands them to Jack, then wonders how he intends on portraying Alexis. Since he doesn't really know yet, she tells him she's going with him to coordinate backup.

Mason asks Tony if he's found any leads on Teri and Kimberly. He hasn't. He has, though, managed to conclude that Paulson and Breeher were probably killed trying to protect them. Tony isn't thrilled when Mason tells him not to breathe a word of this to Jack, should he call and ask.

Kimberly and Rick are busy tearing apart Dan's books, much to the consternation of Melanie, who questions what they're looking for. They both tell her that they hope Dan has Gaines' number, which could help Kimberly track down her mother. When Melanie laughs about what they're going to do if and when they find Gaines' number, Kimberly replies that she'll take it to the police, which ruffles Melanie's feathers. Rick voices his concerns as well to her plans, since Kimberly previously told him she didn't trust the police. Melanie shakes her head, offers some parting words of wisdom about how Dan will be on the warpath when he finds out they went through his stuff, and then departs. Kimberly asks Rick why he didn't tell her about Dan. He says she'd freak, as would Dan's brother, Frank, who is on his way over. He begs Kimberly to keep her mouth shut when Frank gets there.



5:05 P.M.-5:12 P.M.: Dr. Parslow refreshes what passes for Teri's memory about her and her family. He tells her that she and Jack separated about six months ago. That's when the two of them met. When Teri asks him who he is, Parslow replies that he's a friend. He claims he wanted to be more, but Teri couldn't bear to be without her husband. Parslow doesn't know why she decided to go back, but he does know that she asked him never to call her at home. Teri says she can't remember any of this. Since he told her he was a doctor, she gets confused when he says he needs to take her to a hospital to get looked at. He's actually a surgeon, though, not a neurologist, which he feels she needs. She snaps at him that she doesn't want to go to a hospital. Why she doesn't know. He then asks if he can examine her here then, which she agrees to.


Palmer plays back Keith's recording for the benefit of Sherry and Mike, the latter of whom asks him what he thinks he's got. After Palmer states the obvious, Mike tells him that the tape isn't evidence. Palmer reveals his intention to put the tape in the hands of the media. Sherry butts in to say that today can either be about winning the election or about starting a political scandal, but it can't be about both. Sherry orders him to destroy the tape, else she bring his entire Democratic party down with him. Palmer has no intention of destroying the tape, figuring that it will be much worse for the Democrats if someone else brings it to light first. Sherry turns to Mike, who advises that the tape would not only be very easy to shelve without anyone bringing it to light, but would be the sweetest piece of blackmail a United States president could ever hope to have against the most powerful people in the country.

While Jack is on his way out the door with Nina, he calls Tony, because he needs to speak to Mason. Jack asks if he's spoken to Teri and Kimberly, but Tony says he hasn't. Jack wants the phone number of the safe house so he can call there himself. Tony goes to get Mason to handle this dilemma. Believing what Mason's doing is wrong, Tony begs him to tell Jack the truth. Mason refuses. When Jack's job is done; that's when he'll tell him. After he gets on the line, Jack explains what he and Nina are about to do, which is no easier for Mason to take than it was for Nina. Jack requests additional backup to be there within 15 minutes. He manages to convince Mason that waiting for Alexis to pull through--if he pulls through--is futile, and this is their best chance of bringing the bad guys down. Before he hangs up, Jack asks Mason to put Tony back on the phone so he can give him the safe house number. Tony's earnest chat didn't sink in; Mason tells Jack that Paulson recently told him Teri and Kimberly were sleeping. So Jack instead asks that he have them call him back when they wake up. Off the phone, Jack tells Nina that Mason is in their camp.



5:16 P.M.-5:19 P.M.: While the two of them are on the road, Jack asks Nina what Teri said in the safe house. Nina tells him she didn't say much -- at least not after Teri figured it out that the two of them were sleeping together. So she bailed on the debriefing and handed it over to Paulson. Jack doesn't hold Nina to blame, because he feels he should have told Teri. Believing Teri really wants to patch things up with him, Nina recommends he call her right now. Since he already explored that venue, he asks her to call Paulson instead. But her call won't go through. Jack assumes it's the area and asks her to call back when they get to the California Plaza, where the meeting is to take place.

Tony goes to Mason's office to request some additional men to help find Teri and Kimberly. Mason changes the subject, and offends Tony by asking him if he thinks Jack and Nina still have feelings for each other. Tony's in the middle of walking away when Mason calls him back to remind him that he's busting his hump without any resources because Nina decided to take a joyride with her former fling. Their discussion erupts into a shouting match when Tony tells Mason to stay out of his personal business. Mason replies that he's finding too much personal business within the office. Though he surely agrees on some level, Tony doesn't admit it.



5:19 P.M.-5:22 P.M.: Keith goes to see his father, who had him called in. Before he gives the tape to the District Attorney, Palmer wants him to understand that the people he's up against will turn the tables around to Lyle Gibson. And from then on, in the media, on television, and wherever he goes, Keith will be known as a murderer. So Palmer asks that he think about it before making his decision. But Keith has already thought about it. He tells his father that when said he wasn't there for him, it wasn't true. Palmer responds that it is somewhat true. But he's here for him now.

While he's being chauffeured, Andre Drazen calls Myovic to see if he's heard from Alexis, whom he says is meeting Morgan in 20 minutes. Myovic is in a bit of a snit over not being able to find the women, and doesn't have time to help Andre find his brother. When asked where he plans to look for them, Myovic says he's going to the Bauers' house.

5:22 P.M.-5:25 P.M.: Melanie has grown increasingly uncomfortable with Kimberly's presence, and demands that Rick get her out of the house before Frank arrives, because they have things to do. What these things are Rick has no idea and Melanie won't say. Kimberly doesn't want to hang around where she isn't welcome, so she's about to leave when Rick stops her. He then tells Melanie that he and Kimberly just need to talk for a minute. Melanie slams him right on his gunshot wound, then storms out of the room. Kimberly tells Rick she plans to go to a "safe park" that her parents christened in the event of an earthquake. Maybe her mother's waiting for her there. Rick thinks she should go home instead, but Kimberly figures the terrorists know where she lives and dismisses the suggestion. Kimberly needs to hitch a ride to the park, but since the car she saw out front belongs to Melanie, she'd probably do a lot more than hit and storm out of rooms if she were to find out it was taken, Rick gives her some money to catch another cab. When he says he can't come because he has to continue laying low, she reiterates how she thinks he should turn himself in. He adds that he's on probation, and doesn't have any strikes left. She tells him she wishes they had met at some other time and place. He feels likewise, and share a kiss as Frank barges in. The hoodlum asks Rick how things went last night. Noticing his black eye, Frank doesn't exactly buy Rick's reply that it went fine. He then heads off to look for Dan. Sensing it's about to get ugly, Rick tells Kimberly to get going, but Frank impedes her progress. He wants his cut of his money, and refuses to let the strange blonde girl go until Dan comes back with it. Rick and Kimberly are frightened, though probably not as frightened as he who realizes Melanie is the voice of reason in that house.



5:30 P.M.-5:32 P.M.: On the plaza escalator, Nina explains the gameplan to Jack in regards to where their teams are stationed. Mason calls Jack with a bit of bad news: Ted Hanlin is in charge of his backup. As Hanlin is someone Jack doesn't want to work with, he demands to know why he's calling the shots. Mason apologizes, claiming that Division assigned him, and asks that he avoid a confrontation. Once they get off the phone, Jack tells Nina who they're working with. She remembers Hanlin as the former partner of one Seth Campbell, and is just as fazed about Hanlin's assignment as Jack is. Jack attempts to call the safe house again, but still fails to get through. Hanlin is waiting at the top of the escalator for them, giving Jack no chance to redial the number. After trying his best to antagonize Jack with a sarcastic greeting, Hanlin quips what good connections he must have to screw up as many times as he did today and still be in the field. Jack ignores the needling, as he goes over the gameplan that Nina just went over with him. Looking quite the loose cannon, Hanlin says he hopes he doesn't have bad aim and "accidentally" shoot one of his own. Jack gives Ted a stern warning.

Tony enters Mason's office, in a better mood than before, to say that Rampart just called. They relayed that a woman matching Teri's description was spotted walking around Griffith Park, near the safe house. Tony already sent an Agent Williams over to check on that.



5:32 P.M.-5:36 P.M.: Dr. Parslow gives Teri a once-over and can't help but notice her wounds, some of them still fresh. Teri wonders if she hit her head and that's why she has amnesia. When Parslow asks if she has any other pain, she indicates her abdomen. He tells her he believes her amnesia is disassociative, which can happen when a person suffers severe emotional trauma. He tries to get her to change her mind about going to the hospital.

Sherry is on the phone in jubilant spirits: they had won New York. After giving her other party the brush-off and finding out from Patty that David is attending to business elsewhere for a few minutes, Sherry sneaks into a room with a wall safe. She enters the combination, retrieves an envelope addressed to the District Attorney, and quickly hides it behind her back when she's interrupted by Patty. Patty came in to tell her that the person she just cut off has called back. Sherry rudely gives her the brush-off too. Once Patty has left, Sherry opens the envelope, pulls out Keith's tape, and closes the safe without it.

5:41 P.M.-5:45 P.M.: Sherry is still sitting in the room when Palmer returns. He goes straight to the safe, and she tells him she knows that he and Keith had a talk. He thinks she should talk to Keith as well, since he needs both their support. Palmer opens the safe, and sees his envelope is missing. He turns to Sherry, giving her the look of death. She doesn't have any problems getting it off her chest that she destroyed the tape. After she serves up a self-righteous lecture, Palmer tells her that it breaks his heart that he was right about her. He then pulls the real tape out of his pocket. Sherry wipes the egg off her face long enough to say she'll do whatever it takes to protect her family. She asks him if that makes her a bad person. Rather than answer, he walks away from her, and orders Mike to schedule a press conference now. One would think Mike would by now know what to expect from the senator, but his shock and surprise in light of the fact that Palmer has one coming up in a few hours would attest otherwise.



5:45 P.M.-5:48 P.M.: Jack puts his ear mic in, packs his prop briefcase, and confirms that Nina can hear him. He asks her and Ted where they're positioned. Hanlin tells Jack to change his position, because he's blocking his view. When Jack takes a few steps back as requested, Hanlin tells him he's got a perfect shot now. Unbeknownst to Jack, Ted just asked him to step into his view. He passes an astute observation on Jack for pulling out a chair for an old woman. Nina attempts to stifle him while they're working, but Ted would much rather let Jack know about Seth Campbell's wife, Judy, who hung herself. She didn't even leave a note, he continues, because she probably figured it was obvious, with her husband in prison, his pension gone, and their four kids to feed, because Jack ratted him out for stealing dirty money. Jack follows Nina's lead in trying to get Hanlin to stop talking. Jack offers to sit down with him and tell him his side of the story sometime when it's more convenient. But Ted's calling the shots here. Nina rings Mason and asks him to stop Hanlin's heckling.


Mason has Tony put him through to Hanlin's line. He then blasts the chronic complainer for picking the wrong time to throw down the gauntlet. Mason asks Jack if he's okay, which he claims to be.



5:53 P.M.-5:54 P.M.: Myovic is sneaking around outside the Bauers' house. He's about to break in when he spots their alarm system. Before he thinks up a plan to get around it, Agent Williams shows up. Myovic ducks behind a tree out of Williams' line of sight and, with trusty binoculars in hand, peeps at the agent's U.S. government license plate. Williams checks something outside the house, then cluelessly walks straight towards the tree that the armed Myovic has hid behind. They'll soon have some company, considering that Dr. Parslow is driving Teri home.



5:54 P.M.-6:00 P.M.: Frank tells someone over the phone about a drug deal, that Dan will come home soon, because he knows they need the money by 7:00. Kimberly quietly asks Rick, whom are both sitting on the living room couch, what happens when Frank realizes that his brother will not be coming home. Rick says he's not about to tell them. Kimberly feels he should, as they're liable to deduce this one all on their own. Confused as to what she's on about, Kimberly explains to him that he has so much going for him; he's smart, he's good-looking, he's funny. She wants to bring him over to the right side of the tracks, far away from the criminals he hangs out with. If he did, he could turn his life around like her foster-home friend Todd, who got a scholarship to Stanford. Rick admits she's right, but smack in the middle of a drug deal about to go bad isn't exactly the time to deal with it. She presses him to tell Frank the truth. Her advice prompts him to ask Frank, now unoccupied, what deal he's been referring to. Frank replies that he's taking the 20 grand Dan "made" last night, using it to buy some 'E,' then reselling what they get for 50 grand to some idiots from Redondo. Even with a not-so-thinly-veiled comment about Dan possibly not showing up, Frank can't connect the dots.

A trio of kids are running around the plaza with squirt rifles concerns Jack, who orders someone on the team to get them the hell out of there. Nina complies and gets some agents to remove the children, just in time for the grand arrival of Morgan, the man in the red baseball cap. Jack calls out to his contact with a "Hey," then motions for the guy to sit down at a table with him and his briefcase. After asking if he's talking to Alexis, a perturbed Morgan wonders why Jack wants to do this outside the restaurant, instead of inside like he was told. Jack tells him there's a cop inside. So Morgan sits down and asks for the money. But first, Jack would like him to go over what he's supposed to do for him. Morgan reveals how he'll be shutting off the power on grid 26, double G at 7:20, then turning the lights back on at 7:25. Realizing something is not quite right, he attempts to make a mad dash out of the plaza. Jack chases Morgan through a crowd of people, as Hanlin announces that he's got him in his line of fire. Jack tells him to stand down, because Morgan isn't a threat. Hanlin says he'll just be winging the guy to slow him down. Jack orders him not to shoot, but ignores the order and fires, sending Morgan through a glass banister, landing on the concrete pavement several feet below. Nina yells at the screaming crowd to stay back, at the same time Jack curses out Hanlin.

Meanwhile, Palmer hands the tape over to someone, telling them to take care of it, as Nina announces to all the other agents involved that the suspect is down. Dr. Parslow and Teri arrive at her house. In the bushes, Myovic lies in wait for them. On the ground next to him lies Williams' body.

Tick, tick, tick...