24

8:02 P.M.-8:03 P.M.: The polls close in California. A television reporter announces that Palmer appears to have swept the state, as well as all others that held the Super Tuesday primary. In the company of himself, Palmer soaks up every last drop of the news.

Kimberly, meanwhile, is biding her time in the women's group holding cell. An officer brings Melanie around and drops her off. She walks right over to Kimberly, and tells her she's in her seat. Kimberly caves, gets up, and sits elsewhere. Melanie then walks over to Kimberly's new seat to tell her that too is her seat. Not wanting to deal with it, Kimberly gets up again and goes to stand by the bars, where she has to contend with a mental patient's ramblings.



8:03 P.M.-8:08 P.M.: Palmer has rejoined the party. He receives a hearty congratulations and toast from Mike for sweeping all 11 states. The TV is tuned to FOX News, whose poll reports 83% of the population approve of the way he handled the Ferragamo situation. Changing the subject, he asks Mike if they've heard from Frank Ames or his angry mob. Mike figures they're all laying low, but advises him not to get complacent. Palmer stops the party briefly to tell the crowd of people that he has to make a speech soon, and that even though there are a lot more primaries left to deal with, he intends to make the speech sound like a victory speech. The entire crowd cheers wildly -- including Mike. Palmer continues about how although this has been a difficult day for all involved, he's confident that, just like they said in the America's Choice polls, being honest was the right thing to do, and he's sure everything will work out for everybody in the end.

Over at CTU, Mason preps Nina to handle Division's request in reassessing the threat, which he presumes is minimal now that Alexis is out of commission. Jack calls asking to speak to Nina, but Mason takes the call for her. Jack gets Mason up to date on where he is and whose acquaintance he's made and whose acquaintance he's about to make. Mason doesn't have any time to ponder how Victor Drazen was brought back from the dead, since Jack needs him to send in a field unit now. He doesn't have any time to ponder that either, but he tells Jack that he'll call Division about it. Jack chastises Mason, making it clear that Andre and company aren't going to sit around and play cards while they wait for the request to go through the proper channels. He leaves Mason with an ultimatum before hanging up. Mason decides to comply, and orders an assistant to dispatch the field unit, which he'll clear later, and get in touch with Chappelle immediately. When Nina worriedly wants to know if Jack is alright, Mason sidesteps the question and derides her for wasting her life on a married man and subsequently fooling around with Tony on the rebound. Mason says it in the guise of being a friend, but he walks away from Nina without ever answering her question. Her attempt to follow him down and beat the truth out of him never comes to pass, as Tony returns to CTU with Teri. Nina thanks God out loud that Teri is okay. Teri asks if they've gotten any word on Kimberly. When she hears they haven't, Teri then asks about Jack. Nina lies, and tells her that he doesn't know about what happened at the safe house because they can't get a hold of him. Teri demands to speak to Jack, but Nina defers to Mason's judgement on the matter.


To help CTU and Jack, Nina requests that Teri join her and Tony in the conference room to go all over she knows, even though she already did that with Tony on the way over in the car. Teri says she'll redo the interview, but only if they agree to keep her up to date on Jack and Kimberly. Nina promises she will.



8:08 P.M.-8:10 P.M.: DeSalvo attempts to contact his men that were stationed outside, but the lack of responses from their end suggests that Drazen's men took care of them. Jack tells DeSalvo they've got to get out of there immediately, so DeSalvo points him to the exit. At gunpoint, Jack orders Victor to open the door and step out into the middle of the hall. DeSalvo tries to get some answers out of Victor in regards to both of their men, but Victor keeps a tight lip. Jack repeats that they need to get out of the hallway because they're too exposed. His words ring prophetic when Andre and the others blast a hole right through the wall. Jack, DeSalvo, Victor and the couple of guys with them are forced to make a hasty retreat back into the prison.



8:14 P.M.-8:17 P.M.: Mason continues to try to get through to Chappelle, but he's busy. Teri pays him a visit, since Nina and Tony won't tell her anything about Kimberly, she hopes he will. Mason says he knows no more than Nina but he's sure she's safe. Teri doesn't believe him. He clarifies by stating that since Myovic asked where Kimberly was, they're looking for her too. Nina calls Mason, who makes the call private so Teri can't hear what's being said. She asks him that the unit will be on site in about 15 minutes, and they want to know who's in charge: CTU or DOD. Mason tells Nina to call back when they are on site before hanging up. Teri asks if that was about Jack, but all Mason will say is that when they hear from Jack, they'll let her know. In the meantime, he's going to have his assistant Rebecca look after her. She thanks for him kindness, and leaves. He pays her back by calling up Rebecca to tell her to keep Teri out of his face.



8:17 P.M.-8:19 P.M.: Palmer goes to see Patty, who's been typing up some changes he requested on his speech. As he looks over her work, she congratulates him on winning all 11 primaries before noticing that he seems distant. She asks him if he's okay. He says he is; he's just had a long day. He then asks her to move the second paragraph about party unity to the end as a closing statement. He's about to leave when she stops him, because she has something important that she's been wanting to share with him in private. That being how much she admires him for doing the unthinkable in standing by his principles. Palmer is so choked up by her announcement that one of history's firsts happens -- he almost doesn't know what to say. So he smiles and heads off, while she goes back to the drawing board, all the while grinning like the Cheshire Cat.



8:19 P.M.-8:24 P.M.: The field unit approaches the site. Mason calls one of the men, Barnes, to find out where they are. Barnes tells him that it looks like the door was blown in. Mason asks if the hostiles are inside. Barnes figures that they must be, since there's no activity outside. Barnes says they're preparing to go inside.

Jack, DeSalvo, Victor and the rest of the crew try to find a safe haven in near-pitch blackness, but they're surprised by one of the Drazen's men who opens fire on them. While somebody from Jack's team orders the others to take cover, Andre calls out for his father, who responds in kind. With his gun planted on Victor's back, Jack walks backwards towards the wall. Andre's guys shine their spotlights on Victor. Andre orders Jack to let his father go, while Jack is ordering Andre and the others to drop their weapons. Neither side complies. To sweeten the pot, Andre's men corner Jack, and Andre himself steps forward to show Jack that he's taken DeSalvo as his hostage. And if Jack doesn't let Victor go, he'll kill DeSalvo. DeSalvo shouts out for Jack not to let Victor go. Jack instead his order for the terrorists drop their weapons. Reaching a stalemate, Andre starts to count, which Jack drops his weapon, puts his hands high up in the air, and lets them reclaim Victor. Andre then expresses his gratitude by killing DeSalvo.


The reunited father and son hug and kiss each other, then Victor grabs a weapon, set to kill Jack right then and there. Harris advises against it, telling him that there's at least a dozen well-armed hostiles outside the main entrance. Victor orders him to collapse the corridor immediately, and for the two guys who were holding Jack prisoner to take him, as they may need him for bargaining. They all retreat back towards the prison, so that Harris can plant a detonator on top of the ceiling lights, thus blasting the only way out. Jack tells them that was a mistake -- now they're trapped. Victor says he'll see about that.

Meanwhile, Kimberly is witness to a violent fight over a cigarette when one of the detainees thinks another inmate is holding out on her. To teach her some manners, the antagonizer has her posse kick the crap out of the girl. Seeing Kimberly cower in the corner of the cell, Melanie confidently strides over and sits down next to her, boasting "When we get out of here, maybe I'll mess you up just like that." Kimberly asks Melanie what her problem is. Melanie tells her she's her problem. Kimberly reminds Melanie that the only reason she's in her with her is because she told the cops she was part of the deal. Melanie smirks, saying she was a part of the deal. In disbelief, Kimberly wonders how she could have known about the deal. Melanie stands up in a huff, branding her daddy's little girl, who gets everything handed to her. Kimberly defiantly stands up to show Melanie she is not a pushover, yelling at the top of her lungs so the entire cell-full of people can get a piece of her, Kimberly proceeds to fill a suddenly speechless Melanie in on how her day went. The bailiff returns, and runs her flashlight across the bars as a signal to quiet everyone down.



8:28 P.M.-8:31 P.M.: Harris takes a blowtorch to a wall in hopes of creating a new exit. One of Andre's troopers keeps a rifle pointed at Jack while Victor uses the opportunity to scold their prisoner for thinking he's a monster because he wants revenge on the Bauer clan. Jack tells Victor he was a monster long before he met him. Victor scolds him about that as well, since Jack's background knowledge on him was amassed by reading biased reports and magazines. Yes, as the spittle flies out of Victor's mouth like a rabid dog, it becomes instantly clear that what Jack read was propaganda -- there couldn't possibly be a kinder, gentler man on earth. Jack asks Victor when his suffering ends. After he's killed him and Palmer, their families, and anybody else who was mean to him on the playground. That is when, says Victor. Jack tells him he's insane, living a psychotic fantasy. Victor has the man with the rifle take it and ram Jack in the stomach. Is that a psychotic fantasy too? Not according to the
insane Victor, who yells out that the fantasy is just about to become reality. Andre walks over with phone in hand. He's got a phone call for Victor. Mason is on the other end. When Victor learns he's from CTU, he asks if he's the one he'll be negotiating with. Mason replies that they don't do that, but he is willing to listen to his concerns. Victor tells Dr. Mason that his main concern is Jack Bauer. He then asks if they ever want to see him alive again. Mason's doubt that Jack still is alive leads Victor to hand the phone over so Mason can talk to his buddy. Jack skips the small talk, and goes straight to the letting Mason know how many men he's counted and how heavily they're armed. Victor snatches the phone away and signals for a second henchman to kick Jack to keep him quiet. Mason tells Victor he'll be speaking to his superiors, then he'll get back to him.



8:31 P.M.-8:34 P.M.: Mason breaks the bad news to Nina and Tony. He has Tony fetch the stats on the field unit at his desk, but keeps Nina with him so she can print out a layout of the facility. Nina asks how Jack sounded over his phone. "Alive," is all Mason can muster. He warns her that he's going to be a long, drawn-out process. She sighs, saying she knows the drill. He adds that she must know then that it may not turn out as they'd like. He offers to take her off and put somebody else on the job who's less emotionally-involved. She isn't amused with his offer. Mason leaves her presence and goes to see Tony again to find out if he's managed to get hold of Chappelle yet. He's frustrated that Tony hasn't.

Kimberly and Melanie continue to sit and stare at the walls of their cell. Some of their cellmates pass the kutchie from the left hand side. The girl with the posse from earlier is the one caught when the female guard returns to make her rounds. In a panic, she goes over to Melanie and demands that she take it. Melanie refuses, and it gets thrown in her lap. Melanie jumps up and brushes it off so as not to ignite herself, but her activity only helps call attention to the guard that somebody was smoking pot. Since the angry guard wants to know who the culprit is, Melanie's new 'friend' decides to rat her out. Melanie is now ordered to pick the joint that wasn't hers off the floor and bring it to the guard. After doing so, Melanie swears that it wasn't her, but after confirming that it is marijuana, the guard tells Melanie that she's coming with her. Kimberly decides to do something nice for Melanie by stating Melanie is telling the truth. Although the guard is angry, that made the real joint's owner furious. She warns "blondie" not to make a liar out of her. Kimberly snaps back that there's no need, she already is. She gets up and makes a run at Kimberly, and goes crazy, flailing her arms around wildly, during which time Melanie and the guards restrain her. While being led out of the cell in handcuffs, she promises Kimberly that she'll get her back. Melanie has a change of heart and calls out to the guard to tell her that she wants to speak to Krugman about what really happened today. The guard takes her out as well.



8:34 P.M.-8:35 P.M.: The two of them now alone, Jack asks Victor about the lookalike of his who went into the building before they blew it up. Jack tells him that since he was using a body double, that means he knew he was a target, and since he let that target get near his family, he himself put his family in danger. Victor responds that they were supposed to be away on a trip that day, but, unbeknownst to him, came back one day earlier than expected. He agrees, though, that he should have been more careful. Once he's got the saddened and nostalgic Victor right where he wants him, Jack kicks him in the leg, steals his weapon away from him, and prepares to make his getaway. He gets all of two feet before Andre comes up behind him and gives him a taste of his own medicine.

He helps his father regain his footing and makes sure he's alright. Since Jack is preoccupied with lying on the ground in pain too much pain to attempt another escape, Victor shows him what a nerve he hit by stating that he's had to accept responsibility for the death of his family for two years. Now today Jack will have to accept responsibility too. He then tells his son to make sure Jack does not die. That's Andre's cue to kick Jack when he's down.



8:40 P.M.-8:43 P.M.: Patty brings the revised speech to Palmer to see if now it's to his liking. He tells her it's much better now. Palmer's aide, Elaine, enters the room they're both in to let the senator know that Mike's ready for him downstairs whenever he's ready. He asks Patty if she made a copy for the teleprompter. She didn't, so he makes that Elaine's next task. Now that they're along again, Patty asks Palmer if he minds if she works in the room with him, which he doesn't. She sits down, but further work out of her doesn't seem to be forthcoming. She apologizes to him because this day has gone so spectacular wrong for him. He tells her not to feel bad for him, feel bad for Keith and Nicole. They're the ones who've been suffering. She tells him he worries about other people too much, takes care of other people too much. So who takes care of him? He stresses that he's fine and doesn't need taking care of. She chooses to take care of his back with a sensuous, impromptu back massage. Palmer admits that her caressing touch on his tense back does feel good. Though he may need someone to take care of him, he no longer needs someone to give him a clue, since it finally dawns on him what her hands want. Before she manages to caress the shirt off his back, he puts an abrupt halt to the massage, repeats that he is fine, and offers his thanks as a cue for her to leave. On her way out, she tells him that she's off to go handle tomorrow's briefs.

8:43 P.M.-8:45 P.M.: Chappelle finally returns Mason's call. Mason's attempt to lay a guilt trip on him for taking a half hour to call back are overshadowed by the guilt trip Chappelle lays on him for getting torn a new one by DOD and the Pentagon. Mason's made a bit of a mess in their eyes. But Chappelle thinks he's managed to clean it up. Mason doesn't even know what mess he's talking about, though, so Chappelle elaborates that he should have kept Jack on a tighter leash. Mason says he doesn't like Jack either, but at least he gets results. He tells Chappelle he should be grateful to Jack for not allowing Victor to escape, thus sparing all of CTU great shame and embarrassment. Chappelle laughs the comment off. How could Victor escape when he wasn't technically even a prisoner? But Mason had to go bring a field unit in and now everybody's involved, the cops will get wind of it, as well as the media. An infuriated Chappelle hands Mason down an order -- end this, and end it within the next few minutes. Mason asks what about Jack? Chappelle says who cares about Jack; nobody told him to go out there. Chappelle hangs up with an ultimatum: do it, or he'll find somebody else to. Mason reluctantly calls Nina in and lets her be the second to know that he's ordering a full assault on the field unit in a few minutes. They'll soon be making their final preparations. He apologizes, leaving Nina crushed.



8:45 P.M.-8:48 P.M.: Tony calls Teri, who's been kept waiting in the examination room, to say they've found Kimberly. Yeah, she's fine. She just got arrested, but they're bringing her over now. Relieved, Teri asks if she can speak to her. Tony says he'll put Kimberly through as soon as that's an option. Nina walks in to sully Teri's good news with the bad.

Just as the CTU field unit are about to launch their full-on assault on the detention center, one of them asks Mason what to do about Jack. Mason has no advice on that, his only order to make sure they get Victor. Nina, privy to the conversation, looks understandably displeased. The unit blasts their way inside the center via dynamite charges, and the men proceed forward.



8:53 P.M.-8:55 P.M.: Kimberly contends with the evil stares of one of detained women. Krugman rushes over to the holding cell to tell Kimberly they're releasing her. He didn't get through to Jack, but he did speak with somebody else at CTU. At the same time he lets her out, the female guard leads Melanie back in. Krugman tells Kimberly that Melanie admitted she lied the first time she spoke with him. Krugman, has an about face from earlier and has a laugh with her about what a busy day she's had, and cheers her up with the news that he spoke with Teri, who's waiting for her at CTU. He offers to drive her there himself, presumably to atone for not believing her story before.

Palmer and Mike get ready to leave headquarters so Palmer can give his speech. Mike recommends for one night he smile and forget about his troubles. Palmer says he can't; his troubles are just beginning. Mike explains to him that in the White House, the office comes first and your home life comes second. So he recommends that he find something to help him pull through, whether it be his wife, or somebody else. They both head out.



8:55 P.M.-9:00 P.M.: The CTU field unit storm the hallway and find the bodies of DeSalvo and one of his men, but don't find any hostiles. One of the guys, Drake, radios this information to Mason, along with the team's progress. Drake says that the entire staff is dead, but Victor and Jack are gone. He then unearths a tunnel that the Drazens have created. Mason orders Drake and team to check it out. Drake stopped, discovering the tunnel was rigged with laser mines that would have blasted the unit to pieces. Mason asks Drake if he can disarm it. Drake thinks he can, but it'll take about a half hour.


Victor, Andre, Jack and the others have successfully made it back outside where their getaway vehicle awaits. Time to dump the excess baggage. Andre knocks Jack to the ground, leaving Victor the honors of offing him. He consoles Jack that Teri and Kimberly will soon be joining him. In a last-ditch effort to spare his hide, Jack tells Victor that if they don't kill him, Alexis will soon be joining them. But Alexis is dead, snarls Victor. Victor refuses to believe Jack when he says Alexis is alive and CTU has him -- until Jack reveals key details about the ill-fated meeting he had with Elizabeth that he couldn't possibly know about unless he were telling the truth. As he picks him up off the ground, Victor gets a bit testy with Jack for trying to butter him up with the promise of leading him to Alexis. But in the end, he and Andre decide to bring Jack with them, this time.

Krugman's partner is driving him and Kimberly over to CTU. Kimberly asks to borrow Krugman's cell phone so she can call her mother and let her know she's okay. Teri and Kimberly each express relief that neither of them was recaptured. Teri asks how she managed to wind up in jail. Kimberly says she'll tell her all about it when she gets there in a few minutes. Then she returns the phone to Krugman, who apologizes to her for not believing her story at first. Kimberly manages to crack a smile at him, musing that if she hadn't lived it she probably wouldn't believe it herself. Suddenly, a van broadsides their police vehicle, knocking out Krugman's partner. Armed individuals rush out of another van, shoot Krugman and grab a kicking and screaming Kimberly.

Tick, tick, tick...