'24': Make A Decision Already!

There's a reason why I'm quasi-rooting for the bad guys so far on 24... they seem to be the only people capable of making the tough choices. If the government is to ever be effective again, they need legitimate, strong leadership. Oh, David Palmer, how I long for your steady hand through these dark hours!

The Spoilers are switching alliances as we speak, so try to keep up.

President Taylor learns of Tony's capture. The Secretary of State reveals that our once dead CTU agent is now working for the Juma regime. He plays a message from Dubaku, saying he has the CIP device and demanding the US leave Sangala. Like a whiny little runt, she can't believe the situation has come to this... having to make a tough decision. She instigates a series of alerts to first responders.

Jack, Moss, and Renee return to FBI headquarters in the chopper with Tony in tow. Moss wants answers to why Renee went against him, so she tells him that the FBI has been compromised. Of course, Moss is shocked at what he's hearing. Jack tells him how to do his job, and Moss takes it like the whiny little runt he is. He leaves to his office for a call from the White House. In the interrogation room, Janis preps Tony in a most uncomfortable manner. Renee asks her to plug the security breach to keep her away from spilling the session to others. Janis returns to her desk with Sean incredulous about the lockdown.

At 10:10:06, Emerson learns of Tony's capture. Dubaku can't believe the troops aren't pulling back mere minutes after the President received the demands. How dare she take more than five minutes to make the call? The nerve! Before the interrogation, Moss tells Renee that Tony and Juma are in cahoots. Jack knows he can work his mojo to get the info and ultimately retrieve the device. Moss relents and allows Jack into the room. He begins to grill Tony in his own charming way. Tony suggests Jack stop while he's ahead and save his breath. The second damn it from Jack comes as Tony's riling him up. He tells Jack to start living in the real world, and that the more he works the more he spits on Teri's grave. Button has been sufficiently pushed as Jack gets loud and physical, determined to choke the answer out of Tony. Just as Moss busts in to break it up, Tony mumbles Deep Sky. Once he's been removed from the room, Jack calls Deep Sky, who just happens to be a Bill Buchanan in desperate need of Just for Men. He tells Jack he needs 10 minutes to setup a secure line. Chloe (yay!) is with Bill, sensing Tony will need help getting back undercover. Ahhhso... the plot thickens. It's 10:17:38.

At 10:21:52, Ethan meets up with Henry, encouraging him to support Allison in her time of massive indecision. The First Gentleman seems to be the only one who doesn't support the suicide theory. Ethan dishes that Roger was under investigation by the SEC. As Ethan is called into the Oval Office, the agent guarding Henry apologizes for telling on him. Ethan goes into the Oval, telling the President if she were to proceed with the pullback, it would need to begin by 1 PM. She isn't counting on Tony to talk, so she reviews her options, both of them bad in their own way. To no one's surprise, she's not ready to make any call yet.

Chloe's hard at work securing the line for Bill. Once he's reconnected to Jack, he reveals Tony's working deep cover for Bill. As it turns out, quite a few people inside the government and President Taylor's inner circle are aiding Dubaku and the breakaway Sangalese government. He seems somewhat surprised Chloe's working with Bill. They begin to formulate their plan going forward. Current Eastern Standard Time is 10:28:43.

Its 10:32:53 and Sean can't stand the sound of Janis' voice. It seems she feels the same way in return. I can't help but to agree with both of them here. The lockdown is crimping Sean's style. He's denied access and gets a look on his face like he can't believe the cool kids are ignoring him. Meanwhile, Henry receives a call from Samantha. He apologizes for losing his cool, but she does as well, taking it one step further by admitting she wasn't completely honest before. Roger was murdered and she has the proof.

Moss begins his own interrogation of Tony, failing miserably. The only thing Tony offers is to advise the President to stand down the Sangala Strike Force. Renee calls him out of the room, lightly suggesting some forms of torture (not torture, coercion!) to gain the info. Moss has had enough of Jack and wants him out of the building. Meanwhile, Janis stops Renee in the hallway to tell her someone circumvented the lockdown. Janis is off to investigate the mainframe room, ultimately finding it was Sean who accessed the server. Janis has yet another nutty, so Sean forcefully tells her to calm down. She accuses him of working with Tony, but it turns out he was only worried about his wife on one of the planes. She is most upset with Sean, but offers to clean up the mess anyway.

Jack gets a call from Chloe, notifying him that security camera loops are ready to help him exit the building. Renee enters with debrief paperwork and gets put into a sleeper hold for her efforts. It's 10:41:52.

At 10:46:03, Bill is en route to the FBI, receiving status updates on Jack from Chloe. He enters the interrogation room to remove Tony. They double team Moss and the guard, taking them out in quick order. Chloe helps to extract them from the building. They dodge numerous agents, apologizing along the way for earlier behavior. Just as Janis finishes cleaning up Sean's mess, he indicates a signal router has taken a performance hit. She finds an outside influence has accessed the surveillance system. Janis locks Chloe out, royally pissing off our favorite techie in the process. Sean finds Moss taken out, and calls a Code 12 security breach. DC time is 10:51:13.

Its 10:55:25 and Jack and Tony are still trapped in the FBI. They make a move for a stairwell. Moss recovers to take charge again with Renee joining him, apologizing for being too trusting in the process. Sean locates Jack and Tony, even with Chloe regaining partial access. Jack uses a fire extinguisher to bust a window and escape to the roof of the parking lot. The FBI swarm, and there's a massive exchange of gunfire. Tony does his best Greg Louganis off the structure. The gunfight continues when Bill arrives to swoop up Tony. Jack hotwires a car and does his own Peter Pan through concrete barriers and over the side. Jack makes his way to Bill's van just in time to escape unharmed. Once Chloe gives the all-clear, Jack makes it abundantly clear he needs to know. The time is now 11:00:00.

Spoilers continue after the intermission... now!

Back at the FBI, Renee tries to reset the situation. Moss gives a semi-promising damn it in a feeble attempt to boost team morale. Or something. He tells her not to get down on herself for trusting too much. The White House calls Moss for an update. Seems Tony's associate, Alan Tanner, is in surgery. On the other side, both President Taylor and Ethan can't believe Bauer is involved in their reindeer games. With the FBI is out as a decisive choice, Taylor still has to make the pick of her life. Even with over a thousand flights still in the air, she's clearly torn on what to do.

11:06:15 and the team I'm dubbing 'New CTU' arrives at the barebones clubhouse. Jack and Chloe share a moment, but only from afar. Jack learns that Tony was dead when he last saw him in CTU, but it was Emerson who revived and recruited him, using Michelle's death as the motivator. So Tony really was working against the government for over three years. This opens the door for another damn it from Jack. Tony's treasonous ways only go as far until innocent lives are at stake, because once the CIP was in play, he wanted out. It's then that Tony went to Bill for help. Jack wants proof that everything he's heard is true, except that Bill doesn't have enough to please him. Even with the lack of faith, Jack agrees to help. On the other side of town, Emerson gets a call from Tony, learning that Jack is now on their side. They're in...for now. It's 11:11:55.

At 11:16:22, we find Henry writing notes when Agent Brian comes a-knockin'. Henry wants transport to meet Samantha, but the agent wants none of this. Of course, he relents after much arm twisting. Prime Minister Motobo wants to meet with the President, but she doesn't know what to tell the man. Back at the FBI, Renee gets an update from Sean on the perimeter search when he gets a call from his wife, still circling overhead on one of the planes. Using context clues, she knows something is up. Surprisingly, he somewhat tells the truth. A random agent (?) named Erika tries to be helpful to Sean, but he's still slightly upset. Slightly. Janis tells Renee that Tanner has regained consciousness, so the two are now off to the hospital.

11:21:06 and we find Tony briefing Jack on Emerson. Like any good mercenary, Emerson is driven by two things: money and personal loyalty. They arrive at the secondary bad guy hangout. Emerson has Jack taken downstairs; apparently Jack isn't worth the risk. Tony makes the case for his blood brother to his other blood brother, but Emerson's all about the benjamins, and wants him to kill Jack. Bill's ready to sacrifice Jack, much to Chloe's complete surprise. Really? Jack takes the law into his own hand, taking out the thugs. He makes his case to Emerson, proving he's on the side of evil especially after taking out the two guards. The thug wants Jack dead, but Emerson is convinced otherwise, shooting the thugs dead to prove his point. Jack offers his gun, but he's allowed to keep it. The clock shows 11:26:23.

Its 11:30:46 and Sean is getting help to land his wife's plane ahead of all others, going to the extreme of using Moss' level five access number to move the plane to the head of the line. I'm sensing he'll be nothing but trouble later down the road. Meanwhile, the Dubaku tape is played for Motobo in the Oval. He's sure the President will sacrifice Sangala for her greater good, except he doesn't realize how indecisive she really is. Taylor tells him to be patient. After the meeting, Ethan looks uneasy. Equally as uneasy, she can't believe he's suggesting they comply with Dubaku. They even go as far as to say this is her Bay of Pigs. Ethan says they have no other options.

Emerson offers no hard feelings to Jack, seeing as how they're buddy buddy now. The two exchange quick background checks. Emerson gets a call... the next job is to pick up Prime Minister Motobo for Dubaku. Chloe wants to alert someone within government, but Bill insists to go along for the greater good. Its 11:38:42.

At 11:43:04, Henry arrives for his rendezvous with Samantha by the Potomac. He insists Brian drive away to make the meeting work. He scurries towards the river across from the Jefferson Memorial. Sam dishes all she knows, basically rehashing what she already has said. She then reveals Roger found a Swiss bank in the Bahamas trading with Sangala, with fingerprints tracing back to the administration. She hands him a flash drive with all the info he needs, washing her hands of the whole deal. Of course, Brian's watching them from afar.

11:46:40 and Renee and Janis arrive to question Tanner at the hospital. Renee asks and asks, but Tanner weakly answers nothing. She gets rather grabby with his face while he attempts to grab her gun. As the lawyers arrive, they bolt from the room. Renee asks Janis to stall the lawyers, except Janis wants to go by the book, but Renee channels her inner Jack Bauer to explain the bigger picture. As Janis agrees, Renee reenters the room. Its 11:49:33 as Janis stalls the lawyers. Renee tells Tanner he's out of time by pressing a gun to his wound. He still doesn't budge and laughs at her attempts. She threatens to cut off his air supply, and then promptly does as he remains uncooperative. The time is now 11:51:06.

11:55:32 and Janis is still leading the lawyers astray. Once she can't stall any longer, the nurses find him crashing. They can't get in until Renee unblocks the door and she leaves. She calls Moss, telling him Tanner spilled the plot against the Prime Minister. Its 11:57:24 at 167 Foxhall Road. The Motobo security detail is notified of the threat and quickly user him and the family into lockdown. He's shuffled to another part of the building when the bad guy gang blast their way in. Jack leads the group to Motobo, except he and his wife have already been shuffled into a safe room. Jack takes a 5 iron to the outside wall of the safe room, to no avail. Motobo attempts to calls out, but the line is dead. Emerson threatens the bodyguard to open the door, and when he doesn't, he's shot dead. Something tells me Jodie Foster might make a cameo next hour.

That's it for the two-night, four hour premiere. Its 12:00:00.

Next time on 24, Renee needs to wrong the rights, and is taken captive in the process... and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

What are your thoughts of the first four hours thus far?

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