'24': Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me

It's roughly about this time each day that 24 transitions from the B-list criminal to the A-list evildoer. We were also due a nervous breakdown from someone, so we salute you, Renee Walker, for not being able to keep your emotions in check. Like The Carpenters once sang: we've only just begun.

These Spoilers are testing the Emergency Alert System.

Good ol' Sean Hillinger is our mole du jour, so imagine my surprise that he was fingered so quickly after his involvement with Dubaku was revealed. I realize having Erika, the ditzy blonde working with you seemed like a good idea at the time... except mixing business and pleasure only seems to work with James Bond and late-night Cinemax flicks. His finessing of Erika could only work so many times, even when it seemed she might survive the day. However, when you try to match wits with Chloe, you're gonna eventually get burned. Or in the case of Erika, shot dead in the mainframe room. Knowing Larry Moss is hot on the trail; he shoots himself in the arm and pins it on his recently deceased fling. He would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for that meddling Chloe (who, despite impossible odds, recovered the unrecoverable.) It may not be a 24 record, but it was fast nonetheless.

Dubaku, to put it mildly, is upset that Marika is working with the FBI... smashing her modified cell phone in the process. He initially uses his angry voice with her, but quickly realizes he can catch more flies with honey, eventually convincing her to leave the country with him. Of course, she's only continuing to cooperate due to her sense of duty to country.

Jack and Renee eventually wriggle free from Metro PD custody to give chase to Dubaku, even traversing a DC park to catch up. It's quite the cat-and-mouse until Jack whacks a taxi, allowing Dubaku to get away... or so he thinks. Marika makes quite the bold move to choke Dubaku, eventually leading the SUV to flip multiple times NASCAR style. Our two heroes take out the redshirt before extracting Dubaku. Marika is pinned in the vehicle, yet Jack and Renee (increasingly at each other's throats) pull her out before it explodes! Unfortunately, she doesn't make it, yet Dubaku hangs on for dear life. Ever the sweet talker, Jack ultimately determines Dubaku will cooperate when his family is threatened. The file Jack wants is inside the Colonel, so he has the paramedic extract it while a gun is pointed at him. Nothing is more important than a little impromptu surgery on a busy DC street.

President Taylor is naturally worried for her husband, upset she didn't trust him more on his formerly nonsensical ramblings. Ethan and Bill convince her to return to the White House, despite the threat of all the possible threats working from inside the government. Once back, she has a less than Kodak moment with daughter Olivia. I can only imagine the First Family walking off hand-in-hand into the sunset by the end of the day, but it'll be quite the emotional roller coaster to get there.

In the end, Chloe is able to recover the data Erika and Sean tried to destroy, catching Sean in the act. Renee isn't able to understand how Jack can be the emotionless automotron he is. Lady, if you only knew the body count even indirectly linked to Jack, you might be able to see how he can still stay sane. Rosa is naturally upset over the death of Marika, placing blame squarely on our dynamic duo. Bill explains to President Taylor that the next step is to use the database to sweep the government clean of Dubaku moles. In exchange for saving the day again, Bill implores her to stop the Senate hearings against Jack. Why she's still resistant, I'm not entirely sure.

Speaking of, Senator Red Forman is back and rather concerned about the possibility his hearings being halted by the Oval Office. It seems Ryan Burnett is his Chief of Staff, which somehow makes perfect sense. They're on their way to meet with President Taylor. Tony makes his first appearance for quite a while to tell Jack his day isn't over by a long shot: a source has implied a bigger attack is on the way... initiated by none other than General Juma. The sun may be setting on DC, but the day is just getting started. The time is now 6:00:00.

Next time on 24, Jack goes under the sea while the White House is stormed in a two-hour extravaganza! Jon Voight! General Juma! Red Forman! Be there!