Man this show is cool
I'm formally declaring 24 the best show on television. Yup, you read it here first. Do I care that Jack never goes to the bathroom? No. Do I care that he doesn't eat the whole day? No. Do I care that the security at CTU could be run by my 4 year old nephew? No. How about the fact that he hasn't told his daughter yet that he's alive? He is in a car right now. Nope, don't give a crap. All I care about is that I'm on the edge of my seat, screaming at the TV and probably annoying my roommate, every damn episode. This episode was no different.
We see the mystery man, yellow tie, hostage guy with what we can assume are some sort of chemical. They load them into a delivery truck that they transform to look like a S.W.A.T. truck. Good thinking. They're able to get out of the perimeter and drive off. Curtis calls Jack, who's in route to his old stomping ground, CTU, to get some more information about the yellow tie man.
Meanwhile, at Camp Imadouche, Evelyn finds Martha passed out, after having been knocked out by our dear Chief of Staff, Walt Cummings, who also confiscated the evidence that Martha did in fact talk to Palmer before he died. She tries to wake her up, but can't, and calls the doctor.
Back to Curtis who, through the magic of security cameras, is able to track the yellow tie guy after he left the terminal. He tracks him to a hanger and gathers the troops to storm it. My palms are sweaty at this point, they've already killed the President, the real one anyway, and Michelle, they probably wouldn't think twice about blowing up poor ol' Curtis. Luckily my knuckles can return to their normal color, at least close to their normal color. He does find some dead rats, which indicates to him that it may be biological. He doesn't seem too hard pressed to get the hell outta there, but he does call in Hazmat or whoever.
The yellow tie man makes it to another truck in the city and moves the canisters from one to the other. He also mentions to the guy he's with something about Russia understanding the consequences of occupying their homeland. Seems like his endgame with the chemical is to bomb Moscow. Does he plan to ship this stuff there? That will take half the season, so I can't imagine he's for real with that. Maybe he's just telling this dude that to throw him off the trail. And I'm not into politics, so I have no idea what "homeland" Russia is occupying that he can be from.
Finally, Logan comes in and tries to comfort a groggy Martha. And by comfort, I mean he rolls his eyes and makes the crazy gesture while she's looking the other way. Of course he doesn't believe someone snuck in, knocked her out, and then took this one piece of evidence. Seriously, I would have scanned it and sent it to all of my friends. Or at least made a copy and sent it to myself at the White House or something. Our old friend Walt Cummings advises Logan to send Martha back to the looney bin before she tells someone about her call with Palmer who actually believes her. She just needs to get to Jack. All roads lead to Jack. He'll believe her. Especially because he hasn't been around for the past 18 months to know about her penchant for crazy talk. Cummings gets a call from Nathanson who is concerned about Jack making it back to CTU. Cummings says that he shouldn't worry about it, and that Jack will be killed. Cumming says that he has a mole working at CTU. Surprise surprise, there's a mole at CTU.
Curtis calls CTU and tells Edgar that the gas was confirmed to be a weaponized nerve gas. Edgar reports that to Buchanan and McGill. McGill wants them to have forensics find out if they can pin point a manufacturer.
Back at the Logan camp, Martha's doctor tells him he doesn't know why she blacked out. You'd think he'd be able to do some sort of test on her to see if there was remnants of the drug on her face. I watch too much CSI I guess. Mike also tells Logan about the second set of terrorists and the nerve gas. This sends Logan into a gobble gobble, 'What do I do?' face. And of course a bunch of stupid comments like, 'We need to find these guys'. Oh really? Well shoot, we were just going to let them get away before, but now that you've told us we need to find them, we will.
Spencer, Spencer, Spencer
At CTU, Chloe and Spencer have a moment. She's, of course, a bitch, and he, for some odd reason, likes it. They argue a bit, which is seen by Edgar. He approaches her afterwards and questions her about the relationship and why she didn't tell him about Jack being alive. Spencer, who's walked away, gets a call from CUMMINGS. Yes, Cummings! He wants to know when Jack will arrive.
She's actually talking here but you can't tell because her MOUTH DOESN'T MOVE
McGill pulls Audrey aside and asks her to questions Diane and Derek about Jack. Audrey (and me) is confused about why Diane needs to be questioned at all. McGill says that someone knew Jack was alive, and without knowing it, Diane could have come into contact with them and have information that could help the investigation. He does have a point. He tells Audrey that he knows there's a history there with Jack, and that maybe because she knows him so well she can get more information from Diane. Diane and Derek arrive and Audrey sends Derrick to be checked out by the doctors and pulls Diane into questioning. Soon after, Jack arrives. Everyone watches as he walks through. Small tear drop. He thanks Chloe for all of her help and McGill gives him a level two clearance and says that he's no longer a suspect in Palmer's assassination. He updates him on the nerve gas. Buchanan then tells Jack that Audrey is interviewing Diane, and Jack, like the rest of us, is confused. Up in the office, Diane and Audrey talk about Diane's relationship with Jack. She says that she knew he had a secret, and that she accepted him for who he was. Unlike Audrey who, as soon as she saw him go into the super spy, kick ass mode, dumped him like a hot potato. Granted, she did watch him let her estranged husband die in order to save a bad guy last season, but hey, it's JACK. Audrey sees Jack and Diane notices the looks exchanged between them. Audrey goes out and she and Jack talk a bit. He apologizes for keeping her in the dark, but says he only did it for her own protection. She says that she just kept wishing she could have told him she didn't blame him for Paul's death. I really don't like her. I don't trust her. And you can't trust someone who doesn't move their mouth when they talk.
At Camp Imonlythepresidentbecausethelastonesplanegotshotdown Cummings tells Evelyn to pack the first lady's bags. She tries to get from him where they're going, but he won't tell her.
Spencer, meanwhile, is in one of the tech rooms. You know, like the one where Jack's wife Teri was killed. Anyway, on the computer he's tracking Jack through CTU. Chloe comes in and tries to apologize to him for earlier. She's not really good at this whole, personal relationship thing, and says something else that pisses him off and he leaves. Her curiosity wins and she checks up on what he was doing. She finds out that he's doing something that requires a level five clearance. She calls Edgar and finds out that Spencer only has a level three clearance. Something fishy is going on indeed. I'm just hoping she gets out of the room. Nothing good happens in those rooms. Chloe and Edgar let Buchanan know.
At the crack CTU security desk, a bad guy, posing as a computer repairman, tries to get through. He almost doesn't, when Spencer comes in and tells them to let him through, saying he forgot to put him on the manifest. He ushers the guy into the computer room and tells him that he can access the files from there. After Spencer leaves the room the man pulls out a gun he had hidden in his case.
Evelyn begins to pack Martha's things and of course she's curious. Evelyn says she doesn't know where she's going, but that Cummings told her to pack. Martha's no dummy, she says she knows Logan is going to have her committed again. With a resigned look on her face, or maybe it was just the drugs, she says that she's going to go change, and goes into the bathroom. Nothing good can come from this woman being alone.
Anyway, Spencer goes to his computer console and realizes he's locked out. Security guards come up to him and tell him to follow them. They take him into an interrogation room where Chloe and Buchanan are waiting. They say they know he's been accessing unauthorized files for the past four months. Chloe's a bit bitter and wonders if him seducing her was all part of his plan. He tries to put the blame on Chloe, saying she obviously has issues and probably set him up. Buchanan knows better than that and tells him he doesn't buy it.
Over at Camp Imadumbassbecauseididntknowmychiefofstaffwasatraitor Logan and Cummings go into Martha's room. Evelyn says she's in the bathroom, but, lo and behold, she's not answering. My bet's on her slitting her wrists. When Logan walks in he finds a bottle of pills, which seem to be somewhat full, on the counter. He's concerned as he pulls open the curtain to the bath tub, expecting to see her body. All he sees is an open window where she's just taken off. Agent Pierce notifies the rest of the agents there to look out for the crazy woman in her robe running around.
Did you ever see a movie called 'The Secret of Nimh'?
McGill and Jack talk about how the whole reason he went into hiding in the first place is that someone in Logan's administration wanted him dead. He thinks it's the same person who's trying to kill/frame him. They agree that the best way to find out who has the nerve gas is to figure out who killed Palmer. While they're talking, Jack gets a call from Medical that Tony is conscious and is asking specifically for Jack. On his way down he runs into Derek who apologizes to him for being an ass to him before. Jack says no problem, that he was just trying to protect his mother. He says they'll sit down after all of this is over (tomorrow) and talk. He then makes it into Tony's room. The doctor points him to where Tony is and Jack sits down next to his bed. From the reflection in the monitor Jack sees the doctor coming after him with a gun. It's the guy Spencer let in. The two fight and this guy is good. He gets the upper hand a few times, even cracking one of Jack's ribs. The gun goes off a few times as well, and I'm just hoping Tony doesn't get hit. But hey, tried and true, if you're with Jack, you're safe. Oh yeah, except Ryan Chappelle who Jack had to give up to save the world a few seasons ago. Oh, and Mason from season 2 who crashed with the Nuke on board of the plane over the dessert, but that totally wasn't Jack's fault and Mason was dying anyway. Okay, I digress. Jack eventually gets the upper hand and kills the guy, right as Buchanan and the guards rush in. Jack learns about Spencer and tells them to look after Tony. Jack rushes into the holding room where Spencer is, telling them to put on the monitor the scene from Medical. He shows Spencer the doctor's dead body and says that the man was trying to kill him. Spencer is completely surprised, he thought the guy was just there to bug the server. Jack makes him admit that he's there as an internal affairs investigation requested by the White House. He says that Walt Cummings sent him directly and he was under the impression he was serving the President.
Oh boy, Jack is pissed! He, McGill and Buchanan talk about how Cummings must be linked to the assassination on Palmer. McGill says that there isn't much CTU can do, since Cummings is the Chief of Staff. Jack, however, reminds them that he's not CTU, and he's going to go after Cummings himself. GO JACK GO!
