News > TW RECAP: Twenty-Four, 05/14/07
May 15, 2007
SUMMARY
The following takes place between 3am and 4am.
The Chinese soldiers take Josh Bauer away as the soldiers inform the CTU hostages that they will move them to a secure room and then leave without killing anyone else. On the way to the holding room, Jack, with the help of Nadia, subdue a few of the guards. Morris, without being told, goes into total badass mode, grabs a guard of his own, and begins choking the life out of him. After some flashy fighting (Jack uses a guard as a human shield) Jack personally strangles the lead soldier and then, somewhat unnecessarily, snaps his fucking neck. One last soldier almost shoots Nadia, but is suddenly blown away by Doyle, who suddenly shows up with a tac team.
Jack and Doyle enter the sewers and pursue the soldiers who took Josh. The soldiers get him to Cheng first, though, and they begin to move out to go meet Phillip Bauer. Grandpa Bauer talks to his grandson over the phone and apologizes for threatening to kill him earlier in the day, saying that he didn't really mean it. He promises to take Josh to China, where Josh won't have to live under the shadow of his terrorist father. Just as Jack climbs into Cheng's hideout, Cheng's men begin to drive away. Jack shoots out the tires of the nearest car, however, and forces the soldiers to exit their vehicles and engage in a shootout. Cheng runs with Josh, using him as a shield. Jack, naturally, pursues and kills a half-dozen of Cheng's guards along the way. Chen brings Josh to the roof and Josh kicks Cheng in the jaw before running across a walkway to get away from him. Jack shows up on the roof and Cheng empties a clip at him, hitting nothing. Jack tells Cheng to put his gun down, which he does. On the walkway behind Jack and Cheng, it is revealed that Josh has fallen off the walkway and is hanging on a chain to keep from falling to his death. In Jack's surprise at seeing Josh's predicament, Cheng -- a man who is at least 50 years old -- somehow manages to sprint away in the split second Jack is distracted. Jack rescues Josh, but Cheng is long gone. Josh tells Jack about Grandpa Bauer's plans, and Jack swears to find him.
At the White House, Karen informs VP Daniels that the Russians have moved more troops into the range of the US's base ni Eastern Europe. Hayes asks where Lennox is, and Daniels comes clean about everything involving Lisa Miller, from the spying boyfriend to his personal affair with her.
Outside Miller's house, Lennox looks bored as hell as Miller and Bishop have a great deal of sex: once Bishop eventually throws his heaving body off MIller, Lennox, hilarious, mutters: "...Finally, we're done." Miller leaves for the bathroom and Bishop moves to grab her PDA. He hooks it up to some Spy Gadget and almost sends the emails to the Russian president, but he pauses and puts the PDA back in MIller's purse for some reason. When Miller gets out of the bathroom, Bishop tells her he knows something is wrong because she can't look him in the eye. He grabs her and asks her what she is hiding, whilst Lennox freaks out in the van across the street. Miller tells him that "I'll tell you what's going on," right before smashing him int he goddamn face with a wine bottle, then a lamp, all the while screaming about his connection to the Russians. Bishop throws her onto the ground and begins to choke the life out of her before Lennox's men burst in and arrest Bishop. After he is subdued, Lennox tells Bishop to upload Miller's email to the Russians in exchange for lenient sentencing at his trial.
Cheng calls Phil Bauer and tells him that he has lost Josh. Phil tells him that he is keeping the nuke component because Cheng failed to keep his end of the bargain. Cheng tells Phil that he will come and take kthe component by force, but Phil cryptically tells him that the next time Cheng threatens hi, the consequences will be severe..."But not from me."
Back at CTU a Division Jackass shows up and acts like a dick, saying that CTU's security needs to be re-evaluated immediately as a result of the break-in. He acts like a complete douchebag to Nadia, insulting her for allowing CTU to get invaded. Nadia, unfortunately, agrees with everything the douchebag asks for. Morris talks to Nadia and tells her not to feel responsible for Milo's death and the invasion, though she obviously still does.
Tom calls the White House and tells Daniels that the false information has indeed been sent to the Russian president. He also tells Daniel that LIsa was injured and lost oxygen flow to the brain, possibly resulting in serious injury. Hayes tells Daniels that he needs to call Subarov and tell him that the component part has been intercepted, in order to strengthen the fictional story Bishop emailed to Subarov. Daniels sets up the video conference, sponsored by CISCO SYSTEMS, and tells Subarov that CTU successfully destroyed the subcircuit board. Subarov almost immediately cuts the crap and tells Daniels that he had surveillance on Miller's home, and knows full well that Daniels forced his spy to send the fake news. Subarov, now angered, says he is shortening the timetable for the US to find the component before hea ttacks the US's military base. He gives the president two hours to find the circuit (remember that next week's season finale will be two hours, not one).
At the White House, Lennox recieves a call from Phillip Bauer, which he puts on speakerphone in the presence of Daniels and Karen. Phil demands his grandson and safe passage to his country of choice in exchange for the component board. Bauer tells Daniels he will send him further instructions later, and hangs up. Hayes angrily argues against any possibility of negotiation with Grandpa Bauer, but Lennox still says it's a risk worth taking. Daniels tells Lennox that it doesn't make sense that Subarov would openly show aggression toward the US; Lennox hypothesizes that Subarov's anti-American generals are coercing him into action. In such a case, no amount of diplomacy would convince Subarov to stand down, and Daniels gets on the phone with CTU.
As Jack begins to escort Josh to a CTU SUV where he can be transferred back to the main CTU building, he is called away by a CTU agent for a split second. In that second, Doyle grabs Josh and ushers him into a helicopter as Jack, suddenly understanding that Doyle is essentially forcing Josh into the helicopter against his will, rushes to stop him. Several CTU guards hold him back, however, and Jack is forced to watch as his screaming nephew is flown away in a CTU chopper.
REACTION
Apart from the first fifteen minutes where Jack basically goes all John McClane on the Chinese soldiers, and the few scenes where Peter MacNichol proves himself the single best actor on the show, this episode really only serves as a mild buildup to the season finale next week. Very little is accomplished, nothing really exciting happens, and one new (totally unnecessary) subplot with the Division Douchebag is introduced for no legitimate reason.
Not to mention that the scene where Miller attacks Bishop, the man she used to be sexually involved with but who she now knows is a spy, is almost identical to a scene in season one where a woman stabs a man she used to be sexually involved with but who she now knows is a terrorist. Almost exactly. This "big change" for next season better really happen, because the show is beginning to show visible signs of repetition.
