Last week on 24: the Silver Fox sacrificed himself to end the White House hostage situation (rest in peace, Bill). Jack and I cried. Olivia, as new special adviser to Madame President, indicated she was going to give Sherrie Palmer a run for her money for the position of Biggest Bitch on 24. Moss and Walker are having problems at home. Jack went to interrogate Burnett, but Jon Voight's hitman, Quinn, framed Jack for Burnett's murder. Jack's on the run, but that's how we like it.
And as we join him this week, Jack's literally on the run, though a parking garage as sirens wail in the background. He hot-wires a 1964 Ford Falcon that just happens to have a MacBook lying in the front seat and squeals off.
Morris, meanwhile, is berating Janis because he can't figure out where the hell is wife is. Off eloping with Jack Bauer, clearly! Or not. She's in a holding room because she's been (gasp) arrested. Morris is understandably upset, but Janis can't do anything until Moss gets back. After sending Morris on his merry way, Janis gets a call from Moss (informing her Burnett is dead and Jack is gone) while Walker's being debriefed for her suspension. Walker approaches Janis to ask about Moss' phone call, and Janis goes, "Nayah nayah, I can't tell you because you're suspended" before spilling the entire thing. Ugh. Can Janis go away yet? Where's an attack on the command center when you need one?
At the moment, however, Jack is setting a very bad example for teen drivers across the country by using the MacBook while he's driving the Falcon (Is it a... wait for it, Millennium Falcon?). God, that's dumb. If he runs runs one red light because he's looking at the laptop instead of paying attention to traffic, and he's done for. So, kids? Let this be a lesson for you. Don't play with your laptops while you're driving unless you want to be responsible for a national crisis occurring. Jack's looking a security tapes from the hospital (from the handy dandy CD he snatched at the end of last week's episode). He finds Quinn's face and takes a screencap, which he uploads to his SPRINT phone. He then calls Walker for help, insisting that he didn't kill Burnett, and asks for her help in identifying Quinn. She balks, but then agrees to run Quinn's photo because she wants to have hot monkey sex with Jack when this is all over with. C'mon, you know she does. The girl's not blind.
Meanwhile, Quinn's police radio squawks in his car, alerting him that there's an APB out on Jack. He calls Jon Voight to tell him that Jack got away from the FBI. Quinn seems sure that Jack will be apprehended, but Jon Voight's worried that if Jack can connect him to Juma, his "operation" will be seriously impeded (they have an hour until the weapons come into port, and after they're launched, it doesn't matter what Jack knows). "I get no pleasure from the knowledge that people will die at our hands," John Voight preaches and I am seriously loving every minute of his screentime this season. "One single soul -- the loss of one soul is tragic to me, let alone the numbers we're talking about. But do not forget, that every way worth fighting involve collateral damage, and what we're doing is fundamentally and absolutely necessary." Yes! He's getting riled up. I love it. He tells his aide to assemble his "colleagues" for an immediate night meeting. It's gonna be a long night.
Walker calls Jack back with an ID on Quinn. "Jack, it's Jerry Jacks, the terrorist guy from General Hospital!" she screams. "Walker, calm down," Jack reassures, "I think you need to step away from the soap operas and meet me in my ammunition bunker in twenty minutes with some strawberries, two bottles of champagne and some C4." Not really (unfortunately). He's actually John Quinn, globe-trotting Black Ops vet, who now works for "Starkwood," which is a Haliburton-esque military contractor with its own private army. Jack wants to know if Starkwood worked with Juma, but Walker says there's nothing on the books, but if anyone would know, it'd be Senator Mayer, who's been investigating Starkwood. Walker sends Mayer's location to Jack.
FBI Command Center. Moss returns and makes a beeline for Walker's office as she's sending Mayer's location to Jack. She gets it encrypted and sent before he's the wiser. They argue about Jack before Moss asks Walker to go home and get some sleep, retreating from Douchebag Mode for just a moment. Moss walks back outside and immediately has Janis in his face, informing him that Morris is waiting for him in the conference room. Moss isn't really listening, though, as it's just dawned on him that Walker talked to Jack. He orders Janis to check Walker's phone logs, etc. "If we wanna catch Bauer, she's our best shot," he says grimly.
Madame President is prepping for a press conference while Olivia watches CNN. Olivia tells Madame President that she needs to go beyond simply reassuring the American people. She needs to claim victory. Say whaaa? Bill Buchanan DIED. That is not a fucking victory. Remember when Bushie put that "Mission Accomplished" banner on the USS Abraham Lincoln back in 2003? Yeah. That's basically what Olivia is suggesting here. Madame President agrees to work it in, because she's not ready to damage her daughter's ego again. Ethan enters to inform Madame President (and Olivia) about the Burnett fiasco. Olivia gives Ethan shit for not bringing Madame President in on the Bauer situation in the first place, but Madame President shushes her. Ethan apologizes and walks out the door. If I were a betting girl (and I'm not), I'd say Madame President should expect Ethan's letter of resignation on her desk within the next two episodes.
Back at the FBI Command Center, Walker gets intercepted by security and a very angry Moss, who demands to know where Bauer is. Blah blah, tracked the calls, accessory after the fact, Walker can't tell Moss where Jack is, etc. Moss and Walker trade verbal barbs and Moss tells Walker that Janis is decrypting the phone calls, so they'll know in a few minutes where Bauer is. Walker isn't budging, though, so she's going to a holding cell. Aww. I want her out in the field again, backing up Jack! Because I can't make any innuendo jokes when she's stuck in a room by herself.
Meanwhile, Senator Mayer arrives at his charming house in Georgetown, only to find Jack waiting for him, armed with a silver letter opener. Mayer rather dauntingly challenges Jack to kill him where he stands, but Jack had many an opportunity to do so over the course of this day. He's only come to give Mayer information on Quinn and connect the dots between Quinn, Starkwood, and Juma. Mayer insists that there's no connection between Juma and Starkwood, but Jack wants to see every file he's got concerning the Starkwood investigation. Warrant? Jack Bauer don't need no stinkin' warrant. Starkwood's a pretty shady corporation -- they let their security teams wreck havoc around the globe, they pass out bribes in exchange for government contracts, they influence foreign policies, etc. Mayer's planning on shutting them down, but there's nothing to suggest they were attacking their own country. Mayer wants Jack to turn himself in if there's no connection between Juma and Starkwood, but Jack just repeats his request for the files. What part of "gone rogue" don't you understand, Mayer?
At the White House press conference, Madame President makes a rousing speech that reeks of "VICTORY!" While she's speaking, a reporter comes up to Ethan and asks if he can confirm the Bauer/Burnett fiasco. Ethan takes the reporter's arm and brings him out into the hallway, asking him where he got the information. Olivia, duh! The reporter takes this as confirmation, and then points out that it was Ethan who authorized Jack's removal from federal custody. What was it I said about that letter of resignation, Ethan? He meanders back to watch Madame President's speech, telling the reporter, "No comment." He then strolls over to Olivia. "I see you're back to your old tactics," he whispers to her. Olivia denies it, and then walks out of the room, Ethan hot on her tail. Ethan insists she's the only one who could have leaked the information, but Olivia calls it another "error in judgment" on Ethan's part. "Do you realize what you've done? In trying to hurt me, you'll have caused tremendous damage to your mother. The President has gone on record that torture is unacceptable under any circumstances. When this gets out, it will look like Bauer was sent exactly for that. It will be a political disaster. You've gone too far this time" Ethan says. Olivia turns to walk away and Ethan grabs her by the arm. "Get your hands off me," Olivia hisses. She leaves and Ethan takes a couple big breaths.
At FBI Command Center, Moss is on the phone, trying to track down Bauer. Janis walks in (ugh) and reports she can't crack the encryption. Some hacker, she is! Doesn't even deserve to be in the same room with Chloe. Moss thinks he can convince Morris to help them. In the conference room, Moss turns on the television to show Morris that his wife's okay. She's in a holding room and looking very, very bored. Chloe's being held for obstruction and evidence tampering. Morris can get her out, though, if he helps Moss decrypt Walker's phone calls to Jack. "You'll have to understand something," Morris says, "Jack Bauer and my wife have a very long history. I consider him to be a friend." But when Moss throws out the possibility of Chloe serving a sentence of fifteen years, Morris caves (for the sake of their son, it would appear). It takes him about five seconds, and he alerts Moss that Jack is headed to Mayer's residence. Moss orders Janis to assemble the field teams and get Metro P.D. on the way. Damn it, Morris! You blew it!
