So, it’s time for Jack’s last stand on the sixth season of Fox’s ’24.’ Will he be able to save his long-lost love Audrey before it’s too late?
We start with the aftermath of Jack’s last visit, killing Fayed and securing the final two suitcase nukes. He’s told by Doyle that CTU is being taken off the case, so he can check back in with Bill Buchanan. Then, he calls the infamous Chinese cop, Cheng, who is holding Audrey Raines in a warehouse of some kind. Cheng explains what he wants: a component that’s in the suitcase nukes that will allow the Chinese to make some very nasty weapons to use on the world. If Jack gets Cheng the component, he will give Audrey over to Jack. He’s got only one hour, though, so he’s got to move.
Back in Washington, Tom Lennox urges President Palmer to calm down for a bit, since he’s still very sick and, having collapsed recently, could do so again. Palmer wants to continue reasserting his power, and Lennox assures him there will be no more overthrows within the government. Karen arrives and tells them of the news about Fayed, and Palmer decides to leave the bunker with his people, and return to the Oval Office.
At CTU, Bill is congratulating his team on the job well done by securing the suitcase nukes. Chloe gets a call from Jack, who tells her that Audrey is alive and that he and Chloe must work in secret to retrieve the component that Cheng wants. Chloe is very worried about this, but Jack convinces her to get the proper schematics. Unfortunately, Chloe will have to get them from another source: her computer doesn’t have them. Chloe realizes that Morris, who had to file a report about the nukes, may have the right information, if accessed from his terminal. Chloe rushes to his terminal and is barely able to send the schematics to Jack before Morris gets back to his desk.
Meanwhile, President Palmer has arrived safely back at the Oval Office, and has a meeting with Vice President Daniels (because we all missed him so much). Though Palmer thanks him for his ideas and his help in catching Fayed, he says that they can’t work together, and that Daniels must resign. Daniels is pissed off, and refuses to do so. Palmer tells him that if he doesn’t resign, he’ll use the recording Lennox made a few hours back. He says that Daniels has a week to tender his resignation.
At CTU, Chloe and Morris are talking when Morris realizes that someone has hacked into his system. He’s about to call security, when Chloe reveals that it was her, and she’ll explain soon. Morris wants answers now, so Chloe tells him about Jack and Audrey and the component. Morris believes that the Chinese having the information will lead to another war, and throws the whole “I helped the terrorists” bit from earlier this season. He forces Chloe to tell Bill what’s going on.
Jack, meanwhile, has snuck into the holding area where the nukes are. He threatens the soldiers guarding it to let him take the component off the nukes. He’s doing so when Doyle arrives and tells him to drop the nuke. They have a mini-standoff, when Jack’s knocked out by one of the agents, and is put under arrest.
Jack comes to, handcuffed on the floor. He and Buchanan talk over the phone. Buchanan says that he can’t let Jack give the component to the Chinese, and can’t let him do anything at all. Jack begs Buchanan, but it doesn’t work. He must let Doyle take him back to CTU. Jack then asks to make another phone call, to President Palmer. Buchanan agrees to do this, and tells Doyle to keep an eye on Jack while he gets the President. Palmer takes the call, and Jack gets on the phone, asking him to authorize a field operation to save Audrey. He explains to Palmer what’s gone on and what the Chinese want. Palmer can’t authorize the exchange, but Jack wants the Chinese to believe he’ll do it at all. He promises to destroy the component once Audrey’s free. He also says that he’ll do so with some dynamite, sacrificing himself. Basically, he says that Palmer owes him, and Palmer agrees to authorize the operation.
Doyle is unhappy to let Jack go do the operation, but does so. Jack wants Doyle to help on the exchange, and explains about Cheng and Jack’s time in Chinese prison. He tells Doyle that Cheng won’t get out alive and he probably won’t either.
Morris wants to know what’s happened with Chloe, who angrily tells him that Jack’s going on the mission. She tells him he should have trusted her, and Morris points out that she did hack into his system. She doesn’t forgive him, and it looks like it won’t happen soon.
Jack calls Cheng, saying he’s got the component, which now has a monitor on it for CTU to see. Cheng tells him to go to a meeting point and be there soon. Doyle warns Jack that this mission is highly dangerous and Audrey better be worth it. Jack tells Doyle that, basically, he should shut his mouth with stuff that doesn’t concern him. OK, I editorialized a bit.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, Vice President Daniels meets with his pretty blonde aide, about the meeting with Palmer. He tells her that he does plan to resign his post, because of the recording of the two of them. He consoles her, and it seems obvious that they have been…intimate. Icky. Though he has a week, Daniels says the resignation will be in Palmer’s hands by the end of the press conference.
Speaking of the press conference, it’s starting, as Palmer walks out to the press. He thanks his aides, the military and CTU for their help in the events of the day. He then asks for prayers for those who have lost their lives and those who were affected by the tragedies of the day. As he takes questions, he starts to forget the names of the journalists and stumbling over his words. It gets a whole lot worse when Palmer faints from the podium, in a very well-acted scene by D.B. Woodside. Daniels, who’s been watching, decides to put that resignation away and look sinister again.
Back in the Oval Office, the main doctor tells Daniels, Tom, Karen and Daniels’ aide that Palmer has suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, due to what happened earlier by taking him out of the coma. Palmer’s being transferred to a local hospital, and he may not regain consciousness soon. Guess who’s in charge now? Oh, goody, it’s Daniels. Again, he weasels his way into the presidency. His aide tells him that there’s one part of the agenda worth looking at: the mission Jack’s on. And, another question: who’s not for the mission? Three guesses and none of them count; it’s Daniels, who tells Karen and Tom to abort the mission. Karen can’t believe how quickly Daniels has turned against everyone, but Tom admits that he and her were probably against the mission. Karen calls Bill and tells him what’s just happened, and that Jack must come back to CTU ASAP. Bill informs the staff of the operation shutdown, and Chloe knows Jack won’t be happy.
Bill calls Doyle and covertly tells him that Daniels has shut down the mission and that Jack must be brought back to CTU and be disarmed. Jack’s not fooled, as he points a gun at Doyle. He reminds Doyle that he killed Curtis way back at the beginning of the day, and he has no qualms about doing the same to Doyle, who’s ordered to pull over. Doyle does so, and Jack takes the keys and exits the vehicle. He orders Doyle to get out of the truck; Doyle tells him that Daniels ordered the shutdown, but Jack takes the truck and leaves Doyle in the middle of nowhere. And…that’s midnight! Will Jack save Audrey…next week? Let’s hope so.
