24 Recap: 2/5/07

I have three words for you: 24 is back!

OK, so actually I guess that’s two words and a number. Or one hyphenated word and two regular words. Nevertheless, recapping last night’s episode, also known as Day Six: 12:00-1:00 PM…

Jack and Jack’s father are led at gunpoint out to a poorly landscaped area by two of Graem’s men, where they are apparently about to be forced to pour concrete or something. Jack’s father refuses and turns around, distracting both men. Long story short, Jack and Jack’s father get their guns and each kills one of Graem’s men. (Is it just me or did that happen a bit too easily, even for Jack Bauer?)

Back at the hotel lobby that is the Presidential bunker, Wayne Palmer is watching news coverage of the nuclear explosion. With Karen now out of the way, Tom continues pressuring the President to sign an executive order that authorizing his radical security measures. Palmer tells Tom to convene the cabinet.

McCarthy is on the phone with Fayed again. (I swear, he’s gotta be in Fayed’s Five.) And says that he’s found someone who can program the triggers for the other nukes, but that said programmer will have to be coerced. CTU intercepts the call and Morris tries to decode an image of the programmer that McCarthy sent to Fayed. A message comes in that Morris’ brother has been exposed to radiation and is in critical condition. He starts to leave, but Chloe talks him into staying and finishing decoding the image.

Walid is in a bed somewhere, recovering from the beating he took at Detainee Central. Sandra is by his side. (Argh, I thought we’d make it thru an ep without her.) She calls Palmer and tells him she’s scared. He goes all Shawn Mullins on her and says, “Everything is gonna be alright.”

CTU agents raids Graem’s house. Jack and Graem face off, each with a gun pointing at each other. Graem finally surrenders, even though I think his gun may have been bigger. Jack then tells some nameless CTU agent, “Set up the interrogation package.” (There’s five words you never want to hear.)

Graem is injected with something that makes him scream really loud and sweat profusely. Finally, he confesses to authorizing the assassination on David Palmer, as well as having Tony and Michelle killed (back on Day 5). He says he did it for his country, then tells Jack that the two of them are the same. In a rage, Jack pushes Graem over backward in his chair, tells the CTU agent to run the injection level higher, and points a gun at Graem’s head. Then Jack sees Jack’s father and suddenly stops.

With the cabinet convened, we get our first glimpse of Vice President Noah Daniels. At least the first glimpse that I remember. He is on a plane and listens in by speakerphone as Palmer once again rejects Tom’s radical proposal. The Vice President tries to argue, but Palmer stops him, saying, “The discussion on this matter, is over!”

Back at CTU, Morris has the image decoding and gets up to leave before it’s done. After he leaves, everyone is shocked to see that the image that eventually comes up on his screen is… Morris! It’s a set up! They call Morris, but he’s already on the highway. As he is trying to turn around, someone fires shots at his car. He is kidnapped by McCarthy and the blonde, who we now know as Rita.

After Jack boards a helicopter to CTU, Jack’s father asks for a moment alone with Graem. We learn that he’s been in on the whole thing! They are convinced they’ve fooled Jack into thinking Jack’s father is innocent. But apparently, that isn’t enough. Jack’s father turns the IV back up, then covers Graem’s mouth. Graem struggles for a few seconds, then his body goes limp.

Best line
Jack to Graem: “We are not the same!”

Other best line
Jack’s father to Graem: “You’ve done everything I asked. Only this time, I asked too much.”

The good
The Jack/Graem interrogation, of course.

The Morris twist!

Jack struggling with the whole ‘doing the right thing/this is my family’ quandary.

Palmer standing up to Tom, Tom’s sidekick, the Vice President, and apparently most everyone else.

Finding out Jack’s father is involved in everything and then him turning on Graem at the end.

The bad
Sandra Palmer’s “Oh Walid, I was so worried about you” routine. Barf.

Still just a bunch of random nameless faces in the field for CTU. We need a Tony. Or at least, a Curtis.

Still not much Chloe.

Did you know…
8cc’s of hyocine-pentothal can cause a heart attack. 9cc’s can cause you to act like Paula Abdul.

Questions
Will Morris program the triggers for the nukes? Will he die? And if so, will Chloe ever recover?

Does Marilyn (Graem’s wife) know more than she’s letting on?

Karen resigns, and no one replaces her?

I miss…
Tony. Why’d they have to go and mention his name? Sigh.

“Even her smile looks like a frown. And she’s seen her share of devils in this angel town…”