24 Recap: 2/19/07

This show has more twists than a 1961 sockhop! Very good episode tonight. So let’s get right to it. Recapping Day Six: 3:00 PM -4:00 PM…

On the run from Jack’s father’s men, Milo and Marilyn hide behind some dumpsters, and are found. Milo gets shot (SPF: 1) in the shoulder trying to cover Marilyn. The men have been instructed to bring Marilyn back alive. They’re about to shoot Milo when Jack shows up, blows two of them away, and disarms the third one, who we come to know as Hacker.

Jack grabs Marilyn by the throat and asks why she helped Gredenko set him up. She confesses that it was Jack’s father who called her. And that he threatened to kill Josh if she didn’t comply. After she reveals Gredenko’s real location, aka Leningrad East, Jack has a CTU team sent there. Then he has Hacker call Jack’s father and say that he’s apprehended Marilyn, but that she won’t give up Gredenko’s location until she sees her son. Jack’s father tells Hacker to bring Marilyn to his hotel.

Down in the boiler room, Tom brings Reed a copy of the President’s itinerary. Reed says he needs Tom to give security clearance to an outside operative who will “carry the ball.” (Which is evidently White House lingo for “kill the President.”) Tom is afraid everything will be traced back to him, but Reed assures him all the blame will be placed on Asaad. While they’re talking, Palmer calls and asks to see Tom.

At CTU, Morris, apparently still suffering from Post Torture Depression, goes out for a walk. He purchases some whiskey and Altoids at a liquor store, downs half the bottle of whiskey, then appears to throw up. When he returns to CTU, both Chloe and Milo smell it on his breath (the alcohol, that is), but Morris assures Chloe he is sober.

In the bunker, Tom is surprised when Palmer asks for his input on Asaad’s speech. And when Palmer likes all his suggestions, Tom appears to be having qualms about the assassination plot. When he returns to the boiler room (aka Reed’s office), Tom assures Reed that the security clearance is in the works. As soon as Reed leaves, Tom calls a secret service agent and says he needs to meet with him immediately. When Tom opens the door to leave, Reed is waiting for him and whacks him over the head.

In the stairwell of Jack’s father’s hotel, Jack receives a text message informing him that CTU agents found Gredenko’s safe house empty. Jack, Marilyn, and Hacker enter Jack’s father’s room and also find it empty. The phone rings. It’s Jack’s father, telling them to look out the window. He is on the roof of an adjacent building holding a gun on Josh. Jack offers himself in exchange for Josh. Jack’s father accepts.

Inside a room on the roof of the other building, Jack’s father has Jack get on his knees facing away from him. As he raises his gun towards Jack, he says, “It didn’t have to end like this.” Jack says he had to go his own way, apologizes to his father, then says he is ready. (I honestly thought Jack’s father might turn the gun on himself here.) When no shot comes, Jack turns around and finds his father gone.

Outside, Jack sees a cell phone on the ledge. There is a text message on the screen instructing him to call a number. (Text message count for the hour: Jack 2, Bone 0.) He does so and Charles Logan (President from Season 5) answers. Logan, now sporting facial hair, says he can help find Gredenko and tells Jack he wants to meet.

The good:
The final scene with Jack, Jack’s father, and the Logan twist.

Tom showing some integrity. And then Reed whacking him just as he is about to uncover the whole plot. Typical 24.

Jack showing up just in time to save Milo and Marilyn.

Milo continuing to emerge as someone we can count on.

The bad:
No Fayed.

No explosions.

Best line:
“Dad, I’m unarmed!” Simply for all the implications that go along with that statement.

SuperAgent 101:
When apprehending a hostel, force them to their knees, have them put their hands behind their head, and be sure to have them interlace their fingers. This is vital… for some reason.

SuperAgent 099:
Jack: “Do you know how to use this?”
Marilyn: “No.”
Jack: “Point and shoot.”

Did you know…
Altoids is the preferred breath mint of recovering alcoholic CTU agents everywhere.

Chloe-isms:
“Call your sponsor.”

“He didn’t metabolize the alcohol.” What!? Who says that?

Questions:
Why did Jack’s father not shoot him? (Other than the fact Jack is the star of the show, of course.)

Where is Audrey?

“Join the mob, join the mob. It’s all over. It’s all over. It’s all over. There’s a leak, there’s a leak, in the boiler room…”