24 - 24: Redemption

Willie finds his way into a rustic but neat room with its door standing wide open. From under the bed, he pulls out a large backpack and starts rummaging through it. Boundaries much? The first thing of interest he spots is a very familiar-looking knife in a sheath, which he slips under his shirt. is a beautiful, sheer green Indian scarf, which he smiles at and holds up to the light from the still-open doorway. Through it, he spots the silhouette of Kiefer, standing there looking gravely in at him. Kiefer, being Kiefer, ties Willie to a chair and beats the crap out of him. Only not really. If he had, a lot of grief Kiefer's going to go through in the two hours could have been avoided. "I wasn't stealing it, I swear. I was just looking," Willie says. All Kiefer says as he comes in is that he came back for his work gloves. Willie compliments the scarf, wondering if it's for a woman, and Kiefer says, "I was going to give it to my daughter one day." Which, right there, means the scarf is cursed. I'm not kidding, just you wait. Willie asks where Kiefer got it, and he tells him Rajistan, India. "You ask a lot of questions," Kiefer adds. "That's what Mr. Benton says," Willie agrees. We're hearing a lot about this Mr. Benton. Kiefer gets up to leave the nosy child alone in his room so he may continue ransacking it at leisure, but Willie has some more questions, to which Kiefer politely submits like a soldier under inspection. Through Exposition Boy, we learn that Kiefer was in India "last summer," and before that, "different places." When Willie asks when he's going home to the U.S., Kiefer says he isn't. Willie seems glad to hear that. Kiefer says he's going to go help unload the truck, and Willie can keep the scarf if he wants. Way to reward a future burglar, there, Kiefer. Thrilled, Willie's about to carry it out of the room, but Kiefer stops him and asks for his knife back. Willie hands it over, shamefaced. Kiefer refrains from telling him how many people that knife has killed. So far.

Outside, Willie runs into Gil Bellows and the much-mentioned Carl Benton, played by Robert Carlyle from The Full Monty. Carlyle will be keeping his twig and berries decently covered throughout this, but he'll be unabashedly waving his Scottish accent around, which is going to be raising a few questions later. Willie shows off his new scarf before Benton sends him off to help unload the truck. Benton introduces Gil Bellows to Kiefer as Frank Trammel, the ambassador's chief political officer. What an interestingly named character. "Trammel," of course, is what government bureaucrats and other liberals want to do to the freedoms of real Americans, but the character's first name suggests that at least he'll be honest about it. "I know who he is," Kiefer says coldly, clearly not happy to see him. He must still be holding a grudge over Billy's ridiculous behavior during his last season on Ally McBeal. Dude had a brain tumor, Kiefer, cut him some slack. Trammel apparently hates Kiefer right back, and is quite the pissy-pants for someone who allegedly works in the diplomatic corps. He's only too happy to explain to Benton and the viewers why he's here: "The Senate subcommittee has questions about the illegal detention and torture of certain prisoners in Mr. Bauer's custody. I have a subpoena requesting you to appear, and it's way past due, so consider yourself served." Clearly the subpoena does not list these prisoners individually, because that's a very thin envelope rather than a three-inch binder. He tries to slap it into Kiefer's hand, but Kiefer catches him by the cuff of his suit jacket, which he holds and twists until the envelope falls to the ground. Trammel doesn't even realize how lucky he is that Kiefer didn't take his whole hand. Why doesn't Trammel realize that heroes of the right, like Kiefer and Karl Rove, don't have to comply with Congressional subpoenas? Well, because he's a member of the diplomatic corps, second only to the U.N. in terms of people who are villains of the right. And we'll be getting back to the U.N. shortly, believe you me. As Kiefer walks away, Trammel insists that he's legally required to respond, so Kiefer does: "They want me back in Washington, they can come and get me." So nyah.

That night (which tells us we're not in real time yet), Dubaku addresses his miniature troops from a makeshift stage that's been set up at the camp. Holding up a machete, he proclaims, "This will make you strong little soldiers. This will make you free." He steps down and offers the weapon handle-first to the young, sharp-eyed boy we saw earlier in the truck, who accepts it wordlessly. As Dubaku brings the boy up onto the stage, he tells the kids, "Your mothers and your fathers, they have made you weak. But General Juma, he will make you strong." Here he drifts a bit into local politics, but the gist is that the Juma he was just referring to, with the help of and his men -- and now his boys -- want to reclaim land from the government. "And the traitors that work for them," Dubaku adds. "Like this cockroach!" Right on cue, some of his soldiers (grown-up ones) drag a beaten and bloodied Sangalan bureaucrat up on the stage, with his necktie still hanging loose around his collar. They force him, weeping, to his knees. The boy holding the machete is starting to see where this is going as Dubaku tells them that the cockroach (I at first thought he was saying the man was named "Kokoroche," thanks to his accent) works for "the white masters" who have "taken our land." But Dubaku promises that this will all change. "We must buy our freedom with the blood of this cockroach," he tells the boys. The men lead a chant of "Kill the cockroach!" which the boys quickly join in. The terrified boy raises the blade, and finally, with a scream, brings it down hard on the man's...shoulder. The camera cuts away as the entire camp erupts in bloodthirsty screams. I don't blame them, because if that was a fatal blow, it must have been pretty spectacular. Dude would have had to come apart like a water balloon.

No previouslies, as we go straight to the five-second title sequence, and those familiar yet unfamiliar words, both appearing on screen and recited in velvet tones: "The following takes place between 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m." And there's something else we haven't heard in quite a while: "Events occur in real time." It's like going back to the first season. Which, we should be so lucky.

During the day, seemingly far away from that rebel camp, some species of Hyundai is traversing a road through Sangala's grassy, beautiful, fictional plains . Riding in the back is Gil Bellows, looking like hell if hell were on its way to an audition for Swingtown -- receding hairline, horn-rimmed glasses, sideburns, hair in the back curling greasily over his collar. He must be evil. If you can't tell by looking at him, he clinches it by bitching at his Sangalan driver about the air conditioning and looking down at the subpoena envelope he's holding in his hands. Who could that be for?

Time to meet a bunch of Sangalan kids. Or would it be Sangalian? Or Sangalese? Maybe Sangaloid? You can't exactly look it up. Anyway, we suddenly find ourselves in an idyllic little orphanage/school compound, surrounded by the gorgeous hills and baobab trees, all filmed through the mandatory golden sunlight filter that is issued to all foreign camera crews at customs when they arrive to shoot anything on the entire continent. This is Okavango School, where an old friend of Kiefer's named Carl Benton is teaching, working with, and looking after about fifteen war-orphan boys ranging in age from early childhood to late teens. Not that we know any of this yet, but none of the few minutes is going to make any sense unless I just put it out there now. One of the boys, a young teen named Desmond, is trying to convince his little brother Willie to join him and another older boy named James so they can all go to town to play football. With a soccer ball, oddly enough. Willie doesn't want to go, since "Mr. Benton" doesn't want them going to town without him, and Willie's doing what he's told. For the last time ever. Willie is played by a talented young actor with a musical speaking voice, but like every 24 character ever under the age of 20, he will inevitably turn out to be nothing but trouble. So Desmond and James run off and leave Willie behind. He's still standing there watching them go when another boy rings the bell to herald the arrival of a supply truck. This truck seems to be the cause of much excitement, as all the other kids on the grounds follow it up to the storage shed. All of them except Willie, that is, who sneaks off on his own behind the trees. I told you he was done doing what he was supposed to.

As Benton picks up the envelope from the dust, Trammel turns to him and exposits that Benton and Kiefer were in Special Forces together. First Saunders, now Benton? Was Kiefer in the Army with anyone who wasn't from the U.K.? Trammel asks Benton how long Kiefer's been there. "Few months," Benton says, but this is the first he's heard of the subpoena, which he hands back to Trammel. Trammel says that there's pressure from on high to get Kiefer to comply with the subpoena, which Kiefer's been dodging for over a year, and says that the government might just have to take Kiefer up on his offer to come get him. "That would be a mistake," Benton warns. He's got breakaway pants, and he's not afraid to use them. Trammel comes right back at him, telling him how important his work is to the kids. "It'd be a shame if the funding dried up." Trammel leaves the subpoena with Benton, telling him, "You're his friend. Talk some damn sense into him." Benton opens the envelope and reads the contents. Is it really polite to read other people's subpoenas?

While Kiefer helps the kids unload the truck, the U.N. worker who drove it here, a guy named Solenz, decides to mock him a bit: "There he is," he says to Kiefer in a Eurotrash accent. "The mighty warrior who traded his gun for a wheelbarrow." Big talk for a guy who's wearing a baby-blue safari vest. He asks if Kiefer's there for penance, but since Kiefer isn't talking, he lets it drop as they watch Trammel ride off in the back of his embassy Hyundai.

At 3:10:02, a different kind of truck is being unloaded at Colonel Dubaku's camp. A munitions truck, to be exact. Slick segue. One of Dubaku's lieutenants comes up to say they're in good shape for a planned assault against the capital city and its government, but Dubaku complains that they have more weapons than soldiers. Plus there are minefields blocking their westerly approach, as Dubaku points out on a map. "Then I'll bring you more little soldiers to clear them," says the lieutenant. "Do not worry." Dubaku suddenly gets all affectionate and tells the other man, "Father would be very proud." Which of course is one of those things that nobody ever says except to let the viewers know that two unfamiliar characters are siblings. Just use subtitles, 24. Or have them turn to the camera and say, "We're brothers, okay?" and then go on with their business. Which, in this case, is for Brother Dubaku to hop into the back of a waiting truck to go recruiting with a bunch of other guys.

Then Dubaku's satellite phone rings. When he answers it, who should be on the other end but Academy Award Winner Jon Voight, calling from some other guy's office in Washington, D.C.? It must be morning there, which is plausible enough because there are parts of Africa that are as little as five hours ahead of the East Coast. And the fictional parts could be even less. You can also tell it's D.C. because in contrast to the golden sunlight permeating every atom of Africa, everything that happens in D.C. is a washed-out blue-grey. Like in Traffic, but subtler. And that's the first and last time in a while that I'll be accusing 24 of being subtle. "Hodges here," Jon Voight greets Dubaku, pleasantly remarking that he's heard about Dubaku's manpower (or rather boypower) troubles, and he's still got his own guys across the border who can be ready to go within the hour. Private mercenaries, no doubt. Dubaku coldly declines. "You provided the weapons. We will fight our own war," he says. "Well, it's your country," responds Hodges. Before ringing off, he leaves a message to have General Juma give him a call when he arrives. Dubaku hangs up and walks out of the shot, leaving the camera to zoom in on a nine-year-old sentry perched on a derelict car with a rifle, while his partner plays with rocks and a pickup truck with his own rifle slung across his back. It's all supposed to be very poignant, with the irony of the juxtaposition of the imagery or whatever. Like I didn't recap Kid Nation.

Back in D.C., Hodges closes his sat phone, remarking, "That is one heartless son of a bitch." "It is his country," says Nichols, the sleazy-looking guy behind the desk whose office this is. "I'm paying for it," Hodges reminds him. Well, that would explain the rich-guy vibe he's putting off. And also why they didn't cast, say, Cheech Marin in this role. Hodges tosses the sat phone to Nichols and makes it clear that he wants all of this to be completely untraceable. Because that worked out so well for him in Enemy of the State.

This is apparently happening at some trading company. Out on the trading floor, a skinny, ratty little guy is working the phones and swallowing something out of a prescription bottle. This character's name is Chris Whitley, and he's presumably named after the country blues singer-songwriter who died in 2005. It'll be interesting to see if he has any friends who are also named after musicians. Anyway, Nichols summons him into his office by speakerphone, and Chris grabs his jacket and goes, leaving his meds on the desk. That can't be wise. On his way into Nichols's office, he nearly collides with Hodges, blinking at him in confusion while Hodges just stares back at him, puts on his overcoat, and goes on his way, lacking only a cloud of cigarette smoke to complete his aura of mysterious, omnipotent evil. Chris heads on in and asks Nichols who that was. "Client," Nichols answers shortly, and orders him to close out some accounts. "Burn the records and bury the ashes," he adds. Which sounds completely above board, right? Chris blinks some more, until Nichols shoos him out.

Benton goes and finds Kiefer arranging supplies in the stock room with Willie, and after dismissing the boy, tries to initiate a discussion with Kiefer about the subpoena. Kiefer's not hearing it. "Don't worry, Carl," he martyrs. "I'll be gone by dark." How many countries has he lugged that cross through, anyway? Benton doesn't want Kiefer to leave, but only to consider giving up the life of the international fugitive. "Whatever I've done, I've paid for in full," Kiefer says, which is probably true, karmically, even if he paid it to the Chinese. "All I've got left is my freedom. I'm not letting them take that away from me." Benton points out that having to run all the time isn't exactly freedom, and Kiefer snaps, "What do you want from me, Carl?" "I want you to trust me, Jack," Benton says. "I am your friend. And as your friend, I am utterly and inexorably doomed." Except the last part. Kiefer apologizes, and Benton exposits that when Kiefer called him after ten years, he thought he was looking for more than a place to stay. Is Benton asking for a commitment? He says that it's natural for guys like them to want to search for something meaningful to do. Other than each other, I think he means. Kiefer finally drives Benton out of the shed by sneering, "You found what you were looking for." Hurt, Benton turns and walks away. Kiefer curses himself under his breath for his poor social skills while Benton goes and leaves the subpoena under a bucket on a quaint little conversational grouping of chairs under a baobab tree. "I just meant it's different for me," Kiefer apologizes, following Benton out and sitting down to continue their talk. Benton sits to him, and allows that he has found a way to live with himself. "It took a long time. The first thing I had to do was stop running." He reiterates his offer to let Kiefer stay, blowing off Trammel's threat, but Kiefer is refusing to make his problem Benton's. "What you've done with this place, this school, what you've done for the boys, it's worth protecting. You and I both know it's be better for everyone if I leave." Yes, because the last thing Benton needs is for the Senate's sergeant-at-arms to show up at the school with his three-ounce tube of whoop-ass. But rather than arguing any further and thus risk getting tortured with a gardening hoe or something, Benton says he's sorry, and Kiefer agrees. They shake hands and part friends. For now.

With that out of the way, Benton can focus his attention on an argument that is blossoming between Solenz the U.N. official and the oldest boy at the school, a young man named Thomas. Thomas is angrily telling Solenz that Juma's men are kidnapping children and drafting them as soldiers. Solenz is refusing to credit the story, probably because if it were true, the UN would be asked to do something about it, and all that ever does is make people mad when they don't. Benton comes over and listens to them argue more heatedly for a moment, as Thomas reveals his source for this news of international import: his cousin "went to the market yesterday and has not rrreturned!" Even Thomas's dramatic ability to roll his Rs doesn't convince Solenz, who continues to pooh-pooh that it could be Juma behind it. When Willie, overhearing, adds that his brother Desmond is in town right now, Solenz bitches at Thomas for worrying the kid, like he cares. Benton calls a halt to this, saying he'll go into town to check it out. Willie tells Benton that he should be able to find Desmond and James playing football at the field past the beach, and Benton starts walking toward the Land Rover he has parked nearby. Solenz still thinks this is a waste of Benton's time: "If Juma was making trouble we would have heard something, no?" Benton responds, "Probably, but this is Sangala. I'm not taking any chances." Yes, I've heard that about Sangala. He heads to his truck at 3:18:14.

We join the football game already in progress, which is going pretty well considering the kids have to share the field with braying goats and wrecks of old cars. An argument breaks out between a couple of the players, one of whom petulantly throws the ball off the field. It's worth mentioning that these two actors are way better than they need to be. Willie's brother Desmond is the one who goes to retrieve it, but just as he's about to return, a bunch of Dubaku's jeeps roll into view. Game over, man. "Ruuuun!" Desmond yells, dropping the ball and taking to his heels while Dubaku's men fire their weapons into the air, presumably to make the panicky kids nice and docile. They don't get far, of course, as additional rebel soldiers quickly arrive to corral them on the field. Dubaku's brother arrives last, and he hops down off his jeep to inform the kids, "You are now soldiers in the People's Freedom Army." Clearly the People's Freedom Army is not very big on paperwork. One of Brother Dubaku's men whispers in his ear, pointing out Desmond and James. Little Dubaku addresses those two directly, telling him that thanks to his magical assistant, he knows they're from the "American school in Okavango. These Americans make our people slaves. And one of them has a Glaswegian accent for some reason [he doesn't really say that part]. But we will free you, and we will free the other children so they can become soldiers." They start to move the kids toward the jeeps, but stop when they see that the youngest boy there has wet his pants. The soldiers laugh. While Brother Dubaku and his minions are giving the poor kid a hard time, Desmond and James take advantage of the distraction to make a break for it, running for the trees at the far side of the field. Brother Dubaku tells his men to load the other kids up while he goes after the runaways with some men in his jeep. The vehicle has to stop after the boys leap over a fallen log at the edge of the trees, but one of Brother Dubaku's men stops their flight by firing his machine gun at them. Well, they should make great soldiers now. Brother Dubaku agrees with my assessment: "Idiot! They are no good to us dead!" He orders them out, leaving the two small bodies where they lie facedown in the bush. It's 3:21:37.

Welcome back to the product-placed TelePresence suite, that magical room in the White House where large videoconference projection screens allow the President of the United States to enjoy the illusion of having other world leaders bitch at him to his face. In this case, instead of the Russian president who kept showing up in here this season, President Noah Daniels is facing an image of three very worried, high-ranking Sangalans. They claim to have proof, belatedly, that General Juma is raising an army and planning to invade the capitol. And this proof appears to consist of a traffic-cam video of a jeep full of heavily armed men. Well, that certainly appears airtight enough. The Prime Minister wants Daniels to accelerate the military support Congress has already promised. Daniels has to demur on the grounds that he's not going to be in charge for much longer, so the PM asks about the new girl. "I'm afraid I can't speak for her," he answers, right before putting them on hold so he can talk to Tom, who has just entered to inform him that Taylor wants in, as Daniels had apparently predicted. Daniels makes a "this is all I need" face and gets back on the line with the PM to end the call. The PM again requests assistance, and Daniels agrees to pass it along. Which he sort of will.

He meets the new boss in the hallway, and they shake hands, addressing each other as "Mr. President" and "Senator Taylor." Then he opens the nearest door, and the thing you know, they're inside the Oval Office. That's one advantage of living in a White House that only has one hallway; you're never far from where you need to be. Tom waits outside, looking pensive and kind of weaselly for some reason. His default expression, in other words.

Inside the Oval Office, Taylor brings up the Sangala situation, in disbelief that Juma has been able to raise an army. Daniels blames the U.N. for not watching closely enough. It's surprising how much of what happens in this movie can be directly blamed on the U.N. and its representatives. All Daniels knows for sure is that Juma has somehow gotten his hands on some advanced weapons (I'm going to go out on a limb and finger Jon Voight as Juma's hookup), and now Sangala's PM is asking the U.S. for military help, which Daniels says he's already refused. Taylor doesn't agree on letting Sangala twist in the wind: "We have troops in the region. A show of force might make Juma blink." "And if it doesn't, we might get caught up in another civil quagmire halfway around the world." And who knows how many of those we're entangled in in the 24-verse, where countries are so much more volatile, numerous, and fictional? Daniels adds that there's not much in Sangala worth protecting anyway. Taylor's like, what about the human beings? Daniels says it isn't their war, so he's told the ambassador to start the evacuation of the U.S. embassy there. Taylor doesn't seem to want to "send a signal that we are willing to sell out a democratic ally to a war criminal." Hey, nobody's selling anyone out. Selling implies getting something in return. He calls her an idealist, she calls him a cynic, and he smiles mirthlessly and says, "Let's talk after you've been sitting in my chair for a while. Until then, we still have some transition business to go over." So I guess that's the end of the discussion. He calls Tom in so they can get to work. But in the long, uncomfortable seconds between now and the end of the scene, Tom never appears. He must have wandered off back to the set of Numb3rs or something.

At the same time, but four to ten hours later, Benton has arrived at the park in his Land Rover at 3:33:46. He finds nothing there but a deflated soccer ball. But off in the trees, he hears some odd bird calls. Approaching to see a small flock of white vultures picking at something, he draws his automatic and fires it into the air to scare them off. Using up four bullets doesn't seem wise considering what he's in for over the hour and a half, but nobody on this show ever listens to me, so why should this guy be any different? As Benton approaches the vultures' abandoned meal, he recognizes it as James. Standing up and calling for Desmond, he eventually finds him a bit further on, lying unconscious on a creek bank and more or less fully occupied with the business of bleeding to death. Benton urgently wakes him up and carries him out of there. Okay, vultures, you can come back and finish up with James now. Bon appetit!

Kiefer is getting ready to go when Willie comes in to check the weight of his backpack. That's because he's offering to come with Kiefer, along with his brother Desmond. Of course he has no way of knowing that Desmond's not really in any shape to travel right now. "We can carry your things and work for you," Willie offers. Kiefer shoots the idea down. And when Willie asks why not, Kiefer rejects any number of possible responses, from "I've got one backpack, for God's sake" to "Because everyone I know gets killed" to "I'm not about to accessorize my look with a couple of underage porters from an orphanage in Africa," settling on the simpler, "Because you can't. I'm going alone." Willie says his late grandfather would have wanted him to go to America. Kiefer repeats that he's not going there. As he walks out with Willie scampering along in his wake, Willie maintains that even if Kiefer doesn't know where he's going, it has to be better than here. "You sure about that? Here doesn't seem so bad to me." Willie agrees that Benton is nice, but there are too many ghosts -- his mother, father, and three sisters. "They live in the bush and come out at night. But you wouldn't see them because you are pumia." That means white person, which Kiefer didn't know, even after being here for several months. He smiles and drops to a crouch to pull the old "we're friends, right?" bit on the kid, and asks Willie to stay and help take care of the other kids. Tearfully, Willie manages a nod, and hugs Kiefer a long goodbye hug as Kiefer stands to go, heaving the little backpack that contains all his worldly possessions. It's 3:37:37.

But then Thomas comes running, handing Kiefer a walkie-talkie. It's Benton, calling from his behind the wheel of his speeding Land Rover to report that James is dead and Desmond shot. "Juma's raising an army," Benton says. "Desmond says they're heading for the school. They're coming for the boys, Jack." Wow, good thing Benton woke him up. Benton goes on to urgently instruct Kiefer to get the kids into the shelter, which Thomas knows the location of. Kiefer asks how many armed men are coming, but Benton doesn't know and says he just needs Kiefer to hold them off until he gets back. Kiefer tells Benton to call the embassy to send some Marines, but Benton says he's been trying without success. "Go into my room. You'll find what you need in a locker under my sink." He says he's five minutes out, and begs Kiefer, "Don't let them take my kids. Don't let them take the children." Turning back to the school, Kiefer bellows at everyone to follow Thomas into the shelter. Willie's all worried about Desmond. "Your brother's with Mr. Benton," Thomas tells him, assigning him the job of ringing the bell to summon everyone in. Kiefer approaches Solenz the U.N. guy, who's just closing up the empty supply truck, and asks him if he has a weapon. Solenz thinks he has something better: his blue U.N. helmet, which he plans to put on in order to impress Juma's men into listening to reason. "Save your helmet for the parade," Kiefer sneers, telling him that two boys have already been shot. "The United Nations remains neutral in this matter," Solenz says, but when he sees the approaching plume of red dust over the nearest hill, he goes limp. "Still want to talk to them?" Kiefer says. "I didn't think so. Why don't you go hide in the shelter with the other children." Ooh, burn. It's like he's just asking to get slapped upside the head with a resolution, isn't he?

Juma's men approach as Thomas pulls Willie off the bell and into the one-room schoolhouse. Meanwhile, Kiefer has found Benton's arsenal: a sad little box containing two handguns, a few sticks of dynamite, and nothing else. Just what you need lying around when you're running a place populated by over a dozen young boys. Kiefer loads them into his backpack. The boys duck under a hatch beneath the classroom floorboards as Juma's men come into sight outside. They don't see Kiefer, scampering out of Benton's hut and off to a hiding place among the trees and outbuildings. Thomas is just about to close the shelter hatch, but Solenz comes running to join them first. Well, Kiefer should be glad that somebody's doing what he told them to do for once.

Led by Brother Dubaku, Juma's men roll up and jump out of their cars and jeeps, a dozen strong or more. It looks like the other kids they rounded up have been sent on ahead to the camp rather than being pressed directly into action, which is good because Kiefer might have felt bad about having to kill them. Brother Dubaku orders his men to fan out to find the boys, and from his hiding spot, Kiefer throws his first stick of dynamite, simultaneously taking a couple of the bad guys down and officially serving notice that it is motherfucking on.. His stick doesn't seem to blow up anyone, but it distracts Brother Dubaku's men enough so he can break cover and shoot a couple of them. This was bad planning on Kiefer's part, because it also gave one of the men a chance to open up on him with a goddamn antiaircraft gun or something. Kiefer races across way too much open grass and dives behind a tree, where the gun pins him down. Then he ducks behind an adjoining shack instead. From there he's able to shoot one more guy. Unfortunately, the guy he sees is carrying a bazooka. Does Dubaku always send his recruiters out loaded for bear like this when they're rounding up little boys? Although I can see how they might be useful for recruiting purposes: "Hey, kids, check this out!" baBOOM! "Okay, who wants to give it a try?" Seeing the rocket launcher, Kiefer makes a rare oh, shit! face and runs for it. The RPG hits the shack he was just hiding behind and blows it up, sending Kiefer sprawling to the ground with only smoke and wreckage for cover. Fortunately, another outbuilding is nearby, giving him a chance to duck out of sight and reload.

Brother Dubaku has apparently gotten bored with all this fighting, so he enters the relatively quiet schoolroom under which the kids are hiding. The boys sit quiet and fearful, looking up at the ceiling of the shelter as they listen to Brother Dubaku's footfalls above them.

One of Dubaku's men comes running around the corner of the storage shed, right onto Kiefer's knife. He dies without a sound, and Kiefer pulls a weapons upgrade by taking the dead man's assault rifle from him. Which he then points through the shed's window and uses to take out the bad guy lurking inside. As if aware of the losses his team is sustaining, Brother Dubaku gives up on the schoolroom and heads back out to rejoin the fray. His men and Kiefer are still shooting at each other. Taking cover behind a large fallen tree, Kiefer calmly checks his stolen clip. What he sees inside it prompts him to switch back to the TNT, as his last thrown stick takes out one guy and flushes out yet another, allowing Kiefer to pop up and empty the rifle's last few rounds into him before dropping it and haring off into the woods. Two men follow him along the path, but quickly lose him. That is, until Kiefer leaps down on them from a tree, now armed with nothing but his knife. Why he failed to sever both of their heads with it on the way down with it is uncertain; he's probably a little rusty and out of shape. Still, he holds his own against them hand-to-hand for a while, but when a third guy comes out of nowhere and rifle-butts him to the ground, the fight comes to an abrupt end. Kiefer's about to get shot as he lies unconscious on the path, but Brother Dubaku appears just in time, telling them to hold off until he tells them where the kids are. The unconscious Kiefer is dragged back toward the school. So with Brother Dubaku down to three henchmen, the score stands at Kiefer 8, Brother Dubaku 1. He can't exactly go back to base empty-handed after this, can he?

As his Land Rover approaches the school, Benton sees the smoke rising from the place, always a clear sign that Kiefer has been busy. Benton drives the vehicle out of sight into the trees a few hundred yards out. He gets a rifle out of the back, reassuring a now much more alert Desmond, "I'll be back in a bit." From a hiding place in the bushes, Benton watches through binoculars as Kiefer is tied up in a standing position, his arms stretched between the studs of a small, newer building that's just been framed. Wow, Dubaku's men work fast. Benton contemplates his move at 3:44:43. And I'm telling you, Robert Carlyle can contemplate like nobody's business.

At 3:49:42, a U.S. Army helicopter is lifting off from the Sangalan embassy. Outside, people are waiting in line to get in so they can be part of the evacuation. Stationed at the gate, checking people's papers, is our good friend Frank Trammel. He lets an American-looking guy through, but when a local woman cradling a baby reaches the head of the line, Trammel shuts her down. "U.S. citizens only," he says officiously. She begs for asylum, saying that Juma will have it in for her personally, since her husband died fighting him the first time. She makes a more...personal appeal. Trammel may or may not be considering it, but he finally says, "I can't. I'm sorry." Before he can get into exactly why he is sorry, he's called away to answer a call from Benton, who has finally succeeded in getting through. Trammel has to shout over the noise of a newly approaching chopper at 3:50:22. Fortunately for Benton, this is 24 and so people on the telephone only need to talk as loud as the ambient noise on their end of the call, which is good because otherwise he would have had to give away his position to Brother Dubaku in order to be heard. Benton tells Trammel about Juma's new army. "Yeah, we know," Trammel says mildly. "No one saw it coming, but he's got soldiers and they're moving in on the capital." Benton tells him they're at his school now. All four of them. Trammel says that all his Marines are busy with the evacuation, so Benton is on his own. Benton protests, "I've got fourteen kids hiding in a shelter, and one is gonna bleed to death if he doesn't get medical attention." All Trammel can do is offer to get Benton and his people out on the last chopper, if they can make it in by themselves within the hour. He hangs up. Well, I guess that's his final offer, then.

Down at the open-air torture chamber where Kiefer is getting worked over, he's claiming that the kids aren't at the school, and that Brother Dubaku is wasting his time. "That's why I killed eight of you trying to defend the place," he fails to add. Brother Dubaku responds by pulling a machete out of the crackling fire his men have built in the last five minutes, and pressing the heated blade to the side of Kiefer's head. Screams and the smell of charred velvet can be detected all the way over in the underground shelter. Brother Dubaku takes the blade away to give Kiefer a moment to cool off. As he does so, Kiefer happens to glance behind Brother Dubaku and notice that someone is flashing signals at him from a little copse of trees. It's Benton, waving around the rearview mirror he must have yanked out of his Land Rover, and signaling so deftly that nobody can see it but Kiefer. To sell what he's about to tell them, Kiefer pretends to weaken under the torture, and Brother Dubaku threatens him again, until Kiefer agrees to show him where the boys are hidden, if they'll just cut him loose. Brother Dubaku isn't that much of a dummy, so he insists on Kiefer telling him instead. Breaking down into fake sobs, Kiefer directs them not to the actual shelter, but to the spot where Benton is hiding. Let's hope he interpreted that signal correctly. Brother Dubaku sends his three remaining men to get them, while he stays with Kiefer and promises to kill him quickly. Kiefer fakes a grateful sob.

At 3:53:27, the men close in on Benton's hiding place as he cocks his automatic. And a moment later, Brother Dubaku hears the three shots that tell him he just got screwed. Lucky for Kiefer that Brother Dubaku was standing too close, which allows Kiefer to kick his knees out from under him and then wrap his stumpy little legs around the other man's neck. Brother Dubaku manages to reach his machete, which is fortunately when Kiefer manages to finally snap his neck. Kiefer and his killer thighs. Benton comes running up to cut Kiefer loose with some sharp exposition: Desmond's losing blood, the border is five hours away, and their only chance is to get the kids to the embassy in time for the evacuation, which ends in an hour. Fortunately, Benton has sponsorship papers handy so the kids can get asylum, unlike that poor woman earlier who didn't have anything to offer Trammel other than her hoo-hah. Benton says they have to go now, so Kiefer tells him to get going already, while he sits there nursing his wounds. Brother Dubaku and his men were pretty tough on him, so it may take him as long as a minute to recover.

Down in the shelter, Thomas reaches up to open the hatch, but Solenz tells him to stay put rather than endangering everyone. "We wouldn't have been in danger if you had done something about Juma, instead of looking the other way," Thomas responds. This is how Benton finds them, and he sends Thomas to get Desmond from the Land Rover while the other kids run for the bus. He assures a worried Willie that his brother will be all right. In the yard, while everyone gets on the bus, the brothers have a brief reunion. "It's not as bad as it looks," Desmond says bloodily. Benton realizes that Solenz is heading to his own supply truck, once again pleading neutrality. Benton was hoping for a U.N. escort, for all the good it would have done, but when he yells at Solenz to come back, Kiefer appears -- fully recovered, it would seem -- and tells him never mind. "He's just trying to save his own as because he knows the children are a target. You're going to need my help, Carl." He says that Juma will have roadblocks and checkpoints set up, but they might be able to dodge them using one of the walkie-talkies that Kiefer lifted from one of Juma's men. Benton gratefully promises that Kiefer won't have to go to the embassy with them -- just get help them get to the city and he can make a run for the border from there. It's 3:56:03, and we fortunately go to commercial rather than being subjected to an awkward discussion regarding whether Kiefer should be allowed to drive the bus, given his DUI record.

4:00:42. In three splitscreens, we see the impressive crowd assembled in the mall to witness President Taylor's inauguration. In the fourth, Chris the ratlike securities trader, having arrived later than promised, is being frisked by a Secret Service guy in Roger's entryway. Roger comes downstairs, now fully dressed, and calls off the agent. "Your friend is jacked up on something," the agent quietly alerts Roger quietly before heading outside. Now that Chris and Roger are alone, Chris thanks Roger for seeing him, but repeats that he's in big trouble. "Coke? Pills?" asks Roger wearily. Chris does the defensive thing, reminding Roger of his own Prince Hal days, which he claims weren't too long ago. With five minutes to talk, Chris tells Roger his story: Some time ago, Nichols called him into his office to put him on a "special project" to help recover some of Chris's personal losses in the stock market. Apparently it paid very well, and required Chris to do nothing more than keep quiet. Given what a motormouth Chris is so far, Nichols must have paid a lot. Roger asks Chris what he actually did, and Chris breezes, "Oh, you know, open a few offshore accounts, move a bunch of money in and out, that type of thing." Chris thought he was just being an accomplice to embezzlement, but a little research revealed that one of the accounts was connected to someone on a terrorist watch list. So now Chris wants to turn state's evidence. Roger mildly agrees that Chris should go to the FBI, but Chris is thinking bigger; could Roger's mom, the about-to-be-president, maybe help him cut a deal? Roger doesn't love the idea, but Chris guilts Roger into asking whether there's any evidence of the crime. Chris says Nichols told him to destroy it, but he sent it to his hard drive at home instead. Which I'm sure no one at work noticed. The girlfriend comes downstairs, wearing a bright red overcoat that tests the limits of the blue-gray D.C. filters, and she and Chris greet each other coolly. We incidentally learn that her name is Samantha. I assume that since she hangs out with Roger Taylor and Chris Whitley, her last name must be Fox. Roger sends her ahead to the car, promising to be right behind her. "See you at work later," Chris tells her. She didn't even take the whole day off for her boyfriend's mother's inauguration? That's dedication. Once she's outside, Roger agrees to take a look at Chris's records, if Chris will just e-mail them to him in an hour. "Clean yourself up, okay?" he adds. But should Chris do that before or after he sends the files? Roger needs to be clear about these things.

Meanwhile, in Sangala, Dubaku is going over some last-minute details on the upcoming invasion with the guys in his IT tent. Yes, I said IT tent. You knew there was going to be one. It's 4:04:33 as a soldier comes up to inform Dubaku that General Juma has arrived. Sure enough, here comes the man himself, played by Tony Todd, looking even more intimidating than usual in his fatigues and red beret and a scar over one eye. He's impressed with Dubaku's little set-up, even more so when Dubaku informs him that they're awaiting only his order to begin bombarding the city. Their conversation is interrupted by a call from one of the checkpoints. Over walkie-talkie, one of Dubaku's lieutenants informs him that they've nabbed a UN relief worker. Yes, that would be Solenz, although we're now glad to see that his nose has been bloodied a bit. And to save his own ass, he's rolled over on Benton and Kiefer and the kids, reporting that Dubaku's brother was ambushed and killed at the school. "He says that he can help us find the man who killed your brother," says Dubaku's soldier. Well, this should work out well for everyone involved.

4:05:46, the white Okavango School bus trundles down the dirt road with Benton at the wheel. Kiefer checks on Desmond, then heads up front to report to Benton that the kid needs to get to a hospital soon, lest he go into shock. "We're five kilometers from the city," Benton assures him. Kiefer tells Benton he's sorry about having to abandon the school Benton worked so hard to build. You know, the one Kiefer blew up. Benton starts to berate himself for having been naïve about Sangala's future, but their conversation is interrupted when their stolen walkie-talkie picks up a conversation between an angry Dubaku and one of his patrols, whom he's instructing to watch for the bus. Another of Dubaku's patrols calls in its position. Benton says that's right in front of where they are now, and as Kiefer yells at everyone to hang on, Benton drives the bus off the road into the bush. They watch the patrol drive past obliviously on the road right behind them. Luckily for them, they only received instructions to look for a big white bus on the road, not half-concealed by trees off it. It looks like Kiefer and his friends will have to go on foot from here, staying off the road and following the river. Thomas worries about Desmond, and thus gets himself drafted to help the wounded boy. That'll learn him. Everyone piles off the bus. Willie taking a moment to shove the scarf Kiefer gave him into the waistband of his pants. Man, that scarf is going to get someone killed. And I'm not even saying that as a spoiler, even if it is one. It's 4:07:53.

At 4:12:32 in the Oval Office, Daniels hands Taylor the "Decision Book. Master protocols for the command and control of our nuclear arsenal." It's in excellent shape, considering what it went through in Season Four. Daniels adds, "I never knew how much I didn't know until I read that book," not that it kept him from getting all trigger-happy last season. This copy awaits only the "gold codes" before Taylor is fully capable of melting Uzbekistan or whatever. She's ready to head out, but Daniels wants her to stay for a drink to toast to her administration. She declines, based on the earliness of the hour (hey, it's 4:13:21 somewhere), so he drinks alone. "To your administration," he toasts. "Thank you," she says graciously. "Thank you, Mr. President," he corrects quietly, like he wants to hear it one last time and is fully prepared to go all Cy Tolliver on her if need be. Instead of laughing in his lame-duck, half-termer face, she obediently and respectfully repeats it. Bottoms up, and she's out of there. Or so she thinks, until Daniels stops her by telling her that the pundits are all saying that he lost the election because his heart wasn't in it. She doesn't know what to say to that, and Daniels agrees, "Nothing about this job lends itself to simple answers. Just jagged edges and moving parts, most that you won't even see coming until they've smacked you in the head." Was that in his stump speech? If so, how could he have possibly lost? His last words to her are, "Be careful, Madame President. See you at the inauguration."

Out in the hallway, Taylor meets up with her husband, whose been waiting patiently all this time. She tells him right away about Sangala, and Daniels's decision to order the evacuation of the embassy. "Is it the right call?" he asks her. She doesn't care about that as much as being locked out of the decision. Well, that's a sign of an unselfish leader. Mr. Taylor wonders if Daniels is punishing her over the election, but she doesn't see Daniels as being that vindictive. "You think he has a reason for pulling out of Sangala before you took office?" asks Mr. Taylor. He offers to call someone named Ethan to look into it. But how is that going to get resolved in the 45 minutes? Oh, wait, never mind.

Some of Colonel Dubaku's patrols have found the bus where it was abandoned, and are on the walkie-talkie to Dubaku, who's trying to bark orders for pursuit at them. But Dubaku is interrupted by Juma, who says he's sorry about Brother Dubaku but he needs the colonel there for the invasion. An unintimidated Dubaku gets up in Juma's face and tells him that he only needs an hour to catch his brother's killer, or else he'll flee the country. After hearing that a pursuit force is ready to go, Juma cuts Dubaku loose for his little field trip. Dubaku and an armed squad file towards a white helicopter with its rotors already spinning. It's 4:17:17.

At 4:21:53, Chris lets himself into his very spacious and trendy loft. I don't care how much he lost in the stock market; giving up that sweet D.C. crib could have helped him come up with more than enough to cover it, unless he's living a secret double life as General Motors. He sits down at his computer and hooks his PDA to the USB port, and while he's waiting for the data to compile, a creepy POV shot of him from behind the stairway railing suggests that he's not alone. Not that he notices; he has the peripheral vision it takes to be a member of Dubaku's army. He takes a prescription bottle from his drawer, then throws it away. Well, Roger did tell him to clean up. Way to multitask. Suddenly he senses something off. Getting up, he wanders around, suspiciously checking his apartment. Bedroom: clear. Master bath: clear. But when he comes back out to the main room to return to his computer, there's a guy in a suit sitting in front of it. "Is this everything, Mr. Whitley?" the intruder asks calmly. Chris doesn't say anything; he just glances at the gun that's now sitting on the desk to his PDA, thinking, I didn't bring that in here, did I?The guy in the suit makes some accusations that Chris is stealing files from work, and he's just recovering them. "Is this everything?" he repeats. Chris starts babbling excuses, then admits that this is everything. The guy asks about a laptop, which Chris offers to let him check. Plus he has no hard copies, and he hasn't shown the files to anyone. The guy turns back to the monitor, and Chris has a moment to realize that he's just given his visitor no reason whatsoever to keep him alive. How to fix that? "Just erase it and take whatever you want and leave," Chris says. "We cool?" The guy nods, but suddenly another dude in a leather jacket and plaid shirt pops Chris on the head with a rolled-up newspaper, dragging him across the apartment and telling him they're not fools. Clearly Chris is dealing with the Oscar and Felix of enforcers. Oscar sits Chris down in one of his own chairs, and Felix tells him to open his shirt. "You're going to tell us everything you know," Felix says. And we'll know if you're lying." And worst of all, it's clearly going to involve duct tape.

In the back of the limo on the way to the inauguration, Roger and his girlfriend Sam are arguing about Chris. She wants to know what's going on, but he wants to respect Chris's request for privacy. The agent driving them -- the same one who frisked Chris earlier -- lowers the divider as sinisterly as possible and reports that they've arrived. As the agent walks around back to open Sam's door, Roger gets Sam to agree to drop it for now. They climb out and the agent stiffly grins at Roger, "Big turnout." "It's crazy, having a mother who's the hottest ticket in town," Roger agrees. The agent steps away to answer his cell phone, and who should be calling but one of the guys in Chris's loft? I knew there was something up with this agent the minute he lowered the divider in the limo. Felix reports that they've recovered the files, but are still trying to determine their level of exposure. "Find out and call me back," the agent says, just as a restrained Chris gets shot up with something in his arm. It's 4:27:12, and for an alleged habitual drug user, Chris is taking his injection like a big whiny baby.

It's 4:31:52, which is kind of surprising considering how much is still left to happen. And it's going to start in a minute. For now, Kiefer steps into a wide clearing while Benton hangs back with the kids. Kiefer determines that it's clear, by the simple expedient of waiting in vain to get shot at. While everyone follows him into the open, Benton hands Desmond off to Willie (Desmond's former keeper, Thomas, has his hands full with Benton's rifle for some reason) and talks to Kiefer in what passes for private out here. He says that he and the boys will take the road to the city that lies on the other side of the trees, so Kiefer is free to follow the riverbed to the border. "You'll get there before dark." Which will be quite a trick, considering that earlier Benton said that the border was five hours away. It must be closer here, a ten-minute bus ride and twenty-six-minute walk from where they started. Benton assures Kiefer that they'll be fine, and thanks him for his help so far. Kiefer extends his hand, with a gun in it butt first. Which was probably Benton's to begin with. Kiefer begins to go his own way, but stops short, because he hears something. So does Benton. Precious seconds tick away (one of them being 4:33:10) as they realize what we already have: there's a helicopter on its way, and they're totally exposed. Kiefer rushes everyone into the trees, but it's too late; they've been seen. Kiefer picks up a fallen child and runs with him as the chopper opens up on them from above, Benton valiantly returning fire from his handgun. Somehow everyone gets safely undercover in the trees. The fugitives dash through the woods, finally picking a hiding spot and causing Dubaku to order his pilot to set down so they can pursue on foot, instead of simply raking the foliage with machine gun fire or napalm or whatever else Jon Voight has set these guys up with.

Suddenly Kiefer and the kids are walking again, with Thomas back on Desmond duty. Willie realizes his scarf is gone. He turns around and sees it snagged on a bush they just passed, so of course he runs back to get it. Benton, bringing up the rear, crabs at him to stay with the group, but Willie ignores him, concentrating on freeing the scarf from the branches that have snagged it. Benton spots clusters of little wires poking up from the dust under Willie's feet; this must be one of those minefields that Dubaku was talking about earlier. Benton rushes forward in a panic, while Kiefer and the rest of the kids look back in confusion. "Don't move!" Benton yells at Willie, and then pushes him away, sending him sprawling into the dust. That certainly seems like the way to keep someone from getting blown up in a minefield. Against all odds, Willie and his precious scarf are safe. But in the process, Benton steps on the wire himself. A metallic noise echoes through the clearing, and Benton freezes. Kiefer comes running back as Benton tells Willie to stay away from him. Willie holds up the scarf that caused all this trouble, saying he didn't want to leave it. Benton says it's all right, with a lot more sangfroid than I would have managed in this situation. Willie would be in such a time-out right now if it were up to me. Kiefer finally realizes the situation when he spots another set of wire triggers poking up from the ground near Benton's feet. Telling the kids to stay where they are, he slowly approaches Benton, who's telling him to take the kids on ahead and get them to the embassy. Instead, Kiefer draws his knife and clears away some of the soil from around the mine so he can describe it to Benton. Apparently Benton is an expert on these, and knows the specs based on the Cyrillic lettering on the side that Kiefer reads to them. He tells us what we need to know: "I take my weight off and I'm Steve Coogan in Tropic Thunder." Only not in so many words. Kiefer wants to try to disable the trigger mechanism, and is even willing to try to work around the anti-tampering system. Wow, he really doesn't want to go to the embassy, does he? Benton insists that there's no time. "I can die like this," he says bravely. "Just take the kids to the embassy." Benton hands Kiefer a little folder full of the sponsorship papers that Trammel will need to see. In exchange, he asks for the rifle. "I can buy you some time, Jack. Maybe more." Kiefer hands the weapon over, and Benton sends him on his way. To the kids waiting up ahead, he promises to be right behind them. Kiefer shepherds them along the path, bringing up the rear but never looking back.

Upon realizing that this means he doesn't get to be in Season Seven, Benton's brave face drops away once there's nobody there to see it, and since it's Robert Carlyle he can break your heart just phoning it in. But this is no time for an Emmy reel; he hears Dubaku and his men combing the forest. At 4:38:12, one of Dubaku's lieutenants says they won't be able to follow them into the city. Dubaku isn't trying to hear that, but the man maintains that he talked to someone on their side who's already in the city, looking for Benton and Kiefer and the kids. But Dubaku insists on catching them himself, whatever it takes. Even if they have to give the city a name.

Benton finishes hastily reburying the mine under his foot, then raises his rifle over his head in surrender, waiting for Dubaku's men to spot him. Which they quickly do, partially because they just walked right past where he's standing. They close in on him with weapons trained while he slowly lowers the rifle to the ground and spreads his empty hands. So why did he need the rifle again? "Who are you?" Dubaku asks. "I'm Benton," says Benton. "Where's your friend?" Dubaku asks. "Which one?" Benton wise-asses. Dubaku shoots him in the arm for his trouble, nearly causing him to step off the mine. Dubaku asks again, Benton refuses to answer again, and gets shot in the other arm. Benton finally pretends to give up, acting like he's panting and crying too hard to speak clearly. This has the exact effect he wants, as Dubaku steps closer. "Bring him to me," Dubaku orders his men. As soon as one of them has Benton by the shoulder, Benton drops the pretense; he looks up and spits, "Go to hell." Dubaku has just enough time to realize that something's up, and it's about to be him.

Further ahead in the jungle, Kiefer hears a muffled roar echo through the trees. A mournful alto accompanies his sad face as he tells the kids to keep moving. Well, it could have been worse; how stupid would Benton have felt if that mine had turned out to be a dud? Right in front of them is an Eden-like valley, and beyond that, the capitol. It's 4:40:55. Are they going to be able to cover that much distance in twenty minutes? What do you think?

They can do even better than that; apparently they spent the commercial break hitchhiking. At 4:46:34, they've already made it into the middle of the city, which is packed with refugees swarming the streets. Thomas tells Kiefer that it's only two more blocks to the embassy, which they have to cover in ten minutes. Considering how quickly they got here from the edge of the wilderness, I think they can manage. Kiefer says he'll give the papers to Thomas to give to Trammel, since he's not coming with them. "Where's Mr. Benton?" Willie suddenly asks. Thomas bluntly tells him that Benton's not coming either, since he's dead. Although he leaves out the part where Benton is dead because of Willie and his stupid scarf, so it's not as blunt as it could have been. As if he hadn't done enough already, Willie freaks out and breaks from the group, trying to run back for Benton. Kiefer catches up to him and insists that whatever Willie thinks, Benton didn't lie. "He did what he promised all of you boys, and that was to protect you and make sure you were safe. Mr. Benton died to make sure that Juma's soldiers couldn't follow us. Mr. Benton died to make sure you could get to the embassy. Mr. Benton died to make sure that you would be safe." But most of all, Mr. Benton died because of the Spawn curse, which led a precious scarf into Willie's hands, and thence into a bush to a landmine, which Benton triggered in the course of chasing Willie clear. Kiefer also leaves that part out. Willie cries in Kiefer's arms for a minute before they rejoin the group. "It's what Mr. Benton would have wanted," Kiefer says.

But no sooner has he recommenced leading them all down the street than a singular figure appears from the crowd. Unlike everyone else, he carries no luggage, looks completely fearless, and is walking awayfrom the embassy. That, plus the long black coat he's wearing on a sunny January day in Sangala, triggers Kiefer's Spidey senses. He tells Thomas and the boys to take cover behind a nearby parked car and carefully advances through the crowd alone. Kiefer secretly draws his handgun as he walks toward the man, then levels it and shoots him just as he produces a machine gun. But as soon as the first man has gone down, there's a guy shooting at Kiefer from a balcony, sending the entire street into a screaming, running panic. As every civilian in sight somehow disappears, Kiefer dispatches that guy, then another shooter at street level, by cleverly using the open door of an abandoned refrigerator as cover. It was awfully sporting of the bad guys to take turns shooting at him like that. But just when Kiefer thinks he's in the clear, someone else has gotten the drop on him from ten feet away -- someone holding a machine gun on him, about ten years old, chanting to himself, "Kill the kokoroche...kill the kokoroche..." Yes, it's who you think it is, and he's just about ready to deliver another fatal shoulder wound. Trying not to freak out, Kiefer keeps his own gun leveled at the boy, asking the kid to lower his gun. Of course Willie pops out of the place Kiefer left the boys and goes running toward them, leading the other kids to run after him. Willie will just not rest until they're all dead. The boy with the gun spots them, and Kiefer follows his gaze, saying, "See those boys? They're just like you. I'm trying to get them out of the country, somewhere safe. Somewhere where no one can hurt them. Come with us." Kiefer slowly lowers his own gun as a gesture of good faith. But when a U.S. Army helicopter suddenly flies overhead, the kid drops his rifle and runs in the other direction. Oh, well, Kiefer doesn't have papers for him anyway. Kiefer collects his charges and they all run for the embassy.

At the U.S. capitol, while waiting in the receiving line for his mom, Roger quietly checks his phone, mentioning to Sam that Chris was supposed to send him something fifteen minutes ago. She quietly tells him to stow it, because down at the curb, the limo containing his parents is arriving. As they get out, they're greeted by Ethan, who I think was Wayne's Secretary of Defense last season. And now he's apparently good buddies with the person who ran against Wayne's ex-veep in the general. Politics in the 24-verse can be confusing sometimes. Ethan promises her a report on Sangala as soon as she's done with the inauguration. Dude works fast. Of course, in a 24 administration, you need to. The Taylors quickly make their way up the stairs to where Roger and Sam are standing, and they all share warm greetings. Taylor tells her son, "It's nice to see you on time for once." I hope I can take that as a sign that part of Roger's function throughout the upcoming season will be to always be late for stuff, make people wait around, and generally fuck up the timeline.

Not far off the other side of the line, Roger's Secret Service guy is having a discreet conversation with Hodges, who is still being played by Jon Voight. The agent assures Hodges that the Chris Whitley problem has been resolved; the files were recovered, along with a rare acetate of his debut album Living with the Law.. Without dropping his fake smile, Hodges asks, "How much does Roger Taylor know?" The agent blows it off, but Hodges points out that Taylor knows Nichols was involved, and Nichols could lead back to Hodges. The agent pooh-poohs this: "All he knows is that his desperate, drug-addicted friend told him some crazy story. He's got no evidence." Hodges is still worried about the Nichols connection. The agent insists, "Whitley's no longer a problem. We've limited the damage." "But you haven't eliminated it," Hodges says, his smile faltering for the first time despite the clever wordplay he just pulled off. "Keep your eye on Taylor," he says. Well, what better candidate for that assignment than Roger's very own Secret Service agent? How very convenient that he just happens to guard the best friend of the guy who was working for Nichols, who in turn was working for Hodges, who the Secret Service agent also works for, in secret. It's true what they say about D.C. being a small town.

At 4:52:52, Kiefer is at last leading Benton's boys, all holding hands, to the growing chaos at the gates of the embassy. People are pressed against the gate, screaming and thrusting limbs between the bars like they're trying to get into a Beatles concert. Somehow, despite all this, Kiefer forces himself and all the kids all the way to the front, hollering at everyone to stay together. When he reaches the gate, he yells to the nearest soldier that Trammel is expecting him. "Who are you?" the soldier asks. "Jack Bauer!" Kiefer bellows back. The soldier dashes off. In the time it takes for another helicopter to take off, Trammel shows up to talk to Kiefer. Kiefer tells Trammel about the 14 kids with R-1 status, one of whom needs medical care. "Where's Benton?" Trammel asks. Kiefer says he's dead, and Trammel turns away, bored. What a class act. Kiefer calls him back to offer him their sponsorship paperwork, which he thrusts through the bars. Trammel takes his time checking over them, and is eventually satisfied that they're in order. The only problem, Trammel says, is that they need the legal guardianship of a U.S. citizen. Gosh, where are they going to find one of those? Not getting it, Kiefer reminds Trammel that Benton is dead. "He died getting these children here! Plus I'm not sure he was a U.S. citizen anyway. Did you get an earful of his accent?" Except the last part. Trammel jumps into the opening Kiefer just gave him: "Then don't let him have died in vain! Surrender yourself to the subpoena and the ambassador will waive the issue of guardianship." Kiefer begs Trammel for mercy for the boys, but Trammel insists that it's all up to Kiefer, because he's just the type of That Guy who will blackmail you and then insist that the consequences are on you if you don't do exactly what he wants. Realizing this, Kiefer spits, "I don't have a choice, you son of a bitch. Open the gate." Trammel nods to a soldier, and a moment later Kiefer is inside, but without the kids. Soldiers roughly handcuff him, while he yells at them to let the kids in. It goes on just long enough for everyone to worry that Trammel's going to screw Kiefer again by leaving the kids out there, but eventually he has the soldiers let the whole group in. At least they'll all get to ride out on the same chopper together.

As two soldiers lower the U.S. flag in front of the embassy, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has begun swearing Taylor in. She takes the oath, with thousands of digitally rendered spectators spread out on the mall below them. We hear the whole oath as a splitscreen, which shows Kiefer frog-marched to a helicopter, surrounded by soldiers and the kids. Trammel watches smugly as they 're all loaded aboard, and Taylor launches into her inaugural address.

"When the founders of our country boldly declared America's independence to the world, they knew that they derived their power to govern from three basic human rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." An ironic splitscreen -- the first of many -- shows the weapons training of some of Juma's boy soldiers, currently in progress at Dubaku's camp. Taylor continues, "Today, we rededicate ourselves to the preservation of those inalienable rights." We see Roger in the audience, while elsewhere his friend Chris, covered in plastic sheeting with a bloody smudge over his forehead, gets buried in wet cement by Felix and Oscar. So it doesn't look like Chris is going to get to be in Season Seven either. "But even as we carry forth the torch lit by those great men," Taylor goes on, "we need to remember its light doesn't always shine as brightly as it should." Because, you know, Kiefer's in custody now. His chopper begins to wind up, more boy soldiers take their training exercises, and panicked civilians continue to reach through the embassy fence. "It flickers and grows dim because of apathy, greed, and fear. De Tocqueville said, 'in every democracy, the people get the government they deserve.' Today, I am asking each of you to help me give you the government you deserve." Well, that's a bold request. That sounds like something that will happen no matter what the people do. "We all share the responsibility history has placed in our hands. The future -- our future - depends on it." Thunderous applause. I think they liked the speech because it was short.

Kiefer's chopper lifts off from the embassy, just as the crowds of civilians break through the gate and come running towards the helicopter in a flood, moments after it takes off. As the aircraft quickly leaves the city's airspace, Kiefer looks down at the pastoral scenes scrolling below outside his door, either contemplating his uncertain future or marveling at how beautifully photographed it all is. Willie puts a reassuring hand on Kiefer's shoulder. Kiefer manages a brave smile for the kid's benefit, and somehow refrains from asking for his scarf back. And as the clock flips over to 5:00:00, it does so without a sound. Uh-oh, I hope that doesn't mean Desmond just died.

Feel redeemed? Me too. See you in January.

M. Giant is a Minneapolis-based writer with a wife, a son, and a number of cats that seems to have settled at around two. Learn waaaay too much about him at Velcrometer, follow him on Twitter (mgiant), or just e-mail him at M.Giant[at]gmail.com

Visit the 24 forums and get the latest TV news!