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Due to some graphic violence, viewer discretion is advised. Now I know they're tacking that on every episode.
Previously on 24: Bitchelle told Soul Patch that someone had evaded the lockdown at Inn Fection without ever knowing he'd been exposed. The man in question got a nosebleed. Saunders forced Palmer to order the death of Chappelle. Special Agent Charlie Brown tried and failed to nab Saunders before the 7:00 AM deadline. Kiefer asked Saunders why he was doing this, and Saunders told him he wouldn't understand. Kiefer brought Chappelle to a train yard and shot him point-blank in the melon. The following takes place between 7:00 AM and 8:00 AM.
Kiefer stands over Chappelle's body, looking sad and wondering why his ex-boss's head is so intact. Sorry, Kiefer, it's network TV, and that viewer discretion warning will only let you get away with so much. No brain matter and skull fragments for you. There's not even much blood. Chappelle's definitely dead, though. The black van driven by Saunders's men pulls up, the passenger in the shotgun seat holding a pistol on Kiefer. Worst shotgun rider ever. Kiefer aims his own gun at the armed man. Shotgun gets out of the van, along with two other guys from the back. They're all dressed in black clothes and black ski masks, and so is the driver. Kiefer and Shotgun continue to hold their weapons on each other as the other two henchmen run a tricorder over Chappelle's body. "He's clean; there's no tracker," one announces. They're giving CTU credit for more intelligence than it has. Chappelle's body is bundled into the van. Paul Schulze's name is in the opening credits, by the way, even though he's only in this scene and one other and has no lines in either. Shotgun tells Kiefer that if he tries to follow the van, Saunders will release the V-I-R-U-S. The men in black pile into the van while Kiefer continues to hold his gun at the ready. I don't know why he's bothering; if I'm right about what happened at the end of the last episode, his gun is empty. Plus there are four of them and one of him, so if they decide they want to rock and roll, the odds are not stacked heavily in Kiefer's favor. The van screams off. Kiefer calls Brother Palmer to report. Brother Palmer just says, "Thanks, Jack," and hangs up. Kiefer manages to not blush in the face of Brother Palmer's effusiveness.
Palmer sits at his desk, apparently trying to see the future in its highly polished surface. Brother Palmer comes in to give him the news about Chappelle. Palmer is bummed. He tells Brother Palmer what happened and why -- entirely for our benefit, because Brother Palmer was the one who talked him into agreeing to Saunders's demand in the first place. But Palmer's had enough: "I will not cave in to any more of this terrorist's demands." Nice of him to sack up while Chappelle's skull is still bleeding. It's like, "Okay, I had one of our guys killed, but that's it. I mean it this time. I'm totally serious." Brother Palmer reminds him that Saunders is still calling the shots unless Palmer wants him to kill more people. Palmer thinks this over, and has a sudden brainwave: "Convene the Cabinet." Wow, things really are desperate if Palmer's ready to go so far as to consult his advisors.
“ He figures Saunders has someone watching his daughter, so they're going to have to switch her with one of their agents to keep Saunders in the dark about what's going on. Ladies, doesn't Kiefer fill out those Bad Idea jeans nicely? ”
At CTU, the techs have finished what Chappelle was working on, and have found out that Saunders has been transferring $10,000 a month to someone we never knew existed until now: his daughter, Jane Saunders. They've pulled her driver's license, and Spawn has an enlargement of Spawn of Saunders -- or, as we'll be calling her, "Spawnders" -- up on her screen. She seems to be marveling at the technology that makes this possible. I'm just wondering who cleans all the Wite-Out off of her monitor after she goes home every day. The photo of Spawnders shows a young woman who looks a tiny bit like Spawn, but with longer, brown hair and a pointier chin. This will be significant later. They've already learned that Spawnders is nineteen, and she lives and goes to college in Santa Barbara. Soul Patch gives the order to have the Santa Barbara police put on standby to pick her up. Just then, Kiefer calls with the news about Chappelle. He sounds a little weepy. Soul Patch tells Kiefer about Spawnders and how he was planning to have her picked up, but Kiefer puts the kibosh on that. Having someone to order around improves Kiefer's mood immediately. He figures Saunders has someone watching his daughter, so they're going to have to switch her with one of their agents to keep Saunders in the dark about what's going on. Ladies, doesn't Kiefer fill out those Bad Idea jeans nicely? Soul Patch points out that it's going to be tough to pull this off in the half-hour (and where he got that deadline I'm not at all sure), but agrees. Soul Patch goes to Potato Face and has her do some search to find CTU agents who physically resemble Spawnders. Where could this possibly be going? Potato Face complains about having to actually work quickly here at the Counter Terrorism Unit, so Soul Patch tells her -- wait for it -- "just do it." There are a couple of words before and after that, but that's the message. That Potato Face. She's like a highly localized, walking Nike target demo. ["Nike makes vests?" -- Sars]
, Soul Patch calls up Bitchelle at Inn Fection to ask about her test results. Guess what? Even though she said it would be another hour at around six, and it's now 7:07:21, it's going to be yet another hour. Bitchelle explains that the results couldn't be interpreted on location, so they had to send them back to the lab. Whatever. They're obviously just putting off the resolution of this until they can spend a decent amount of time on it. That's fine, but when it comes it had better be good. Bitchelle says that National Health Services has things under control, so she needs more to do. Soul Patch says he'll have Adam the Woman Hater send her some of his work as Bitchelle watches a hazmatician wheel a covered corpse past her on a gurney. The body's right hand is peeking out from under the sheet, and it looks like it's been deep fried. Bitchelle rings off.
Back at CTU, Soul Patch asks Adam to send Michelle part of his work, and he agrees readily. I guess it's fine if the order is coming from a guy. Adam also updates Soul Patch on Bill from Hill. They've talked to Mrs. Bill from Hill and they know he's been home, but he's left again and they don't know where he is. NHS is going to do their containment thing, and Special Agent Charlie Brown is being sent to talk to her. What about the failed Saunders raid? Doesn't he need to be debriefed? Ew, I can't believe I said that.
“ Spawn ignores the giant red neon sign that that has just appeared over Soul Patch's head and is flashing the word 'JINX.' ”
As Kiefer choppers back to the office, Palmer calls him up with some questions about Saunders. Kiefer gives him the bullet, but Palmer wants analysis. Kiefer advises Palmer to keep agreeing to Saunders's demands. Palmer thanks him and hangs up. It's 7:09:46.
Potato Face comes into Soul Patch's office and hands over a list of the ten agents who most resemble Spawnders, complete with photos. Soul Patch isn't thrilled to see that the closest one is in San Francisco. He asks for eleven though twenty, and Potato Face hands over another list. Soul Patch looks surprised, and not a little apprehensive. He confirms the results with Potato Face, and looks down through his glass office wall at Spawn, who looks like she's just become aware of the mysterious correlation between what she does with the keyboard and what shows up on the screen. Soul Patch calls her up to his office and dismisses Potato Face, along with the concerns she voices. As Spawn and Potato Face pass on the stairs leading to Soul Patch's office, Potato Face jerks her head around to look at Spawn as though something's about to pop out of her cleavage. Which, going by the view from this angle, could be just about anything. When Spawn arrives, Soul Patch sits to her on his casting couch and gives her the sitch. He's not going to order her to do it, but he promises her that it "shouldn't be too dangerous." Spawn ignores the giant red neon sign that that has just appeared over Soul Patch's head and is flashing the word "JINX." She calmly agrees. It's 7:11:59.
At 7:16:28, Saunders thinks, Palmer thinks, Kiefer pilots, and Spawn and Soul Patch come down from his office together. Kiefer's going to be pissed when he gets back; that's almost four and a half minutes they were up there unaccounted for. Spawn stops by her desk before leaving, and Potato Face wants to give her a whole spiel about how she doesn't think Spawn should go, and field work isn't "learn-as-you-go" (which might be news to Special Agent Charlie Brown), but she's behind Spawn a hundred and ten percent and she hopes nothing bad happens to her. Spawn, irritated, snaps at Potato Face to get to work on prepping for the mission that she's going to be coordinating. Potato Face says, "I like your energy, Spawn. Use it." Hee! God help me, I might be starting to enjoy her. Spawn breaks stride as she's walking away, but doesn't dignify Potato Face's advice with a response. Potato Face asks Adam the Woman Hater to send her the info she needs to get ready, but Adam is too busy eavesdropping on Special Agent Charlie Brown out in the field. It's 7:17:37. I don't know why it's so important for Adam to do this, other than to create a smooth transition into the scene.
Which is Special Agent Charlie Brown asking Mrs. Bill from Hill whether he was showing any symptoms earlier in the morning. Somehow Special Agent Charlie Brown got back to CTU, changed his clothes, scored himself a full-head respirator mask, and got himself to Bill from Hill's house in thirty minutes. No full hazmat suit for Charlie Brown, though; it's not like he's covered with fresh wounds or anything. Mrs. Bill from Hill is confused as to why Special Agent Charlie Brown and the two similarly-attired agents behind him think Bill from Hill is sick, and Charlie Brown has to explain about how Bill from Hill was at Inn Fection earlier that morning. Awkward. Mrs. Bill from Hill finally picks up the clue phone that's been ringing right in her ear for the past forty-five minutes: "He did it again, didn't he?" Oh, boy. "I hope he did get something. I hope that he dies." Mrs. Bill from Hill starts to freak while Charlie Brown tries to calm her down and his sidekicks prevent her from leaving. Before she can get good and wound up, though, a hazmatician appears with a bloody facial tissue that he found in the bathroom wastebasket. The blood is tacky, which means it's fresh, which means that even Special Agent Charlie Brown is able to conclude that Bill from Hill is now Ill Bill (tm Roachford). Special Agent Charlie Brown gives one of his men an order to contact every ER and urgent care center in a thirty-mile radius. Considering how fast Ill Bill moves, I'd think the guy could just step outside the front door and holler for him.
Ill Bill, meanwhile, is ransacking the shelves at the pharmacy, ruining another handkerchief, and getting his death-cooties all over everything. He asks the pharmacist what he should take to stop an hour-long nosebleed, and the pharmacist can only suggest he go to an ER to have it cauterized. On his way out he bumps into a middle-aged lady, who looks annoyed at his rudeness. She doesn't know the half of it.
In a conference room at CTU, Spawn is getting briefed on her upcoming mission. She's working very hard to display her intelligence and alertness by way of impeccable posture. It's 7:19:27. A de-flak-jacketed Kiefer blows into the office looking for Soul Patch, and Potato Face directs him to the conference room where he's meeting with Spawn. But she manages to do it in a way that turns Kiefer's entire face into one big red flag. Soul Patch glances through the conference room's glass wall, sees Kiefer coming, and steps out onto the floor to head him off. Kiefer wants to know what's up with Soul Patch and Spawn. Okay, first of all, Kiefer, he's her boss, and secondly, where were you while they were spending the whole commercial break on his couch? Soul Patch explains about Spawn turning up as the best available match for Spawnders. Kiefer gives this sort of dangerous chuckle, if you can imagine such a thing, and says, "My Spawn?" I'd say he's against it, but saying that would be like saying he didn't care for Nina. Tension between the two men escalates rapidly, while the subject of their disagreement glances out at them. I wonder what they could be talking about, she thinks. And the blond one looks kind of familiar. Kiefer tries to charge past Soul Patch, but Soul Patch stops him with a hand on his chest. In the second, there is shoving and pushing and Soul Patch's neck bandage pops off and he bleeds out in about ten seconds. Well, except for that last part, but wouldn't Kiefer feel like a jerk if that happened? Soul Patch yells that Spawn works for him, not Kiefer. Kiefer just points a finger at him and says, "Don't..." Man, I hate it when people don't finish their sentences. It just makes me