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The V-I-R-U-S is getting out, but we've got more important things to worry about. Kiefer goes from bad cop to good cop with Spawnders, and she helps CTU pinpoint her father's location. Bitchelle goes from V-I-R-U-S limbo to a clean bill of health, and she gets to leave Inn Fection. Palmer goes from tangling with Saunders to tangling with the media, and doesn't manage them much better. Potato Face goes from annoying to toxic, and Adam the Woman Hater has new focus for his hostility. Saunders is surrounded, but guess what? His guys have grabbed Bitchelle, and Saunders uses her to force Soul Patch to help him slip the net. Evil! But at least he got sidetracked and forgot to order the V-I-R-U-S released in San Francisco like he meant to. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Previously on 24: Saunders had the United States by the short and curlies, and he demanded the names of covert foreign agents. CTU discovered that Saunders has a daughter, and Kiefer wanted to question her. Spawn took the place of Spawnders so he could do just that. One of Saunders's minions tried to kidnap Spawn, but he missed the memo that said she ain't playing that anymore, and she shot him. The following takes place between 8:00 AM and 9:00 AM.
At CTU, America's top counter-terrorism agents are stepping up and doing what it takes to protect the nation; namely, they're having a meeting. Adam the Woman Hater brings everyone down by highlighting a map of the quarantine areas that are currently occupying three per cent of the city, and warns that "If containment isn't total, it'll grow exponentially." Soul Patch takes the floor and gives a pep talk to his troops, some of whom have been working for twenty-four hours straight. Maybe he could have let some of them nap for a few hours during all of that Kyle Singer/Mexico nonsense. That's what I did. Soul Patch's volume builds until he gets to the money line: "The V-I-R-U-S is out!" He really sold that because he knew it would land him in this week's promo.
Back at UC-Santa Barbara, Kiefer walks slowly up to where Spawn is sitting on the curb, having traded one kind of wig for a different, mostly internalized one. She assures him she's fine, though. Kiefer confirms that Jew 'Fro Xander Harris is dead, and Spawn takes it pretty well. Just then Forrester notifies Kiefer that Spawnders has calmed down a bit from the verbal clubbing Kiefer gave her earlier, and she might be ready to talk. Before Kiefer heads off to the AV trailer, he gives Spawn a kiss on the top of the head. Does he do that with all of his agents after they kill someone? If so, it might explain why Saunders is so bitter these days. He misses his kisses.
Palmer is just finishing up a phone call in his office when Brother Palmer comes in and reports on the semi-muffed operation to grab Spawnders. Brother Palmer shares his interpretation that complying with Saunders's latest demand -- whose deadline is up in fifteen minutes, by the way --would be an act of treason. Palmer agrees, but points out that if he refuses, Saunders will release more of the V-I-R-U-S. Did these two switch sides? Palmer wants to see what Kiefer gets out of Spawnders before he commits to a course of action. That's why he's the president, you know. He knows how to make the tough decisions.
In the AV trailer, Kiefer releases Spawnders from the handcuffs securing her to her chair. Thousands of people change the channel. It's 8:04:34. Kiefer sits across the table from her and quietly lets her in on what just happened to the guy who was protecting her, although he leaves out the fact that it was his own daughter that did the capping. Now Kiefer goes all good cop. He realizes that everything she's being told about her father must be a lot to swallow, so he's put together a little multimedia presentation for her benefit. Lights, please!
In Saunders's lair, the man of the house comes out of the bathroom. I guess some people do get to pee on this show, but only the villains. No fair. Fauxbayashi says that they still don't have the list of agents they demanded. Saunders is willing to give Palmer the full fifteen minutes until the deadline expires. Fauxbayashi also mentions that CTU is trying to get at him via the domain name, but reassures Saunders that protections are in place that will foil the awesome power of WhoIs.
8:06:12. A video display has been wheeled into the interrogation room of the AV trailer, and Kiefer announces to Spawnders, "I'm going to show you who your father really is." The first section consists of a few grainy photos of Kiefer and his Kosovo squad, including Saunders. Do covert operatives really take a photographer along to record everything? Doesn't that kind of make it a little less covert? On the other hand, that picture of Saunders and Kiefer, with the former looking off in the distance to where the latter is pointing, is straight out of the JC Penney catalog, so I can forgive it. Now that Kiefer has shared a bit, it's Spawnders's turn. She explains that Saunders contacted her some time ago to tell her he was alive and living in Europe under an assumed name, and that for his protection she couldn't tell anyone. Kiefer asks why Saunders contacted her after so many years, and Spawnders simply says, "He missed me." Kiefer drops his eyes and says he understands. People keep missing his daughter, too, and thus she is still alive.
Kiefer continues with the presentation, continuing to employ a weird, commercial-voice-over delivery that he's adopted for this scene. He shows Spawnders a couple of Interpol photos of her father meeting with illegal weapons dealers and manufacturers. Spawnders isn't convinced; she points out that her dad could have been meeting with international terrorists for any number of perfectly innocuous reasons. That's her issue with this? Not the fact that these "terrorists" could be anyone? On the other hand, the evil scowl and equally evil black leather jacket Saunders is wearing in these photos are pretty damning. He sure looks evil to me. Even though we can't see whether he's also wearing leather pants. But Kiefer's not done; he's got a recording of Saunders's latest demand and threat from the last time he spoke to the president. Spawnders sits through it blankly. While she's still processing that, Kiefer cues up a live video feed from Inn Fection, where hazmaticians are going about the business of managing the guests who are going about the business of dying messily. Spawnders looks like she's starting to get the message. Kiefer flips through a few video postcards of dead V-I-R-U-S victims for Spawnders's benefit, until she's finally had enough: "I don't want to see anymore." Say it with Kiefer, everyone: "I don't want to see anymore, either." Kiefer drops to a crouch in front of Spawnders and begs for her help. She counts to ten in her head and says, "I have a phone number." It's to contact Saunders if there's an emergency, and she's never used it before. Kiefer wants it.
Inn Fection. Bitchelle watches a pair of SWAT guys in facemasks drag a reluctant woman in a business suit towards the isolation area. Here's what I don't get: if the entire hotel has already been contaminated, who exactly is being protected by that flimsy plastic curtain? The same thought apparently occurs to the reluctant victim, because all the fight goes out of her as soon as she's behind it. I think it's all just another excuse for Bitchelle to look devastated. She goes into the hotel room she's set up as her office and sits down. Her finger goes to her nose as if she feels something damp there, but it's only sweat. I'm sorry, women don't sweat; they perspire. Some of them don't even perspire; they glow. This is the clue for the doctor to pop her spacesuited head in and tell Bitchelle that her lab results are on their way. It's 8:10:32.
At 8:14:45, the CTU agents in the AV trailer hope that the ambient blue light flatters them, a cadre of Secret Service agents steps off an elevator looking purposeful, and Saunders looks the opposite of purposeful. The Secret Service agents, led by that lipless gnome Aaron, make their way to Palmer's office, where they surround the Brothers Palmer in a way that even Palmer seems to find somewhat intimidating. When he asks what's up, Aaron reports that since Los Angeles is no longer safe, it's time for Palmer to leave the state. Yay! No more pointless Palmer scenes! Palmer would just as soon stay, but Aaron's not budging. Go Aaron! He's invoking Section 32 of something, which allows him to order the President to Air Force One. Palmer turns to Brother Palmer for backup, but all he gets is, "I'm not familiar with the specifics of the code but it seems Secret Service is invoking it." I can't believe this clown has the same job as Leo McGarry. Palmer pulls Aaron aside into an adjoining office for a private word. Blah blah, he wants to stand shoulder to shoulder with his people, face the threat with them, yadda yadda yadda. And I think this is as good a time as any to mention that I couldn't be more over Palmer if he were in a mine. For one thing, he's not that bright; for another, he only ever speaks in high-minded proclamations that are of no practical use; and for a third, every time he tries to solve a problem he just makes it worse. All of which, admittedly, makes him entirely believable as a President of the United States, but it gets kind of frustrating to watch. Anyway, Palmer prevails upon Aaron to agree to protect him in L.A. Aaron goes for "touched," but he's such a sourpuss that his expression comes out more like "you poor, dumb, doomed bastard." He returns to the outer office at 8:17:31, and all of the other Secret Service agents, who weren't present for Aaron's conversation with the president, follow him out into the hall without his having to say a word to anyone. I thought those wires they wear only went into their ears, but apparently they go all the way to the brain and render them telepathic. Eerie. After they're gone, Palmer's desk phone beeps with the announcement that the conference call is about to begin.
What conference call? This one: from CTU, Soul Patch has hooked up a call between himself, the Brothers Palmer, and Kiefer in the AV trailer in Santa Barbara. Soul Patch explains that it's going to take up to fifteen minutes to pinpoint Saunders's location, and Palmer resolves that he's not going to meet Saunders's latest demand. Kiefer makes sure the president understands that this means their only option will be to use Spawnders as a hostage. Palmer gives his blessing and drops off of the call. Soul Patch tells Kiefer that they're going to need to keep Saunders on the line for about a minute in order to trace his location. Kiefer hangs up and steps into the back room to put his hostage to work. Spawnders is reticent about calling her dad, but Kiefer reminds her that they're out of time.
It's 8:19:42, and Saunders apparently agrees. Fauxbayashi confirms that the list of agents has not been supplied. Now here's what I don't get: how hard would it have been for Palmer to put up a dummy list of fake names just to make Saunders think he had complied? I know things move fast on this show, and Saunders would have realized he'd been had sooner rather than later, but Palmer probably could have bought himself the fifteen minutes they need to trace Saunders's location. But no, they take the high road, so Saunders gets right on the phone and gives the order: "Release San Francisco." Right at that moment, his SpawndersPhone rings and he rescinds the order, telling the henchman on the other line that he'll call right back. Before he answers the SpawndersPhone, he orders Fauxbayashi to trace the call. He picks up. Spawnders, on the other end, whines quite convincingly about being scared of everything that's going on. Saunders makes that face we've seen Kiefer make so many times while on the phone with his own daughter. One's children can be so inconvenient when one is trying to [save/destroy] the world. Fauxbayashi breaks in with the news that someone is monitoring the call, and Saunders puts his daughter on hold to confirm it. It only takes him a few seconds to realize that "they've got her." Meanwhile, Forrester in turn announces that their trace is being traced. So much intrigue! Does Saunders know that they know that he knows? Before we can pursue this any further, Saunders gets back on the line and tells Spawnders to hand the phone to Kiefer. Yes, Saunders. You're very clever. You're the cleverest boy in the world. Of course, his request seems redundant since Kiefer's already listening in on a headset. But Spawnders gives him the phone, and Saunders throws off some threat action: "You know how many vials I have and what I'm capable of." Kiefer looks significantly at Spawnders and says quietly, "You know what I'm capable of too." Look as significant as you want, Kiefer, but the only one who can see you right now is the one whose cooperation you need. Saunders disconnects. The call ran ninety seconds.
Back at CTU, Soul Patch has Adam the Woman Hater and Potato Face scrambling to trace the signal. After a few seconds of rapid typing and furious monitor-scowling, they have a lock. What happened to fifteen minutes? And shouldn't somebody update the president? Kiefer orders the coordinates sent to his helicopter and Spawnders brought back to CTU. Obviously, Spawnders's importance cannot be overestimated right now; she represents the only leverage they've got against the man who holds millions of lives in his hands. So Kiefer wants her fully protected. And thus he is sending Spawn with her. Oh, brother. It's 8:22:44.
8:26:57. Bitchelle confers with a Handsome Black Agent, Soul Patch continues to not be debilitated by his fresh gunshot wound, and Kiefer's already aboard the CTU helicopter. Dr. Hazmat comes into the room where Bitchelle and Handsome Black Agent are working, hands each of them an unsealed envelope, and quietly withdraws. Handsome Black Agent fades into the background, as Handsome Black Agents do. Bitchelle opens her envelope and reads the page inside, even though we can't. She has an ambiguous and rather lengthy reaction, then calls Soul Patch: "I'm okay." Soul Patch, naturally, is thrilled. He wants her out of there ASAP, but Bitchelle assures him that any exposed person who's not infected has an immunity. So, again, why the isolation area inside the hotel? So confused. Bitchelle explains that they're going to be taken downtown and kept under watch at NHS headquarters for eighteen hours. They get all schmoopy, long enough to call down a big, stinky, crazy curse on themselves, and disconnect. But what about Handsome Black Agent? Is he also safe? Please. He's handsome. He's black. He's an agent. Do you need to ask?
It's 8:30:29. Palmer's press secretary, Poor Man's Scott McClellan, has assembled a couple dozen members of the media in a conference room. There are no cameras, microphones, or recording devices; just pissy journalists. Poor Man's Scott McClellan explains that Palmer's going to have a statement for them when he arrives, and he does his best to deflect their questions. Meanwhile, the Brothers Palmer are approaching and talking about stuff we already know. Palmer worries that nabbing Spawnders may have made things worse, and walks into the impromptu press conference with Brother Palmer at his elbow. He explains what's going on in the vaguest terms possible, dropping a reference to a "possible biological attack on American soil." But what he really wants the media to tell everyone is to stay home. Nice to see that this White House thinks the media works for them, too. A reporter asks whether the attack on the Los Angeles MI-6 office is related, and Palmer declines to answer. Then a woman near the head of the table starts getting shirty about the lack of information coming from the president's office. Brother Palmer signals to Poor Man's Scott McClellan to shut her down -- he's a very poor man's Scott McClellan indeed, if he needs to be signaled -- but Palmer steps in to be the voice of reason. He again tells everyone that the most important message is to tell people to stay home. It's weird seeing reporters right up in the president's face like this, with no podium or microphones separating them. It's also weird to see them not letting the president off the hook when his answers don't satisfy them, but this is just a TV show, after all.
Kiefer's airborne and talking to Special Agent Charlie Brown, who's en route to Saunders's location in his SUV. Kiefer's piloting the chopper himself now; I guess the agents who flew the Bauers to Santa Barbara will have to walk home. Kiefer doesn't think Saunders is aware that CTU has his location, probably since phone traces took a lot longer when Saunders was still a company man. He wants Special Agent Charlie Brown to surround Saunders's building quietly and keep everyone out of sight. Adam is also in on the call, and Kiefer instructs him to keep a close eye on the feed from the surveillance satellite and keep everyone posted on people going in and out. He wants Potato Face watching too. "Listen, everybody," Kiefer finishes. "This is our time. Get it right."
"Our time" is, in this case, 8:33:19. Fauxbayashi is agitating to fly the coop, but Saunders refuses. He knows that CTU has their location and is watching on satellite. He assures Fauxbayashi that they'll slip away after they're surrounded. Fauxbayashi's not going for it. "I'm leaving, Stephen." But then he stops and turns, as if waiting to see what Saunders does to stop him. The answer, as it turns out, is a bullet to Fauxbayashi's chest. Well, that was simple. Saunders checks his watch and goes to the windows, a few cracks appearing in his veneer of cool. He calls a henchman on the phone to ask if "she" has left yet. "She" hasn't. Saunders says, "She will. Stay on her. We're going to need to do this soon." He hangs up.
Meanwhile, Spawn and Spawnders, back in their own clothes, are being led to a four-door sedan. As Team Spawn gets in the back seat, Spawn seems to notice a suspicious character lurking near the police barricade. She tries out a thoughtful expression, but that causes her to look away, which in turn causes her to forget what she was just worried about. Oh, well. It's 8:34:48.
8:39:01. Kiefer flies, Saunders gets ready to skedaddle, and Team Spawn rides toward Los Angeles. Spawnders asks where in L.A. they're taking her, and Spawn tells her CTU -- Counter Terrorist Unit. Spawnders is still trying to get her head around the fact that her dad's a terrorist. How's that foot taste, Spawn? Spawnders works through her daddy issues, while Spawn, to her credit, doesn't try to relate with stories about how difficult it was for her to learn that her own dad is a world-saving super-agent. ["Who got her mother killed, which seems also to have slipped Spawn's 'mind.'" -- Sars] Spawnders asks what's going to happen to her dad, and Spawn just says, "My dad's going to try to bring him in." My dad can arrest your dad.
Kiefer's still in the helicopter. Hey, it's pointed in the other direction now! Kiefer, are you lost? Kiefer confirms with Adam that nobody has left Saunders's building and that the LAPD are set up a block away and out of sight. Kiefer says he'll be there in a few minutes. Not if he doesn't turn around, he won't. Meanwhile, Potato Face is just getting off the phone, having heard some news that doesn't appear to please her (not that anything does. Ever). It's 8:41:44. She galumphs over to where Soul Patch is in the middle of another meeting and insists on talking to him right now. She's just learned that Adam's sister is in one of the quarantine zones and has tested positive for the V-I-R-U-S. Soul Patch takes this news as if Adam is about to be demoted. Now that he knows his wife is okay, not much gets to him, it seems. He'll be paying for that attitude before long. Soul Patch moves to break the news to Adam, but Potato Face blocks his way: "You're not going to tell him, are you?" Soul Patch says he has to. Potato Face jabbers about whether it's a good idea to jeopardize Adam's concentration in the midst of an important operation. Why'd she tell Soul Patch, then? She even puts her hands on the walls on each side of the passageway, effectively blocking Soul Patch's escape. Subtle, that. Soul Patch speaks for two-thirds of the viewing audience when he says, "Chloe…" Wait for it… "I'm getting real tired of your personality." Pow! Potato Face says she's just trying to help. Soul Patch tells her to get back to work, and blows right by her.
He goes up to where Adam is monitoring the satellite feed and pulls him away. Adam doesn't want to move, but Soul Patch assures him that Potato Face will watch the feed. When will she watch it, Soul Patch? Because right now she's just standing where you left her, looking wounded, nowhere near a computer monitor. Soul Patch tries to lead Adam to a conference room, but he's all in a twist to get back to work and insists that Soul Patch tell him what's up right now. Soul Patch does. Adam doesn't take it too well. I'm thinking that if three per cent of the city is in quarantine, everyone at CTU is likely to know somebody who's behind a plastic curtain. Adam's in denial, but Soul Patch assures him that Potato Face confirmed it. Maybe that's something Soul Patch should confirm himself? I'm just saying. Adam is frozen in shock. I guess he doesn't hate all women. Soul Patch asks whether Adam can pull it together long enough to get through the day, and Adam spacily nods. Soul Patch leaves him standing there on the mezzanine. Chloe continues to stand in the spot where Soul Patch left her, looking all scrunchy-faced. Adam stands there some more.
8:44:35. Saunders is telling someone on the phone that he's completely surrounded. Where does he find all of these empty buildings, anyway? Of course, he doesn't know that nobody is watching the satellite feed of his building at the moment. He does know that the security guard a block away missed his last patrol, which tells Saunders that CTU is in the house. He tells the person he's talking to that he's going to wait for Kiefer. Too bad he shot Fauxbayashi; otherwise he could still be doing all of this expository dialogue face-to-face.
A block away, Special Agent Charlie Brown is briefing a team of agents on the situation with the perimeters and snipers and whatnot. Kiefer hops out of an approaching car. Wow, twenty-two minutes to travel the ninety-some miles back from Santa Barbara? He must have had a stiff headwind on the return trip. Kiefer is on the scene for all of twelve seconds -- long enough to confirm that they haven't jammed Saunders's communications or been able to get an infrared reading on him through the building's walls -- before a reflection in a laptop monitor lights up his Kiefer-sense and tells him that Saunders knows they're there. "What makes you say that?" asks Special Agent Charlie Brown. Kiefer says, "Because I would." However, Kiefer doesn't know why Saunders isn't trying to escape, and he doesn't care. I guess that Kiefer-sense isn't always a hundred percent. He gives the order for the teams to move into position. Cops and agents, including Agent Baker, swarm around the building, guns ready. Kiefer and Charlie Brown ride into place while hanging out the side doors of an SUV, which, I'm sorry, looks like just about the dorkiest thing ever. Hey, remember two hours ago when Special Agent Charlie Brown and two other agents stormed a building in, like two minutes, silently killing five guards? Not so much with that this time around. Apparently stealth isn't a priority when a threat deadline has already passed. Kiefer's got a bullhorn and everything. Through it, he tells Saunders that the president isn't playing ball any more, Spawnders is in CTU custody, and the only way Saunders is going to get out of this alive is "coming through the front door with your hands on your head." Cut to Saunders just sitting at his desk, wondering if he should have gone with the slate-gray turtleneck rather than the charcoal, not calling his guy in San Francisco like he said he would, and saying to himself, "That's not exactly true, Kiefer." Whatever could he mean by that?
I hope it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that the car carrying Team Spawn is just pulling up to a railroad crossing. The train passes between the Team Spawnmobile and the black CTU SUV it's been following. Full protection, just like Kiefer said. After a moment, a figure on a motorcycle pulls up right to them. The biker is wearing head-to-toe black leather and a black helmet with a shaded face shield, and is close enough to the car to punch through Spawn's window, grab her by the hair, and haul her out onto the pavement. That very thought seems to occur to her, but she keeps any concerns to herself. Hey, Spawn? We've told you to shut up many, many times, and you pick this moment to listen to us? Nobody else in the car seems to notice the suspicious fellow traveler. It's official: Spawn's intelligence vacuum has become so powerful that it's sucked the brains out of the trained agents in the front seat. It's 8:48:22.
8:52:35. Kiefer wonders what Saunders is up to, Saunders wonders what Saunders is up to, and Bitchelle climbs into the back of a white van with two other presumably uninfected people. A Handsome Black Agent closes the door behind them, then teleports into the driver's seat. Seriously, in one frame he's walking to the front of the van, and in the he's behind the wheel with the door closed. Pretty suspicious, if you ask me.
At CTU, Potato Face gets up from her computer and charges over to where Adam is moleti-- excuse me, multi-tasking his satellite monitoring and his Kubler-Ross. She pulls him away from his screen, ordering someone else to take over for him for a molement. I mean, moment. She also flags down Soul Patch to tattle that Adam's screwing up his monitoring. Apparently there's mole to it -- I'm sorry, more to it than just staring at the screen. And as Potato Face sensitively observes, Adam is "under duress because his sister's going to die." Going by the way Adam is looking at Potato Face right now, his sister's not the only one. Adam reaches for the nearest keyboard to prove that he didn't foul up, but he can't. He has to admit that Potato Face speaks the truth. Soul Patch is ready to cut him some slack, and Adam claims that he can get through the rest of the day without making another molestake. Did I say "molestake"? I meant "mistake." Soul Patch extracts himself. As Adam heads back to his workstation, Potato Face latches onto him: "I want you to know that I don't agree with Soul Patch's decision. But since you're going to stay, I'm going to check your logs every ten minutes in case you screw up again." Adam moles that over. I so hope he's her Secret Santa this year. It's 8:54:57.
Back at Saunders's building, the standoff continues. I wonder how things are in San Francisco. Saunders calls Kiefer's cell phone to congratulate Kiefer on finding him. Kiefer tells Saunders to come out, but Saunders prefers not to. They jibber-jabber for a minute, Saunders brings up his eleven vials, Kiefer brings up Spawnders, and Saunders hangs up. I'm not sure what the point of that was, except to give CTU a chance to confirm that Saunders is in the building, which they have. Saunders's computer monitor has a display of the immediate vicinity, with the surrounding cops showing up as white dots. I could get to work a lot faster if I had one of those, I bet. He's syncing it up to a handheld device when his phone rings. "Is it done?" he asks the caller. "It" is. He tells the caller to stay on the line, and dials another number.
At CTU, Soul Patch's phone rings. Hmm. It's Saunders. He tells Soul Patch he's calling with "an update on the situation." Well, isn't that right neighborly of him? He instructs Soul Patch to go somewhere private, but where he can still communicate with the ground teams, and also take a look at the IP address 257-211-16-5. Soul Patch looks suspicious, but he moves to comply. Saunders congratulates Soul Patch on Bitchelle's good health. Wow, he is getting really good intel somehow. Soul Patch is the first to ask him about that, but the question fades in importance once he's entered the IP address. It's what appears to be a real-time webcam shot of Bitchelle, bound, gagged, and with a hooded henchman's arm around her neck. Gah! Can nobody catch a break around here? And by the way, nice misdirect there with Team Spawn at the railroad crossing. I'd say more, but it's hard to talk with this fishhook in my mouth. I'm also wondering how Saunders's guys hijacked the van of uninfected people, which I would dub the Clean Machine if I thought I would ever have cause to mention it again. Soul Patch is maddened with fear for his wife, and also just plain maddened, but Saunders just wants him to order the agents at the southwest corner of his building to change positions. Soul Patch tries to weasel out of it, saying he doesn't have the authority, and Saunders pleasantly instructs his henchman to "take out an eye." You know, I try not to judge people to quickly, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say, Saunders? Not a nice person. Soul Patch caves before Mrs. Soul Patch becomes Eye Patch, and Saunders gives him thirty seconds to get the agents out of his way. It's 8:58:29.
The shot of Soul Patch shrinks into the left half of the screen, incidentally symbolizing the box he's in. On the lower right, Brother Palmer yells at Poor Man's Scott McClellan while Palmer sits there wondering what all this has to do with him. Upper right, Kiefer and Special Agent Charlie Brown wait for Saunders to come out. Potato Face and Adam stare at their screens and at each other some mole-- I mean, more! They stare some more! Team Spawn continue on their way, wondering if they'll be able to convince the agents driving them to stop at the outlet mall in Camarillo.
We go back to full screen just as Baker gets the call from Soul Patch to head for the front door of the building. Baker doesn't go for it at first, but Soul Patch convinces him to move. I imagine the genuine urgency in his voice helps. Baker clears everyone out, including the snipers on the roof across the street. Suckers. Saunders steps out the back door and consults his Cop GameBoy. It tells him the coast is clear, and he strolls jauntily down the street, case in hand. Soul Patch stands in the hallway at CTU, leaning against a wall and trying to calculate on how many levels he is fucked. It's 9:00:00.
week on 24: CTU raids an empty building, Saunders threatens Bitchelle some more, Lady Mac will deny something to her grave, Palmer is in an awkward position over a murder, Soul Patch has some 'splainin' to do, and Kiefer's looking at him in a way that makes me want to confess. Brr.