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In the wake of last hour's successful bombings, Fayed issues a new demand: release 110 prisoners from a local military prison within the hour or else. Wayne can't give in fast enough. Kiefer's still working with Assad to find Fayed, and convinces Assad to let him bring CTU into the loop, although Curtis is quite unhappy about working with Assad. Ahmed takes Scott's whole family hostage, and when it turns out that his leg wound is going to prevent him from running his errand of terror (or his "terrand," as I like to call it), he sends Dad instead, keeping the others as leverage. Except the guy with the vital item jacks up the price, forcing Dad to kill him for it. Tension continues to rise between Milo and Morris at CTU, with Chloe attempting to mediate, which is totally through-the-looking-glass. Sandra Palmer and her boss/boyfriend Walid end up at one of Tom's "detention facilities," but since Sandra's the President's sister, she gets cut loose while Walid continues to be held and ends up in even deeper trouble than before. Disbar her ass, now. Assad, Kiefer, and Curtis track one of Fayed's men to a self-storage facility, but he blows the place up -- and himself -- rather than be arrested. But there's enough evidence left in the charred remains to tell them that one of the prisoners currently being freed at Fayed's orders is not only a terrorist but also a nuclear scientist. Who, as they speak, escapes custody, presumably to rendezvous with Fayed and his recently acquired atomic bomb. Yeah, like that threat's ever going to pay off. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Kiefer dashes through the streets near the still-unbombed Union Station. True to his word, he quickly finds Assad, because their blossoming love knows no obstacles. Assad pulls the stolen Echo up to the curb and opens the passenger door for Kiefer. Which he can pretty much do by shrugging. Kiefer hops in and confirms that Fayed's man is still in sight up ahead.
Said man gets a call on his cell phone from Fayed, who wants to make sure the Handler is still on schedule. "There was some traffic around Union Station," the Handler excuses. Gee, whose fault is that? Fayed tells the Handler there's been a change in plans, and that he needs him to make a stop in Newhall: "I'm making the call."
Buchanan's on the line with the Oval Office, giving the latest casualty figures from the morning's attacks from around the country, and things sound pretty grim. Even worse, the site of the Chicago bombing has somehow been relocated to St. Louis, no doubt leaving a path of destruction and severe confusion in its wake. On the bright side, they've confirmed that Kiefer stopped the L.A. subway bombing, and that he's working with Assad. Of course, they haven't been able to contact Kiefer since they didn't listen to him earlier. "I didn't listen," Wayne corrects bitterly. Nobody bothers arguing with him, even though Tom and Karen are in the room, too. Bill learns from Nadia -- and relays to Wayne -- that Fayed just happens to be calling right now and wants to talk to the President. Wayne takes the call.
Fayed does the expected gloating about how he's proved what kind of mayhem he can accomplish: "But I'm prepared to offer you a cease-fire if you meet my demands." Wayne, to his credit, points out that meeting Fayed's demands hasn't worked out that well for him up to now, but he asks what Fayed wants anyway. Fayed demands that 110 "enemy combatants" currently being held at Palmdale Military Facility be on a non-military plane and in the air by the end of the episode. Wayne angrily says that's not enough time, even if he wanted to, which he doesn't especially, but Fayed's like, take it or leave it, dude, and hangs up. Wayne asks Karen if this is really what the attacks have been about all along, and she's quite doubtful that this is really Fayed's end goal. Wayne tells Buchanan, who's still on the line back at CTU, to contact Palmdale and see what it would take to comply with Fayed's demand. I'm thinking it would probably take most of the day just to find that out, but this is 24, after all. After Wayne hangs up, Tom remonstrates with him, saying that Fayed can't be trusted. Plus the thought of more Muslims on the streets makes Tom all bunchy. Wayne agrees with Tom about Fayed, but hopes that going along with it will buy them enough time to find Fayed and stop the attacks. Even Karen calls the Palmdale prisoners "extremely dangerous terrorists," and says it's a bad idea to cut them loose. Wayne replies, "Unless we find Fayed, I may be forced to." It's nice to see him being decisive, at least.
At 8:06:12, Assad and Kiefer's Echo is still trailing the Handler. Kiefer realizes that the Handler is heading into an area with light traffic. At 8 AM. In Los Angeles. On a weekday. Come the fuck on, show. Kiefer's worried that the Handler will see them, as if they're not driving a car smaller than the Handler's blind spot. And I don't mean the blind spot of the Handler's car; I mean the actual, anatomical blind spot in the very center of his vision that we all have, which is of course quite tiny yet still more than large enough to swallow a Toyota Echo or two. But Kiefer says that they need to call CTU and arrange satellite coverage to keep the Handler's car in sight. Assad still doesn't want CTU involved after they tried to kill him and all. "I will not work with my enemies," he insists. "You're working with one now," says Kiefer. He tells Assad that if he really wants to disarm, he's going to have to compromise. He can't even say that Assad won't be thrown in prison on sight, but says that the Handler is their only lead to Fayed. "Make the call," Assad finally pouts. "Thank you," says Kiefer. Huh. Some enemy.
At CTU, Milo brings Morris -- who is hovering over Chloe's desk, as usual -- a file of the Palmdale suspects that he wants Morris to load and go over in case Wayne goes through with the release. Without moving, Morris assures Milo that Wayne will do no such thing. Milo gets pissy that his orders aren't being followed, and it only gets worse when Morris advises him to "give it to one of the girls in Archives. I'm working up Fayed threads; that's more important." Even Chloe looks alarmed at this insubordination, as Milo gets angrier and Morris condescendingly tells Milo not to waste the time of his most important analysts. Chloe finally shuts him up, and Milo leaves, trailing dark threats about Morris's fate if he doesn't have the files in twenty minutes. "Grow up," Chloe snaps at Morris before Milo is more than ten feet away. Again, watching Chloe telling people to behave and get along is completely weirding my shit out.
Chloe's desk phone rings, and it's Kiefer. "Jack, I didn't think I'd ever hear your voice again," she gushes. Kiefer, of course, has no time for this mushy stuff, and asks for Buchanan. Chloe transfers the call, and Kiefer tells Buchanan that he's tracking Fayed's Handler with Assad. He wants Chloe -- who has just arrived in the Situation Room with her laptop -- to give them satellite coverage. Buchanan in turn tells Kiefer about Fayed's demand for the Palmdale prisoners' freedom, and that he thinks Wayne will go through with it if they don't find Fayed by the end of the episode. Kiefer's still rolling his eyes at that when Chloe cuts in to say that it's going to take her ten minutes to get satellite coverage. What, did Morris crash his Uzbek satellite into the Pacific in the last hour? Kiefer says that's too long, but Chloe can't help it; surveillance satellites are kind of in high demand under the circumstances, what with three or four major American cities exploding at any given moment. Nadia suggests traffic cams, but Chloe already checked, and there aren't any on the road the Handler's going to be taking. CalTrans: aiding and abetting terror since the 1980s. I don't know why Kiefer's so stressed; he can just hope the Handler stops for gas, and then hold up the station to keep him there for a while. Kiefer asks for the nearest CTU tactical team to be sent in his direction, and is told that Curtis will be on his way to meet him soon. Satisfied for now, Kiefer hangs up. "Do you think this man will recognize you?" Kiefer asks Assad. Assad doesn't think so. Maybe he's not as famous a terrorist as we've been led to believe, if even other terrorists affiliated with his organization don't know him by sight. Still, it's enough for a plan to spring fully formed from Kiefer's head. We just cut away before he can explain it. Not to worry; we'll see it in action soon enough.
Back at CTU, Buchanan gets on the line with Curtis and sends him to provide backup for Kiefer, adding, "He's running this operation with Assad." Curtis is so not okay with this, even though Buchanan's orders are clear: "Rendezvous with them and lend support. All warrants on Assad are rescinded for the time being, understood?" After a long pause, Curtis grouches that they're on their way. Well, look who's growing an attitude.
This has been enough time for Kiefer not only to explain his fairly complicated plan to Assad, but to put it into action. Some guy in a suit is about to get into his white Jeep Cherokee, until Kiefer runs up behinds him and totally Grand Theft Autos him to the ground. "Don't get up," he advises, and drives off in the guy's car. That's two cars he's stolen in about an hour, unless you count the Echo, which would make it 2.1 cars. Kiefer drives like the nutbar he is for a few blocks, crashing through fences and generally being a traffic menace. Meanwhile, Assad is still quietly tailing the Handler. Kiefer comes screaming out of an alley and totally t-bones the Handler's car, sending it crashing into a couple of other parked vehicles. Kiefer screeches to a halt ahead of the Handler, while Assad pulls in quietly some distance behind. Kiefer comes storming out of his stolen Jeep like the poster child for road rage, totally acting like he blames the Handler for the collision. The Handler, no dummy, looks like he's going to retreat back into his car. That would probably be safer than facing Kiefer, even if it's leaking gas and about to explode. Assad takes his cue and gets out of his Echo, asking the Handler if he's all right. Kiefer yells at Assad to mind his own business, and Assad says he's a witness, accusing Kiefer, "You drove straight into him!" Kiefer pretends to go all "you people" on both of them, but Assad says that he'll wait with them until the police arrive. So Kiefer tells them both to screw themselves, and runs back to his stolen Cherokee, driving off. Assad yells at Kiefer to come back, but when Kiefer keeps going, Assad tells the Handler he got Kiefer's license plate. Man, that Cherokee's rightful owner just got screwed even more. The Handler checks his watch and says he doesn't have time for this right now. But of course he can't drive his car, either. Assad asks the Handler where he's going, and the Handler says he's going to Newhall. Wouldn't you know it, Assad says he's going there too, and would be happy to give the Handler a ride. It's 8:11:53, and as the Handler is busy getting his stuff out of his wrecked car, Assad dials his cell phone, leaves it open, and surreptitiously drops it into the pocket of his Echo's car door. A moment later, the ex- and current terrorist are on their way.
Meanwhile, Kiefer's own cell phone rings. He answers, and hears Assad telling the Handler, "I hope you're not going to let that bastard get away with this. Hit and run is a crime. You must file a police report." That is of course the least of the Handler's concerns right now. More worrisome to him is the fact that he's behind schedule; he's wrecked and abandoned his boss's car; he's had to involve other people in his activities; and he continues to suffer from a tragic affliction that renders him totally incapable of recognizing people's faces, whether it's his boss's boss or the government agent for whom his boss has had a vengeful hard-on for the better part of a decade. Kiefer puts his phone on hold and conferences in CTU to tell Buchanan that the Handler is hitching a ride with Assad. Buchanan wonders what that's about. "Suspect was involved in a traffic incident," Kiefer deadpans. He explains that Assad's phone is open in the car so that they can track his progress, but Assad's got some kind of reverse-mute thing set up so that he and the Handler can't hear Kiefer and CTU. Kiefer is off in hot pursuit, except he's going to be two miles back. Which would make it room-temperature pursuit, I suppose, if not downright nippy pursuit. CTU hears Assad telling the Handler to give them directions once they get to Newhall (even though he claims to have been going there to begin with), and Buchanan starts giving out orders for his people to be ready when the Handler arrives.
At Fayed's current HQ, which is of course nowhere near Palmdale, Fayed's tech guy tells him that it looks like somebody kicked over an anthill at Palmdale Military Prison. Fayed gloats, "By the time our jailed brothers have boarded the aircraft, it will be too late for the Americans to realize what's happened." I don't know what Fayed's native language is, but he certainly is fluent in Villain-ese. The tech guy frets that they still don't have "the component." Fayed's not too worried: "Ahmed should be on his way to pick it up now."
Actually, not so much; at 8:14:06, Ahmed's on his way back into the Wallaces' house, forcing Scott to walk in ahead of him at gunpoint. Mom hears Scott come in, and goes to meet him in the front room, but she stops short when she sees that he's accompanied by a very bloody Ahmed. "He has a gun," Scott tells his mom, which Ahmed corroborates by swinging it to point at Mom instead. He makes her call Dad into the room, and now that the family's all together, Ahmed repeats his threat that although he doesn't want to hurt anyone, he will unless they do what he says. Ahmed knows that Mom's a nurse, which he thinks means she has medical supplies in the house. Lucky for him, he's right. He sends her to go get the stuff, while Ahmed makes the guys sit with him in the living room. As Mom returns with the first aid kit, Ahmed keeps his gun leveled and tells her to stop the bleeding from his leg. "Stan was right," says Dad. "You are a terrorist." Oh, Dad, I'm so disappointed. Just because he's Middle Eastern and threatening you with a gun? Maybe he's just a hit man or a burglar or a drug dealer or something. And yet you assume he's a terrorist. Maybe that's why he became one. On the subject of Stan, Scott matter-of-factly points out that Ahmed killed him. As Megan Gallagher struggles to think all the way back to her China Beach days, Mom says that Ahmed's wound is too deep, and that he needs to see a doctor. He just tells her to bandage it for now. With his good leg, he kicks his backpack over to Dad and says that there's a package in there, which he's supposed to take to "a man who has an item for" Ahmed. Pressing on a pad of gauze on his leg, Ahmed says that since he can't make the exchange himself, Dad's going to have to do it. Dad doesn't want to leave his family alone with Ahmed, but Ahmed says that they'll be safe when Dad does what he's told. He's to call Ahmed for further instructions when he's made the pickup. Dad brings the cordless house phone over to where Ahmed can reach it, and Ahmed warns him that if he sees anything suspicious or if Dad takes too long, Mom and Scott will get it. Dad understands. Ahmed tells Dad to go into the front pocket of the backpack to find the address where Dad will find a guy named Marcus. Dad gets the address and the package, kisses his weepy wife goodbye, and reluctantly heads out. Pick up a gallon of milk while you're at it, okay? It's 8:17:20.
8:21:43. From CTU, Chloe calls Curtis on the road and tells him to catch up with Kiefer ASAP. Curtis says that he's about five minutes out. He's still in a mood, though. After Chloe's off the phone, Morris ambushes her, asking, "Since when do you take Milo's side against me?" Chloe calls him on his habit of picking on his bosses when he gets stressed out. Morris hair-splits Milo's status as his boss, but Chloe says the main thing is that Milo could have Morris fired. Which, she suspects, is what Morris really wants. She leaves him to chew on that. When did she become Chloe O'Brian, Psychoanalyst instead of Chloe O'Brian, Psycho/Analyst? Morris turns and pleasantly tells Milo that the files he wants will be on his screen in a minute. Milo suspiciously says that's good, and Morris keeps staring at him expressionlessly for a bit longer than necessary before turning back to his work. Hmmm. Something's going on between those two, and I almost care.
Karen enters the Oval Office to give Wayne an update on the situation. She tells him about CTU supporting Kiefer and Assad's operation, which they hope will lead them to Fayed. As far as the prisoner release, she says that if they're going to meet the deadline, they need to have them on buses within the ten minutes, adding, "If you still want to proceed with that option." Wayne picks up on Karen's tone, and justifies his decision, saying that there's no other option. Karen can't think of another option either, and when Wayne tells them to load the buses, Karen leaves the room to relay the order. Oh, Wayne, don't be so defensive about this. Be the decider.
The Handler, meanwhile, is shaken out of his self-pitying stress-reverie by Assad's curious habit of reading exit signs aloud. He wonders what's up, and Assad covers that he remembers a friend who lived on Sand Canyon Road. At CTU, Chloe hears Assad's remark and narrows her computer search parameters. The Handler directs Assad to the service road.
A couple of miles back, Kiefer pulls over to Curtis's TAC team, which has parked its two CTUmobiles over on the side of the road. Let's hope they weren't visible when Assad chauffeured the Handler through this area. Curtis is waiting for him, and gives Kiefer a CTU earpiece. Kiefer pops it in like he's never been away. At 8:24:28, they're all back on the road.
From the car, Curtis calls in to CTU and lets Buchanan know that he's picked up Kiefer. Buchanan says that they're still working on getting satellite coverage, and will upload Assad's location to Kiefer's GPS as soon as they get it. After this brief call ends, it's time for a little awkward conversation between guys. Curtis says that it's good to see Kiefer, and that he's sorry for what Kiefer's been through. And now he'd like to stir some shit up: he asks whether it bothers Kiefer to be working with Assad. "The man's a terrorist, Jack. Responsible for taking hundreds, maybe thousands of innocent lives over the past twenty years. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Kiefer doesn't take the bait; he just says that the playing field has changed. Curtis doesn't let it drop, though, saying that Assad has to pay for his crimes. Kiefer quietly says that might not happen, if it means Assad can help them to stop the current attacks on the U.S. "Anyway," Kiefer uncharacteristically weasels, "it's not our call to make." As if that ever stops him. Curtis just mutters, "We'll see." And now Kiefer's worried. How can Kiefer ever make Curtis understand what he and Assad have together?
Back at Scott's place, Ahmed is complaining about the pain in his leg and asking for something stronger. Mom tells Ahmed about some prescription painkillers in the kitchen, and Ahmed sends Scott to get them and some water, telling him to make sure that Ahmed can see him the whole time. Scott complies. As he's filling the water glass, he notices a steak knife lying in the sink. Glancing over at Ahmed so he can time his move with Ahmed's wince of pain -- which isn't long in coming -- Scott pockets the knife. He soon returns with the pills and the water, which Ahmed quickly downs. Scott keeps standing there in front of him, and starts to make ready with the knife. Mom sees the blade, and blinks rapidly, but says nothing. Ahmed orders Scott to sit back down, but he has to say it twice, because Scott is still standing there trying to work up the nerve. Mom hasn't done or said anything, possibly waiting or hoping for Scott to try to rescue her. I'm starting to think this woman has kind of an underdeveloped protective instinct where her family is concerned. Finally realizing that Scott doesn't have the cojones to make his move, and is just going to get them both killed, she tells Scott to sit down. He does, still keeping the knife hidden from Ahmed. Ahmed suspects nothing, failing even to notice that Scott's eyes have turned to stone from their usual damp moss. It's 8:27:57.
8:32:23. At Palmdale Military Prison, 110 handcuffed and orange-jumpsuited prisoners, most of them fairly swarthy, are lining up for headcount in a large garage near some parked buses. The camera keeps focusing on one particular dead-eyed, slack-jawed individual. And on the sergeant in charge of the operation, who of course is your basic Army-sergeant-looking type. Even Wayne is observing the scene, via a laptop in the Oval Office that has a live video feed. Micromanaging much? Anyway, it's just a transition to the scene, which is Tom notifying Wayne that his sister Sandra has just been arrested. He tells the story about Sandra deleting the Islamic-American Alliance's personnel files right out from under the warrant-bearing FBI agents at the office, and that the agents "had no choice but to arrest her." He says that Sandra's being "detained" at "one of our provisional facilities." Oh, now that sounds pleasant. Wayne picks up his phone and starts dialing.
Sandra and Walid, meanwhile, are being driven to said location, the Anacostia Detention Facility in Washington, D.C. if the subtitle is to be believed. The agents drive them past a small crowd of chanting protesters waving crappy signs, and offloads them from the car. The facility appears to be a repurposed elementary school or something, because when the country's under attack, it's much more important to lock people up than it is to educate them. As they're led into the building, Sandra apologizes to Walid for getting him into this. He's not blaming her, though: "You were protecting the rights of innocent Americans." Well, except for her client. "That's what this country stands for, even if the government's forgotten," he speechifies. Yet none of the government agents within earshot punches him in the face.
Inside the facility's makeshift booking room, Walid is sent along to another room while Sandra is uncuffed. The blond agent from before hands Sandra an open cell phone and tells her, "For you." She puts it to her ear and hears, "Please hold for the President." This should be a fun conversation, at least for those people who don't have to sit through it.
Wayne gives Sandra an earful about her actions, saying that he doesn't have time for this crap today and that he's given instructions for her to be freed and taken home. Why home? I guess she could go back to work, but why bother after she got the boss arrested and all the computers confiscated? Hey, maybe that was her plan all along: using rampant paranoia and xenophobia to engineer a day off for herself. Sandra harangues Wayne about civil liberties, and says that if they're going to release anyone, it should be Walid. Wayne refuses, saying, "Walid is the head of the organization under investigation!" Weak. Sandra insists that Walid is innocent. "Then Walid has nothing to worry about," Wayne hilariously assures her, and tells her to go home. After Wayne's hung up on her, Sandra stomps over to the blond agent and says she needs to talk to Walid before she leaves. He refuses, even when she invokes her status as Walid's attorney, and says he has rights. "Limited rights, Ms. Palmer," the agent corrects. "He's being held under the Revised Enemy Combatant Statute." What a chilling phrase. Sandra bitches that the law is being thrown out the window, and the agent condescends, "When you're through with the lectures, I have orders to drive you home." What, Sandra can't lecture him in the car? The blond agent really needs to learn how to multitask if he wants to get all the Muslims locked up any time soon.
Meanwhile, Walid is being processed with a couple dozen other suspects. The solider in charge tells the group, "Once inside the secure zone, you will disrobe. After a cavity search, you will be given back your clothing." See, Walid? Nothing to worry about. The soldier starts hassling a balding guy who's just standing there, refusing to move with the line and insisting, "I'm innocent." Things get physical pretty quickly, and Walid calls out for the man to be left alone, stepping out of line about three inches. That's enough for the soldier to come after Walid, who pushes him away. And then Walid gets clubbed in the ribs and dragged off to interrogation. The guy who started all this watches Walid go, not realizing that Walid has nothing to worry about. Could it be that this storyline is going to be a cautionary tale about indiscriminately arresting people? It's 8:37:12.
8:41:36. In the dinky little Echo, Assad surreptitiously checks to make sure his phone is still on before asking if the Handler lives around here. The Handler isn't very forthcoming, and is in fact a bit suspicious of Assad's questions, but Assad says that he just wants to make sure the Handler can get back to his car. The Handler directs Assad to take the right and drop him off at the end of the street. Chloe knows exactly where that is, and gives directions over Kiefer's earpiece. Nadia tells her, "Bring up the data on all commercial and residential buildings within a half-mile and then begin a pre-sort." "You mean like I'm doing already?" Chloe snots.
Assad takes a right at a corner marked "Not a Through Street." Curtis and Kiefer's little caravan comes to a stop out of sight on the corner behind, which is good, because if they'd followed Assad into a dead end, that might just have tipped off the Handler. Assad lets the Handler out of the car at the end of the street, and the Handler thanks him for his trouble before walking through a gap in a fence and out of sight. Assad picks up his phone and notifies CTU that the Handler is crossing 64th Road and heading for the commercial district. In seconds, Chloe has the Handler in the crosshairs of a surveillance satellite.
Assad turns his car around and meets up with the CTU team. Curtis gets out of the CTUmobile, hatred in his eyes, and walks slowly with everyone else to meet Assad. I'm starting to think Curtis's feelings may have something to do with Assad in particular and not just terrorists in general. Over his earpiece, Curtis tells the driver of the other CTUmobile to set up a "perimeter" on the other side of 64th Road. The fact that one car can constitute a perimeter for these people explains a great deal. Standing outside his Echo, Assad warns Curtis, "He'll be well trained. Be careful." "My men," Curtis spits at Assad, "know their job." Kiefer's nervous about Curtis's new attitude, and Assad's like, "Do I know you?" Curtis says, "No. But I know you." Oh, girls. Save it for later. Curtis tells his sidekick, a Handsome Black Agent named Borman, to take Assad and search him for weapons. Kiefer intervenes, saying that Assad's part of the operation. "Not anymore," Curtis growls, and storms off. Before Borman can follow Curtis's orders, Kiefer turns to Assad and tells him, "I'll take care of it as soon as this is over, I promise." Assad wordlessly consents to the weapons search and follows Borman to Curtis's CTUmobile. Kiefer thanks Assad for his help, already looking forward to their first conjugal visit.
Meanwhile, Chloe has tracked the Handler to a self-storage facility, one of those places with two hundred little garages full of stuff that people don't want in their house but can't bring themselves to get rid of. It's 8:44:22 as the Handler, still carrying his briefcase, approaches one of the units. A CTU agent in helmet and riot gear is on a nearby roof, watching him through a scope. The Handler reaches one of the units and starts opening the padlock. How awesome would it be if, at this point, the Handler realized he'd left the key in his car? More CTU agents quietly take up position all around the facility. Those CTUmobiles must be huge on the inside. While Curtis and Kiefer move closer, the agent on the roof reports what he can see from there. Which is a lot, because the Handler has, for some reason, removed the tarp covering the entire contents of the storage unit. As the agent reports, wooden crates stamped with Czech lettering are stacked head-high. Looking at the crates, I wonder what the Czech word "C-4" translates to in English. Kiefer realizes that this is a dead drop and that Fayed isn't around. Over the comm earpiece, Buchanan says that's too bad, because they're out of time. They're just going to have to nab the Handler and make him give up Fayed's location. Kiefer says it's too risky, because they don't know if they can make the Handler talk. Especially now that Kiefer's gone soft, although he doesn't say that. Buchanan says that it's their only option, and tells Curtis to get into position. Over the comm, Curtis tells his men to move in: "Silent approach, non-lethal force." Now taking bets on which half of that order is going to get screwed up.
Meanwhile, the Handler has broken out a laptop and is opening it up when he hears a metallic clang from the middle distance. He looks up in that direction, but the CTU agent on the roof is hiding. All the Handler can see is the top of the agent's helmet. Yes, Curtis's men know their jobs, all right. The Handler stops what he's doing and opens his briefcase. As Curtis and Kiefer get into position, the Handler takes a handgun out of his briefcase and opens up on the rooftop agent. The agent returns fire, and the Handler takes cover behind the HUGE PALLET OF EXPLOSIVES as more agents open fire. Good plan. The Handler manages to take down one agent, but in so doing, he exposes himself to a bullet from Curtis's gun and goes down, out of sight behind the crates. Curtis orders him to show himself, but when the Handler does, it's with a hand grenade. Kiefer runs out and yanks Curtis back into a doorway, ordering everyone else back, just before the entire storage unit and its contents blow the fuck up. And unless Fayed is in Tuesday, their chances of following the Handler to him are pretty much shot. While burning debris is still raining down, Kiefer notifies Buchanan that the Handler was killed while retrieving a laptop: "We'll check the hard drive, but it's been badly damaged." Buchanan tells Nadia to get Wayne on the line. Hey, the good news is that, since the Handler was unable to carry out his task, Fayed will be unable to proceed with his plan, right? Right? Oh, who am I kidding.
Wayne's still veg-ing out in front of PrisonerVision, which is now showing the men at an airfield getting ready to board a plane. Buchanan's call comes through -- before the commercial for once -- and he tells Wayne (and Tom and Karen, who are also in the room) that the Handler done blowed himself up. "I'm sorry," Buchanan adds. "So am I," says Wayne calmly. "Keep me informed." Wow, he's like the Anti-Logan. Tom holds out his open cell phone and says that if Wayne really wants to go ahead with the prisoner release, they're waiting for the order. They wait a little longer, and finally, Wayne quietly says, "Load them on the plane." Tom relays the order into the phone.
At the airfield, it's 8:47:46 as the sergeant in charge coordinates the headcount and the boarding onto the plane, reporting that everyone's accounted for. He barks a few more orders to the prisoners, and to the men guarding them, and then tells them to move the buses out and hops onto one. As the bus drives away with him and the driver the only apparent passengers, the camera pans to look toward the back of the bus. I don't see anyone back there. Do you see anyone back there? I sure don't see anyone back there. Least of all someone in an orange jumpsuit.
At Fayed's HQ, the tech guy tells Fayed that the prisoners are getting loaded onto the plane, and summarizes, "The President has given in to us." Instead of responding, Fayed turns away from his laptop to gaze into the shadows to his seat. The music seems to think it's kind of scary, but if we were really afraid of the dark, we probably wouldn't be watching this show in the first place. It's 8:48:52.
8:53:14. Dad arrives at the appointed address with Ahmed's parcel, and carries it into some dingy little office. He follows a guy's voice back to a large, cluttered stock room and finds a disreputable-looking white guy -- the aforementioned Marcus. Dad hands over the package, and Marcus slits it open in front of him with a switchblade. The box is stuffed with cash. But it's not enough. Marcus explains, "The component cost me a little more than I thought it would. I'm gonna need another $50,000." A little more? What was the sticker price originally? Dad complains that that's all the cash he has, and begs Marcus to take the money. Marcus isn't negotiating. He does let Dad use his phone, though.
Back home, Ahmed is still holding the rest of the fam at gunpoint when Dad's call comes in. Dad tries to sound all calm for Marcus's benefit as he explains the situation, and Ahmed is totally unsympathetic. He doesn't have any more money to send, anyway. Wait, isn't his boss's name Fayed? Couldn't he ask him to dip a little further into his share of the Harrod's fortune? Oh, come on. Like you haven't been thinking that too. Ahmed insists, "You have to get that item from him. You understand what happens here if you don't, right?" Dad's playing it all cool as he hangs up, and then goes back to Marcus and tells him that he'll get the money. "He just wants to make sure you really do have [the item]," he says. Seems reasonable to Marcus, who retrieves a box off a shelf and shows its contents to Dad. "There it is," Marcus boasts, like anybody's going to recognize the random-looking collection of circuit boards and wires inside. When Marcus turns away to return it to the shelf, Dad grabs a heavy lamp off a file cabinet and smashes it over the back of Marcus's head. Marcus is down, but not out, and he gets up, retrieving a gun which he aims at Dad. Oops. Too bad Marcus's head broke Dad's only weapon. Dad rushes him, knocks the gun away, and throws Marcus to the ground. "Just take the money!" he orders, punching Marcus in the face and then bouncing his head on the concrete floor a few times. See, I would have a much easier time buying this scene if it were Ben Stiller instead of this guy, who would rattle around loosely inside a Toyota Echo. After a while, Marcus quits struggling, and his eyes stare lifelessly up at the ceiling. Dad backs away in horror, his hands covered in blood and what little brains Marcus had. The component lies on the floor, spilled out of its box. You think Dad will leave the money? Technically, it belongs to Marcus's estate now.
At 8:57:02, Chloe has finished remotely recovering all she can from the Handler's blown-up laptop, which Kiefer has plugged into the open back of a CTUmobile. With Curtis at his side, Kiefer recognizes what looks like a wiring schematic. Chloe says that there's only about a page and a half of the file left, mostly in Arabic and some in Russian. Kiefer sighs in frustration, and then tells Curtis to summon Assad. Once Assad gets a look at the computer screen, he seems to recognize right away what's on it: "A list of electronic components, field specifications, and programming instructions for a detonator. But...this is for a nuclear device." Kiefer turns to Assad in horror, wondering if it's possible that Fayed got his hands on a nuke. Assad says that Fayed's been trying and failing for a while; maybe he stopped failing. Curtis goes completely rage-wad, grabbing Assad and accusing him of knowing all along. Kiefer manages to separate them and protect Assad's pretty face so that Assad can finish what he's saying. Assad says that he sees a reference to "Softel 3." Back at CTU, Nadia chimes in on the comm system to say that's the designation for a Soviet device called a "suitcase nuke." They were all supposed to have been destroyed, but of course there are rumors that one of them survived and found its way to a nuclear scientist with terrorist ties. Nadia even knows the terrorist's code name: it's an Arabic phrase meaning "Sword of the Faith." Chloe's already running a search, and comes up with one six-year-old surveillance photo. She sends it to Kiefer's laptop. Assad takes one look at the guy and recognizes him right away. "I saw him with Fayed a year ago. His name is Numair. Hasan Numair." I recognize him, too; he's that slack-jawed, dead-eyed prisoner from Palmdale that the camera kept focusing on. Chloe punches that name into the system, and sure enough, she's rewarded with a more recent photo of Numair in his Palmdale jumpsuit. Chloe breaks the news that Numair is being released as she speaks. Buchanan tells Nadia to call the White House and tells Chloe to tune in PrisonerVision. Even without an earpiece, Assad is able to keep up: "These bombings were designed to make you free this man," he analyzes. Kiefer curses, and Chloe says that the prisoners are on the plane, but won't be in the air for a few more minutes. Buchanan rushes out, saying that he's going to stop the release. Nadia is put through to the White House...
...and into the end-of-episode splitscreen. We also see Walid waiting in an interrogation room while someone brings in a polygraph; Dad drags Marcus's body out of sight; and a soldier at the airfield is already on the line with Buchanan, who's giving him Numair's name and sending his picture to the soldier's PDA. Things certainly move quickly during those splitscreen interludes, don't they? Meanwhile, Wayne, Tom, and Karen nervously watch PrisonerVision from the Oval Office.
The soldier with whom Buchanan was just talking boards the plane to look for Numair. I immediately notice that the plane has rows of six seats, three on each side of the aisle. Every window and every aisle seat is occupied, but all the middle seats are empty. Forget the seventy-two virgins; I might become a terrorist if it means I never have to take a middle seat again. (Note to Homeland Security and the NSA: kidding!) The soldier calls out for Numair to raise his hand. Nobody does. The soldier starts working his way down the aisle, holding his PDA with Numair's photo on the display. "We need to go over every inch of this plane," the soldier says into his radio. "And someone let the Sarge know that he needs to get up here now."
Cut to the bus the sergeant left on, which is parked on the side of the road. We hear a gunshot, and then we see the sergeant, his gun still out, walking down the aisle between the empty seats to the back of the bus. He opens the door to the bathroom (wait -- prison buses have bathrooms?) and reveals Numair cowering inside. "Hurry up," the sergeant says. "Fayed is waiting for you." Numair gets up and runs out, not sparing a glance for the dead bus driver. The sergeant just stays on the bus, calmly watching him go. Good luck driving that thing across the Mexican border, Sarge. It's 9:00:00.