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The hour begins with a festival of awkwardness and ends with a series of bangs. Morris and Kiefer return to CTU, the former wracked with guilt over succumbing to torture, and the latter wracked with guilt over his brother's death. After CTU learns that Gredenko (the Russian ex-general who delivered the nukes to the U.S. in the first place) is here in L.A., Buchanan actually confronts Kiefer over his actions during Graem's interrogation. For once, Kiefer's ready to accept the consequences, even when Buchanan offers to help cover it up. At the White House, Wayne continues to work with Assad, and takes a haranguing phone call from the Veep while Tom agrees to provide Chad Lowe with Wayne's itinerary so that Wayne can be taken out (presumably with a deadly barrage of weasel-words). With the search for Gredenko and Fayed at a dead end, Kiefer decides to follow up the only lead they've got: a vague memory of a house Marilyn followed Graem to months ago. But while Kiefer and Marilyn are on their way there with Milo and a tactical team in tow, Marilyn gets a call from Dad saying that he'll kill Josh unless she leads Kiefer astray. So Marilyn steers Kiefer into the trap Dad laid for him. The house blows up, nearly killing Kiefer, while Milo and Marilyn make a desperate attempt to escape Dad's henchmen. The episode ends with a burning house and a burning van, and something tells me that's just for starters. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
This episode's previouslies are unusual in that they include scenes from not just the one episode but the one before that as well. Also, they include Fayed telling Morris, "You will do it. The question is how much pain will be inflicted on you before you comply." Which never happened. But then, they don't have an audio clip of Kiefer saying, "Never, on 24."
Fayed's still in a helicopter, flying low over L.A. The chopper sets down in some wide-open industrial-utility space I don't recognize. The red van from earlier in the season is also there, as well as a panel truck. As Fayed's henchmen offload the three remaining suitcase nukes from the van to the truck, Fayed makes a cell phone call. A scraggly, bearded old Russian answers. Fayed gives the Russian the good news that he now has a functioning NukeBoy, and the bad news that they're down to three nukes because he needed to cover his escape. The scraggly Russian guy complains that the original plan is for "five nuclear detonations at five high-priority targets." But now that's 40% in the crapper. "More than enough for our needs, Gredenko," Fayed assures him. Wait, so Dmitri Gredenko, the Russian ex-general who delivered the nukes to Graem and Dad's company, is in cahoots with Fayed? Okay, whatever. It just seems to me like if the Russian liaison wanted Fayed to have the nukes, and the American decommissioning company wanted Fayed to have the nukes, and Fayed wanted Fayed to have the nukes, maybe they could have figured out a way to secure more than one engineer who knew how to arm them. But you know what? We're moving on. Fayed reminds him that it's Gredenko's job to make sure "the delivery system arrives on schedule." Gredenko tells Fayed, "The trucks have left Nevada and they'll reach the location within two hours." They're going to put the nukes on reverse-engineered flying saucers from Area 51? Awesome! Fayed tells Gredenko to use that time to reprogram the targeting software, and they hang up, both men totally exhausted from keeping the conversation too oblique to give anything away ahead of time. Fayed gets into the truck with the nukes (and God knows what else) in it, and the red van drives off.
So while a terrorist is running around with nukes, CTU is responding decisively, with an hourly briefing. Buchanan, running the meeting, says that the FAA couldn't track Fayed's chopper (of course not, because with all civilian air traffic grounded, they sent everyone home, right?), but they assume that he landed outside the perimeter. As if it matters. However, they do have one lead: Milo was able to pull an email fragment off of a laptop recovered at Fayed's apartment. The email appears to be from Gredenko. Milo reminds us how Gredenko has fit into the story so far, although Nadia realizes this means that Gredenko is more involved than we thought. As for why Gredenko would help Fayed, Buchanan explains that Gredenko is "an ultranationalist. His desire to harm this country, economically and otherwise, is in sync with Fayed's." Well, then, what better gent for the Russian government to put in charge of transporting nukes to the U.S.? This raises the question of where Gredenko is now. Interpol has reported that he's not in Moscow like he's supposed to be, plus the email fragment looks like it was sent from inside the Pacific time zone. Buchanan dispatches Chloe to find out how Gredenko got in the country. Hey, has it even occurred to you that he might be in the Yukon? Chauvinists.
On her way out of the Situation Room, Chloe gets sidetracked; Morris has arrived, and he's being led across the floor by agents and medics. The clock tells us that it's only 2:05:26, so CTU must have been in the blast radius for Morris to have gotten here so quickly. Or else travel times are even more elastic than normal this episode. Chloe hurries over to talk to him, but the doctor says that he's going to Medical. Besides, Morris isn't talking anyway. They leave Chloe standing there on the floor, fretting. Her boyfriend has not only been tortured into giving terrorists the Bomb, he's also become emotionally unavailable. Hey, doesn't she have a Russian nutbar to track down anyway?
Kiefer is also entering the building for the first time this season, along with a bunch of armored troops. As soon as he steps onto the floor, he sees a bunch of CTU people dong what they do best: standing around and staring, specifically at him. Kiefer looks all self-conscious at the unwanted attention, but I think they're just amazed at how well his self-administered haircut turned out. It really does look better every hour. Buchanan steps up to greet Kiefer. They shake hands as Buchanan tells Kiefer about the email fragment Milo found, and how it points to Gredenko. Kiefer asks what other leads they have on Gredenko. Well, Chloe's supposed to be working one, but now she's just standing off to the side waiting for her turn with Kiefer. Buchanan reminds Kiefer that Dad's company dealt with the Russian. Kiefer says that was Graem's project, but Buchanan still thinks Dad might know something. Kiefer asks where his dad is, and Buchanan directs him to the morgue, where Graem is. Kiefer efficiently makes a little sad-face, and then heads over to talk to Chloe.
This is the first time Chloe and Kiefer have been face-to-face since Kiefer last left CTU almost two years ago, but don't worry; it doesn't get too mushy, despite the best efforts of the soundtrack. Chloe thanks Kiefer for saving Morris's life. "Yeah," Kiefer bites out, like he's kind of regretting it. In fact, it sounds more like "Yh." Chloe says she's glad Fayed didn't kill Kiefer, and Kiefer says he is, too. Well, that's progress. Kiefer says that he's off to talk to his dad, but that he wanted to thank Chloe. He rubs her arm, and leaves her to get back to the very important standing around she has to do.
Dad is indeed in the morgue with Graem, but he's not sitting idle; he's erasing contacts from Graem's cell phone. Clearly, CTU has decided that he's above suspicion, leaving him alone in here with his son's body and the tray of his personal effects. Let's just hope they don't let him wander around the building unaccompanied later. Once he's finished, Dad sets the phone down at 2:07:22 and picks up his son's wallet to see what else he can loot. All he takes out is a photograph showing him and Graem sitting at an outdoor table together, smiling at the camera. Well, he'll certainly want to get rid of something that incriminating. Kiefer arrives outside the glass door, and watches through it as Dad goes over to Graem's gurney and places a stray dead hand back beneath the sheet that's spread over the body. Because Dad's all about covering stuff up. Kiefer works up the nerve to enter, and stands facing his Dad over the gurney. Dad gives Kiefer a severe disappointed-father look and says that Graem didn't deserve this. Quit deciding what people deserve, Dad. You suck at it. Kiefer guiltily says that it wasn't his intention. "Yeah, well," Dad grumps. Kiefer apologizes, and brings up the subject of Gredenko and whether Dad knows about him. Dad tells Kiefer some stuff that he already knows, which is that Gredenko was the Russian liaison for the family company's contract to decommission Russian nukes. Kiefer tries to follow up, mentioning that CTU thinks Gredenko might be in town, but Dad claims that he doesn't know anything else about the deal, because Graem handled the whole thing: "Whatever you need to know died with him." Kiefer asks where Marilyn is, and Dad doesn't know. "Why? You gonna question her, too?" he asks sarcastically. Kiefer's face says, "Well, I was." As he starts to leave, Dad says that Marilyn is probably with Josh, like that's helpful. He adds, "He's taking the death of his father pretty hard. Leave them alone, Jack. Let them grieve in peace." All right, Dad, we get it. Keep twisting the knife like that and it's going to fall out. Dad offers to call around to the company executives and see if they know anything about Gredenko. Kiefer thanks him, and finally leaves. Wow, Dad lorded that guilt over Kiefer so well, I almost forgot he was the real killer.
Morris is getting patched up in the CTU clinic which, if you ask me, is way scarier than getting tortured by a terrorist. The doctor finishes up and tells Chloe that she can go in. Morris sits on his bed, all shirtless and bandaged, and not talking when she asks how he's feeling. "What is there to say?" he asks. Chloe tries to be understanding: "You were tortured. You held out as long as you could." Yes, but another fifteen seconds or so would have done it. Chloe reminds him, "Fayed was gonna kill you." "I wish to God he had," Morris drama-queens. Which doesn't really square with how he begged Fayed for his life twenty minutes ago, but people change. Morris says that because of him, Fayed has a device "that can arm all the bloody suitcase nukes he wants." Good thing he only has three, then. Chloe tells Morris not to blame himself, but he says that when the nuke goes off, "everybody will remember that [he] was the one that made it possible." Chloe takes his face in her hands, saying that it won't matter after they find Fayed. Morris hopefully asks if they're any closer to Fayed, but is crestfallen when Chloe admits that they aren't. As if it changes what he did. Chloe goes to kiss him on the head, but he ducks and tells her to go. She leaves him sitting there, looking sad. What do you think he'd say if somebody offered him a do-over?
At 2:11:52, Dad wanders around the building unaccompanied. Well, of course he does. He takes out his cell phone and calls the creepy security guy at the house from Episode 5: "We've got a problem. Gredenko's here." Creepy Security Guy is just as surprised at this news as Dad pretended not to be a minute ago. Dad says that they have to find Gredenko before CTU does: "If Gredenko implicates me, everything, the company I founded and spent my life protecting is over." Creepy Security Guy says that he's on top of it. "I don't care what you have to do," says Dad. "Find Gredenko and you kill him." Funny how the NSA can intercept relevant calls seemingly at random, but Dad can have a conversation like this on an unshielded cell phone right in the middle of CTU and not raise a single red flag.
Kiefer joins Buchanan in the Situation Room, saying that he's convinced his dad doesn't know anything about Gredenko. I don't know how he can be so sure without strapping his dad into a chair and torturing him almost to death, but I guess he's following his instincts on this one. Buchanan, in turn, shares that they've traced the source of Gredenko's email to L.A. He's got his people working on it, which is all they can do for now. Kiefer says "okay" and is about to leave the room, but Buchanan orders, "Have a seat, Jack." Picking up on Buchanan's tone, Kiefer sits. Buchanan says that Graem's toxicology report came back, indicating that "the hyocene pentothal [Kiefer] administered to Graem during the interrogation caused his coronary." Okay, so I guess I was wrong about Dad filling Graem's veins with air a couple of recaps ago, but that's only because I assumed Dad wouldn't be stupid enough to push more drugs, and that, if he did, CTU wouldn't be stupid enough to miss it. I guess that makes me the stupid one. Buchanan adds that he viewed the field tape of the interrogation (when?) and read Burke's report to Division (when?). The report says that Kiefer went over the line with the owie-juice. "That's true," Kiefer readily admits. "Agent Burke tried to warn me." Buchanan says that Kiefer then pulled a gun on Burke. Kiefer says that he lost control. "I tried to tell you I didn't think I could do this," he angrily tells Buchanan, like this is partly Buchanan's fault. Which, okay, yes, it totally is. Kiefer soliloquizes, "I wanted to kill my brother...I was standing over him and I looked up and I saw my father in the doorway, and everything just stopped. I ordered Agent Burke to shut down the IV and he did. I thought we got it in time." He assures Buchanan that he didn't set out to kill Graem. Buchanan looks out the window and says that he'll "adjust" the report before he forwards it to Division. Kiefer tells him no. Buchanan says that they don't have time for Kiefer to get wrapped up in an Internal Affairs investigation. If Buchanan's also thinking about covering his own ass, he doesn't say so. In any case, Kiefer says that he can't cover this up: "I killed my brother. Whatever the consequences are, I accept them." Can't be worse than China. He tells Buchanan to "do this right," and Buchanan agrees to send the report as is. Except I hope that he'll correct all the spelling and punctuation errors that I'm sure a moron like Burke made. It's 2:16:02.
2:20:24. Wayne and Assad are still holed up in a conference room, and Wayne is marking up the statement Assad has drafted. Assad gets a little defensive, because although he's fought a terrorist campaign for two decades, he can't take a little editing. Submit a script to America's Storyteller some time, buddy. I'll be waiting right here with the Kleenex. Wayne's concerned over the focus on religion in Assad's speech. Assad explains that he's trying to reach people who think they're fighting a holy cause. "I am not innocent in this manipulation," he admits, and says that's the language his target audience will understand. Before this discussion of international import can continue, Wayne's secretary comes in tell him he's got a phone call from the Veep. Wayne says that he'll take the call there in the conference room with Assad, but he picks up the handset instead of going on speaker. I guess a dash of national security never hurt.
The Veep's still on board Air Force Two as he tells Wayne that he still supports Tom's plan for "mass internment of Arab nationals in our country." Tom's plan has different details every time someone mentions it. Wayne points out that the proposal was crap. The Veep asks, in light of Fayed's now being able to arm the three remaining nukes, that Wayne reconsider. Wayne says that his mind is still made up. The Veep gets all sinister and Powers-Boothey as he disses Assad, as well as Wayne's plan to put him on the air. "The man has murdered countless innocents over the past twenty years and you are putting your hopes for this country's safety on him." Wayne says that's true only to the extent that Assad can help them. Not that Wayne's been working on anything else for the past hour. The Veep goes for Wayne's jugular, reminding Wayne that he was chosen as Wayne's running mate to assure voters that Wayne wasn't soft on national defense: "I assured them otherwise, but now you're proving them right. There's a thin line between conviction and stubbornness. You can stand firm., but just know that you're standing alone." "Are we done?" asks Wayne. "Clearly," the Veep replies, and they hang up. I can't wait until these two meet in person so that they can fight. Assad remarks to Wayne that he's paying a high political price, and warns, "As someone who has alienated followers by choosing the unpopular course, I suggest you tread carefully among your people." Wayne starts in on cultural differences, but Assad says that it's human nature. "They will come after you," he says starkly.
But before they can come after him, they have to meet in the Bunker's steam pipe trunk distribution venue, or whatever abandoned utility room Chad Lowe has asked Tom to meet him in. Pacing around each other, Tom asks Chad Lowe what exactly he and his people have planned. Chad Lowe says that he and others think Wayne's decisions will cost many more American lives: "We will not stand idly by and let that happen." Yeah, we covered that last hour. Let's move on. Tom asks what that means. "I think you know," says Chad Lowe. Tom says he needs to hear. "Definitive action," says Chad Lowe, like that's an answer. "He's brought this on himself." Tom turns away and paces the room in distress. Chad Lowe warns Tom not to reconsider and report him, because he'll deny everything. Gosh, how terribly embarrassing that would be for Tom. Tom asks who else is involved, but Chad Lowe says that he doesn't need to know: "Right now you're dealing with me." He denies that the Veep has any knowledge of the conspiracy, even though he's sure the Veep will implement Tom's evil plan once he's in power. All Chad Lowe needs from Tom is Wayne's itinerary, specifically regarding Assad's televised address. Tom asks some more questions, but Chad Lowe doesn't have answers: "I'm just a conduit." Sounds like a thankless role. In any case, Chad Lowe advises Tom to remain as ignorant as possible in order to maintain plausible deniability. Tom doesn't like it, but he agrees to provide the itinerary. It's 2:27:14.
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2:31:42. Kiefer finds Marilyn standing in an empty room at CTU. Marilyn says that Josh is taking the news pretty hard: "He loved his father very much." Good thing you're making him sit in an adjoining empty room by himself, then. Kiefer says he's sorry. Marilyn says that he doesn't owe her an apology, even though she knows the score: "Even if he did die because of your interrogation, I don't blame you. I blame him." She says that she'd been trying to leave Graem for years, but was afraid of losing Josh in the process. Can't blame her; he looks like the kind of kid who would be easy to lose in a supermarket. Marilyn says she never told her son what an asshole Graem was. As far as Graem's death is concerned, she only told Josh he had a heart attack: "That's enough for now." That's all Kiefer has for her right now, and he's about to leave her alone again, but she stops him by asking if there are really more nukes out there, and if CTU is any closer to finding them. Yes and no, says Kiefer. Specifically, they're busy looking for a Russian named Gredenko. Kiefer's in a sharing mood at the moment because it's necessary to advance the plot. And here we go: something about the word "Russian" seems to ring a bell, and Kiefer asks if Marilyn knows him. She says no. But Kiefer sees that there's more to it, so for privacy, he leads her from one private, empty room to another private, empty room. This is so that Dad (still wandering around the building without anyone's noticing, objecting, or asking him if he's there to paint the ceiling) can spot them at 2:33:34 and lurk near a support column. In their new location, Kiefer asks Marilyn to tell him anything she does know, no matter how insignificant it might seem to her. Marilyn says that Graem was going out a lot at night, claiming that his outings were work-related. So Marilyn followed him one night, hoping to get evidence of an affair that she could use in a custody battle. She says that Graem went to a house in west L.A. She went to the window, saw that the blinds were drawn, and heard men speaking with Russian accents inside. Once she realized Graem wasn't cheating, she lost interest and took off. She doesn't even remember the address. But Kiefer asks her if she could find the house by retracing the route. She thinks for a moment, and then says yes. Kiefer tells her to wait, and goes to catch up to Buchanan at 2:35:06. Meanwhile, Dad continues lurking. Presumably, Josh is still sitting and crying all by himself.
Kiefer enters Buchanan's office and relays what Marilyn just told him. "It's a real shot in the dark, but right now we don't have anything." He's asking Buchanan's permission to follow it up. Probably a good idea to get out of the building before the Internal Affairs guys get here anyway.
Downstairs, Dad materializes to Marilyn and asks what's up with her and Kiefer. Marilyn says that Kiefer thinks she can help find someone. "You mean Gredenko?" asks Dad. "He questioned me about the same thing earlier. What do you know about him?" Instead of wondering why Dad's so curious (and so unchaperoned), Marilyn tells Dad what she told Kiefer, although in a lot fewer words. Then she hits on the stellar idea of having Dad stay with Josh while she goes Gredenko-hunting with Kiefer. Of course, Dad agrees. Just because he's capable of filicide doesn't mean he isn't a swell babysitter.
Kiefer's acquired a windbreaker to wear over his bulletproof vest, and it looks like he has to sign it out before he can leave. At least CTU has tightened up some areas. Buchanan tells Kiefer that his TAC team is setting up outside. Also, he's sending Milo along. "Milo? Why?" asks Kiefer. Buchanan says it's so that Milo can pull intel off of any computers they find, but really it's so that they can have another speaking part on hand when things inevitably go pear-shaped. Kiefer agrees. This does not look at all good for Milo.
Marilyn's taking her leave of Josh, but he's confused and a bit irritated that she's leaving now. She only says that she'll explain later. Dad pulls her aside and suggests a change of plan: how about he takes Josh home with him? The tense music labors mightily to keep all this logistics talk interesting. Marilyn agrees, and tells Josh to listen to his grandfather: "He's in charge." She should specify that this holds true only as long as Dad doesn't ask Josh to kill anybody. Marilyn leaves, thanking Dad for his help. Uh, maybe you should wait to see how this turns out before being too grateful.
Out on the floor, Marilyn meets up with Kiefer, who promises not to put her in any danger on their little outing. She believes him, because she's new here. She asks Buchanan whether he minds if Josh leaves with Dad. Neither he nor Kiefer objects. Finally, Marilyn and Kiefer are out of there.
Dad tells Josh that they're about to do the same, but first he has to make a phone call. Out in the hall, Dad tells Creepy Security Guy on his cell phone, "Have your men find and secure a house in West L.A." Creepy Security Guy says he'll text Dad an address. It's 2:38:42.
At 2:43:04, Chloe enters Morris's room in the clinic to tell him that she needs his help running tactical on the Gredenko operation. "Don't be ridiculous," Morris tells her. Wind, don't blow. Rain, don't fall. Chloe insists that they're shorthanded (especially after sending Milo out into the field for no good reason), and that Morris needs to get his shirt on and get back to work. Morris gets what Chloe's doing: trying to motivate him and make him feel better: "Be a little less obvious, Chloe. I'm a coward, not an idiot." Chloe says that she knows Morris has been through a lot, but that he's starting to piss her off. "Then let's add that to my list of failings," Morris sarcastically suggests, and Chloe slaps him across the face. Instead of having a PTSD flashback, he tells her, "Look, if you're going to try and save a bloke, save someone who's worth it." This time the hand coming at his face is a fist, but Morris catches Chloe's arm before it reaches him. He's got to put a stop to this before she comes at him with a drill, after all. Chloe angrily admits that she could run tactical alone, but that there's less chance of a mistake if Morris helps: "So why don't you stop feeling sorry for yourself and get back to work?" She storms out, so if he has an answer to that, she won't hear it.
At 2:44:43, Kiefer's driving Marilyn along in an unmarked sedan rather than the usual CTUmobile. Milo's riding in the SWAT van six blocks behind, keeping in touch with Kiefer via walkie-talkie. By way of small talk, Marilyn says that she can't imagine what Kiefer went through in China. Kiefer self-consciously takes his scarred right hand off of its two o'clock position on the steering wheel as Marilyn goes on to say that she thought about Kiefer during his absence, although she tried not to: "I tried not to think about you for twenty years." Except for that night they made Josh, of course. Kiefer kind of doesn't want to have this conversation, but Marilyn persists: she asks if Kiefer left and joined the military because of the pressure from his dad to take over the company. "There were a lot of reasons," says Kiefer. Marilyn asks if she was one of them. Kiefer stares at her. Hey, eyes on the road, buddy. Finally, he says no.
Marilyn's cell phone rings, and she digs it out of her purse to answer it. It's Dad on the other end, standing outside his car in at a gas station. He quickly tells her not to say anything, because he doesn't want Kiefer to know he's calling. "Okay," says Marilyn, confused. Dad says, "You're involved in something that's much bigger than you can possibly imagine. So here's the deal. Unless you do exactly what I say, I will hurt Josh." And then he tells her that he killed Graem, just to let her know he means business and has plenty of up-to-date Bauer-killing mojo. Marilyn is frozen in shock. Dad tells her to say "Thank you, Susan." She manages to croak that out. Kiefer doesn't pick up on her tone, and she's turned so her face is mostly hidden by her hair. So he remains oblivious as Dad tells Marilyn not to bring Kiefer to the house where she followed Graem, but to a different address: 9407 Hindry Place. He repeats that if she doesn't do what he says, Josh dies: "I already lost a son today. Don't make me lose a grandson." Marilyn says, "Goodbye, Susan," and hangs up. Kiefer asks if she's okay, and she lies that she is. Come on, Marilyn, Dad is at least sixty-five. Josh can take him.
Back at the service station, Dad gets back in the car where Josh is waiting and says that the roads to his house are closed because of the bomb. No problem, he says. They'll go to a hotel until the roads open. Lucky for him, he has enough money that this makes more sense than just hanging out in a coffee shop for a couple of hours.
At 2:47:42, Kiefer and Marilyn drive right past the house where Gredenko and his men are holed up. Marilyn stares at it, but lets it pass by. Inside the house, Gredenko checks his watch. Kiefer asks if the area looks at all familiar to Marilyn. She says his name like she's about to tell him the truth. Good call, Marilyn. Kiefer makes everything better when someone else's teenage son is involved. But then she chickens out instead. And then she sees the street sign for the 9200 block of Hindry Place, and says that's the street. Via walkie-talkie, Kiefer relays the name of the street to Milo, who relays it back to CTU.
A block or so back, at Gredenko's house, Gredenko asks his tech support guy how long it's going to take to reprogram the new targets, and is told it'll be twenty minutes. As the guy's computer screen shows little crosses dancing on a U.S. map, the tech guy asks Gredenko, "You still think you can trust the Arabs?" Gredenko's got it all figured out: "Our country lost the Cold War because it was afraid to use these weapons against the Americans. Today we will correct that mistake, and the Arabs will take all the blame." Gosh, that...almost makes half an iota of sense. It's 2:49:16.
2:53:42. Buchanan gets off the phone and tells Chloe about Hindry Place, because it took Milo four and a half minutes to relay this bit of information. Chloe asks if Marilyn's sure, since it's a mile away from where they're looking. Hindry Place sure has long blocks. Buchanan tells Chloe to pull up access roads, but she protests that she's doing some other technobabble right now. Fortunately, Morris shuffles out onto the floor in a fresh shirt, and Chloe says that she'll assign it to him. Because all the other people in the building have to be available at all times in case something happens that they have to stare at. "Your call," Buchanan says quietly. Morris stares blankly at Chloe across the floor for a moment, and then gets himself to work.
Dad and Josh are walking down a hotel hallway to their room as Josh says, "I know you're lying to me." But Dad didn't get this far in his machinations by breaking down into a confession after a remark like that, and when he asks what Josh is talking about, Josh says that everyone's treating him like "some stupid kid." Well, a Bauer kid. Same difference. He knows that Graem was up to no good, and nobody's telling him anything: "Did it have to do with the nuke?" Dad stops walking and tells Josh, "You're going to hear a lot of things about your father, what he may or may not have done. I'm not gonna pretend it's gonna be easy. But you know no matter what, I'm gonna be there for you." Until I have to kill you, of course. Dad lets them into their hotel room at 2:55:45.
Meanwhile, Marilyn has found the house Dad directed her to, and points it out to Kiefer. He relays the address to Milo in the SWAT van and tells him to have CTU pull the house's schematics and meet him in the alley in back. Both vehicles quickly pull into position, and Kiefer gets out and tells the TAC leader to take Gredenko alive. Marilyn also gets out of the car and tries to get Kiefer's attention, having second thoughts again. But as far as Kiefer's concerned, she's served her purpose. He tells her to stay with Milo at the van. Seconds later, Kiefer's leading his team across the back yard to the rear entrance.
At 2:57:16, Kiefer and five armored CTU guys are working their way around the house, not being nearly careful enough around the windows, not that it matters. Kiefer gives the go order, and an agent batters the door open and they all swarm inside. The house is empty, except for themselves and a few boxes stacked in the living room. Kiefer peeks behind them and sees a much smaller box, one covered with red lights like a Cartoon Network promo device. "Bomb! Everyone out!" He hollers, and dives out the front window. He hasn't even hit the ground before the entire house explodes.
Watching from the alley, Marilyn gasps in horror and screams Kiefer's name. She's a lot more upset about this than she was by her husband's death. I'm just saying. Milo, realizing that this means more bad guys are close by, urgently tells her that they have to go, and drags her back to the SWAT van. While he's backing the van out of the alley and trying to raise Kiefer on comm, a couple of henchmen types are leaping into a Land Rover that's parked in the alley and giving chase. Milo throws the van into the worst J-turn I've ever seen, knocking down a fence and plowing through a (thankfully empty) playground. The Land Rover's right behind them. Milo reaches the street, whipping that thing around so violently that I can't believe it doesn't turn over. From behind them, the Land Rover passenger opens up on them with a machine gun, taking out a tire. Milo promptly crashes the van into a cinder block wall. He pulls Marilyn out to take shelter behind the van, and then climbs back in himself as one of the guys keeps shooting. "Don't hit the woman! We need her alive!" warns one of the men. Inside the van, with bullets pinging steadily against the outer wall, Milo grabs a handgun, and then pulls the pin out of a hand grenade and leaves it in the case holding the rest of them. He climbs back out, telling Marilyn to run and not to stop. Seconds later, the van blows up behind them, knocking both gunmen over. But there are more on the way, and they're off in pursuit.
In other splitscreen windows, Josh looks sad while his grandpa is on the phone again, Tom's printer spits out Wayne's itinerary, and 9407 Hindry Place continues to burn, with Kiefer sprawled on the lawn and several agents still inside. Kiefer tries to tell them to report in, but all he hears over his earpiece is the sound of his men screaming as they're barbecued alive. But Kiefer has other problems, as he sees the crashed CTU van burning less than a block away. Nice escape, Milo. Kiefer gets up and runs off in that direction, calling for medical assistance. He's going to need a lot of that. It's 3:00:00.