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Wayne survives the bomb (unlike Assad), but he's unconscious and in no shape to run the country. Chad Lowe doesn't want to kill Tom to cover the conspirators' tracks, as Carson does, so he lets himself believe that Tom will go along with everything now that Vice President Powers Boothe is in power to implement Tom's proposals. So they let Tom go, and then Tom turns the conspirators in anyway. Tom is treated as a suspect himself, and quickly faces yet another ethical dilemma when the Veep offers him the choice of either maintaining Assad's innocence or letting the Veep start implementing Tom's nutty, police-state proposals immediately. And let's face it, Tom doesn't have all that many do-the-right-things in him. Karen Hayes, who turns out to have been stranded at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington D.C. this whole time, decides to go back to work. Meanwhile, in L.A., Logan tries to blackmail the Russian Consul into helping him find Gredenko, but gets nowhere. Logan knows the Consul is lying, so Kiefer decides to sneak back in, leading to a rather awkward phone conversation between the Veep and Russian President Suvarov. Kiefer tortures the Consul into giving up the goods on Gredenko and his part in Fayed's plan, and then gets taken into Russian custody before he can tell anyone. Fortunately, Kiefer persuades the Russian Consulate Cop to relay the message to CTU. Unfortunately, the Russian Consulate Cop gets killed, before he can do so, by one of his own fellow guards. How will CTU find Gredenko now? And how will Kiefer survive another twenty months in a foreign prison for misbehaving in a Consulate again? Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Post-explosion, a very bloody Wayne is being rushed on a gurney to the White House Bunker's operating room, a completely sterile environment that's protected from the outside hallway by a single pair of loosely swinging doors. Good to know Wayne's in a secure place. Actually, I shouldn't complain. I'm sure it's a lot safer than the CTU clinic.
At Not Camp David, Kiefer leads Logan to the motorcade waiting to take them to the Russian Consulate in L.A. There's a limo and everything, and it doesn't even have "Department of Corrections" stamped on the side. Kiefer and Logan both look sharp in their suits, although Logan hasn't shaved. Before they get in the car, Kiefer wants to set some ground rules, which are that Logan doesn't do anything without being told. Logan assures Kiefer that he knows his role, and that he just wants to help. Kiefer growls that Logan can never do anything to undo his misdeeds. Logan gets that. "But if you want to find Gredenko," he says -- and there's a long pause while I wait for him to give Kiefer some touchy-feely little speech -- "we should leave now." Even Kiefer can't argue with that, as much as he might want to, and they get in the back of the limo together. As they ride out of Not Camp David in the back seat, Logan starts talking about how he hasn't left Not Camp David in over a year. To his credit, he realizes that Kiefer has a little experience of his own with incarceration, but it doesn't stop Logan from nattering on about how the loneliness and the silence messes with your head. Kiefer looks like he'd appreciate a little demonstration of that silence right about now, but Logan goes on about how it gives you a chance to listen to the voice of your own deepest self, which can help you heal. Whatever. This jailhouse conversion of Logan's reminds me of nothing so much as George Bluth Sr.
Fortunately, Kiefer's rescued from this conversation when his cell phone rings with Buchanan on the other end, relaying word that somebody just blew up Wayne. "My God," Kiefer breathes, quickly earning him Logan's attention. Buchanan explains that they don't have many details yet, but that the Secret Service suspects Assad of smuggling a bomb into the White House Bunker. Like Assad hasn't been in federal custody almost the entire day, including Kiefer's and Buchanan's. Kiefer doesn't think his boyfriend would do something like that, but as Buchanan puts it, Assad is dead, so it doesn't matter at this point anyway. Ouch. Well, on the bright side, at least Kiefer bought Assad another eight hours of life by killing one of his few surviving friends. "Which means you're following our only live lead," Buchanan adds, like this is news. It wouldn't be 24 if he weren't. Kiefer signs off, and tells Logan what just happened. Logan stares ahead of himself in shock, wondering why he's the only president on this show that nobody ever took a shot at.
Wayne is still under the knife in the White House Bunker's operating room, the sterile drapes over his chest causing his current shirtlessness to go completely to waste. Grounds for impeachment? Chad Lowe is watching from the hallway outside, until he discreetly withdraws to dial his cell phone. A Secret Service agent appears to him, and Chad Lowe nearly jumps out of his skin. When the agent tells him that Tom has been summoned to a teleconference with the Veep in the Battle Bridge, Chad Lowe says that Tom is "occupied," and that Chad Lowe's covering for him. He says that he's on his way. Calling his co-conspirator on an unsecured wireless connection in a highly secured facility that's on double-super-infrared alert because it just got blown up will just have to wait.
The meeting is already underway, with the Veep joining in from Air Force Two via the teleconference screen. A suited doctor reports that Wayne took shrapnel in his upper chest and neck. We're relieved to hear that Wayne's pretty face is unmarred. Good thing he's so tall. But he's unconscious and, as the doctor says, is lucky to be alive at all. Wayne's Secretary of Defense (not James Heller) basically tells the Veep, "You're in charge." The Veep takes a moment to absorb this news with the appropriate sobriety and steely resolve, and then says that he's landing in a few minutes. Wait, these presidential planes can land, too? After watching Season 4, I thought they just had to keep flying around all day until somebody shot them down. The Veep says that he wants a briefing from Tom Lennox as soon as he arrives, which can't help Chad Lowe's mental state. SecDef agrees, and signs off. When the meeting breaks up, SecDef flags down Chad Lowe to ask him where Tom is. Chad Lowe quickly makes use of his superpower of telling people that Tom is somewhere they already know he isn't. In this case, it results in SecDef's grabbing the nearest Secret Service agent to report Tom missing, ordering, "Have your men sweep the Bunker and find him." In seconds, the Secret Service agent is talking to his shirt cuff, which meansthat Chad Lowe is so very screwed. He all but runs back to the steam pipe trunk distribution venue...
...where Carson is currently giving Tom a punishing dose of exposition. He says that Tom knew what needed to be done (i.e. turn the U.S. into a brown-person-free zone), but that the President was in the way; he boasts, "We did what was necessary." Chad Lowe enters and gives Carson the news that Wayne isn't dead, but out of commission. This seems to satisfy Carson. Chad Lowe reports that the Secret Service is looking for Tom, so Carson wants to kill Tom before they find him. Chad Lowe protests that they're not murderers; there's a difference between removing a dangerous president and killing someone to cover their own tracks. As for the people they killed in the course of removing the president, I'm not sure where they fit into Chad Lowe's morality. Carson disagrees, in any case: "Getting caught? Never part of the plan." Doesn't sound like a very realistic plan, then. My question is, what was Carson's plan for leaving the Bunker after the explosion, when the security logs show him arriving less than an hour before? Did he expect the guard at the useless security checkpoint to wave and wish him a nice day? Still, Chad Lowe puts his foot down; if Carson wants to kill Tom, he'll have to kill both Tom and Chad Lowe. So then Chad Lowe goes over to Tom and peels the tape off his mouth. Karen Hayes would see that duct tape and think, "Dammit, why didn't I think of that?" Chad Lowe reminds Tom about his own earlier words that some people would have to be sacrificed for the greater good. Tom angrily protests that he wasn't talking about the President of the United States. Hair-splitter. Chad Lowe says that the Veep is in charge now, and will be only too happy to put Tom's insane security plan in motion, but only if Tom keeps quiet; otherwise, Tom will get dragged into this as a suspect, and nobody will ever believe that Tom tried to stop the assassination attempt. Chad Lowe repeats that Tom's plan is the only way to stop the nukes. "And all I have to do is do nothing," Tom murmurs thoughtfully. Chad Lowe says that Carson's bomb was designed to be similar to the ones once used by Assad's people (only leakier), and that nobody will need to know the truth. "I'll know," says Tom, and Chad Lowe tells him that the guilty conscience is worth national security. "They're coming," Carson warns. Tom finally nods his agreement with Chad Lowe, and Chad Lowe cuts him loose. The three of them leave the steam pipe trunk distribution venue and head down the hallway together. They're quickly spotted by a few Secret Service agents, one of whom asks Tom if he's all right and says that SecDef has been looking for him. Tom takes a long moment to straighten his tie, stretching out the suspense for no good reason. Finally, he steps between two of the agents to totally narc on Chad Lowe and Carson. He says he's surrendering himself into custody until he can talk to the Attorney General. Chad Lowe and Carson are quickly cuffed. "So there," Tom's look says. It's 5:12:03.
5:16:25. It's dark in D.C. (where it is, of course, 9:16:25 PM), and Air Force Two is parked on the tarmac at Andrews Air Force base. The Veep is met at the top of the exit stairs by his own Chief of Staff, Lisa, who has a few flashes for him. Interagency news flashes, that is; there are some limits to the perks of office. The Veep says that he's already up to speed on everything from reading on the plane, but wants to follow up on the bulletin from CTU. Lisa starts dialing her phone as they descend the stairs together. We can see that the Veep's fighter escort is parked right in front of the 747. Uh, guys? He's on the ground. I think you can stand down now.
Moments later, the Veep is on the phone with Buchanan. He's clearly not impressed that Logan's been furloughed, and asks what's up with that. Buchanan seizes this chance to bring new and forgetful viewers up to speed as he explains that Logan's claiming to have a line on Gredenko via the Russian Consul, Anatoly Markov, which is why Wayne allowed Logan his little outing. The Veep grumps at Buchanan to keep him posted, and to get Logan back under house arrest as soon as he's finished not finding anything out from Markov.
That's going to be sooner than we thought, because Logan and Kiefer have already arrived at the Consulate and are getting out of the car. That's amazing; I could have sworn Kiefer said it was gong to be a forty-five-minute drive. On their way into the building, Logan says that he'll need to talk to Markov alone. Kiefer refuses to let Logan out of his sight, even when Logan warns him that Markov will clam up if Kiefer's in the room: "What do you think I'm going to do in there, Jack? Request asylum?" Actually, I hadn't thought of that, but now that he mentions it, that would probably be more effective than simply attempting to hide in Markov's liquor cabinet. Logan doesn't think the Russians would take him anyway, so Kiefer agrees, warning him that he'll know if Logan strays more than twenty feet. I assume they've got some kind of lojack arrangement in place, but the prop department was a little swamped this week, so we don't get to see it. They resume their walk to the entrance as Logan promises to prove Kiefer wrong, whining, "I'm only trying to help." Oh, Logan, give it up. Kiefer only ever gets proven wrong a couple of times a season, and you're arriving on the scene a little late to be one of them.
Inside the Consulate's front lobby, it's 5:18:46 as Logan is greeted by Consulate staff and led into the Consul's office, which is right across the fancy hallway from the front door. I've seen McDonald's drive-thrus with better security. Kiefer lurks at the opposite end of the hallway, as though he's already testing the range on Logan's distance alarm.
Inside the Consul's office, Logan greets Markov by his first name and says that he's well and trying to do his best for his country. "As much as circumstances will allow, of course," he adds, gesturing to the barely-visible device on his wrist. Markov politely offers his regrets about the bomb explosion from earlier today, and as he invites Logan to sit, he asks how he can help. Logan gets right to it, saying that the bomb that hit Valencia was a Russian suitcase nuke that was supplied to terrorists by Dmitri Gredenko. Before answering, Markov guillotines the tip off a cigar and offers it to Logan, who politely declines. Not wanting to smoke alone, Markov sinks into his seat and declares that the suitcase nukes were destroyed by the Russian government in accordance with some treaty. Well, we have nothing to worry about, then. Those 12,000 dead people in Valencia will be so relieved to find themselves alive again. Still, Logan asks Markov where Gredenko is. He alludes to the Russians' shared history in Afghanistan, but Markov claims that he doesn't know where Gredenko is now. Sounds believable to me. I saw people today and don't know exactly where they are now. As Markov speaks, we get to see a brief little splitscreen of Gredenko with his boys, assembling the stolen drones in the airplane junkyard. So at least we know where he is. Logan says that he not only disbelieves Markov, but is willing to force the issue by turning over evidence of Markov's involvement in giving Sentox nerve gas to separatists in Season 5. His face twitching in anger, Markov says that Logan promised to keep Markov's role in all that secret. Logan says that in light of the fact that he's now got three loose nukes to help find, that's just hard cheese. Markov tells Logan to do what he wants; he still doesn't know where Gredenko is. Logan watches his old crony's face for a moment, and then backs off. He apologizes and takes his leave, as Markov offers to make some calls. "But as far as I know, everyone else has cut off contact with him as well," he warns. They part company amicably enough, with a handshake. Make it count, Anatoly.
Logan exits into the front lobby at 5:22:52, where a waiting Kiefer opens the front door for him. I expected Logan to be wired for sound so that Kiefer would already know what happened, but on their way to the car, Logan gives a report. He's truthful with Kiefer about what Markov said, but adds that he thinks that Markov is lying: "And he knows enough about what's going on to want to deny that." Opening the car door for Logan, Kiefer asks how Logan knows that. "Because I've done enough lying myself to be familiar with the signs," Logan replies. Wow, what if Logan is lying now? I think it would be cool if the show explored this further, going into what's at stake and what Kiefer and CTU risk by not believing Logan, and what they have to lose by believing him. There's probably some interesting discussions to be had about Logan's motives, and we could all go back and forth until we find out whether Markov is lying or telling the truth. What if Logan thinks he's lying but turns out to be right? What if he's being candid, but is only mistaken? There are any number of possibilities here.
So, instead, Markov immediately calls Gredenko to warn him that the U.S. is on to him. Possibilities pissed away. Gredenko is irritated that Russia's role been exposed this way, but Markov assures him that if the U.S. had any real evidence, they wouldn't have sent Logan in the first place: "By the time they find anything, it will be too late." Too late for what, exactly? Are they planning to instantly cripple the country's ability to retaliate against Russia with a first strike of three suitcase nukes? If it's that easy, maybe we shouldn't have won the Cold War after all. Even so, Gredenko agrees to proceed.
Inside the LoganMobile, Kiefer instructs the driver to proceed through the Consulate's front gates and pull over as soon as they're around the corner. Logan asks Kiefer what he's going to do. Kiefer's going to make a call on his cell phone, is what. Just you try and stop him.
The call goes directly through to Chloe's personal cell phone instead of the CTU switchboard. She answers, and Kiefer asks her to secretly hack into the power company's server to cut off the juice to the Consulate. Chloe's been through this kind of thing with Kiefer enough times not to waste time arguing, and just asks Kiefer how long he needs the power out. He asks for sixty seconds, and to make it look like a grid failure. That way, the folks at the Consulate will see nothing at all sinister in a convenient blackout that just happens to occur moments after an ex-POTUS was sent away empty-handed. Chloe says she'll call Kiefer back when she's ready, and he hangs up. No dummy, Logan asks Kiefer if he's sure he wants to go back in. He reminds Kiefer (and us) that Kiefer spent the last twenty months of his life being punished for violating the Chinese Consulate. Does Kiefer really want to be a Consular recidivist? Kiefer doesn't answer. It's 5:24:54.
5:29:04. Remember how Karen Hayes was going to head back to L.A. about six hours ago? Turns out she sucks at it. Instead, she's hanging out in the departure lounge at Edwards Air Force Base, sucking down coffee and watching Fox News on her cell phone. It's the ideal screen size for conveying such a narrow perspective. There's an anchorman talking about the rising death toll in California instead of what would really be happening on the screen, which is pundits arguing with each other about whether to nuke the Middle East into the Stone Age, or nuke it into the pre-Cambrian era. Karen's phone rings, and it's Buchanan, calling to tell her that Wayne got blown up about a half-hour ago. Is he, like, the head of the blown-up-Wayne call tree or something? Karen's shocked, because there's been nothing about it on the news (or on Fox News, for that matter). Buchanan says that it hasn't been made public yet. Karen says that she's going back to the White House, and Buchanan wonders if the Veep will even let her. Karen says that her resignation hasn't been processed yet, so she can still take it back. She says that she'll call Buchanan when she arrives at the White House. Which will take how long, at the rate she's been moving? By that time the crisis will be over, Buchanan will be home in bed, and the Veep will be campaigning for reelection.
The Veep's already in the White House, and as he and Lisa board the elevator down to the Bunker, he tells her to get moving on Tom's JAM (Jail All Muslims) plan. "The president rejected that plan," Lisa quietly reminds him. "What's your point?" he responds. As the elevator descends, she wonders if it's too soon to enact the plan Wayne shot down. He tells her that a Muslim terrorist just bombed the White House: "If anything, we've delayed this far too long." Do you think when that when the Veep finds out the truth, he'll order internment camps set up for Life Goes On cast members and ex-spouses of Oscar winners?
The elevator disgorges Lisa and the Veep in the Bunker, where SecDef is waiting with some other official-looking guys. He reports that Wayne has been stabilized, but that there's no prognosis yet. "Something else has come up," he adds, giving Lisa a pointed look so that she'll go find something else to do. SecDef reports that, in connection with the attempt on Wayne's life, Tom has given himself up. The Veep is confused. Clearly he doesn't understand the depth of Tom's commitment to his "guilty until proven innocent" concept, which Tom believes so fervently that he has applied it to himself.
Tom is currently being debriefed in a conference room. He tells the agent questioning him that Chad Lowe first hinted about the plot about two hours ago, even though it's more like four by my math. When the agent asks why Tom waited an hour (or two) to report it, Tom says that there wasn't anything actionable before then. He was just playing along to find out more, and when he realized that Chad Lowe was making his move, Tom tried to alert Agent Hollister, and that's when Chad Lowe knocked him out and tied him up. Perhaps he could point to the obvious bruises on his head and the duct tape residue on his face and wrists to bolster his story here, but he doesn't. The agent starts to ask about Tom's providing Carson's clearance into the White House, and Tom shrilly protests that it was Chad Lowe who did that, using Tom's stolen security pass. The agent asks if Tom was just pretending when he gave Chad Lowe Wayne's "classified itinerary." How classified could it have been? Wayne's in the Bunker. His "itinerary" would have shown him going from one part of the Bunker to another part of the Bunker. Again, how big is this place? "Maybe it's just that you had second thoughts," the agent accuses Tom. Agent, we've already been over that on the forums. You're going down a dead end.
At this point, the Veep enters, wanting to talk to Tom alone. Despite the fact that Tom is at the very least a "person of interest" in a crime that just put the Veep in the Big Chair, everyone's okay with this, and a moment later, it's just the two of them in the room. Tom calls the Veep by his first name, Noah, and says that he tried to stop it. The Veep says that he wants to believe that, but awkwardly segues into how he'll wait for the Justice Department's verdict on that, as well as on Assad's involvement. Tom insists that Assad was being framed, but the Veep isn't buying. He says he heard that Tom thought others were involved. "Only because [Chad Lowe] implied as much," says Tom, now that he knows there were only two guys. Except that the Veep still believes Assad could have been one of those unnamed conspirators. "That makes no sense whatsoever!" Tom shouts. I'm going to convert that to a sound file for my computer to play every time I open a 24 recap. The Veep thinks that a terrorist like Assad would have been all about martyring himself to kill the President. Tom comes out of his chair, saying that's exactly what Chad Lowe and Carson want the Veep to think. The Veep says that he's about to address the nation, and doesn't intend to say that Assad is innocent until he has all the facts. I don't know why Tom and the Veep are having such a heated debate about Assad's guilt or innocence instead of Tom's. The Veep's about to walk out, but Tom stops him and accuses him of scapegoating Assad so that he can "get even more aggressive with the Muslim community." "It's your plan, Tom!" the Veep duhs. He says that they have a chance to do some good: "The Cabinet knows that you are the architect of the plan. If you're not the face of it now, it will raise questions." He asks whether Tom has changed his mind, and Tom says that he hasn't. The Veep lays it out for him: "You can stick to your assertion of Assad's complete innocence, or I can clear you of these charges and you can help me to initiate your plan, which we both know is in the best interests of the country." Satisfied with his false dichotomy, the Veep leaves Tom to his debriefing. Okay, that scene was crap. Both actors did fine, but they were forced to spout dialogue that was more about explicating upcoming plot points than what people would actually say in this situation. Although God knows this show's plot points could occasionally do with a little more explicating.
At 5:35:42, Kiefer hops over the wall surrounding the Consulate grounds. He pulls out his borrowed Secret Service earpiece and ditches it, I suppose just in case he feels the urge to call for help. Making his way toward the main building, Kiefer's stopped by a guard, who comes out of a French door one level above and asks in subtitled Russian, "Why are you here?" In equally fluent and subtitled Russian, Kiefer responds, "I was told to guard the back of the building." This seems to satisfy the guard, who continues on his way. After all, what American intruder would bother to learn Russian? Although I do wonder how a building that appears to consist of two rooms and a hallway could have a large enough security force that they don't all know each other by sight. Kiefer answers his vibrating cell phone to find Chloe on the other end with the news that she's ready to create Kiefer's localized blackout. She says that he'll have sixty seconds before the building's own power kicks in. Again, nice security. Or maybe when they built the place, the city just refused to give Russia a permit for an emergency generator. "Sorry, Russia, it's against code. Say, do you need to renew your driver's license while you're here? Hey, Maxine, take good care of Russia here for me, would you?" Kiefer positions himself by a back door, under and out of view of a security camera that's probably just an empty shell anyway. He tells Chloe to go ahead, and she does. He opens the back door and walks right in. Lucky for him there wasn't any kind of mechanical lock, or one that automatically engages if the power goes out. Poor Russia. Ever since they lost the Cold War, they never get to have anything nice.
Inside the building, the Consulate's other three security guys quickly grok that something's up, and split up to check things out. Meanwhile, Kiefer draws his weapon and enters Markov's office. The Consul was apparently just sitting back in his chair in the semi-dark, doing nothing but staring into the gloom and waiting to stand up in alarm. He does so now as Kiefer comes at him with his gun leveled, demanding to know where Gredenko is. Markov is still denying any knowledge. The fact that we already know Markov's lying sucks a lot of the suspense out of this scene. Kiefer is distracted when the lights suddenly come back on, and Markov takes advantage of the moment to hit the panic button on his desk, triggering a klaxon throughout the building. Wait until the three security guys hear that. Kiefer locks the office door as Markov bellows at him that he's breaking international law and violating the sovereignty of the consulate. Kiefer's like, been there, done that, got the pajamas. Putting the muzzle of his gun against Markov's forehead, he says he doesn't have time to ask nicely where Gredenko is. Not that asking nicely worked earlier for Logan anyway. Markov is still claiming not to know from Gredenko.
In the hallway outside the office, a blond, beefy Russian consulate cop meets up with a skinny, dark-haired one, who reports that Markov hit his panic button when the power came back on. So now it pretty much looks like they're standing around trying to decide what to do . Someone isn't quite clear on the concept of "panic button," methinks. It's not a "vague, nameless dread button," comrades. The blond consulate cop bangs on the door and asks if the Consul is all right. He's not, of course, because Kiefer just knocked him unconscious. Kiefer yells back through the door that he's taken the Consul hostage and will kill him if they try to come in. Blondsky instructs a minion to alert Moscow. The minion scampers off without protesting, "Dudesky, it's 4:30 in the morning there." Inside Markov's office, Kiefer gets on his cell phone and tells the CTU operator, "It's Jack. Let me speak to Buchanan." Of course all the receptionists there know who "Jack" is, even the ones who just started last month.
Buchanan takes the call in the CTU Situation Room. Kiefer says, "I got a situation," when of course what he means is that he created a situation. He quickly explains the fix he's in and how he got there. Buchanan's not happy, saying that he can't exactly sanction Kiefer's actions on Russian territory. Kiefer already knows this; he just wants Buchanan to alert the White House so that they're not surprised. So considerate. Buchanan tells Kiefer to get out of there, but Kiefer refuses to leave until Markov tells him what he needs to know. He'll have to wait until Markov wakes up, naturally, which might add a minute or two. "I'll get back to you as soon as I've got something," Kiefer promises, and hangs up. It's 5:38:48.
5:43:02. The Veep scowls his way into the empty Battle Bridge and sits at the Presidential desk. He treats the moment with the appropriate gravity. Lisa enters to let him know that he's going on the air in about ten minutes with a statement that she's working on now. She reports that Karen Hayes is on her way back and withdrawing her resignation, which rumor has it she tendered in the first place because she was against Tom's plan. This marks the first time in human history that the rumor is actually less scandalous than the truth. "I see," the Veep rumbles, looking forward to having a fresh person around to bulldoze. Buchanan calls in to let the Veep know what's going on at the Consulate. The Veep is none too pleased, and he asks whether Buchanan approved this. Buchanan says that it was all Kiefer's idea, which is of course true. The Veep also wonders why Kiefer acted based only on Logan's word, and Buchanan points out that Kiefer doesn't trust Logan at all, "yet he was convinced." Well, that explains it. Or, Kiefer just wanted to torture someone again. The Veep remarks that Kiefer has created rather a diplomatic mess for him, and the ringing phone in his office, which Lisa picks up, is about to underscore that point quite effectively. Buchanan is insisting that they have to let Kiefer proceed, since getting the info from Markov is the only way to stop the nukes. Lisa tries to interrupt, and the Veep tries to tell her not now, and Lisa says that it's our old comrade President Suvarov on the line. Aw, isn't it cute how the Russians have the same president for as long as a few years sometimes? The Veep sighs heavily. and tells Buchanan that Kiefer had better get what he needs quickly.
Then the Veep takes Suvarov's call. I guess that's not one you can screen. Despite the early hour in Moscow, Suvarov is fully dressed and groomed and calling from whatever part of the Real Time Productions soundstage they've dressed up to look like an office in the Kremlin. He's a bit disappointed to be talking to the Veep instead of Wayne, but the Veep assures Suvarov that he's speaking on Wayne's authority. Before Suvarov can even bring up Kiefer, the Veep protests that Kiefer's acting alone. Even so, Suvarov is pretty pissed about the situation (not to mention how early and how quickly he had to get ready for work) and threatens to retaliate "with the most forceful diplomatic measures at our disposal." Yeah, just you try catching a performance of The Cherry Orchard any time soon, my friend. The Veep isn't the type who responds well to threats, so he informs Suvarov about Markov's suspected connection to the nuclear attack this morning. Suvarov feels bad about the nukes and all, but says that these kinds of allegations should be made through proper channels after Kiefer's given himself up. The Veep's response?
We don't get to hear it, because instead we cut to Kiefer beating the crap out of Markov, whom he's tied to a chair. The Consul is looking pretty bloody, but still denying that he's spoken to Gredenko since Gredenko's arrival in the U.S. Fiddling with Markov's cigar cutter, Kiefer says he never mentioned Gredenko was even in the U.S. Markov shuts up, although he could reasonably claim that he learned that from Logan. Kiefer sits down in front of Markov, saying that they know Gredenko supplied the nukes; they just don't know why he's still involved. Uh, they're assuming he's still involved. Seems a little sloppy, since the only evidence they have of Gredenko's continued participation is an abandoned safe house. But that's more than enough for Kiefer to play the torture card. He holds up the cigar cutter and threatens to start taking fingers. And, after giving Markov one more chance, he takes one. Markov grimaces in agony. Remember a few hours ago, when it looked like Kiefer had lost his stomach for this kind of thing? No? Yeah, I kind of thought I was the only one.
Meanwhile, the terrible, terrible security guards outside are just now getting a live video feed of what's going on inside the office. They say they can't move in yet because Kiefer's still too close to the Consul. Good excuse.
Kiefer decides to take a different tack with Markov: he says that Markov can either turn in Gredenko and Kiefer will go get him, or Kiefer will kill Markov right now. If he does the latter, Gredenko will hear about it, assume that he's exposed, and skedaddle. Either way, Gredenko's done. I don't know why this is any more or less true than it was before Kiefer gave Markov's left pinky a trim; mutilating someone is just a bonus, I suppose. Looking down the muzzle of Kiefer's gun, Markov gives up Gredenko's location: the Mojave Desert, in the Shadow Valley. Kiefer asks what Gredenko's doing, and Markov actually smirks as he says that Gredenko's launching drones with nuclear bombs. "In two hours, all of the bombs will be in the air," he snickers. Kiefer socks him in the puss once more. And thus concludes another thrilling fistfight between the Great American Hero and somebody he tied to a chair. Kiefer steps away to dial his cell phone. That's exactly what the guards have been waiting for, and the door blows open in Kiefer's face, hurling him stunned to the floor. Two guards pick him up and lean him against the wall while the other two cut the plastic ties holding Markov's wrists to the arms of his guest chair. Markov gets up, orders his men not to let anyone near Kiefer, and vindictively punches him in the gut. With his right fist, of course, because delivering a left would probably sting. Speaking of which, shouldn't somebody get Markvo a Thermos full of ice or something? Kiefer is hauled out into the hallway at 5:49:48.
5:54:02. The Veep is live on the air, breaking the news about Wayne's assassination attempt. I'm thinking that if people's news broadcasts are suddenly interrupted during a national crisis by a live address from the Vice-President, they're already going to have a pretty good idea of what's going on before he even starts talking. The Veep's speaking from the Battle Bridge instead of the blown-up broadcast studio or the fake Oval Office set from earlier. I hope they just keep moving the cameras around the Bunker all season, until finally someone ends up broadcasting from the steam pipe trunk distribution venue. The Veep names the late Assad as the prime suspect, just as planned. He announces that he plans to push "an aggressive agenda of national security. One that will, out of necessity, suspend certain civil liberties. This is the price of war. Make no mistake. That is exactly what this is." Yeah, non-whites! Look out, you!
We're close in on Nadia as she's watching this from CTU, and she decides that, instead of complaining, she'd better make the most of however many minutes of freedom she's got left. She goes over to Chloe and asks whether she's heard from Kiefer yet. She hasn't. Nadia asks if they're monitoring Consular communications. From his place at the desk to Chloe's, Morris (holding it together quite well for the five minutes he's in this episode -- which is still five more minutes than Milo is) says that they are, but that it's all encrypted. Fortunately, he's working on a way around it. A bit of Anglo-Russian technobabble later, Morris has some Cyrillic text on his screen that looks like it mentions the phrase "American agent" a few times. That's not exactly news, but Morris knows enough Russian to realize that it's saying Kiefer's in custody.
Buchanan's watching the Veep's address up in his office, but he mutes the TV to take the call from Nadia reporting Morris's news. Buchanan doesn't have a response to that. Nadia suggests that they notify the Veep, but Buchanan wants to hold off, since the Veep's already in trouble with Suvarov and doesn't need this grief on top of everything else. Instead, Buchanan tells Nadia to have Special Ops put together an attack plan: "I want to give the Vice-President the option to take the Consulate by force, and hopefully rescue Jack." And I want to see how excited the Veep gets when he has a real, honest-to-God chance to order an attack on some actual Russians during his first two hours in office.
At the Consulate, Kiefer is coming around to find himself tied to a chair in a different room, alone with the blond Consulate Cop. He's being treated pretty well, in the sense that nobody's beating him up or cutting off his fingers. Maybe Markov took one look at Kiefer's scabby meathooks and decided against dulling his cigar cutter. It's 5:56:45 as Kiefer tries to address Blondsky in Russian, then English. Blondsky says that they're not allowed to talk to each other, and Kiefer says that's because the Consul has a secret to keep. Kiefer reveals Markov's connection to Gredenko: "Markov's working with him against the orders of your government." Blondsky says that Kiefer can make these allegations official later, but of course Kiefer says that there's no time, since three more nukes are going to be launched via unmanned drones within hours. "With the Consul's knowledge?" Blondsky asks, shocked. "That's a ridiculous accusation." Kiefer says that Markov confessed, and gave Kiefer Gredenko's location and time frame. Blondsky heads for the door, but stops when Kiefer says, "I know you believe me! You know about Markov's connection to Gredenko." I don't know how Kiefer knows this, but he's clearly getting to Blondsky. He asks him to call CTU and relay the information that Gredenko is in the Shadow Valley, which is going to be tricky because the number he gives is the same one that goes through to Logan's and Chloe's cell phones. "You need to tell them you have a message for Bill Buchanan from me. My name is Jack Bauer." Blondsky threatens that Kiefer had better not be lying. Kiefer says that if Blondsky didn't already know he wasn't, he wouldn't even think about doing this. He tells Blondsky to hurry. The clock is ticking. See? It's right there at the bottom of the screen, saying 5:58:33 through 5:58:36.
Blondsky goes into the hallway and starts looking sneaky. In other splitscreen windows, Nadia explains to Buchanan what she's been doing so that someone can take over for her after she gets arrested; the Veep wraps up his statement; Wayne still lies in the Bunker's operating room, unconscious, wrapping up the easiest day's work DB Woodside ever put in; and the O'Brians scowl at their respective monitors. Alas, Morris is failing to download himself any whisky at all.
Deciding that he's alone, Blondsky goes into a room and pulls out his cell phone, putting it to the ear that had a Bluetooth attached to it just a second ago. No sooner does he ask for Buchanan than a shadow is seen lurking behind him. Sure enough, Blondsky is still waiting for his call to be transferred when an unseen assailant puts a bullet in his head with a silenced handgun. Blondsky's dead before he hits the floor. The shooter -- a man in wingtips and a suit -- picks up the ejected shell casing. We still can't see his face, and I'm getting very nervous that something really stupid is about to happen. Buchanan is being told by the CTU switchboard operator that he's getting an urgent call from the Russian Consulate, and I don't know how the operator knows that if Blondsky is using his personal cell phone and never identified himself. Blondsky's dropped cell phone says, "This is Bill Buchanan." The shooter picks up the phone and snaps it shut, and as Buchanan and Nadia look at each other in puzzlement, we finally see the killer's face: it's the thin, dark-haired Consulate guard we saw earlier. Oh, thank God it wasn't Logan. It's 6:00:00.