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In the aftermath of Taylor's order to call off the air strike, everyone thinks it's because she doesn't trust the intel. Except Kiefer, who with Tony's help figures out that Hodges is holding prepped-and-ready missiles over her head. But Tony's still inside, and he offers to blow the fuel tanks, which Taylor obliquely authorizes. She receives Hodges in the Oval Office, and listens to his sales pitch to make Starkwood a de facto part of the government. Of course she's only playing for time while Tony sets the charges, and the minute she gets word of the explosion at Starkwood, she orders Hodges and Seaton arrested on the spot. But no sooner is Hodges in custody than he claims to be only a small part of something bigger than all of them. What, exactly? "You'll find out," he threatens.
But in the meantime, there's mopping up to do. Tony survived the explosion and is taken into Moss's custody for the time being, while Kiefer's beginning to literally lose his mind. And it doesn't help when Walker tells him that she went ahead and brought his daughter into the FBI to try the experimental treatment. Kiefer's pissed, until he learns that Kim's been trying to reach him all day. They have an emotional reunion and bury every possible hatchet, but Kiefer's still refusing her help.
And just when things at Starkwood seem to be under control, one of Hodges's men manages to kill two FBI agents and smuggle a single bioweapon canister off the grounds. In the ensuing pursuit, Moss gets shot, and while he lies there wounded, Tony suffocates him while the Starkwood guy watches. So…Tony's evil again, then?
Want more? The full recap starts right below!The first of this week's previouslies freeze-frames features -- get this -- "The FBI." Which is represented by Kiefer and Agent Walker, on the phone at the DC field office. Weird. Remember when CTU used to get freeze-frames sometimes, as "Counter Terrorism Unit"? I'm just a little taken aback at seeing this week's new 24 viewers introduced to something that actually exists.
Tony makes his sneaky way across the Starkwood compound, and from behind a building he watches a semi pulling a tanker trailer into place near what looks like the above-ground pipes leading to a private fuel depot hidden underground. Stokes and another Starkwood guy meet the truck there. While watching this through his binoculars, Tony asks Kiefer over his earpiece where the damn F-18s are already. Kiefer has to tell Tony that Taylor called off the air strike. He claims that Taylor wasn't satisfied with the intel (despite the fact that Kiefer and Tony both saw the canisters themselves) and agrees with Tony that it doesn't make sense. But they still have their orders, and Kiefer's in an obedient mood this hour, so he tells Tony to go meet with Moss's teams, which are along the southwest perimeter of the Starkwood compound. Well, that explains why Moss hasn't been back to FBI-DC yet. Tony tells them to hold on for a minute so he can get a closer look at that truck, and he sees that the truck and the fuel pipes are labeled "RP-7." So that's either a tanker truck full of spray lubricant or remote-control robots, then? Actually, RP-7 means something else to Tony; he recognizes it as fuel for surface-to-surface rockets, which in turn helps him and Kiefer form a theory as to why the air strike was called off: Hodges threatened Taylor with the rockets. Of course, now we know that she could have gone ahead, since the rockets apparently weren't fueled until just now anyway. Kiefer confirms that Tony's got some C-4 on him and that he thinks he can get to the underground depot undetected, and then ropes Walker into coming with him so they can call the president.
Tim enters the Oval Office and tells Taylor that the Joint Chiefs are giving him a hard time about Taylor's decision to call off the air strike. And frankly he doesn't get it either. Taylor's in no mood, and she didn't get this far in the season by not being stubborn, so she puts Tim off, except to mention that Jonas Hodges is on his way to talk to her. Tim is shocked, and asks, "Shouldn't your advisors be at that meeting?" Yes, with guns. But Taylor snaps at him to stop asking questions and tells him to keep Hodges's visit quiet. As Tim leaves, Taylor gets a call from the FBI. Kiefer tells her, "We need to talk." Uh-oh, is Kiefer going to break up with her? But Taylor insists on doing the talking, saying she appreciates their work, but she needs more. "Madam President, with all due respect, I don't believe you're being truthful with us," Kiefer says. Taylor looks busted for a minute before remembering to say, "excuse me?" Yes, Kiefer just called the President of the United States a liar. You'd think POTI would get used to that in a hurry. Kiefer tells her his theory that Hodges has armed missiles with the bioweapon and is threatening to use them. He goes on to tell her about what Tony saw and what it means, and finally Taylor admits that it's true. She's lucky Kiefer's only on the phone and didn't have to torture it out of her. Walker asks Taylor what Hodges wants, and the prez says he has demanded a meeting. Kiefer says she can't negotiate with Hodges, but Taylor insists that she can talk him out of what he's doing. Kiefer says, "Jonas Hodges is a traitor and a terrorist, and after everything that's happened today, are you really naïve enough to believe that you can simply talk to him and change his mind?" Taylor points out that she's out of options, but Kiefer tells Taylor she's not: Tony's in position to bomb the fuel tanks and take out the bioweapons. "RP-7 rocket fuel burns at 5,000 degrees," Kiefer says. "There'll be nothing left." Funny, we learned last week that white phosphorus charges burn at 5,000 degrees too. Does everything burn at that temperature in the 24-verse? Must make barbecues pretty dicey affairs. Taylor is still worried about the possibility of Starkwood busting Tony and launching the missiles as per Hodges' standing orders, but Kiefer begs her to trust him. Finally, Taylor asks, seemingly out of nowhere, "How long do the doctors give you to live?" Kiefer says nobody's sure, "but the pathogen has started to take effect." "Then there's not much I can threaten you with, is there?" Taylor says. "I expect you'll do what you think is right." After giving him a second to think about that, she cuts off the call. Walker is confused, but Kiefer explains that this was Taylor's way of saying she wants them to do it, without actually saying it in case something goes wrong. He tells her to call Moss now, and relay this most indirect presidential order.
At 1:08:55, Hodges and Seaton are being led through the hallways of the White House. Hodges, now in a fresh suit and tie and a shirt that doesn't have his chairman of the board's blood on it, boasts that he told Seaton he'd get him here. "I just didn't think it would be under these conditions." Hodges remembers to congratulate Seaton on his move a couple of hours ago. "You put yourself in harm's way, Greg. I'll never forget that." And we know how much Hodges values loyalty, since in the last hour he murdered someone for not having enough of it. He confesses to being nervous, as Tim meets them and ushers them into a waiting room. He's not too nervous to address Tim by his first name, of course.
We join Walker's call to Moss already in progress, and it sounds like Moss isn't convinced about what Taylor's wishes really are. But when Walker asks him if he has a problem, he says, "As a matter of fact, no. None whatsoever." He's looking forward to settling his score with Starkwood. Larry's getting awfully cool lately. And you know what that means.
In the FBI bullpen, Kiefer and Walker rejoin Janis at the little ops center they've set up. Replacing his earpiece, Kiefer tells Tony he was right, and they have a covert go-ahead. Kiefer wants Tony to reassure him that he can do it without getting busted, and Tony says he can. Tony gets ready to make his move. He's going to be so embarrassed if he blows this. In the bad way, I mean.
At 1:10:55, a hose is attached from the tanker truck to an above-ground pump, and the Poor Man's Tracy Morgan who's guarding the truck to Stokes says he's going to do a perimeter check. "You said you just finished one," Stokes says. Stokes is in a good mood this hour; he's only annoyed instead of angry. Poor Man's Tracy Morgan says, "I know, but I don't think we can be too careful right now." With that, he steps away, leaving Stokes to make an irritated phone call. That call is to Tom the lead tech, down in the missile control room, to say he'll be down in a few minutes. Suddenly, Tony appears, his gun to the head of the truck's driver. It's not clear how he managed to cross the large expanse of exposed, well-lit concrete without being seen, but here he is. He tells Stokes to put his hands up and turn around. "Almeida," Stokes spits. Angrily. Tony makes Stokes drop his gun and kick it away, then clubs the truck driver unconscious and makes Stokes drag him beneath the trailer. Then he forces Stokes to open the cellar-style doors to the underground fuel tanks and proceed him down through them. It's 1:13:12. Does it count as being undetected if he's making someone help him?
At 1:17:35, a White House functionary tells Seaton and Hodges that the president is ready for them, and they enter the Oval Office. Hodges introduces Seaton. "He's a remarkable man. He doesn't look remarkable, but believe me, he's a genius." Seaton looks a little uncomfortable at what's verging on sexual harassment, and of course Taylor knows him already. She dismisses the Secret Service agents from the room, and now that it's just the three of them, Hodges gushes about the history of the Oval Office. "This is the first time I've been in this room since you were elected," he says by way of small talk. "Under your predecessor, I used to drop by every couple of months. I'd brief President Daniels on what was really going on in the world." Taylor asks if that's what this is about, but Hodges assures her it's not. "It's about allowing Starkwood to fulfill the purpose for which it was founded. Protecting this country." After it's done threatening it, that is. Taylor calls him out on what he and Juma have been up to, specifically killing "hundreds of innocent people. Including my son." Sure, make it personal. Hodges stands and imitates some human-sounding noises about the deaths, but claims to be "shocked that you would think that I had anything to do with this." Taylor says they have evidence, but Hodges says it's all lies. And anyway, he wants to put all that behind them. Bygones! "I'm listening," Taylor says, which right there would tell Hodges that she's just playing for time, if only he were aware of the fact that he is a lunatic. Hodges claims that the country needs private armies. "Look how easy it was to get bioweapons into this country." Yes, good point. Who was it who did that, again? Oh, yeah, a private army. Excellent point. So Taylor asks what Hodges wants to do about it. "In short, I want a seat at the table," Hodges says, coming right back to what he denied this was about at the beginning of the meeting. "Starkwood needs to be involved in the shaping of military policy. Domestic and global... Think of Starkwood as the fifth branch of the military." Holy God, is he serious? What a nutbar. Before Taylor can concede that yes, right now the country's armed forces is sadly lacking in a branch that'll be prepared to pull a military coup any time the president does something it doesn't like, Seaton hands out copies of a slim binder. Hodges says this is "the basis of our agreement," and he wants to go over it with her right now. Taylor throws hers on her desk and says he's proposing blackmail. "Well, that's putting it in the worst possible light," he protests. She proves him wrong by saying, "You are threatening to kill thousands of people." Hodges actually says, "I'm not proud of this chapter. I'm the first to admit it... But this country's seen enough bloodshed. For the sake of the American people, Madam President, I implore you to work with me." I love that "For the sake of the American people" bit. Presumably the ones he's going to kill if he doesn't get his way. "Let's move past this. Pick up the document, Madam President." So, is he planning to keep biological weapons pointed at domestic targets throughout the "partnership" he's envisioning with the government? Because that seems to me like it might get kind of awkward. But Taylor might consider this: those long, boring meetings with the Joint Chiefs will go a lot more quickly when everyone can just show up and get their marching orders from the new Secretary of Starkwood.
At 1:21:24, Tony finishes attaching electronically wired C-4 charges to the underground fuel tanks. He goes to Stokes, who he's handcuffed to a pipe, and frees his hands. Apparently he's not still mad enough at Stokes to leave him down there to be incinerated. He makes Stokes lead him back out and up the stairs. Stokes closes the doors, and Tony makes him walk around the parked truck. It's not clear what his move is, but it's moot given the sudden reappearance of Poor Man's Tracy Morgan. He tackles Tony from behind, sending Tony sprawling and the detonator clattering through a narrow gap between two metal grates in the concrete. Why didn't PMTM just shoot Tony when he had the chance? Maybe he didn't want to set off all the fuel that's flowing around in those pipes and hoses. Or maybe he had a different reason. Whatever the case, in the time it takes for Tony to beat Poor Man's Tracy Morgan down, Stokes runs to an alarm keypad and punches in a code. Tony beats Stokes down, too, but it's too late. Alarms are going off downstairs, and Tom the tech says it means they need to launch immediately, per their standing orders. Another tech clearly has doubts about this, but Tom says to start the launch sequence. Above ground, the tops of the missile silos begin to open up. "You're too late," Stokes taunts bloodily from underneath Tony. Tony socks Stokes unconscious and goes after the detonator. The gap in the grate is just wide enough to stick his arm through, but the hole is too deep for his fingers to reach the detonator. While this is going on, the guys downstairs have locked in Clarksville, Maryland as the target. As a sheet of metal closes down over the window into the missile bay, Tom the tech tells the other guy to enter the firing codes, but the other guy refuses. "We're about to kill ten thousand people. We should get someone on the phone." That's not a bad motto, actually. But Tom pushes the tech away and enters the codes himself. Above ground, Tony's fingertips scrabble for the remote detonator. The missiles' engines begin to warm up as Tony finally manages to retrieve the detonator. And then when he pulls his arm up, the metal grates that were blocking him lift easily out of their slots and clatter against the concrete. Not really, but that would have been kind of hilarious. Tony finally hits the button and takes off running in a random direction, just as a giant fireball blows everything, below and above ground, all to shit.
From outside the Starkwood fence, Moss sees the explosion (not that we can see it from his vantage point, or even a change in the light on his face) and tells his men that's their cue. They jump in their trucks and move out at 1:24:14.
The explosion shows up on the FBI monitors showing the satellite feed of Starkwood, and Kiefer anticlimactically says, "It's done," as he removes his earpiece. Janis is trying to raise Tony, but Kiefer calmly says the explosion would have shorted his comm out anyway, so they'll have to wait for Moss's team to arrive. He doesn't seem too worried. I guess he only learned Tony was alive in the first place this same morning, and if he's dead again, Kiefer will see him again soon anyway.
Inside the Oval Office, Taylor is getting to the part in the folder where Starkwood is asking for better security clearances than the Vice President, to which she voices her objections. I don't know why she has such a problem with it; the Vice President is a moron. I wouldn't give him my car keys. "These points are non-negotiable," Hodges says. "I'm not here to debate them." Way to demonstrate how awesome you're going to be to work with, Hodges. Seaton starts to move on, but then Tim comes in to call Taylor out for a brief word. Taylor excuses herself and leaves the room with Tim. In the outer office, Tim tells Taylor, "SatCom has just detected a massive explosion on the Starkwood compound. The bioweapons facility has been destroyed." Except he doesn't know how it happened. "This wasn't us," he says. He adds that the FBI is already moving in, and Taylor says she wants to talk to Kiefer when this is over. She's doing a shitty job of acting surprised.
Inside, Hodges and Seaton discuss how the meeting is going. "I'm not sure I'm reaching her," Hodges unwittingly understates. Dude, how many terrorists do you think get left alone in the Oval Office, anyway? But when the doors open and Secret Service agents swarm in, he demands, "What the hell is this?" Walking in with Tim, Taylor theatrically hands him Seaton's binder and tells him, "Put this document into evidence and take these men into custody." Hodges protests, and Taylor says, "Jonas, we've taken out your missiles. It's over." Hodges is in denial, but Taylor says he's under arrest. "You are a terrorist and a murderer and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that you pay dearly for your crimes." Hodges actually tries to make a run at her, but the agents grab him as he snarls, "My only crime is trying to protect my country." The parts he wasn't trying to kill, that is. And then, as they start to drag him out, he says something we knew had to be coming, given that there are still six and a half hours left in the season: "You think this ends with me? I'm just a small cog in a very big machine." Taylor asks what he means. "You'll find out," he hisses. The Secret Service haul him out, and Tim leaves her alone to chew on that. It's 1:27:14.
At 1:31:42, Walker reports to Kiefer that no trace of the bioweapon was found near the blast site. Kiefer asks about Tony, and Walker says Moss hasn't found him yet. Then the FBI agent whose entire function seems to be to tell people about incoming phone calls informs Kiefer that he has a call coming in from the president. Kiefer goes into the conference room to take it, breathing rather heavily. Taylor tells Kiefer that Hodges is under arrest, and Kiefer says that's good news. Surprisingly, he doesn't offer to interrogate him for her. Taylor thanks him for providing her with an option, and Kiefer in turn tells Taylor that it was Tony who risked his life to take out the missiles. "As you know, he's facing arrest for things he did leading up to today, and I was hoping that maybe you could..." He trails off, and drops heavily into a chair before admitting that he forgot what he was talking about. Taylor gently reminds him that he was talking about Tony, whose actions she promises to take into account. She says she's sorry he's going through this. "I wish that there were something I could do." Kiefer finally says, "Madam President, I appreciate this phone call, but I'm sorry, I have to go." Taylor says she understands. She'd probably rather be in bed now anyway.
Kiefer emerges from the conference room and tells Walker that Hodges has been arrested, and he's off to see Dr. Macer. Meanwhile, Taylor tells her assistant to get her real-time updates on Kiefer's condition from the CDC. After she wakes up in the morning, presumably. And if he dies before she's up, it can probably wait.
At Starkwood, gas-masked agents are milling around as the missile silos close up. One of the agents escorts a seemingly unhurt Tony, now handcuffed. Moss is on comm with Walker, telling her that they've secured the compound and everyone is surrendering. Even Stokes, apparently, who not only survived the explosion but is now conscious and upright while a medic shines a flashlight on the back of his head. Maybe he's trying to find out where all that anger comes from. "Most of the men on this base, I don't think they have any idea what was going on," Moss remarks. Walker asks about Tony, and Moss says he's in custody, and doing pretty well. Yeah, he's a hard guy to kill, we know. "Jack will be glad to hear that," Walker says. Moss starts to say something to Walker about how long they've known each other and how much has happened today. "Yeah, we have a lot to talk about, I know," Walker says. Plenty of time for that conversation later, right? But for now, the FBI receptionist shows up again to tell Walker that "her visitor" is in the building. Yes, no surprise, that would be the Spawn of Kiefer herself, Kim Bauer. "Jack's daughter?" Tony overhears Moss asking Walker. She tells Moss about the experimental treatment, and Moss tells her to let him know how it goes. She tells him she's going off comm.
So now Tony asks Moss what that was about Kim, and Moss briefly explains the experimental treatment. "Didn't sound promising," he says. And then he has to reluctantly take Tony into custody. "Yeah, I know," Tony says, without even looking down at the handcuffs he's wearing. Moss gives Tony credit for his bravery and says he doesn't think Tony deserves this. Which Tony says he appreciates, "but I'm ready to pay for what I've done." Moss orders his cuffs removed and says Tony will be joining him on the chopper ride back to FBI. At least he gets to go back to the office in style.
Kiefer and Dr. Macer are holed up in an empty office, as she tells him that memory loss is consistent with the disease. "I just wouldn't have expected it to manifest this quickly." Does the good news ever start with this lady? Kiefer awkwardly says he feels "like I'm losing some part of myself." Let's hope it's his sadism, stubbornness, and/or messiah complex. Macer doesn't have much helpful to say about that, so Kiefer cuts to the chase: can she give him something that fixes his brain like she did the shaking? Sorry, no. Kiefer politely takes his leave of her at 1:36:52. Seeing him be that polite is almost as jarring as watching a normal person having a seizure.
Out in the hallway, he mops at his face, until Walker joins him to ask if he's okay. Kiefer says he needs to go on record about the day's events while he still can. That should make for riveting reading given his current condition. I can just imagine the transcript: "Agent Walker and I proceeded to the office of...uh...what was I saying? Ah, then we found and arrested Tony Almeida...wait, Tony's been dead for years...where am I? [seizure]." But before we can start that fun process, Walker breaks some news first. "It's about Kim. She's here, Jack. I told her that you were sick and that she might be able to help with the treatment." Kiefer is first shocked, then quietly furious as he takes her by the arm and leads her into an empty office. Don't go into a room with him, Walker! Not when he's mad at you! And not when he's in an unstable condition! And not when he's Kiefer! But she does, and he shuts the door and he advances on her, demanding to know who the hell she thinks she is. "I am dying," he rages at her. "And I was okay with it. I could handle it. And now you put in front of me the one thing -- the one thing--that's gonna make this unbearable." She tries to protest, but Kiefer says he told her, "Do not drag my daughter into this." Walker says there was no dragging involved. "She's been trying to see you all day." Kiefer's surprised to hear it, and Walker says Kim was even at this morning's Senate hearing all the way from L.A. "She's been leaving messages at our office all morning. They just didn't get to me until now." In a world where anyone can get the President of the United States on the phone in seconds? Dude, sucks to be Spawn. But then we've known that for years. Kiefer's kind of blown away, having assumed that Spawn's still been hating him all this time. Walker offers to just tell Spawn that he's not here, but Kiefer declines and asks where she is. "Down the hall," Walker says, and Kiefer says, "Show me." It's 1:38:56.
1:43:24. Walker and Kiefer have reached the end of what must have been a very long hall indeed. If it were Spawn coming to them instead of the other way around, I would have assumed she got lost, and also delayed by an entire rogue's gallery of unlikely characters, as well as a sudden, urgent need to take a shower. Kiefer looks in through the glass wall of the waiting area and sees the back of a familiar blonde and empty head. Blinking back tears, Kiefer opens the door. Spawn turns around, and if nothing else, she looks great. And then she ruins it by saying, "Daddy," all Sophia Coppola. She asks how he's feeling, and he stutters, "I'm okay." At least he's not snitting, "I'm fine" at everyone any more. He assures her that he's not in pain, and he sits down to her on the couch. She says she's been looking for him for a while. "State Department, private investigators, every time I got a phone number and address you were already gone." Kiefer apologizes, and says he thought he was doing the best thing for her. "Daddy, I've missed you so much," she says, and he looks like he's ready to cry again. He tells her, "You need to know how sorry I am for everything you've had to live through because of me." But Spawn's not hearing that. "Instead of taking responsibility for all the mistakes I've made in my life, I blamed you. And it was stupid and immature. And now all the time that we've lost." Wow, could it be that Spawn has grown up? She brings up the chance that she could help with his disease, and Kiefer says, "The treatment is experimental, and I don't think it's going to work." Plus it's almost two in the morning. She thinks he's afraid to ask her, but he says there's a risk to her. There is? Has anything been said about how her stem cells would be harvested in the first place? It can't be worse than donating a kidney; she gives him a stem cell and she still has one left. She tries to blow off the risk to herself, but Kiefer insists that he's dying. "And whatever small chance there is to keep that from happening, it is not worth the pain for me to let you sit there and watch me die." Now she's crying, saying she doesn't want to lose him, and they hold each other crying for a minute, until a convulsion hits him and he has to let her go. Pathetically, he begs her to leave. She says she loves him so much, and finally kisses him on the cheek and leaves. Kiefer's left sitting there alone, crying like an asshole.
At 1:47:35, we're back at Starkwood. What could possibly be left to happen here? Nothing good, I'm afraid. A lone agent shines a flashlight around the chain link fence at the perimeter and gets into his SUV to call in. Then suddenly Poor Man's Tracy Morgan appears at his window and shoots him in the head. Ouch! Tony should have beat him down better. PMTM hauls the body out, and that's when the dead agent's partner appears, gun leveled. He makes the killer raise his hands, and after checking the dead agent's pulse, makes a call of his own: "I have an agent down and a suspect in custody. Code red." The agent tells PMTM to drop the bag and lean against the hood of the car, which PMTM does. The agent unzips the bag, and you'll never believe what he finds inside: a familiar silver canister with the biohazard symbol printed on it and a rime of frost where the neck narrows to meet some kind of portable cryogenic device. I think we can safely assume this is not just some lobster bisque that's gone off. The agent calls in again on his earpiece to be patched through to Moss, whom he tells about what he's found. "He was carrying a canister of the bioweapon. Tried to smuggle it out using one of our vehicles." Shocked, Moss asks if the agent's sure. "I'm looking at it right now," the agent says. Which is a mistake, because he should be looking at the bad guy he hasn't even cuffed yet. Who takes advantage of his momentary distraction by whirling around and kicking him in the face. While the man's down, PMTM grabs the dead agent's gun and uses it to quickly make a second dead agent. He retrieves his bag and jumps in the SUV. Meanwhile Moss yells the agent's name, then disconnects to call Walker on his cell phone.
He quickly tells Walker the situation, and tells her to close down all the access roads and tell everyone on the perimeters as well as local cops. Meanwhile, he's going to chase him down in the chopper, which he now climbs on board. And which Tony is already sitting in. "Alert Homeland. Let them know what's going on," Moss adds. Walker asks if this is another attack, and all Moss knows is that the canister could take out a small city. As the chopper lifts off with Tony still inside, it's 1:49:58. Uh, is it really going to be that tricky to find a stolen FBI vehicle? Presumably it's wired to the deployment grid, and they'll be able to track it until PMTM disables the tracking device, switches cars, or leaves the country, whichever comes first.
Now it's 1:54:24. Poor Man's Tracy Morgan is on the road, and Moss and Tony are in the air. They're concentrating on Highway 42 for now. Back at FBI-DC, Janis has pulled up the stolen SUV's GPS, and is now waiting for a satellite to start tracking it. Janis asks what Walker meant by an attack earlier, and Walker tells her what's going on. "I thought Tony Almeida destroyed all the weapons." "Apparently not," Walker says, and when Janis asks how PMTM got through the perimeter, Walker says he shot and killed two agents. If only it had been a CTU perimeter, PMTM would have gotten away a lot more easily and those agents would still be alive. Bu now, Janis has tracked the SUV to Highway 42 at Smoketree Avenue and going into an industrial area. Walker has Janis patch her into the interagency channel, and announces to everyone listening where the fugitive is. Moss replies that they're over that location now, and are closing in. Walker gives orders to SWAT teams to set up a road block, and a moment later, the helicopter's pilot has pinned the SUV in its searchlight. Realizing he's pinched, PMTM swerves into a parking lot, and Moss orders the pilot to land. PMTM gets out of the truck, leaving the bag behind, and Moss tells Walker they're going after him rather than waiting for backup. Walker says the SWAT team will be there in a few and tells him to be careful. "Yeah," he grunts in reply. As they set down, Moss tells the pilot to take him alive if possible. But no sooner have the skids touched the ground than PMTM jumps out and opens fire, killing the pilot instantly and messily. He keeps shooting, and Moss jumps out and covers Tony while they dive behind a dumpster. PMTM sure has a whole lot of bullets. This firefight goes on longer than you'd expect, but then PMTM goes and gets a shotgun out of the back of the FBI truck and sneaks around to attack Moss's flank. Moss is hit, but manages to return fire, driving PMTM back undercover, probably thanks to the bulletproof vest Moss is wearing. But he's still brought down flat on the pavement, the wind completely knocked out of him. Tony crouches over him and tells him to relax while behind him, PMTM pops out again, shotgun at the ready. Choking, Moss tries to warn Tony about the shooter behind him, but when Tony looks up, he just waves the bad guy's gun down. Moss is confused, and then Tony tells him, "I'm sorry, Larry." "Oh, God," Moss starts to say, "A Reservoir Dogs quote at a time like this?" But then Tony clamps a hand tightly over Moss's nose and mouth. Tony, dude, that is not how you give first aid. Are you confused about the concept of direct pressure, or what? Moss struggles, but Tony is relentless. After all this, he's evil after all? I know it's too early to think about this until we know more about Tony's motives and master plan, but I can't help wondering about all the other stuff Tony's done today if he was just going to go bad at the end. I'm sure all will be answered at some point. Or Tony will be killed again before we get an explanation. Either way, this is like old-school 24. We should have known something was up with Tony when we never saw his Cubs mug.
Each of them gets a splitscreen window of his own, while others show Kiefer being ushered into a recording room at FBI-DC, and Hodges and Seaton cooling their heels in the same White House Jail cell where Kiefer spent some time earlier in the evening. Finally, Moss quits fighting. "Let me see it," Tony tells Poor Man's Tracy Morgan. PMTM retrieves the bag from the back of the truck and Tony gets a look at the canister for himself. "How the hell do we get out of here?" PMTM demands. Tony tells him to take the canister, hide, and wait for him to call. Tony's going to wait for the FBI and "figure out a way to get you out of here." He looks regretfully down at Moss's body. So at least he's not so evil that he doesn't feel bad about it.
M. Giant is a Minneapolis-based writer with a wife, a son, and a number of cats that seems to have settled at around two. Learn waaaay too much about him at Velcrometer, follow him on Twitter (mgiant), or just e-mail him at M.Giant[at]gmail.com
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