Well, it's that part of the 24 season where Jack has to argue his case with the government to force them to see things his way and help him instead of persecuting him. It happens every season and in this one it had to be earlier than usual, since we only have twelve episodes to get through. If everyone would just always listen to Jack, things would be so much easier, wouldn't they? Tonight, after shooting his way into the embassy, Jack takes out a couple more guards and manages to make his way into where Tanner's being held. He convinces Tanner that he believes and is trying to help him, which leads Tanner to give him the flight key so Jack can prove his innocence. But then, Jack runs into trouble when the marines move in, so he pulls another classic Jack move, and pretends to take some people hostage in a ground level room to buy time to upload the data from the flight key. Yes, this does mean he's trapped in front of the computer for the whole hour tonight, but the show manages to get pull some suspense out of it anyway.
Chloe is furious at Adrian for betraying Jack with the id, and tries to convince him to help stop the attack, but Adrian is still sullen about the whole thing. He eventually gives in, but wonders why Chloe can't just let Jack go, a question for which she has no answer, at least tonight. Also, Adrian better watch his back, because Jack's mysterious Serbian pal is still hanging around the hacker room and now has his eye on him, which he warns Chloe about. Meanwhile, in the twenty minutes that we didn't see, President Heller has miraculously managed to calm down Parliament and has apparently given a fantastic speech, which they applaud him for vigorously. But he can't bask in the glow for long, because Navarro has to tell Mark about the hostage situation, which means the President must be told and Jack's reappearance can no longer be kept secret. Mark tells Heller and Audrey, who are upset they weren't let in on things earlier, and neither believe that Jack would be acting against Heller or the country, so at least they have some remaining brain cells left. Heller demands to talk to Jack himself, and this is when Jack finally tells his side of the story, but is still a bit angry about being labeled a terrorist by the government and says that's why he couldn't come to him directly.
Jack asks for permission to finish the upload, so he can provide them with the proof of the drone hijacking and plans by the evil Margot so they can prevent the attack. Heller says he'll think about it, but when he hangs up the phone he lets Mark convince him that Jack is just trying to cover up his association with Chloe's group, Open Cell. Oh, please. Audrey doesn't buy it of course, but Heller seems to and stupidly tells the marines to move in. Heller's stock just went down in my book. Audrey wonders why Jack would make this up and yells at Mark that she knows Jack better than anyone, but idiot Mark is just being contrary at this point, maybe because of jealousy. Back at the embassy, Kate and Eric have also made their way in and confronted Tanner, who tells them what Jack said to him. In a sudden turnaround, Kate decides to believe it, and wants to help Jack get the flight key info now, before the marines do, so she crawls into the computer room through the tunnels in the ceiling and drops in, tell Jack to give her the key and let her finish the upload before he surrenders to the CIA. Chloe agrees that Jack should trust her and he does, right as the marines barge in. So the episode ends with Jack being handcuffed, but presumably Kate is on his side now, fulfilling the other typical 24-ism, that Jack will always have at least one ally on the inside at some point (and since it can't be Chloe this year, Kate will have to be the one).
On the villain's side, Navid is still wanting to back out of the plot and tells Simone he has a whole plan for them to escape that afternoon. Unfortunately (for her), Simone immediately tells her mother, who goes straight to Navid to order him to stay and pilot the ten drones she's got. He refuses, but in another old-fashioned 24 move (this episode was full of them), she gets him to agree by torturing his wife in front of him. That's right, this lady has her henchman chop off her own daughter's finger. Ick. Navid caves of course, and is seated in front the of their makeshift command center by the end of the hour, ready to start the operation. So that was it, today everybody- they had to get Jack working with the government eventually, he can only do so much from the outside. I liked how when Heller scolded him for shooting protesters he insisted he barely grazed them (yeah, that's better) and he knows because he's the one who pulled the trigger. HA! In other words, because I'm Jack Bauer. That's some serious cojones, Jack. But I guess we already knew that. See you next week!
