The second to last episode of this season of 24 opens on Jack and Kate still in a shootout with the Russians, and doing very well (I don't know how either of them don't run out of bullets in this episode). Meanwhile, Cheng has sent the order for the American sub to sink the Chinese carrier, and explains to Chloe that China turned its back on him and he wants revenge. Back at the White House, Heller and the rest of the government officials have to deal with the fallout of the attack, and Heller has to basically try to convince the Chinese president that it was just an "accident." Yeah, good luck with that.
Cheng spots Jack on the security cameras outside, realizes there was a tracker in the override device and decides its time to get the hell out of dodge before he can make his way in. Chloe tries to grab a phone off one of the bodies as she's carted away (I really don't know why they're keeping her alive at this point other than plot convenience) but Cheng sees her attempt and tosses the phone out of her hands, warning her not to cause more trouble than she's worth (what is she worth? Seriously, what are they using her for?). Outside, backup finally arrives to help Jack and Kate take out all of the Russian attackers, and Jack runs into the building to find all the dead bodies and the tracker from the device. Kate comes in and spots the phone that Chloe grabbed, and of course she set it up to record what it could for Jack to find. That Chloe, she's a clever one. What it recorded was Cheng's voice, which gives Jack chills when he hears it (spending a year in a Chinese prison will do that to a person, as we'll see also with Audrey later). He and Kate rush back to the car to call the president, and inform him that Cheng is still alive and working with the Russians to start WWIII, so that Russia can move freely into Eastern Europe. Heller is shocked and Audrey is disturbed, but they now believe everything Jack says without question (saves us a lot of time that way) and Heller tries to explain to the Chinese president what happened. He has no luck convincing him though, as the president threatens to retaliate unless they can produce Cheng himself as evidence that he gave the order.
In the car, Jack talks to the new tech guy at the CIA to find out how he was tracked by the Russians, and quickly discovers it was Mark Boudreau who set him up, since he was the only person in the White House who asked for his cell phone code. At the residence, Audrey asks Heller if she can meet her own contact at the Chinese embassy and try to convince her to pass along what evidence they have of the override device, just to buy some time. Heller agrees to her plan and she takes off, brushing away Mark's concerns. While she's in the car, Jack calls her, seemingly to tell her about Mark, but she interrupts him before he can say anything, telling him to kill Cheng as soon as he gets his hands on him. Jack is taken aback, and tells Audrey he only surfaced again to protect her father and he doesn't want her to hate him, but Audrey just says that she never hated him and once again tells him to do what needs to be done. Jack replies affirmatively and hangs up, deciding not to tell her about Mark after all. In the van with the Chinese, Chloe looks pensive as Cheng calls the Russian deputy foreign minister Stolnavich, wondering why they didn't kill Bauer, who he knows will now come after him, since they have "history." Heh. The guy kind of brushes him off, since this scene is only to confirm that Jack was right about Cheng working for the Russians, and that Mark Boudreau is indeed a moron.
Jack storms into the residence and demands to talk to Heller and Mark alone, and when they're in another room he shoves Boudreau against the wall and pulls a gun on him, demanding to know why he set him up. Mark caves immediately, confessing to the forged signature and handing Jack over to the Russians, claiming he didn't know they were working with Cheng, and Heller is stunned and says he's under arrest for treason. But Jack quickly lowers his gun and says they could use him to get into Stolnavich's house to find Cheng's location. Heller agrees again (whatever Jack needs, Jack gets is now his new catchphrase), so Jack takes Mark with him to use as bait. Mark is kinda freaked about this in the car, as Jack pins a flagpin camera to his lapel, saying he's got to get let inside the minister's house somehow, while Erik and techie Gavin work on trying to jam his alarm system. Mark is worried about what happens when the shooting starts, but Jack just tells him to stay low. Mark insists that even though he knows Jack hates him, he really was just doing what he thought was best for the country and he's willing to try to make it right now. Jack just nods curtly, seeming to believe him, while he and Kate get ready from the outside and send Mark in.
Back in the van, Chloe decides to pull the most un-Chloe move ever, grabs a pipe and starts wacking all the guys surrounding her. Amazingly, she actually succeeds in disorienting them, so she takes the chance to open the door and jump from the moving vehicle, falling down a hill in the woods on the side of the highway. Luckily it's completely dark, so they can't find her and even though Cheng and his guys jump out and start looking for her with flashlights, some trucks drive by and ask if they need help. Cheng realizes they have to get out of there and tells his goons to leave her behind as they take off in the van, and last we see of Chloe this episode, she's lying in the middle of a wooded area, unconscious. At the minister's house, Mark aks to be let inside, asking the guard at the gate if he can speak to Stolnavich on the phone. He begs him for asylum, saying the White House found out about his betrayal and now he's on the run. Stolnavich doesn't really care, but Mark claims he can give them all kinds of classified information and reminds him what a hero he'd be back in Russia for this. Stolnavich unwisely goes against his better judgment and lets him in, just as Gavin manages to jam the alarm systems. As Mark meets with Stolnavich in the house, giving Jack and Kate a good look at the inside (and frankly, that flagpin is pretty conspicuous considering this is a guy who claims to be betraying his country), Jack and Kate strike head on, shooting every guard in the house as Stolnavich lunges at Mark and the two go flying through the glass door to his office. Jack and Kate do manage to take everybody out, but when they reach the minister he's got a pretty nasty glass shard stuck in his neck, and he's dying before Jack can get Cheng's location out of him (boy is that something that's happened a LOT in 24 history). His last words are to threaten Jack with payback for his killing spree in Season 8, but then he's gone and Jack is pissed.
In the final scene, Audrey meets up with her Chinese contact in a park and convinces her to pass the evidence of the override device onto the Chinese government, but just as she's walking away, the contact is taken out by a sniper, along with every one of Audrey's security guards. Audrey is frozen as she realizes she's being targeted and when her phone suddenly rings, of course it's Cheng, who tells her to sit down on the bench and maybe he won't kill her. So that's where we leave it tonight, everybody. Tune in next week for what's maybe the second series finale, but who knows- I suppose it's always possible the show comes back again someday. It looks like the time jump will take place during the last episode, but I'm kinda thinking it'll be some kind of an epilogue, with Jack riding off into the sunset, hopefully with Chloe in tow. We'll find out soon!
