The following takes place between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m.
24, Episode 5.01: 7:00-8:00
Written by: Howard Gordon
Directed by: Jon Cassar
Jack Bauer died 18 months ago and now he's Frank Flynn, anonymous oil-rig worker.
In Wayne Palmer's luxurious downtown L.A. apartment, David Palmer is assassinated as he looks thoughtfully out a window. A mysterious sunglassed man puts his gun away as Wayne Palmer falls to his knees, cradling his brother's head and crying out, “Bartender, Jobu needs a refill!” No, not really. Was that insensitive? My bad. R.I.P., Jobu.
In a sunny suburban neighborhood, out of nowhere, Michelle Dessler's car explodes. She is killed and Tony gets hurt (again). This is apparently orchestrated by the same group who killed Palmer.
Frank is living with with Diane, who looks like Jo Dee Messina looked about five years ago. Her son Derek doesn't seem to like Frank very much.
Chloe almost gets killed. Fortunately she was talking to Edgar, who told her that Tony and Michelle were hit. She realizes something is up, outsmarts the bad guys, gets away, and calls Frank, who suddenly becomes Jack again. Again, this appears to be the same group who killed Palmer.
Jack thinks it's not a coincidence that all the people who knows he is alive have been attacked. He pulls a bag out of vent in the wall behind the dresser then heads out to find Chloe.
The band is back together at CTU: Ferret-face Buchanan, Curtis, Edgar, some guy named Spencer (who is sleeping with Chloe), and Audrey Raines, who is apparently back at CTU for the first time since Jack killed her husband then got killed himself, to coordinate security for the President's summit meeting.
President Weenie Logan has a meeting scheduled with the Russian president to sign an anti-terrorism agreement. Of course, he is more concerned with his summit meeting being on the front page than either Palmer's death or his own wife's psychological well-being. His wife tells him that David Palmer called her the night before on a matter of national security. He tells his aide, Walt, to do nothing, that she's just raving.
Derek follows Frank (or so he thinks) and Jack has to bring him along (but doesn't shoot him in the leg (or defibrillate him)). Thus far, Derek seems to be this season's Hapless Innocent Caught In The Middle, a rich position in the 24 pantheon.
As a sidebar, this brings fond memories of past seasons' HisCITM:
Season 1: Kim's friend Janet York, who was killed by her fake dad in the hospital.
Season 2: Psycho Dad's wife and Kim's boyfriend who lost a leg in the wreck with that cop and then dumped her. Or was that in season 3? I forget. Oh, and that Arab agent. And the evil sister's fiancée. Man, there was a lot of collateral stuff in season 2. Unless some of it was in season 3. Seasons 2 and 3 really mush together in my head, you know?
Season 3: That kid (Kyle?) who was selling drugs and they thought he had the virus but it turns out he didn't. Did he die? Also, there was Hector's sister, who was trying to protect her son but wound up taking a bullet for Jack instead.
Season 4: Chloe's friend Dumbass that Jack had to save at the beginning, and Behrooz's cute American girlfriend who followed him too often and got killed by his mom when she did that thing with her eyes that gave me a wiggins.
Anyway, Jack calls Diane to come collect Derek, thus potentially getting her into the middle of it all too.
Jack and Derek meet Chloe at an abandoned oil refinery, the killers show up and Jack goes all Splinter Cell. He kills 'em all, Chloe shoots the leader, he tells Jack they're trying to set him up as the Palmer shooter (if it's the Drazens again, I'm gonna shoot someone in the leg!) and confirms that he shot Palmer. Jack puts him down like the mad dog that he is.
7:59:59
What a start! As always, they've gotten me hooked right from the go. I can't believe they killed David Palmer. Wow.
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it may be hapless, but he sure isn't an innocent.
