Episode Quote:"Stress is the fertilizer of creativity...let's play some darts."
-Jonas Hodges
7:00 pm – 7:11 pm
Juma’s men come through the big hole they drilled underneath the White House. Meanwhile, the President’s daughter Olivia is telling Aaron Pierce that she wants to go to the hospital to see her father. Aaron explains the President’s orders are for her to remain in the White House.
Ethan comes to the door and he explains to Olivia that he is there to bring her up to speed on what is going on. Olivia says he’s the last person her mother should be sending.
Comment: Apparently Olivia doesn’t like Ethan very much. Wonder what that comment to him is all about?
Ethan explains to Olivia there is going to be another terrorist attack so the President is dealing with that along with the invasion. He wants her to keep in mind her mother is under a lot of pressure right now.
The President is meeting with her press person when Tim at Homeland tells her Larry Moss is calling in with a lead. Larry is calling her from a staging area that the terrorists used and he tells the President one of them was General Juma himself. She asks him if he knows what the target is. Larry says he doesn’t but is hoping Agent Walker knows more, but they have lost contact with her. Larry says he believes she’s still alive and in pursuit of the terrorists.
Meanwhile, Renee is running from Dubaku’s son. She comes across a Park Ranger. She identifies herself and tells him to call Larry Moss to tell him there is going to be an attack on the White House. As the Park Ranger starts to call it in, he is shot and killed. Renee runs off with Dubaku’s son running after her.
Bill goes to talk to Jack who is in holding. Bill tells Jack he will transferred to Attorney General custody so he can file criminal charges. Jack wants to know if there is any further news about the attack. Bill says he talked to Tony but he couldn’t get anymore info from his guy. Bill explains what Renee found at the warehouse but she went missing after that. Jack asks Bill what he means by missing. Jack says Burnett knows what the target is and asks Bill to put Jack back in a room for 5 minutes and they can stop this attack from happening. Bill says Burnett is being transferred to the hospital so he couldn’t get access to him. Jack tells Bill he could get access. Bill says he is not trained in cohersive techniques. Jack says this has to be done or people will die. Bill says he knows what has to be done, but he doesn’t do what Jack is asking him to do. “It’s not me”. Jack says that’s not good enough. Jack bring up something Bill said to him once. That people who stand by and do nothing might as well plant the bomb. Jack says he can do this. Bill once again says he can’t.
Comment: This was an interesting conversation between Bill & Jack. I felt sorry for Bill because I think he wished he could do what Jack asked of him, but he just couldn’t. I think Jack had a hard time understanding why Bill couldn’t interrogate Burnett. I also noticed Jack seemed very concerned about Renee when Bill told her she was missing. I thought James Morrison played Bill in this scene so well. He seemed almost embarrassed to be telling Jack he couldn’t interrogate Burnett. His body language was great in conveying these emotions.
Juma’s men are making their way through the tunnels underneath the White House. Juma radios in to someone they have on the inside working for them. He looks like he was a maintenance worker of some type. A co-worker comes in and Juma’s guy kills him. Juma’s man then moves a cabinet away from an entrance made in the wall covered with bricks. He radios Juma to tell him it is all clear. Juma’s men remove a grate and are able to disable the proximity alarms just long enough for them to get through before they activate again.
Juma’s men bust through the whole in wall. One of the men activates the Secret Service tracking grid on a computer. They locate the President in the Oval Office. They head out to get the President. Juma’s men start to make their way through the White House killing several agents. Juma says the next Secret Service roll call is in 9 minutes and they need to find the President before then.
Comment: I know a lot has been made by some about how unrealistic the way Juma’s men gained access to the White House. Yes, it is in some ways, but I’m one of the fans of this show that doesn’t care. It was well done and thoroughly entertaining. This is the world of ‘24’. There are many things that are possible in this world. Sometimes you have to suspend disbelief. It is a TV show after all.
7:16 pm – 7:27 pm
Juma’s men continue through the White House killing staff and agents. Juma finds the press secretary and kills her. Larry and the FBI come across the park ranger’s body. Dubaku’s son catches up with Renee. She tells him that Juma had his father killed. He doesn’t believe her. She tells him Juma didn’t want him to talk so a man named Udo was sent to kill him. That was how she found him and Juma; she followed Udo back to the warehouse. She tells Dubaku’s son that Juma betrayed him. He still doesn’t believe her and goes to shoot her but Renee grabs a shovel and hits him several times. They fight and Dubaku’s son ends up grabbing Renee by the throat and starts to choke her, but Larry shoots him dead. Renee immediately tells Larry she knows what the target is.
Now at the White House, Jack is in the process of being handed over to DOJ. Bill tells Jack he’s sorry. Bill gets a phone call from Larry to let him know the target is the White House. Bill sends out a message to the other agents that the White House is the target of a terrorist attack and to secure the President. Bill tells Jack he will need his help but he will have to do exactly as he says. Jack gives Bill his word that he will.
The Secret Service comes in the Oval Office and tells the President she has to go with them immediately. In another part of the White House, Aaron Pierce tells Olivia she has to come with him as well. Bill says they will have to get them to the lock down on the first floor. The President sees Jack and asks what he is doing there. Bill says Jack’s with him and Jack tells the President right now she needs all the help she can get.
Bill can’t reach the agents in their quadrant. Bill says Juma is headed their way. Jack believes they are tracking the President. Bill decides to take the tracking bracelet off the President and take it with him to draw them away from the President.
Juma’s men converge on Bill who has the tracker. They catch him and take the tracker from him. Juma looks as though he’s going to shoot Bill but he hits him across the face instead. Juma says to take him as a hostage and for his men to start gathering other hostages.
Comment: I thought Juma was going to kill Bill here. I’m glad he didn’t.
Other agents begin heading to the lock down. They engage in a fire fight with some of Juma’s men. Another group of Juma’s men gather hostages. Aaron tells Jack on over com that he and Olivia are still upstairs and they are trying to make their way to the lock down. Jack tells him that they have about 30 seconds before he has to seal the door of the lock down room. The President overhears Jack and says he is not going to lock the door before her daughter gets there. Jack tells the President that her life is a priority whether she likes it or not and orders her to step inside. Just then shots are fired at them and the President goes in the lock down room. Jack fires a few rounds and then goes in himself. Jack tells Aaron that they had to go ahead and seal the lock down room. Aaron said they wouldn’t have made it in time anyway. They will have to find another way to get her out of the building.
Jack and Aaron’s communication is cut of by Juma. Juma shoots at the lock down room door. The wood is pulled away and it is shown there is reinforced bullet proof door behind it. More agents are coming in from all directions. Juma realizes that they don’t know the President is in lock down. He gets on their communication frequency and tells them he has the President and he will kill her if they do not evacuate.
Agent Hovis says he needs proof that he has the President. Even though Juma did not provide proof, Hovis orders his agents to pull back.
Comment: If the actor playing Agent Hovis looks familiar, he was also in Season 1. He played the agent at the power plant who questioned Jack after the Senator Palmer assassination attempt.
Juma orders the hostages be brought to where he’s at and to lock down the exits. Aaron and Olivia are hiding behind a grate in a hallway. They figure out Juma is bluffing and does not really have the President. They need to figure out a way to let the other agents know. The hostages including Bill are moved near where the President is locked down. One of Juma’s men starts working on the control panel to the lock down room. Juma asks if he can open it. He says he can assuming the specs Hodges gave them are correct.
7:31 pm – 7:41 pm
A helicopter carrying Larry Moss and Renee Walker lands at a staging area near the White House. They are briefed by Agent Hovis. Hovis said he didn’t think he had much of a choice to retreat since he was killing civilians and agents. Hostage rescue teams are ready to go in when the order is given. Larry says that order is to be given by the Vice President. Hovis tells Larry that the VP is being taken to a secure location. Renee notices on a list, that Jack was in the White House at the time of the attack. Renee tells Larry that he didn’t tell her Jack was in there. Larry said Jack was under arrest at the time of the attack because he found out an aide to Senator Burnett was part of the conspiracy. Jack was caught torturing him in the White House. Larry reminds Renee that their first priority is the President, not Jack Bauer. Renee says she understands.
Comment: Jack’s concerned about Renee and Renee is concerned about Jack. Hmmm…
In the lock down room, the President notices the hostages through the monitor inside the room. She informs Jack that Olivia is not there. Jack says this is good news. He knows Aaron Pierce and he says he will do everything in his power to keep her safe. The President doesn’t understand how they could have gotten around their security protocols. Jack states there was only one way – they had help on the inside.
Jack notices one of Juma’s men working on the control panel. He realizes they have the access codes. Jack wants to get into the panel. Jack pulls the power cord from a lamp and begins unscrewing the control plate on the panel. Jack takes the lamp cord and short-circuits it so Juma can’t get in.
Comment: Here’s Jack in “MacGyver” mode again. I love when Jack improvises and comes up with solutions on the fly.
Juma wants to use C4 to blow open the door but his man says it would take too long because they would have to drill holes into the door. Then Juma says they will have to find another way.
Juma makes a call to Jonas Hodges who is eating Chinese food when the call comes in. Juma explains to Hodges that the President is in lock down and they can’t get to her. Hodges said he prepared him for that possibility by giving him the specs for the lock down room. Juma says it was shorted out from the inside and the he needs to find him another way to get to the President. Hodges says he’s given him all he’s got to give; he’s done with his part. Juma reminds Hodges about a shipment to him that hasn’t arrived yet and he will have it destroyed if he does not help him. Hodges tells Juma to hold on. Hodges asks the guy with him if Juma would do this. The man says the shipment is not due in for another 2 hours so he could have it destroyed or rendered useless. Hodges tells Juma he was checking the White House manifest and he sees that Olivia Taylor is at the White House. He tells Juma if he finds Olivia, he’ll get the President to open the door. Juma tells Hodges his shipment will arrive on schedule. After hanging up from Juma, Hodges says: “Stress is the fertilizer of creativity… Let’s play some darts.”
Comment: This is one of the best introductions ever of a new character on ‘24’. Although we saw him briefly in ‘Redemption’, we got a little better sense of his character here. I think he’s going to be one of the best villains ever on ‘24’. I can’t wait to see more of this character. Plus he’s played by a great actor, Jon Voight.
Juma tells his men to find Olivia Taylor. Juma goes to the hostages and tells them to raise their heads. Senator Mayer is one of the hostages. He asks Bill what is going on. Bill doesn’t answer him. Mayer thinks Bill believes he made the wrong call by not letting Jack continue to torture Burnett. That if he did, all of this could have been avoided. Bill just looks at him and says; “You don’t know what I’m thinking Senator.”
Olivia is not among the hostages. Juma tells his man to find her and bring her to him. Aaron is still trying to get Olivia out of the building. Their only option is to get a signal out. Olivia insists on going with Aaron. He tells her to say behind him.
7:45 – 7:50 pm
Agent Hovis brings a computer showing the infrared scan, but all that is seen are where the cluster of hostages are in the White House. That was as detailed as they could get since the White House is such a heavily-shielded building. Larry and Renee go to a video conference with the VP. They bring him up to date on the situation. Larry believes the President made it to the first floor lock down based on the location of the hostages in the White House. The VP asks if there is any other proof that the President made it into the lock down. Larry says other than Juma could not provide proof that he had her earlier. The VP is not certain of which so he can’t authorize them to go in. Larry says inaction has risks as well. Renee tells the VP that terrorists are in control of the White House. She asks if prudence is the appropriate response in this situation. The VP wants more proof about the President’s whereabouts before any action is taken.
After the call is over, Renee believes the VP is just covering his own butt, but Larry says he’s the one calling the shots right now. The VP’s aide said he made the right call. He could not order an operation that could lead to the President’s death and his elevation to the job; it would be a bad political move. The VP responds by telling his aide to never let anyone hear him talk like that.
Comment: I’m not liking this VP already. What a wienie!
Aaron is still leading Olivia down a hallway. One of Juma’s men appears and they both shoot at each other. Aaron gets hit in the shoulder and Aaron shoots again after he’s down and kills Juma’s man. Aaron tells Olivia they have to get a signal out. He tells her were there is a first aid kit with a flash light. He tells her she will flash Morse code out the window. He draws on her hand to show her what code to flash. Code Green will signal them to move in.
Olivia finds the flashlight and begins to send out the signal but one of Juma’s men captures her. Two of Juma’s men are guarding Aaron and they are taken to Juma.
7:55 pm – 8:00 pm
Jonas Hodges is shown watching the news coverage on TV of the White House situation. Juma is told by one of his men they discovered fiber-optic cameras embedded in the chandelier.
The President sees a chair is placed in front of the camera. Juma has Olivia put in the chair. Juma has a knife and he tells the President if she doesn’t open the door, he will cut out her eyes one by one and then cut out her tongue and lastly, her head.
President Taylor orders Jack to open the door. Jack yells that he can’t. The President pleads with Jack that her daughter is out there. She has already lost a son. She asks Jack if he has any idea of what it’s like to lose a child. Jack says he is sorry but he can’t let them take her and there is nothing she can do for her daughter now. The President asks Jack if he has children. Jack answers he has a daughter. She asks Jack if he could stand by and do what he’s asking her to do; to watch her be butchered? Jack says no, but he’s not the President of the United States. She says she is the President and she orders Jack to open the door. Jack just looks at the door.
Juma says she’s running out of time. He’s about to cut Olivia when the doors open. Jack surrenders first. Then the President comes out. She tells Olivia she wouldn’t let them hurt her. As Jack goes over with the other hostages, Senator Mayer asks Jack, “What have you done?”
The President tells Juma he has her now so there’s no reason to hold everyone there. She tells him to let them go. Juma replies by slapping the President in the face! Juma says she doesn’t give orders to him. He tells one of his men to get the camera ready for her statement. The President asks what statement. Juma says the last one she’ll ever give.
Comment: I didn’t see that slap of the President coming. Whoa! That Juma is one scary guy. Can’t wait to see what happens next!
…Clock ticks to 8:00 pm
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