Episode 23 Recap & Comments

Season 7
Episode 23
6:00 am - 7:00 am

As Olivia begins an interview with the Justice Department regarding the killing of Jonas Hodges, the President starts a briefing with the Joint Chiefs, warning them about the existence of the shadowy cabal of private military firms planning to undermine the government. They don't have much information, but hope to find out more from the captured Tony Almeida.

Cara gives Jack the order to start Tony's rescue. Jack commandeers the van, explaining to a shocked and betrayed Renee that his daughter's life is on the line. At the airport, Bob, the operative whose laptop camera is trained on Kim, is asked to move his stuff so that an old lady can sit down. Kim realizes something's amiss when she notices that the laptop's been open and unused all this time. She also sees that Bob's bleeding from a scratch to the neck and points it out. He's flustered. His wife, Sarah, says it must have happened when the door hit him getting out of the cab. Truth, or is she covering for him? Kim thinks the wound looks fresh. Bob walks off, ostensibly to take care of the wound. He calls Cara to warn that Kim's getting suspicious. Cara tells him to stand by. If Kim realizes who they are, they can't allow themselves to be taken. Cara tells him to do what he has to do.

Comment: Jack has to go rogue once again to protect Kim. I was surprised he told Renee upfront why he was freeing Tony. I didn't expect him to tell her right away but from the look on Renee's face I think she suspected Jack was doing this under duress so to speak. Glad to see Kim getting suspicious of Bob and Sarah.

On Cara's order, Jack has the armored van pull into a tunnel where the FBI loses visual. The transponders are out as well. Cara is waiting in an SUV in the tunnel. Tony makes Jack gives him his gun and then cuff himself. Tony takes Jack hostage. Cara thinks Tony should shoot Jack, but Tony points out that Jack's blood contains the pathogen. They can make more bioweapons by harvesting it from his body.

Comment: Clever idea; use Jack as the bioweapon.

Aaron Pierce meets with Ethan Kanin regarding his suspicions about Olivia's involvement in Hodges' murder. Kanin is reluctant to break into his old office and access classified recordings because it is a federal crime. However, Aaron convinces him. Ethan gets the data card just before Olivia returns from the inquiry. Olivia discovers him in the office, and Ethan claims he'd left some files behind. After he leaves, she notices an open panel on the wall and finds the recording equipment within. She calls security and orders Ethan detained.

Comment: The "cat and mouse" game between Ethan and Olivia begins...

Chloe and Janis are unable to find Jack's location, so Agent Walker has Chloe patch into Kim's departure gate. At the airport, Kim's name is called as some standby passengers are allowed to get their boarding pass. While in line, she gets a phone call comes from Renee, who tells her about Jack and Tony. Renee warns her there's an operative in close proximity and it may be someone with a camera or a laptop. Before Kim can describe them, Bob suddenly appears behind her. She pretends to be having a conversation about her baggage. Renee realizes that they're about to move on Kim and she orders the terminal locked down. Bob notices security guards arriving and he realizes something's wrong. He whispers, "Take her" to Sarah, who has readied a knife. Bob whips out a gun and shoots the security guards while Sarah takes Kim at knifepoint. Chaos erupts. Kim gets a pen out of her pocket and stabs Sarah in the leg with it. As Kim gets free, Sarah is shot dead by a security guard. Bob, however, manages to escape. Kim calls Renee and tells her that Bob's getting away. Renee says they need him in order to find Jack. Yet before Kim can tell her what direction he's headed, her cell phone battery goes dead. She thinks for a moment. Then, gathering her resolve, begins to pursue Bob herself.

Comment: I love they way this airport scene went down. The setup and direction by Jon Cassar was brilliant. Also very good to see Kim take action and not be a victim once again.

Olivia meets Ethan in a holding room and demands that he return what he took. He refuses, so she has him searched. Ethan demands to speak to President Taylor, but Olivia claims that the President is the one who had him detained. When he asks to hear that from the President directly, Olivia claims that her mother has recused herself from the investigation because of her personal relationship with Ethan. The data card is found and given to Olivia, who tells the guard to process Ethan out. When she is alone, she crushes the card. On the way out, Ethan is handed off to Aaron Pierce and the two confer. Ethan knows Olivia's hiding something. He has a data card -- the real one. The card that the guard found was blank.

Comment: Olivia thinks she's in the clear now. Not so fast... Aaron has the real recording. Uh Oh...

Jack, trembling and too weak to resist, is led to a makeshift medical room in an industrial warehouse. He is restrained and given an injection to immobilize him. It will take about fifteen minutes before they know if there's enough pathogen in his spinal fluid to be useful. Tony asks Cara for a bigger role in the organization. Cara says it doesn't work like that; you have to be invited. Tony knows she's in contact with the top guy. He just wants to be in the same room with him to make his case. Cara says she can't do that because he is protective of his anonymity. Behind them, Jack screams in agony as a gigantic needle is inserted into his spine.

Comment: Another great-looking shot as Jack is being brought through the warehouse to the "medical room". The dark warehouse and then you see the brightly lit area where they are bringing Jack to - very creepy and well done. Oh poor Jack, that needle! Why does Jack have to suffer so much? :(

On the phone, Martin tries to reassure Olivia not to worry about Ethan. Tim Woods arrives and tells Olivia that her mother has requested her in the Oval Office for a briefing about the situation at the airport. Meanwhile, Renee and her team arrive at the airport and realizes that Kim's either a hostage or following the operative.

In the parking garage, Kim tails Bob. As he heads to the top floor, Kim runs to a pair of airport cops and tells them to patch her through to Agent Walker. She gives Renee Bob's location just as Bob arrives in his car, driving straight at them and shooting. One officer is shot, but the other officer manages to shoot Bob in the throat through his windshield. Bob's car veers out of control and flips over. Kim tends to the wounded officer for a moment, then peers into the window of the wrecked car, now in flames. She spies Bob's laptop and reaches in to get it. Bob, still alive, grabs her wrist, trying to stop her. She manages to get the laptop out with her other hand, but Bob's still got a death grip on her wrist. The flames leap up and burn both their hands until Kim's finally able to wrest herself free. She gets herself and the laptop away from Bob's car just as it explodes. Renee arrives and Kim hands them the laptop. With knowledge from her days as a CTU systems analyst, Kim instructs Renee how to use the laptop to backtrace the signal. Renee prepares to get Chloe on the line.

Comment: All right! Kim is proactive and helps get the laptop so they can locate Jack. Way to go Kim! A lot of people never liked the Kim character but I have most of the time. You have to remember the Kim character was just a teenager in the early seasons and so she acted like a teenager. Season 2 was frustrating granted, but that was more a fault of the writers because they didn't know what to do with the character. I like when Kim is on 24 because she does humanize Jack and I loved their interaction earlier in the season.

Ethan returns to his car and listens to the contents of the data card. Olivia and Martin are conspiring to kill Hodges. Meanwhile, the doctor reports to Tony that there's plenty of the virus in Jack's spinal fluid but not enough to reconstitute the pathogen. They will need his organs for that. Jack's got a couple of hours to live, at most, but the pathogen can survive death of the host for up to two hours and sometimes longer. Jack's playing possum and listening intently.

Comment: Ethan just happens to have a device that can listen to the data card...Ok. Another ad for Hyundai Genesis. Cool looking car though. Jack's "playing possum"... I know what that means for later on.

Cara talks to Alan Wilson about Tony's request. Wilson will arrive in the next half-hour to meet Tony, but if he doesn't like what he sees, for any reason, then Tony's not walking out of that meeting alive.

Tony orders Jack readied for transport. As the restraints are removed, Jack springs into action, surprisingly strong, and kills the doctors with their own scalpels. He gets out of the building just as the sun begins to rise. Tony and Cara give chase.

Comment: Let's see, Jack is dying & weak but he still manages to kill about three doctors and escape. Don't you just love him?

...Clock ticks to 7:00 am

Final Comments On Episode 23: Good setup episode for episode 24. Not as much Jack in this episode which surprised me but a lot of that time was spent transporting Jack to the warehouse. A good bit of this episode was spent on the Olivia/Ethan/Aaron storyline. Which was fine, I liked the story. I also enjoyed the airport scenes and Kim jumping into action. Now on to episode 24.

Recap From: Fox.com/24

Comments are mine: 24FanForever