Day 6: 9:00am-10:00am

Summary
CTU and Jack Bauer race to get to Abu Fayed before he can detonate a nuclear device in Los Angeles. Tensions rise as one member of CTU doesn't want to work with Hamri al-Assad. Meanwhile, President Wayne Palmer's sister Sandra is promising to bring up trouble while Wayne deals with the toughest hour of his presidency, and Jack is forced to make a heart-wrenching decision. The nuclear device detonates, and evidence comes in that four more such weapons are in the U.S.

Episode guide
Previously on "24"
 * Abu Fayed orders the engineer Hasan Numair to reprogram the suitcase nuke and meet him at the safe house once he is finished.
 * Walid Al-Rezani informs Sandra Palmer that he overheard the Arabic phrase “Hamsa zawa zirada”, although he isn’t sure what it means. He urges her to pass the information on to the FBI.
 * Hamri Al-Assad accepts a pardon from President Wayne Palmer under the condition that he will be cleared of all past crimes should he help negotiate a greater peace.
 * Jack Bauer learns that Curtis Manning and Assad have a past connection, where Assad was responsible for the death of Curtis’ men during Desert Storm. Curtis takes Assad hostage and forces Jack into a showdown for Assad’s life.  Jack is forced to fatally shoot Curtis in the neck.  Jack vomits and collapses.  He tells Bill Buchanan through tears to tell the president he’s sorry, but “[he] can’t do this anymore”.
 * The Counter Terrorist Unit moves in on the location of the suitcase nuke. A firefight ensues as Hasan Numair moves detonate the device.  Ray Wallace screams in horror as the bomb explodes, killing everyone in the immediate area.  Milo Pressman rushes in to inform Buchanan of the Arabic phrase “Hamsa zawa zirada”.  Nadia Yassir translates, explaining the phrase means "five visitors".  Buchanan remembers that Assad said "visitor" was a codename for "weapon".  He concludes Fayed must be in possession of four more suitcase nukes.  Jack Bauer watches in horror as he sees the mushroom cloud rise in the distance.

Memorable quotes

 * Milo Pressman: Is this a joke?
 * Morris O'Brian: You're upset.


 * Curtis Manning: [When holding Assad at gunpoint, and his last line] I can't let this animal live.


 * Jack Bauer: Tell the President I'm sorry, I can't do this anymore.
 * Bill Buchanan: The hell you can't! We're gonna find that suitcase nuke because of you, Jack. You've done great work today.
 * Jack Bauer: Good. Then you don't need me anymore.
 * Bill Buchanan: I'll send a car for you, Jack. Come back here, we'll talk.
 * Jack Bauer: I'm done.


 * Bill Buchanan: We have to do better than we're doing, and we have to do it faster!

Starring

 * Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer
 * Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O'Brian
 * DB Woodside as President Wayne Palmer
 * James Morrison as Bill Buchanan
 * Peter MacNicol as Tom Lennox
 * Jayne Atkinson as Karen Hayes
 * Carlo Rota as Morris O'Brian
 * Eric Balfour as Milo Pressman
 * Marisol Nichols as Nadia Yassir
 * and Regina King as Sandra Palmer

Guest starring

 * Roger Cross as Curtis Manning
 * Harry Lennix as Walid Al-Rezani
 * Kal Penn as Ahmed Amar
 * Michael Angarano as Scott Wallace
 * Megan Gallagher as Jillian Wallace
 * Adoni Maropis as Abu Fayed
 * Raphael Sbarge as Ray Wallace
 * Alexander Siddig as Hamri Al-Assad
 * Al Faris as Salim
 * Ajay Mehta as Ambassador
 * Shaun Majumder as Hasan Numair
 * Steven Schub as Samir Hussain
 * David Michael as Guardsman
 * Brian D. Johnson as CTU Field Agent
 * Haaz Sleiman as Heydar (uncredited)

Co-starring

 * Bruce Gerard Brown as Escort Guard
 * Ludwig Manukian as Henchman #2
 * Jolene Kim as Melinda
 * Ryan Quintana as Team Leader

Background information and notes

 * This was the fourth episode in a 4 hour, 2 night premiere.
 * This was the final episode featuring former series regular Roger Cross.
 * This episode, going into the next one, has a higher body count than the rest of the series put together.
 * "Safe Now", composed by Mark Isham, can also be found on the soundtrack to the 2004 film "Crash."
 * With the detonation of the nuclear device, Abu Fayed is now easily the most successful terrorist on the show, with upwards of 12,000 deaths, exceeding the amount of deaths by all of the terrorists put together.