Day 5: 4:00am-5:00am

Jack, Chloe, Bill, and Karen realize that the recording was erased by Miles. However, CTU is soon forced to switch tracks and focus on a new threat: Bierko escaped, and he plans to seize another powerful weapon. With the new threat quickly approaching, Jack must use Christopher Henderson in a delicate sting operation. Meanwhile, the drama at the retreat turns deadly.

Previously on 24

 * Jack Bauer learns that President Logan has authorized an F-18 Hornet to shoot Flight 520 out of the sky. Jack forces the co-pilot, Scott Evans, to make an emergency landing on the 118 Freeway.
 * Karen Hayes informs Vladimir Bierko that he is being transferred to a primary holding facility at District Headquarters.
 * At Counter Terrorist Unit Karen tells Jack about a scheduled conference call with the Attorney General regarding the recording that incriminates President Logan. Jack gives the recording to Chloe O'Brian to clean up and prepare for playback.  Jack visits Audrey in the medical clinic and tells her that he secured the recording and that President Logan will pay for President Palmer's assassination.
 * President Charles Logan speaks with Graem and agrees that the country would not be able to handle a sitting President on trial for murder. President Logan loads a handgun and prepares to commit suicide, but receives an unexpected phone call from Miles Papazian, who offers to intervene and destroy the recording.  President Logan encourages Miles to act, so Miles distracts Chloe and points a laser at the recording.

The following takes place between 4:00am and 5:00am.

04:00:00
Bill Buchanan enters the situation room and tells Karen Hayes and Jack Bauer that the Attorney General will be on the line in five minutes. Karen looks to Chloe O'Brian and asks her to test the recording. Chloe presses play but no audio comes out of the recorder. Bauer tells her to double check her connections, and she does, and says that everything is right--there is no audio on the recorder.

A woman calls the situation room to remind Hayes that the Attorney General is on the line; Buchanan plans to stall him with "technical difficulties". Bauer asks who had access to the room, and Chloe says no one, but then recalls that Miles Papazian briefly entered the room.



Bauer storms out of the situation room and walks up to Papazian who is grabbing his coat getting ready to leave. Hayes orders one of the guards to stop Bauer, but Bauer punches him in the stomach. He grabs Miles by the throat and shoves him into a wall. He says that he knows Miles destroyed the audio.



Karen tells him to let Miles go, and asks Miles where he was going. Papazian says he was transferred, and Bauer says it's to the White House. Hayes walks up to him and tells him that it's not over. Papazian says he works for the President now. Karen slaps him and storms off.

Marcy Reynolds enters and informs Hayes that President Charles Logan is waiting on line two. He asks about the meeting with the Attorney General, and Hayes says it was a mistake and has been canceled. Logan is pleased, and informs Hayes that the evidence against Bauer is faulty at best and that he can be released. Karen seems shocked, based on the amount of manpower behind finding Jack, but Logan says he has new intel. Bauer tells Hayes that Logan wants him out on his own so he can be an easy target.

Buchanan walks back in and says that Vladimir Bierko has escaped. The only CTU Agent who didn't die in the attack was Agent Davis who is on the phone. He overheard a conversation Bierko had before he was knocked out. Bierko said he's not done, and made a reference to additional nerve gas. Davis didn't hear anything else.

Bierko is in a warehouse where another one of his men is opening a wooden crate. There is another canister of Sentox nerve gas. Bierko's technician says they can't do much with one canister, but Bierko seems to think they can do a lot. He removes the bandage from his face to reveal a large stitching.

04:09:02...04:09:03...04:09:04...

04:13:24
First Lady Martha Logan pours herself a handful of pills and puts them up to her mouth but decides not to take them. She throws the rest of her pills away. She walks over and picks up Aaron Pierce's cell phone and walks out of her room. She approaches a Secret Service agent named Cole and asks him to give Pierce the cellphone. Martha is reluctant to let go of the phone, but finally does, and Cole agrees to get it to Pierce.

04:14:52

Aaron is bleeding from the mouth and tied to a chair when President Logan walks into the room. Logan nods to Agent Justin Adams, who is watching over the room and takes a chair. Logan pretends to be shocked by what is going on and sits down across from Aaron. Logan says that what Aaron thinks is going on isn't. Pierce asks him "then why don't you explain it to me, Mr. President." Logan says that Jack Bauer doesn't have a recording. Pierce says that's not what he's been told, but Logan makes it clear: he says that it's over.

Logan says that Aaron is a good man, and offers him any position he wants, except the White House, if they can put this behind them. Logan asks if that would be acceptable, and Pierce calls him a disgrace and says that it's his job to make Logan pay for his crime. He no longer calls Logan by his title "Mr. President", ending his statement with "Charles." Logan sighs and leaves Aaron in the room by himself.



Outside, Adams tells Logan that he's served with Aaron for years, and that Pierce is be loyal to David Palmer. Logan glances at Adams, who walks off. Logan pulls out his cell phone and calls Graem. Graem seems to be surprised to hear from Logan, but takes the call anyway.

Logan informs Graem that the recording has been erased. Graem seems pleased, and asks about the people who know about it. Logan says they can't act without proof, and his wife is co-operating. He says that Pierce is not, but he is being dealt with. Graem asks about Jack Bauer, and Logan says that Bauer will be released by Karen Hayes and then he will be killed. Graem says Logan has things under control, but Logan has to hang up quickly as Mike Novick is looking for him.

Novick walks up to Logan and informs him that Vladimir Bierko has escaped. Logan seems irate. Novick adds that they have reason to believe that Bierko is planning another terrorist attack, and that CTU is working on picking up threads. Logan, fuming, asks to be updated.

Karen is working on picking up threads, as Chloe O'Brian is having trouble finding Bierko. Hayes suggests talking to Christopher Henderson, but Bauer doesn't think he will talk. Bill Buchanan suggests that he might talk to prevent a terrorist attack, but Bauer is skeptical. Hayes says that they're not here to serve a grudge, but to stop an attack, but Bauer thinks they need to draw the line. Buchanan says they need to stop the attacks, and asks what David Palmer would do. Bauer asks to present the deal to Henderson, and Karen says okay.

04:21:47



Bauer enters the holding room where Henderson is. Bauer asks him to assist, and Henderson quickly pieces together that Karen is offering him immunity. Henderson says he's sorry about Palmer, but claims he had the best interests of the country at heart. Henderson says immunity is worthless. Bauer starts to leave.

Henderson says he wants to fake his death after this is all over, like Jack did. Christopher says he wants to take Miriam Henderson and leave the country and live underground, hoping never to be seen again. He wants to make sure he is not found out, unlike Bauer, by the cabal who helped President Logan orchestrate the conspiracy. He mentions that they helped arrange the death of Walt Cummings and they will kill him since he can no longer use the recording as leverage against them. Bauer asks Henderson what makes him think Bauer won't kill him, and Henderson says Jack's word will be enough. Bauer says that if he doesn't deliver Bierko, then the deal is off. Henderson agrees.

04:25:13...04:25:14...04:25:15...

04:29:34
Jack orders Chloe into the situation room as they prepare to move Henderson. Audrey Raines walks by and asks why Henderson is out of holding. Bauer lets her know that Henderson has immunity, and that he's not happy about it. Audrey seems rather unhappy herself. Bill Buchanan interrupts and says that they have found something. Jack and Audrey part.

Chloe is going through Bierko's contacts and has found one person with a connection: Joseph Malina. Henderson says he's an arms dealer who was accused of selling information but beat all the charges. Chloe says he received a call from a pay phone near Van Nuys, then called back on a secure line.

04:31:27

Henderson says that Malina won't talk if he's brought in, at least not quickly enough to help, and suggests they send him into Malina's location. Bauer doesn't like this idea, but Karen Hayes and Bill think it's the only way. Bauer doesn't think he can be trusted, and Hayes sends Bauer with him. Bauer says he will kill him, and Hayes says not to let it get that far.

04:32:56



At the Presidential Retreat, Martha Logan is smoking a cigarette outside when she spots a black car pull up to the barn. Martha begins to make her way over. At the barn Agent Justin Adams is escorting Aaron Pierce. Adams tries to get Pierce to go in the trunk, but Aaron refuses. He says that Charles Logan is just going to kill Adams too, but he isn't listening. Aaron tries to escape by bodyslamming Adams to a wall, but Adams pulls his gun and points it at Aaron. Martha walks into the scene.

Adams points his gun at Martha as Aaron is on the ground, not moving. Martha walks up to Adams, asking him if he's going to shoot her, being the First Lady. Adams pulls out his cellphone and threatens to call someone as Martha gets closer. Aaron awakes and kicks Adams in the leg then knocks the gun out of Adams' hand. Adams goes for a crowbar that's in the trunk, but Martha grabs the gun and shoots Adams. Aaron seems shocked, and Martha rushes over and embraces Aaron.

04:35:53...04:35:54...04:35:55...

04:40:14


Jack Bauer, Curtis Manning and Christopher Henderson head to Joseph Malina's place. They stop outside, and Bauer tells Curtis to set up a perimeter. Jack then tries to wire Henderson, but he refuses, saying that any piece of recording equipment will be found and Henderson will be killed. Bauer gives him ten minutes.

Henderson, saying he has information about Vladimir Bierko, enters the building easily. Bauer climbs onto the roof of the building and walks up to a skylight to listen in. Malina pulls a gun on Henderson and asks what couldn't wait. Henderson tells him that CTU agents are outside and asks about another exit. He tells him to drop his firewall and secure his files to prepare to leave.

Curtis says that Henderson sold them out, and the CTU teams move in. Henderson asks for a gun, and walks into another room. Malina manages to shoot Curtis, but is taken down with a shot to the upper arm. Bauer confronts Henderson, but Henderson claims he was trying to get the data on a flash drive. Henderson says that now they're going to have to decrypt some files. Jack calls Bill Buchanan, and asks to talk to Chloe. She says she is already past the firewall and is looking for files. Bauer says to look for anything accessed in the past ten minutes.

04:52:23


First Lady Martha Logan is cleaning Aaron Pierce's wounds. She figures out that Agent Justin Adams was told by President Charles Logan to kill Aaron. Aaron says that he's sorry to tell her, but Logan was involved in much worse things. She knows, and was going to keep quiet until now.

Martha wants to know what they should do now, and Aaron says he's going to put Adam's body in the trunk but needs some help in order to escape. Logan has to believe that he is dead. He tells Martha to go to Mike Novick and tell him everything that happened. Martha grabs his hand and asks him to leave if there's a chance he will get caught. Aaron agrees. Martha leaves, and Aaron watches her.

Chloe has managed to get something out of Joseph Malina's files: a blueprint to a Russian sub. As part of the treaty signed earlier today, the United States is inspecting the submarine. Jack Bauer asks to be put in contact with the senior officer on the sub, the Natalia. Bauer asks Henderson about the armament on the Natalia, and Henderson says it's non-nuclear. Henderson wants to go, he found Bierko, but Jack says he knows the weapons and needs Henderson's help.



Audrey Raines gets on the line with Bauer and tells him that she has a Lt. Southern on the line. Jack tells him to lock out his weapons systems as they are about to be used as a terrorist device. He barks out orders to one of his sailors, Skeet, and warns the senior Russian officer. He then prepares to checl topside. He goes up the exit tube and is shot by Bierko as soon as he exits. Jack informs Audrey that he lost Southern, and tells the chopper pilot to fly them in as quickly as possible. Bierko and his men put on gas masks and then drop the gas canister into the submarine.

Split screen: The gas starts to quickly contaminate the submarine. Jacks asks how much longer until they get there and the pilot tells him five minutes. Martha Logan is waiting outside of the briefing room for Mike Novick so she can tell him everything. Pierce is hiding the body of the agent that just tried to kill them.

Bierko and his men enter the sub and make their way to the command center of the sub. Bierko has one of his men read the code for the missiles that they got from Joseph Malina. Bierko asks if they have control of the weapons system. The vertical missiles are loaded, and they are loading horizontal missiles now. The missiles sit in a room with Bierko's men looking over them.

04:59:57...04:59:58...04:59:59...05:00:00

Starring

 * Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer
 * Kim Raver as Audrey Raines
 * Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O'Brian
 * Gregory Itzin as President Charles Logan
 * James Morrison as Bill Buchanan
 * Roger Cross as Curtis Manning
 * and Jean Smart as Martha Logan

Guest starring

 * Jude Ciccolella as Mike Novick
 * Julian Sands as Vladimir Bierko
 * Jayne Atkinson as Karen Hayes
 * Paul McCrane as Graem Bauer
 * Glenn Morshower as Aaron Pierce
 * Stephen Spinella as Miles Papazian
 * Jose Zuniga as Joseph Malina
 * Eric D. Steinberg as Agent Davis
 * Ravil Isyanov as Bierko's Henchman
 * Tracy Howe as Agent Adams
 * and Peter Weller as Christopher Henderson

Co-starring

 * Don Fischner as Lieutenant Southern
 * Michael Yavnieli as Agent Cole
 * Marci Michelle as HS Staffer Marci
 * Dominic Comperatore as Russian Officer
 * Clayton Barber as Bierko's Terrorist

Uncredited

 * Richie Metcalfe as Stan Shavers

Background information and notes

 * This episode was delayed 20 minutes on the east coast because of a live address from the President.
 * Aaron Pierce's line "Is there anything else, Charles?" was actually an improvisation by actor Glenn Morshower. It was his idea to refer to the President by his first name, and Gregory Itzin's reaction was genuinely surprised, so that first take was used in the episode.