Day 3: 6:00am-7:00am

President David Palmer is forced to hand Saunders' next assignment to Jack Bauer. CTU does their best to find Saunders before 7 AM. Michelle Dessler finds out someone got out of the hotel before the lockdown. Ryan Chappelle tries to escape, but is stopped by Jack first. Chloe O'Brian is able to trace Saunders through Money Trails to an address in Los Angeles. Chase Edmunds leads a strike team over there, and all seems to be falling into place, until Saunders is not at the address...

Episode guide
Previously on "24"


 * Michelle informed Tony of Gael's death and pleaded with him to allow her to offer the hotel guests and staff the option of suicide capsules. As Tony prepared the capsules he informed Ryan Chapelle of the situation and despite it being against every regulation in the book, Chappelle allowed it.
 * MI6 headquarters was attacked but Jack and Chase managed to escape with the hard drive concerning Stephen Saunders.
 * President David Palmer was given his third assignment by Saunders; to have Ryan Chappelle executed.

The following takes place between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.

06:00:00
President David Palmer contemplates Saunders' last demand with Chief of Staff Wayne Palmer. He doesn't see how he can execute Ryan Chappelle. Wayne says that there is no alternative due to what is happening as they speak. David asks how long he must comply with Saunders, and Wayne replies until they find Saunders. At CTU, Ryan Chappelle is working on following Saunder's money trails. Jack arrives and tells him about the hard drive from MI6. Chappelle gives him an update on their search for Saunders. It's not going well. But, Chappelle is doing good on following the trails, although he has met many dead ends. Analyst Chloe O'Brian comes in and tells Jack that the President wants to speak to him in private. Jack takes the call. President Palmer tells him about Saunders' call. He states bluntly that Saunders wants Ryan Chappelle dead by 7 AM. Jack asks why. Palmer does not know. He does not feel good about having to go with the demand. Jack says they may find Saunders before then. Palmer apologizes for putting this on Jack. After the call ends, Jack asks Chloe what she is doing to find Saunders. Chloe is relaying all of their data to Division. Jack wants her to start her search here. Chloe will follow the money trails, but wants to clear it with Chappelle. Jack tells her no, even though Chappelle outranks Jack. Chloe still says she will ask him. Jack tells her to do it because of the importance. She agrees.

06:05:57

At the Chandler Plaza Hotel, infected guests are being led into a contained area. Agent Michelle Dessler informs Tony Almeida of what is going on there. Michelle talks about what may happen if Michelle's test comes back positive. Tony wants to stay positive and not talk about it. Michelle tells him that the last 3 years of her life have been the best. She adds that the best thing he can do is allow the suicide capsules to get to the hotel. A child is led into the area as Michelle looks on. Back at CTU, Jack asks to speak to Tony. He asks Tony if Chappelle and Saunders had a past that would want Chappelle killed. He tells Tony about the latest demand. Jack doesn't know what to do if they don't find Saunders. He hasn't told Ryan yet. Tony goes to change Ryan's security clearance, as he may be a flight risk. Jack will get Ryan to send his data to Chloe. Tony calls Chloe and lets her know. Ryan asks Jack what the President wanted. Jack says "him", and leads him into a conference room.

06:09:23

Jack locks the door. Ryan asks what is going on. Jack hesitantly tells him about Saunders' latest demand. Ryan asks if it's a joke. Jack tells him the severity of this demand. President Palmer had to go along with this, but only if Saunders is not found by 7 AM. Ryan keeps asking "why me." They have not had any past connections. Then, Jack realizes that the money trails probably lead back to him. Ryan does not seem optimistic about finding Saunders in less than one hour. Jack asks him to send all of his files to Chloe. Ryan sits and starts the transfer. Jack puts his hand on his shoulder, and apologizes. He walks out the room, as Tony looks at Ryan, who looks completely unhappy.

06:11:27...06:11:28...06:11:29...

06:15:53
Ryan and Jack are still working. Ryan is still hitting dead ends. He doesn't believe they can find Saunders by 7 AM. He yells at Jack because Jack might have to kill him. Jack keeps telling him that they may find him. Ryan thinks Saunders might want him dead for another reason. Jack tells him to think, and to keep working with Chloe.

06:17:15

More people are being led into containment at the Hotel. Michelle looks on. Eventually, Head of Security Craig Phillips is brought out, infected. He asks to speak to his wife. Michelle cannot carry out that request by order of President Palmer. Phillips begs to speak to his wife. Unfortunately, Michelle is forced to say no, and Phillips is led into the contained area. Michelle speaks to everyone about the virus, and how they will die. She also mentions that there is an alternative, the suicide capsules that she asked Tony to send over. Once the virus appears, there is no chance of recovery. Those who do not take the capsules will die within 6 hours. The infected guests are crying with sorrow. Dr. Sunny Macer comes and tells Michelle that someone may have gotten out of the hotel. Michelle goes to the room with Kathy McCartney, who came forward. Michelle asks her to be honest. She says that his name may be Bill, and tells her the story of how they came to the hotel. When she woke up at 4:02 AM, he was gone. Michelle confirms that the man was inside the hotel when the virus was released. He is not anywhere in the hotel. She asks Ed Miller for a forensic team.

06:21:23

Jack asks for more processing power for Chloe. Tony asks about Ryan. Jack says that he is scared. Chase has a strike team ready. Tony has a helicopter ready to take Jack and Ryan down to the train yard, just in case. Chloe is not having much luck with cracking the money trails. Jack tells her to keep trying, and notices that Ryan has left the office. He tries to find him.

06:22:38

Ryan is close to exiting the building as a guard stops him. The guard has orders to send him back into the building. Jack gets to the exit, and tells him to go back in. Ryan claims he is going outside to smoke a cigarrette. Jack asks for the cigarrettes. When Ryan doesn't show them to him, he orders the guards to escort him back in. Ryan then shows him the Cigarrettes, and goes back in.

06:23:50...06:23:51...06:23:52...

06:28:15
Michelle tells Tony about the man who may have gotten out. She has notified Health Services, but because he was not a registered guest, they are having trouble finding him. Tony inquires more about the situation. CTU will do the workup. Kathy tells Michelle again about what surfaces he may have touched. Michelle takes her belt off, as he may have touched her belt. She asks Ed to dust the buckle. He notices a partial thumb that is not hers. He uploads it to CTU. Michelle tells him that if they don't find him, there may be an outbreak.

06:30:26

The man arrives home. His wife wakes up, and he tells her that he was at a meeting. He didn't want to call, because he didn't want to wake her up. He then goes into the bathroom, and starts bleeding from the nose. He tries to stop the bleedking. At CTU, Chloe may have something. She cracks the decryption, and finds an address. The address is real, because Saunders just called from it 45 minutes ago. Jack goes and tells Ryan. Ryan is instantly grateful. Jack tells him that they still need to go to the train yard, just in case. Ryan agrees. They walk through CTU. Chloe tells Ryan that Division called to confirm his 3 PM briefing, and asks if that's ok. Ryan tells her, sure. Everyone watches as they exit the main offices.

06:33:05

President Palmer gets word from Jerry that the press is starting to pick up on what happened at the hotel and the red alert. Wayne says that he should know to hold off the press, and tells him what happened. Jerry will do his best to hold them off. He asks when he will go public with the threat. Palmer will do so when the threat is contained. Jerry leaves.

06:34:34

The sun is already up as Jack and Ryan make their way to the helicopter ready for them. Chase asks why Jack is not coming with Agent Tom Baker and himself. Ryan tells him that Jack must go downtown with him. Chase then chastizes him for calling away their head of Field Ops on a crucial mission. Ryan says that those are the orders. Jack tells him to take care of the strike team. Ryan and Jack get in the helicopter. It takes off as Chase watches. They fly toward downtown.

06:36:00...06:36:01...06:36:02...

06:40:29
Chase and Baker arrive at the address they have. Baker inquires about how they should proceed. Chase says covertly, although the building is in the open. Osterlind lets Saunders know that LAX is grounding flights. New York, Washington, and San Francisco got out, but they lost Chicago and Cleveland. The revised casualties are 2 to 5 million within the first two days. There is also a chance that the outbreak will spread past the Americas.

06:42:20

Adam Kaufman gives Tony the results from the fingerprint at the hotel. He has almost 300 possibilities. Kathy needs to go through them. Kim Bauer has Ryan on the phone. Ryan inquires why Chase is taking so long to enter the building. Ryan wants them to hurry. Jack tells him that Chase knows what is at stake. Tony gives him the real-time comm feed. Jack has a visual on the train yard, and lands the helicopter there. At the address, Chase prepares to enter the building. His team is in two vehicles, and kill the members of Saunders' team. Chase and Baker enter the building. The other two members climb the building. Saunders has them on surveillance. He doesn't see them enter. Chase and Baker go up the stairs. Agent Graves and Agent Martinez come down from the roof. Saunders is still working. Chase and Baker are still coming up the stairs as Graves takes out one guard. Saunders still doesn't see them on the feed. Chase takes out one man by the door. Baker sets someone to blow the door. They blow it open, and Chase storms in. However, there is no one there, only a switching node. Ryan realizes what happened, and instantly looks grave. Everyone at CTU is also sad.

06:47:03

Saunders calls Jack. Jack asks Saunders why he is doing this. Saunders says that he will not understand. A black van will arrive soon, and Chappelle is to be left with them, or else Chappelle will release the virus.

06:48:25...06:48:26...06:48:27...

06:52:52
Dr. Sunny Macer arrives with a case in the contaminated area. It contains the suicide capsules. She lets the guests know that they may take them. An old couple is the first to take them. Several other people follow them. Michelle can do nothing but watch on. Ed lets Michelle know that they have narrowed down the results. Kathy confirms one picture. She is sure. The man is still at his home in the bathroom. His wife asks if he is ok. He says he has a bug, and he has to go to the office for a staff meeting.

At the train yard, Chappelle and Jack sit in the helicopter. The black van arrives. Jack lets Adam know that the van is there. Adam will try to use satellite imaging. Jack tells Ryan that they have to leave now. He gets out the copter. Ryan says that his legs are shaking. Jack says that he will catch him, and lets him out. They walk through the yard. Jack asks Ryan if he wants to talk to anyone, to say goodbye. Ryan says that he has a brother he hasn't spoken to in years, and he doesn't have that many friends. Then, he says no. Jack gets him on his knees. Ryan asks if there are any alternatives. Jack doesn't see any, and cocks his gun. As a tear falls down his cheek, Ryan asks to take his own life. Jack cannot let him do that. Ryan tells him how he was right for doing what he did in the past hour. He knows he must die. Jack still cannot take that chance. Ryan gives him his word that he will not run. He is scared, but he will not run. He asks Jack to believe him. Jack finally decides to give him the gun. Ryan, on his knees, as a train rumbles through, holds the gun to his head, and tries to pull the trigger. However, he cannot do it. He says to Jack, "I can't, I can't..." Jack says it's alright. A train whistle is heard. Jack apologizes for letting Ryan down. Ryan shakes his head, disapproving of his statement. Jack points the gun at Ryan's head, and says "God, Forgive Me." He then pulls the trigger, shooting point-blank at his head.

Ryan Chappelle is dead. Jack lets his gun down as a train whistle blows again.

(silent clock) 06:59:57...06:59:58...06:59:59...07:00:00

Memorable quotes

 * Michelle Dessler: Tony, I realize we've both been talking around this, but if my test comes back positive—
 * Tony Almeida: Michelle, don't go there.
 * Michelle Dessler: Sweetheart, we both know my chances of survival are low.
 * Tony Almeida: You still have a chance, and while there's still a chance, I don't wanna talk about this.
 * Michelle Dessler: Okay. Okay.  Just... no matter what, I just want you to know the last three years have been the best years of my life.
 * Tony Almeida: I should be there with you.
 * Michelle Dessler: You are.
 * Tony Almeida: No, it's not the same.


 * Chloe O'Brian: (To Jack) You know, your tone of voice isn't exactly a morale booster.


 * Ryan Chappelle: You think I'm trying to run? I'm going outside to smoke a cigarette.  I wouldn't condemn millions of people to death so I could live.
 * Jack Bauer: Let me see the cigarettes.


 * Chloe O'Brian: Mr. Chappelle, Division called to confirm your 3:00 briefing, is that still good?
 * Ryan Chappelle: Uh, Sure.


 * Ryan Chappelle: (His last words) I can't, I can't.


 * Jack Bauer: I'm sorry we let you down, Ryan... (Ryan shakes head) God forgive me. (Shoots Ryan Chappelle in head, Ryan collapses to ground)

Starring

 * Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer
 * Elisha Cuthbert as Kim Bauer
 * Carlos Bernard as Tony Almeida
 * Reiko Aylesworth as Michelle Dessler
 * James Badge Dale as Chase Edmunds
 * and Dennis Haysbert as David Palmer

Guest starring

 * Paul Blackthorne as Stephen Saunders
 * Christine Chang as Sunny Macer
 * Paul Schulze as Ryan Chappelle
 * DB Woodside as Wayne Palmer
 * Doug Savant as Craig Phillips
 * Zachary Quinto as Adam Kaufman
 * Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O'Brian
 * Patrick Fabian as William Cole
 * Brigid Brannagh as Kathy McCartney
 * Jenni Blong as Susan Cole
 * Daniel Dae Kim as Tom Baker
 * Jamie McShane as Gerry Whitehorn
 * Bryan Rasmussen as Ed Miller
 * Joe D'Angerio as Osterlind

Co-starring

 * J. Scott Shonka as CTU Security Guard
 * Mandy June Turpin as June
 * Roger Ranney as Roger

Background information and notes

 * This is the fourth episode with a silent clock.
 * There is no split screen leading into the final moments of the episode.
 * The episode was originally scheduled to air on April 13, 2004 in the United States but was pushed back because of a primetime Presidential press conference that Fox, along with all the other networks, carried. Because of the unique Sunday airing, it garnered the lowest Nielsen ratings of any episode of 24 through its first six seasons. Only 6.2 million viewers tuned in.