5 hours in and everything finally starts to ramp up a gear. There were so many Bauer Bingo moments this week that I had a hard time keeping track of them. From more 'Putting people on speaker's and 'Within the hour's to some of my personal favorites such as 'Doing it my way'.
The episode starts out simply enough with Bauer in custody and Morgan in possession of the flight key. Morgan puts what's left of her shattered career in Jack's hands, which, despite moments of kudos, can never end well. She gets the data to Chloe who quickly pieces together the evidence that proves the drone was hijacked by Al Harazi. All the men in the show eat big slices of humble pie as they have to admit that our Whispering Wonder and the Bauer Babes were right all along.
As we leave the male cast attempting to choke down their portions of humilty, we see Naveed attempt once again to turn Simone against her mother by leaking their location in Margot's demand video and planting evidence that would help exonerate Simone when the cavalry finally arrive. Sounds like a foolproof plan to me.
Jack finally has a sit down chat with Heller and breaks out the ultimatum I've been waiting for. He says he has a lead on an arms dealer and the only way to get him to talk is for Jack to go in under cover but as a legitimate agent once more. Heller doesn't bite as he the CIA have uncovered the location from the video and are sending in a team so Jack's lead is irrelevant. We can see where this is going from further away than the satellite surveillance.
Margot informs Naveed that his plan to get them all caught has failed and that his services as drone pilot are no longer required since her son has been busily playing Drone Simulator 2014 during the ad breaks and reckons he's now good enough to take on the real thing. She cackles maniacally and swivels in her black leather chair as she outlines the impending fate of the rebellion.
So, all the President's men and Prime Minister Fry (YAY!) sit down with bags of popcorn to watch the attack on the compound. Morgan, having now been sidelined, gets a flash from her spider sense that this was all a bit too easy and couldn't possibly be real as Jack hasn't been involved in any way in the gathering of this intel. She passes the data over to Chloe, who quickly proves that the baddies are setting them up and enlists Admiral Ackbar to convey his customary warning to the troops. The CIA team storming the building get the warning and attempt to retreat just as the first drone blows the whole place to bits. So guess what folks? This means that Jack now has the only lead doesn't it? Who'd have thunk it?
The episode closes with Margot despatching Naveed with a bullet to the brain.
In amongst all the chaos there was a lovely moment where Jack and Audrey finally get to have a conversation, which is both sweet and uncomfortable in equal measures as Jack basically tells her that he's only going to wind up getting her into more trouble if she stays with him. After nine seasons of this, we cannot help but agree.
All in all a much higher impact this week, with the first of likely many big explosions and a mass culling of the CIA's resources. We all know what's coming next and can't wait to see Jack go undercover and put the thumb screws to whoever this arms dealer guy is in the coming weeks. Bring it on.