Day 2: 11:00 PM - 12:00 AM

Characters Introduced:

• Jonathan Wallace (Gregg Henry): The coral snake leader and the man who can prove the recording was false. Gregg is always great in these thug roles.

Returning Characters:

Why have you forsaken me?

Key Moments:

• Michelle questions Ali about the Cypress recording. Ali denies being in Cypress when it was recorded and says the bomb was Second Wave’s alone.
• Tony reports to Palmer what they found on the recording and David proceeds to meet with the Joint Chiefs of Staff about retaliation. The plan is for a rolling start to occur within hours to catch unnamed countries by surprise.
• Jack arrives back at CTU and is all set to leave to track down Kim when Michelle tells him about what Ali said.
• Jack catches Ali before he is put on the transport to Guantanamo. First he tells him that his son is not dead then asks him about the Cypress recording. Ali reiterates what he told Michelle. While Jack and Ali think on what this means, a sniper puts a bullet through Ali’s brain.
• While David is getting casualty projections for the planned invasions, Jack calls to inform him of Ali’s assassination and his belief that the recording was faked. Palmer tells him that he needs proof in order to stop any military action.
• David and Mike discuss Jack’s new information. David feels that they are moving too fast into a military response, while Mike believes David needs to be more decisive. This was great work by Haysbert and Ciccolella.
• Michelle informs Jack about Yusuf but when Jack questions him Yusuf won’t help because he is being kept in the dark. Jack then receives a phone call from the remaining coral snake solder, Jonathan Wallace, claiming he will provide proof the recording is false in exchange for Kate Warner.
• Michelle distracts Baker during his debrief of Kate. Jack swoops in and takes Kate and tries to get out of CTU with her. Since Carrie doesn’t work and just spies on everyone else, she immediately tells Tony. Tony pulls a gun on Jack! Jack doesn’t fall for his bluff and takes the gun and nails Tony causing him to fall and break his ankle. Jack and Kate make a break for it.

Ridiculousness:

• We get the first instance of the entire government not wanting 1 agent to pursue the Cypress recording. Seriously? There are 1000s of agents and analysts; can’t a couple look into this while the rest plan a war?
• Kim needs to be distracted for a few hours so she goes and hangs out at a liquor store that will immediately be robbed.

Running Totals:

Jack and Tony are Friends?: 2 (5)

• All Jack wants to do is pursue the Cypress recording lead but all Tony wants is Jack out of his face.
• Tony pulls a gun on Jack and Jack responds by punching him in the face.

Kim Does Something Stupid: 1 (19)

• Kim pulls her gun to attempt to break up the liquor store robbery. The problem with pulling a gun is if you aren’t going to use it; the other guy will just take it from you and use it.