They need to wrap this recording sh!t up. I walk away from this episode feeling a little cheated....it just doesn't sit well with me. Now we have to go back to this whole chasing Bierko mess? and more interrogating henderson?....maybe next week he'll escape and Jack can try to catch him again. On one hand they have been adding some pretty cool twists, and on the other hand they continue to recycle the same things

That said, Audrey looked pretty hot....a couple of wounds and a few pints of blood lost can do wonders.

This recording sheananigan is ridiculous. Can't anyone make a copy? Jack can magically self-destruct memory cards, but can't back up a wave file? If the recording gets destroyed 24 will have jumped the shark.

What the heck happened to Wayne Palmer? I thought he was at Bill Buchanan's house. Who doesn't think Robocop wont escape one more time and kill before he escapes for good because he'll be back next season. Wouldn't it be nice if an entire season of "24" was a prequel to the first season? They could bring back Nina (and show how she joined terrorists), George Mason, Chappelle, David and Sherry Palmer, Terri Bauer, Robocop, Tony Almeida, Michelle Dessler, and even Darlene from Roseanna who died after the explosion at CTU in season two.

I'm going to download the episode where they first played the recording and run it over to my local TV station and be done with it.

BTW, the consensus of the blogosphere is that Jack's using the Andrew Christian Heavyweight Classic Messenger and Travel Bag -- Unisex as his "Messenger Bag of Death (and spare cell phone batteries)", but no one can figure out where he picked up the "Hoodie of Infiltration".

Any ideas?

dangummit, play the friggin' tape!!! you're standing in a room with karen, bill and chloe, and you can't push play? i've about had it with the writers this season. at least he played it for curtis during the drive back to ctu, right? right?

and for the record, the browns' run defense was ranked 30th in the league last year, ahead of both buffalo and houston.

Did anyone think Audrey reacted very strange when Curtis told her about her dad being alive? She seemed almost...scared? and then as Jack walks in, she is trying to call her dad in the hospital.."tell him i love him..." Something's strange when Jack is saying "it's over now." AND we all know there are three more hours to make things "over now". I really hated when Jack turned into the knee-kissing-calf-rubbing guy. My face was like a person who just sucked a lemon. Anyway, does anyone thing Audrey is a bad girl?

As much as I love this show, the last few episodes, especially this one, have started to piss me off. The plane should have had its wings and tail chopped off so that we could see sparks fly, instead of coming to a gentle stop 200ft before hitting the overpass. That's just corny. But the last minute calls that keep saving the president are a much bigger stretch. First, Henderson calls with the tape, just before Heller has Logan sign his resignation. Then, Miles calls and says he's going to destroy the tape just before Logan shoots himself. It would have been much more interesting if Logan killed himself, but people still tried to destroy the tape, to protect the image of his presidency.

I can almost guarantee you that the writers will tell us that the stress reliever/your-table-is-ready restaurant pager that Miles was holding is a short range EMP device. The recorder looked like a solid state device, rather than a tape recorder, so that's the only thing I can make up off the top of my head. Of course, this is 24, where Jack can travel faster than the speed of light, so they could just as easily make up something involving sockets, protocols, and ultrasonic frequencies. Or it might be a plain old tape recorder so that the flashing device of doom is just a degausser.

Finally, although everyone already knows this, CTU must run fewer background checks than 7-11 because there are way too many double agents.

The recording thing is getting more and more ridiculous every week.

Why the hell did Chloe have to "clean up" the recording? Wasn't it already clear enough for Heller, Audrey, and the random dead banker? Does the Attorney General have too much earwax? If so, it's not the recording that needs cleaning up.

Prediction for next week: Chloe discovers that the recording has been corrupted, but she can find a way to reconstruct it. Of course, the process will take two hours.

Jack: Can't you do it any faster?
Chloe: I'm going as fast as I can!
Jack: Fine!

So Miles just happened to have a miniature-portable electro-magnet handy? Considering DHS came in a few hours ago to take over CTU what would be the reason from bringing this along from your home office. "Hey sometime today I think I'll wipe some memory chips so I'd better bring this along!"

Jack in the past 90 minutes or so had access to cellphones, air traffic control frequencies, lapd police frequencies, military roadblocks along with various other methods and people but he couldn't play the dam recording to anyone to record it or rerecord/broadcast it? Even psycho Shari thinks he's crazy.

Time for a rant....

Now I know that when I watch 24 I need to be prepared to suspend my disbelief and I’m cool with that. I can accept the fact that all Jack needs to slip onto a heavily guarded diplomatic flight is black hoodie and some bad attitude. I can believe that every terrorist attack will take place within 5 minutes driving distance of CTU even thought traffic in LA moves at about 2 miles an hour. I can even accept the fact that Secretary Heller is alive after plunging 3 ½ miles off a cliff into 27 inches of water. What I cannot believe is that Jack gave Chloe the most important recording since the dawn of civilization, told her she had 10 minutes to copy and clean it and then LEFT HER BY HERSELF.

I mean come on, Jack. You’ve just blown up Centox nerve gas (narrowly escaping being incinerated in the process), hijacked a diplomatic flight which you then successfully landed on freeway, and escaped from a Marine dragnet that turned over every loose rock within a mile of the plane. Then with 10 freaking minutes to go you put Chloe in an unlocked room ALONE and go make googly eyes at Audrey? Talk about dropping the ball. Not like anyone at CTU is putting their balls on the line by helping you or anything -- Bill Buchanan, Chloe, Karen (yes, Chloe and Karen have balls. They’re standard government issued balls; everyone at CTU has them. Except Miles, but I digress…). Oh, but I forgot, nothing bad ever happens within the hallowed walls of CTU. Well, except for that incident about 8 hours ago where someone walked in off the street and killed ½ the staff with nerve gas. Or the fact that Henderson, Chloe, and now Bierko (don’t EVEN get me started on Bierko) have all managed to escape from CTU in the last 12 hours. Oh, and I guess there is that nasty business of Tony Almeida getting killed right under everyone’s noses. No, NOTHING BAD EVER HAPPENS AT CTU, DON’T BOTHER TO GUARD CHLOE OR ANYTHING, SHE’S PERFECTLY SAFE!

I quit.

I was so looking forward to President Pussy leaving a blood spatter on the wall. Damn that Miles!

When Miles was on the phone with Pussy, you could almost hear his ass puckering up getting ready for his big reward!

I can't believe no one has made a backup of the most important recording in the world! What is up with that!

Great recap, J-Unit. But you gotta work on the screen caps. With the exception of the last one, they are all just black squares with a little color here and there.

I truly thought Pres. P was going to shoot himself. I was feeling all giddy about it, too.

MissionMan said it best about the recording.

Also, did Bierko take a page from the Scofield "how to break out of prison/custody manual"? He may be good, but he ain't no Scofield.

Miles Papazian, you have the worst timing...

Great recap and episode. I was hooked on two major suspense scenes - the landing of the plane and the supposed suicide of the President. I was absolutely glued to the TV for these. Gregory Itzin is phenomenal, as I was just struck by his performance from the time he went to see his wife up until the time he put away the gun. I can't really say I felt sorry for him, but something about the way he talked to Graham, then kicked back that drink, really made this scene tremendously real. Damn, I love this show. It's a shame, though, that he probably won't be coming back.

The prequel is a great idea. They could show Jack investing in McLennan-Forrester, Paul Raines as a nerdy intern at a data company, Behrooz Araz getting his ass kicked in elementary school, Edgar Stiles' decision to get into counterterrorism, you name it. Seriously, though, a prequel would be a great way to resurrect some of our favorites who are now long gone. I've heard that the rumored movie may be a prequel, though, so I'm not sure if they would do it with a season.

I knew Heller was alive. I'm not sure he'll stay that way, though. And I, too, thought that they should totally wreck that overpass in the plane. This show has always focused on the main characters spilling a little bit of milk to save the pie, so I'm really surprised that didn't happen.

Anyway, great recap. All that and a "Seinfeld" reference, too. Awesome.

well, we all agree that the recording debacle has been a major plot hole, but this episode had its upside: heller survived (see what happens when you buckle up, people?), and he, at least has heard the recording. best of all, we learned via next week's previews that our favorite secret service agent aaron has returned from the mysterious land of cast-off 24 characters not confirmed to be dead and is going to get to give pres. pussy a solid piece of his pasty-red-headed mind. somehow i suspect (hope?) that the budding romance between aaron and martha will factor in to pres. pussy's inevitable undoing.

only the recording snafu could overshadow the ridiculous logic of bierko's escape, but hey--we need jack to be up against something more formidable than pres. pussy and the one-armed asshole doc from ER for the big finale. listen up, 24 writers: you've tested us a bit too much over the last few weeks with faulty logic and the bone-headed behavior of presumably intelligent people. but give us another shot of curtis cold-cocking a girl, and all will be forgiven.

I really thought Sugar Ray General looked more like Don Cheadle. That part also reminded me of when Austin Powers made threats to Tim Robbins playing the President of the US.

RealityTV4Me,

The gamma and white balance settings on the computer I used to take the screencaps is a little off. I'll make sure to adjust before I do the 24 finale.

I was thinking that President Pussy was going to kill himself but make it look like Martha was the one who shot him - I can't imagine this man having the guts to take responsibility for anything, even his own death. And I was hoping that Karen would just kill Miles in the hallway and save us all a lot of trouble.

So...when this is all over, Jack's going to be with Audrey...so much for Diane and her punk kid. Why were they even introduced as characters?

And, I totally think Jack could've done the whole David Blaine in the fishbowl holding his breath thing, don't you? He would've beated that 9 minute record, no doubt.

Looking to be like Jack? Then you must pick up your own Hoodie of Infiltration: http://www.rakuten.co.jp/icefield/466888/475193/694584/694587/

Messenger Bag of Doom: http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B0002A6UUW.01-A8NGTDCMCO53E._SS400_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Aviator Glasses of Badassness: http://www.serengeti-eyewear.com/products/images/5222_serengeti_large_aviator.jpg

and a cell phone/PDA that just won't quit (unfortunately, this model does not come with a SILENT RING!!): http://cache.vzw.com/images_b2c/phones/lg/treo_650.jpg

Must give credit where credit is due....thanks to fenixconnektion.blogspot.com. Don't know them, just stumbled across the site.

Next season: President Heller.

Season 9: President Bauer.

This episode was a little too one dimensional. Also I'm disappointed that Secretary Heller is still alive. I hate the actor and the character.

Not so good for Audrey and Jack either. Isn't she his sole heir or is her wimpy brother still alive?

Question:
Are we going to see Kim again this season?

It's a wonder why none of the good guys have made a backup of the recording.

Jack and Miles need to have a run in at CTU next week, resulting in a major "misunderstanding" leaving Miles bloody and bruised and in no position to collect his Pizza Hut coupons (or whatever reward Logan has in mind)

Hey J-Unit, I think you meant the Castro and not the Tenderloin. While people do go to bars in the Tenderloin, the Castro is the well-known gay neighborhood in SF.

J-Unit, my first comment ever left here was regarding my favorite title of an episode ever: "Chump Don't Want No Help, Chump don't get No Help." And you have compelled me to write again. This time for:

"no mention of Victor's vector, Clarence's clearing, or Roger's reading". WELL DONE SIR, another fantastic Airplane reference.

Also, a friend and I are putting together a 24 drinking game. Here's how it works... everyone drinks on the following:

1. everytime jack yells "damn it!!!"...
2. everytime a perp breaks thru the "hard perimeter"...
3. everytime chloe rolls her eyes;
4. everytime someone says into their phone, "i'll call ya right back!!!"
5. everytime someone at CTU mentions a "socket".

that's for starters... sounds like a pretty drunken evening, eh? any others we should add? keep in mind though, my friend... she's a bit of a lightweight, so i fear she'll be under the table halfway thru.

Keep the Airplane references coming my friend.

MissionMan, you said it all for me but I think it bears repeating. I'd lost interest in 24 - but this season roped me back in, I was glued to the tv every Monday. Then, in one ridiculous moment, they lose me again, perhaps for good this time. Suspension of belief is one thing but can anyone explain to me why Jack would give Chloe the recording with 10 minutes to go so he can satisfy his Audrey foot fetish?! Fine, Jack's aching for some toe-jam, whatever. But why leave Chloe alone, in an unlocked, unguarded, transparent room that is open to any yahoo in CTU? It's not like the recording is important or anything. It's not like the President would try anything underhanded - like, oh, blow up a f**king plane full of innocent passengers to destroy said recording. No, I'm sure all the lives/careers threatened by the existence of the recording will be fine in the unprotected hands of our lovable geek. WTF?! I’m sorry, they lost me, I don't even care how the season ends now. Looks like I'll be switching to the Apprentice on Mondays.