Where to begin?
Powers Boothe as VP Daniels was in great, true form. No one is going to push him and what he says is right for the U.S. around. Not Karen Hayes, who's back in the White House, not Tom Lennox, who may or may not suspect what we may or may not know about Daniels (was he involved in the bomb that killed Assad and put Wayne Palmer in a coma?)
Hayes goes to the hospital to see if there is any way that Wayne can be revived in time to stop Daniels from hitting an Arab nation with a nuke. Wayne's sister Sandra is in the hospital - looks as if she's back in the picture now, too.
And things may be even more exciting back in California, if that's possible. Is Nadia really working for the bad guys? I don't believe it - too easy. But if not Nadia, who? Milo? Didn't he take a bullet to save Jack's sister-in-law, Graem's wife? (More about her below.) If so, what is Milo, some kind of suicidal spy? I don't quite believe that, either. Well, then, who? Morris was tortured, for cryin' out loud! Can't be him ... well, then ... we've got a nice, tough mystery on our hands...
Back to Jack ... He almost kisses Marilyn (his sister-in-law) (she wanted to) (I would've kissed her) ... and then she tells him: Audrey's dead!
Now, we've all seen these kinds of set-ups a hundred times. She's not really dead. She's being kept prisoner... I don't know, I'll be disappointed if this is how the Audrey-is-dead situation is resolved. Not that I want her dead, but ... I think Jack would be happier with Marilyn (personally, I've always found Audrey a little whiny.... She may be better suited for The Nine.)
So here's where we stand for next week: San Francisco was almost hit by a nuclear drone. Quick CTU work prevented that, but some nuclear material was still spilled. Not enough to hurt many people, Buchanan tells Daniels, but enough for Daniels to want to proceed with his nuclear retaliation.
So Karen Hayes is in the hospital to somehow get Wayne to intercede ... it may cost him his life - the doc says it's life-threatening to wake him.
And Jack will stop at nothing to find out who killed Audrey in China - presumably, they were Chinese - if she's really dead. And we may yet see William Devane - Audrey's father, and former Sec'y of Defense, back in the action again.
But with all of this exciting stuff, I find myself still most interested in - who is the spy at CTU? If not Nadia or Milo or Morris, then who? Buchanan? Impossible. Curtis - sorry, that was a low blow...
But it shows how desperate I am.
Chloe? No, as impossible as Buchanan.
Then, who?
Your guess is as good as mine.
Useful link: 4-min podcast of this review at Levinson news clips
