TVSquad

And just as soon as we've all sat down and taken a deep breath from the first night of action and adventure, we're given a second double dose of the 24 serum last night. While not as shocking as the first night, it was pretty much just as explosive. Jack is hiding out in the airport in his quest to save his girlfriend's son, Derek, and a number of other travelers who are threatened with death by the terrorists, and the CTU team now knows that he's in action and running the scene. We're also introduced to a new character, Lynn, played by Sean Astin. He's immediately thrown into the fray, or more specifically throws himself into it, by effectively taking over the CTU offices from Buchanan.

One by one, hostages are being executed by the terrorists, who want Logan to halt signing off on a treaty with Russia. The details of the treaty are unclear at this point, and Logan is facing pressure from all directions, all while barking orders to Mike Novick about "fixing" the situation. All the while, his wife is searching for another way to find the conversation she had with David Palmer the night before, the chat that was "altered" on the recording Logan played for her. Thankfully, it turns out his overall antics may be in her favor, as there are apparently transcribed copies of every phone conversation kept in a storage room on the premises.Once Jack realizes that Derek is next to be executed, he realizes he has to act fast and now to save him, especially considering he got him into this mess. Of course, this is where the fun stuff happens. Chloe works with Spenser to come up with a way to make Jack's Treo handheld "emit something different," namely something to make the terrorists' bomb-vests explode. Just seconds before Derek is shot in the head, Jack manages to create a diversion by blowing up one of the terrorists, leading to a bit of confusion and ultimately the sparing of Derek - for now. On the outside, concern is shooting around the Presidential household, with the news that Jack Bauer is behind the disturbance and that CTU knows about it. Almost at once we have two different kinds of shock on the faces of the men, with Logan and Novick surprised (or at least Logan is), while Cummings definitely looks like he needs to find a telephone, and fast.

All this leads up to some counter-counter-terrorism, with the hostage takers coming up with a way to make a horrible sound come out from Jack's phone, leaving him unable to communicate with the outside world - and CTU - to help set up the plans outside. Of course, this leads to further bloodshed, but Logan seems determined to sign the treaty as Jack is ultimately captured by the men. Of course, Jack's got something up his sleeve, and this is where, not surprisingly, Lynn comes into play. Jack is trying to get Curtis to set up a strike outside, at the behest of the terrorists, who plan to kill the CTU agents as they arrive. But Jack has used the code phrase "Flank 2" when he is talking to Curtis on the phone, which seems to mean something specific that CTU can't decipher. That is, until Lynn gets on the case and figures out that "Flank 2" was something that Jack used while on active duty with CTU a few years earlier, and it's not used now to explain being under duress. Just in time, the attack is halted, but that leaves Jack with a gun pointed at his head as the terrorists are waiting for the CTU invasion.

And just as the President signs the treaty with Russia, the CTU team saves the day at Ontario airport, but not before the terrorist leader blows himself up with the vest of one of his colleagues - of course, this is after Jack manages to shoot a gun out from his hand in order to try and grab him for some torture and interrogation. All the while, Martha Logan has convinced a staffer to let her into the records room where she can find the transcript. She's caught there by Pierce (Pierce!), but manages to grab it without his knowledge. After finding that she was right about the call's recording being altered, she's pursued by Cummings who wants to find out how far along she is in her "investigation." That eventually turns out poorly for her, as the transcript pages are retrieved from inside her blouse, and she is left unconscious.

I was definitely concerned that the airport plotline would run a bit long on this show, but it looks like there are much more insidious plans for us all this season. Sometimes, just the internal turmoil at CTU is enough drama for the show, but with Audrey's continued participation and Jack's sure return to CTU, are we in for more fighting between ex-lovers or some frustration from a current girlfriend and an ex-lover, now that Diane is in the picture?