This episode actually changed my feeling that Nina wouldn’t survive, since Jack didn’t blow her brains out when he could have, and said it was self defense since she had a gun. Although it’s probably just because they didn’t find the bomb yet. He still needs her until then, just in case unconscious terrorist doesn’t yield anything worth following.
I think that as the season goes on, Jack and Nina are going to be forced to work even more closely together - they’ll have to trust each other. That’ll add some really good tension and make the ending between them a little more ambiguous.
Maybe Nina will be the one to make a supreme sacrifice (like throwing herself on the bomb) to atone for what she did last year.
Does throwing yourself on top of a nuclear device really make much of a difference however? 
I think that Nina only cares about Nina.
a> I know that when I buy a phone card, I call and activate the card by entering the number. But doesn’t the seller also have to activate the card. I mean, when its sold the card is scanned and then officially listed as usable in the phone companies computer. I don’t think you can just kipe a phone card and use it…
b> Why in the world did Kim even consider taking evil dads car? This makes no sense at all. What is Kims reasoning? Hmm, scruffy has his own car which wife-beater dad has no idea what it is; in the meantime he will report his own car stolen if it is missing. I therefore have the choice to take his keys so he can’t follow and get away relatively safely, or drive a stolen car with his kidnapped daughter, lets go with the stolen car. Idiot.
c> President Palmer at times last season appeared to be making “bad” decisions. I think in the end, its going to turn out that he’s pretty well on top of things. He gives the good appearance of being a tool, but he is right on top of things.
Maybe she’ll choose to kill herself rather than giving Jack the satisfaction of doing it.
And rather than going back to jail.
It was stupid to take it, but it hadn’t been reported as stolen. They were stopped for speeding.
Judging by the scars on her back, Nina has not had an easy time in prison.
I had forgotten about that! Did anyone else think that looked a little bit like a kidney removal scar? Not sure where they would go with a plot point like that, but it just popped into my head.
Those scars looked a bit irregular. It’s also possible that CIA or CTU or NSA people have “asked” Nina questions and “politely” asked her to help out.
Wonder if Nina’s ever woken up in a Mexican hotel in a bathtub full of ice…
And on the mirror it said “Aren’t you glad you didn’t turn on the light?”
Maybe she sold her kidney for a pack of Camels.
Two thoughts in answer to earlier posts in this thread that I’m too lazy to go back and quote:
First, yes the human body easily packs enough blood to drip out of a container in the way shown. Also, the larger the pool, the longer it takes to dry and congeal, just like any other fluid. Theoretically, the blood would have soaked into the carpet of the trunk and saturated that. Then it would have started “looking” for another route via the rule of path of least resistance.
However, you don’t bleed after you die. You will, of course, drain, which could have happened depending on wound location. Unfortunately for the plausability angle, the clothes on the body likely weren’t bloody enough to have that degree of draining, since the blood would have soaked into them as well. Still, it’s not as unrealistic as one might think.
Second, about the gift card: My first thought was WEAPON. When I was teaching improvised edged weapons, credit and ATM cards were a favorite. When torn down the middle they make a lovely and effective cutting edge. You make a fist, but instead of curling your fingers under you extend them down toward the bottom of your hand, almost as though you were trying to hold a firefly. The middle knuckle of the index finger wraps around the smooth top of the broken strip, and holds it parallel to the outside edge of the thumb. Ideally, the strip tops just above the middle knuckly of the thumb and extends down the fat pad, with the jagged edge out, of course. This makes an incredibly effective slashing weapon, which pretty much any trained operative would know about.
After reading the other comments on the thread, though, I think they may have had her using the mag stripe to block the transmission, but that wouldn’t have made any sense because the folks at CTU could still see it up until the hug, which would have likely blocked things anyway.
If I’m right, expect to see the card get torn in the next episode.
Wild speculation: Mason will redeem himself by killing Nina, just as she is about to board the plane to Argentina or wherever Palmer was planning to send her.
More wild speculation: Jack will kill Nina, but Mason will somehow take the rap for it, leaving Jack and Kim to mend their relationship and live happily ever after until the next crisis hits LA (here’s hoping for a season 3).
Oh and the part of the episode where Mason had his son brought down to CTU to tell him that he was dying just tore me up. I got misty for a second there, albeit in an extremely manly way¹.
With regards to the phone/gift card; I was thinking weapon, too. Up until FallenAngel’s post, however, I had more of a Nina turns into a Ninja and throws the gift card, burying it in some unfortunate agent’s head. FallenAngel’s weapon idea makes a lot more sense, though. Another possibility is that she’s going to use it to remove her handcuffs somehow. Maybe she’ll rip little strips off it and use that to pick the locks. I have no idea how feasible something like that would be, but it’s a TV show after all.
Now on to the “conspiracy” against the Prez. I’m starting to think that maybe Sherry (the ex Mrs. Prez) might be on the level this time. Maybe Ensign Ro and the Chief of Staff (squinty bald dude from the first season) are in on the conspiracy. I don’t have any real reason for thinking this, except that I’m trying to read what the producers are doing with the clues they’re dropping. It seems like they’re playing up Sherry and Stanton (the NSA guy) as a little too evil. It just smacks of a plot twist somewhere in the future.
Regarding Kim; Yeah, her and Scruffy were stupid. I can see why they took Abusive Dad’s car, but why they decided to take that all the way to her Aunt’s house is beyond me. If anything, they should have taken the Dad’s wallet, removed the cash, and thrown it along with his cell phone and his car keys down the nearest storm drain. Then called a cab and gotten Scruff’s car at the recording studio. But I can forgive that. She’s young and I a lot has been happening to her over the past couple of hours.
Also, I don’t find Kim all that annoying. She makes a lot of dumb decisions, and I do cringe and yell, “What are you doing, stupid?!” at the TV a lot when she’s on-screen, but I just don’t get that annoyed at her. The one that really bugs me is the anorexic “What about meeeeeee! blah blah blah My wedding!!! blah blah blah memememememememememe.” God, just shut up already. Hasn’t the CTU agents arresting your fiance and father on the same day that the counter terrorism unit in LA is blown up clue you in that maybe today isn’t going to be all about you? Yeah, this was supposed to be your day and all, but bigger things are happening right now, so STOP WHINING.
¹ read: little girl sobs
But, but, but–
It’s supposed to be her special day!
I’m wondering how much longer Mason will actually last. Won’t he get pretty sick (serious vomiting and such) real soon?
Meaning, he won’t be able to work, no matter how much he wants to. He’ll be curled up in a hospital bed barfing and watching his skin peel off and what’s left of his hair fall out.
Because they have no car there at the hospital, the cops are still looking for the “hispanic guy” who stole the computer monitor (Scruffy), and they are also looking for the missing little girl. Most important thing at that point was get away from the area, and it’s either Evil Dad’s car, or on foot. (And no – calling a cab from there or nearby is not realistic – you have to wait for the cab, while the cops are still hunting you).
But, I stand by my earlier claim. It wasn’t stupid to take it (to get away from the immediate area). It was stupid to keep it (for getting out of L.A.).
The smart play? Take the car, get away from the hospital. Then ditch Evil Dad’s car and get out of town in Scruffy’s car.
So, my son just told me that Jack cheated with Nina last season! Is this true? I knew I should have watched last season!
E3
Actually, Jack didn’t cheat with Nina “last season” (that is, during the one day period covered by last season). Last season, it was established that Jack and Nina (both CTU agents) had had an affair previously, at a point when Jack was separated from his wife. Later, he reconciled with his wife, and by the events of last season Jack and his wife were back together. In the very last episodes of last season, Nina was revealed to be a traitor, and she murdered Jack’s wife while attempting to escape.