It had something to do with a missile-armed submarine… and a conniving President… and some vengeful Chinese, I heard. Spoil away; be as detailed (or as critical) as you like.
Have you watched the rest of the season? Or are you just looking for the ending, without knowing anything else going on?
In the 2 hour finale:
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Jack, with a small team, mounts a raid on the hijacked docked submarine, which Bierko (a Russian terrorist) has taken over (killing the crew with nerve gas). Bierko is attempting to launch it’s missiles (not nuclear, but multiple warheads) on some major targets, and Jack’s raid has to stop him before the launch. He does it with the help of the one remaining live crew member. The missile launch is halted, and Jack ends up killing Bierko (as well as other miscellaneous henchman). Afterwards, he also kills Christopher Henderson, who was one of the main “bad guys” but was helping him stop Bierko’s last attack, trying to cut a deal. All of this takes place in the first 20 minutes.
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The next objective is to go after President Logan, who is behind some of the bad things that happened this day (including actions that led to the murders of former President David Palmer). Henderson was one of the main henchmen involved in that conspiracy.
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Several folks in the Presidential retreat know about Logan’s complicity, including the First Lady (who is now disillusioned and disgusted with her hubby) and Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce (who the pres tried to have whacked, and the First Lady saved him, killing the other SS agent who was to be said “whacker”). They also tell Mike Novick, the Chief of Staff, who they know they can trust with the truth.
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Jack contacts Pierce and Novick and tells them he intends to confront the prez. They help from inside. They end up getting him on the chopper that the Prez is about to take, replacing one of the pilots. Jack forces the other pilot to do his will, tasers the SS agents, and lands somewhere to try to force a confession from the Prez. He is recording the proceedings, and he’s had Chloe (CTU agent, pretty much loyal to just Jack) help prepare some special equipment. He threatens to kill the Prez (saying he has nothing to lose anyways) unless he confesses. Looks like Logan may crack, but he calls his bluff, and Jack doesn’t shoot.
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Secret Service catches up and they take Jack into custody. Little does Logan know that when Jack frisked him, he planted a tiny recording device on his pen. Logan ends up incriminating himself on the recording when his wife breaks down and starts calling him a murderer, and he takes her to a private place and bullies her a little. In the argument, he makes the incriminating statements. Chloe is getting it all on tape.
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Chloe contacts the Attorney General, plays the recordings for him and the CTU bosses (she was working behind their backs again), and Logan (after he finishes a public speech) is taken into custody.
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10 minutes before the end, Jack is called away for a phone call – supposedly from his daughter. He goes inside the building and is ambushed by guys in masks. Turns out he’s been grabbed by the Chinese – at the end of the episode, he’s on a freighter bound for China. This relates to an incident from Season 4, when a Jack-led-team raided the Chinese Consulate to grab a guy who was hiding out there, who had crucial info, and the Chinese Consul was killed in the ensuing gun battle (actually killed by his OWN men, friendly fire). The Chinese blamed Jack (who was eventually IDed as the leader of the strike team), and he faked his own death at the end of Season 4 to throw off the Chinese and prevent himself from falling into Chinese hands (not just for himself, but for national security, too).
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So now the Chinese have him. I guess we have to wait for season 6 to find out what they intend to do with him.
Just in case this is all you know about the season, here are a few more broad themes from this season:
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The main threat was a group of Russian terrorists that obtained a bunch of cannisters of nerve gas. Their intent was to take them back to Russia and use them on Russian government targets.
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The Presidential complicity was that there were some U.S. Govt folks that actually SOLD the nerve gas to the terrorist group (not doing business as the govt, of course), with the intent of pulling a double-cross – setting the cannisters to go off when they reached the terrorist base back in Russia, destroying the terrorist cell in one fell swoop. This backfired, obviously.
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In the process of covering up everything, the conpiracy baddies assassinated former President Palmer (who knew too much), as well as some other CTU agents (Tony and Michelle) who still knew Jack was alive.
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The Russian terrorists, pissed about the double-cross, started trying to hit U.S. targets with the nerve gas, so much of the season was about finding and stopping the nerve gas attacks.
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The later part of the season was focused on uncovering President Logan’s involvement.
Thanks! I’d seen a little, but not much, during this season of “24,” so this was invaluable. Much obliged.
Thanks for the summary! I recorded the 1st hour, but not the 2nd (recorded Alias instead)
Brian
Thanks from me, too - we had every intention of recording both hours, and it just didn’t happen. So, no real big surprises, it sounds like - I wonder if we’ll start Season 6 with Jack in Chinese custody, after being tortured for a couple of years, like the start of one of those James Bond flicks (maybe the one with Denise Richards as the rocket scientist.)
Nope. Season six will open with Jack in a bloody t-shirt, standing triumphant over a pile of Chinese corpses, yelling, “Come and get it, ya sick bastards!”
China is more populous than LA, so I’m guessing it’ll be "let me go or millions of people will die. "