24 : 2 - 3 a.m.

24. 6.21. Heller’s threatening restraining order. Yeah, that’ll work. Jack asks Nadia to release him so he can get back or destroy the component which should be easy since he knows how Cheng thinks. Nadia’s not falling for that. Morris honestly thinks they’re all professionals but Chloe doesn’t look like she’s fine. Ricky can have the units rolling to Jefferson Heights Copper Refinery in five minutes. He better because Cheng plans to attack his target in fifteen minutes. Josh and Marilyn are still hanging around CTU, watching television. Josh feels bad for all the people who died because of his lunatic father. “I wish I was never part of this sick family,” he says, expressing the thoughts of pretty much everyone at Thanksgiving. Chloe tells Marilyn about Audrey’s fate. Marilyn promises to be there for Jack. Suddenly it’s a soap opera. Since she has to allow him to access her PDA (is that a euphemism?), Lisa contacts her boyfriend. If they can make him think the component is destroyed, maybe the Russians will believe it.

Cheng’s men head down into the sewer lines. Talk about job dedication. By the time Ricky reaches the refinery, it’s evacuated except for empty weapon crates. Obviously they’re planning an assault, but on what? Morris tells Chloe he broke up with her because of what he did. He knows she’d never be able to get past it. Nadia can’t reach Ricky. Perhaps there’s a hiccup in the server. Nope, can’t access the server either. I don’t know how this company has survived this long. The security cameras fail and Nadia orders a code red lockdown, but not fast enough. Cheng’s men have come up from the sewers, through the bathroom, I guess. Nadia orders everyone to their assigned safe rooms. If you need one of those where you work, maybe it’s time to brush off that resume.
Jack frees himself, as usual. Milo tells Cheng’s men that he’s in charge, saving Nadia from the bullet in the forehead he receives. Cheng has gone to all this trouble apparently just to take Josh. Luckily, possibly, Jack ushers Josh and Marilyn out of harm’s way. Josh manages to crawl into the air duct but Jack runs out of bullets so he and Marilyn must surrender. Ricky calls Nadia who’s advised not to warn him what’s going on. The Chinese tell Josh to come out of the vent in ten seconds or they’ll kill his mother. They’re working for Grandpa Stretch. He’s the one who gave them codes to access CTU. Would he know CTU access codes just because his son worked there? Stretch also appears ready with more codes to help Cheng with the blessed component. Line of the hour the writers must find especially ironic: “We’re all doing some improvising today, aren’t we?”