We’re halfway through the season and the shit is hitting the fan. Picking up where we left off, Kayla Hassan was trying to stall in the bathroom as she just found out her boyfriend Tarin was actually in league with Samir and the terrorists. Tarin was getting impatient but he really got impatient when he saw a SWAT team moving on the hotel. This was in spite of Jack’s orders to wait until they arrived so the SWAT commander shouldn’t have been too surprised when Tarin killed him and a couple of his men. Tarin then tried to fake out the cops with a Hans Gruberesque American accent but Jack didn’t buy it so he just booked it out of the hotel and caught a cab, which happened to be driven by another terrorist. After some fancy maneuvering under an underpass, the trio disappeared and Jack had to switch into kidnap mode.
Heading back to the UN, Jack and Cole briefed the Hassans about what was happening and told them to expect a call from the terrorists. Samir called shortly afterwards and gave the group an IP address which was a webcam showing Kayla tied to a chair. Samir then appeared on camera and demanded File 33 from President Hassan and pulled a move from Jack’s playbook and started choking Kayla with a plastic bag. President Hassan agreed to hand over the file, even though he denied knowing what it was. It turns out that File 33 is Karmistan’s analysis of the weaknesses in America’s defenses, including their radiological detectors. If the terrorists got this file it would give them free reign to do whatever they wanted, like bringing the fuel rods into the city. Jack was willing to sacrifice Kayla to keep the file out of enemy hands but Chloe offered an out in that Arlo picked up some subway sounds in the background, giving CTU a general idea about where Kayla might be. Jack and Cole headed out, with President Hassan ordered to stall until they could find Kayla.
Kayla, meanwhile, was pleading with Tarin to let her go and he caved, helping her escape to the streets and getting her into a car, only to take a bullet from Samir. Kayla drove off and frantically called CTU, who were then able to pinpoint her location and Jack and Cole headed to an abandoned bank to try and catch the bad guys. The terrorists had already cleared out via a tunnel system nearby and Jack and Cole pursued, only to have the terrorists double back and make it to the streets. Arlo and his drones were set to track them and ID’d one of the terrorists as…Tarin Faroush.
Just a quick update on the continuing Dana saga before we get to the explosive finale. Parole officer Praty arrived at CTU and Dana tried to lie about knowing Kevin, saying she had a one night stand with him after a night in a bar. Praty proved to be smarter than he looked by dropping some information about the police evidence lockup robbery and produced an interagency data request for the tape of the robbery. Dana realized she was screwed and was prepared to give herself up but she was saved by an unlikely source, the terrorists.
Jack, hearing about Tarin, realized they let Kayla go because they knew they would never get the file but they could take out CTU. Kayla arrived and was swarmed by security and Hastings, who found an EMP in her backseat, with only :17 to detonation. A CTU guard tried to back the car away from the building but it was too late, the EMP went off and CTU might be down for the count.