in this hour ( 24 hours) , Jack and company continue to pursue the nuclear rods, while President Hassan's family drama takes center stage.

As we pick up with the Ortiz/Walsh story, it's apparent that, thank the sweet Lord, KevinEx is really dead. If only we could shake Walsh so easily. With that settled, Ortiz sets to work stripping down the bad guys' van and helping Dana dispose of their bodies (in a conveniently located nearby pond). Dopey Brooklyn accent or not, the guy is loyal and clear-headed in a crisis — though his commitment to a romantic future with "Dana" is clearly in doubt at this point.

This season's other star-crossed lovers, Tarin and Kayla, are dealing with their own issues. Before Tarin can be transported to another location for questioning by President Hassan's men, he manages to escape with the help of a loyal friend on the inside, who has stashed a gun in the transport vehicle.

Tarin and Kayla are soon reunited at a nearby hotel, professing that they've never been happier, which, this being 24, probably means something very bad is going to happen to one or both of them. And with Kayla's dad and his personnel hot on their trail, as well as a possible dirty bomb detonation, that will probably come sooner rather than later.

On the political front, after Hastings briefs President Taylor on the latest situation with Farhad and the nuclear rods, Chief-of-Staff Toolie stays on the line, looking for an update on his plan to make Renee their fall-gal. But Hastings takes the opportunity to finally stand up to Weiss, saying he's dropped the charges against Renee and, "If you want to replace me as head of CTU, be my guest. But until you do, stay the hell out of my way." Hastings is still my least favor CTU director, but he does win a couple points for that one.

Taylor finally gets a little more screen time later in the hour as well, having her first face-to-face meeting with President Hassan since things really started to go downhill in NYC. She takes the opportunity to present Hassan with an ultimatum: Provide the files on his intelligence operatives in the U.S. so that Farhad can identify the traitors, or America will be forced to attack Kamistan. Surprisingly, Hassan accedes to this demand.

It's all for naught, though, after a pinned-down Farhad makes the stupid, stupid mistake of trying to make a break for it just as CTU is descending on the scene. He catches two slugs in the back for the trouble, and bleeds out before he can look at those photos. But Jack comes up with a typically Jack-like plan to deal with that quandary: The terrorists aren't positive Farhad is dead, so why not keep up the ruse, taking his body to a local hospital and even feeding bad information to the local news, while he and Chloe do their best to identify and catch the men in question.


Meanwhile, the U.N. building is being evacuated as a precaution in case CTU can't stop that potential dirty bomb, though the several million residents of New York City (who are being kept in the dark for their own safety) are not afforded the same luxury.