AllMovie

Having essentially ordered CTU doctors to let Paul die so they could save Lee (Peter Chen), Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) tries to apologize and explain his actions to Audrey (Kim Raver), but she doesn't want to hear it. The botched mission at the Chinese consulate creates all kinds of problems for CTU. Mike (Jude Ciccolella) warns Jack that the Chinese suspect CTU's involvement, and suggests he assemble his team and make sure they all have alibis. Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) suspects that while the Chinese can't let the incident pass, they will be eager to avoid making it an international incident. He proposes blaming the kidnapping on Asian extremists. Unfortunately, while studying security video, the consul's head of security, Cheng Zhi (Tzi Ma of The Quiet American), sees a brief, blurry image of CTU agent Howard Bern (Robert Cicchini). He contacts the secretary of state, who arranges for Cheng to pay an unwelcome visit to CTU, and alerts Logan (Gregory Itzin), who blows up at Palmer for authorizing the mission. At CTU, Cheng confronts Jack and Buchanan (James Morrison) with the evidence, and they deny Bern's involvement, while Jack arranges for Bern to leave the country. Fortunately, Lee does regain consciousness long enough to give Jack a possible location for Marwan (Arnold Vosloo). At one point during this episode, Buchanan tells Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) that in the midst of the crisis, CTU doesn't "have time for [her] personality disorder," but really, it only takes a few moments each episode, and it's well worth it.