After thirteen hours, finally, we get some sort of pay-off to Dana Walsh's stupid, dragging storyline: she's a mole within CTU! Why didn't we see this coming?

Or, the question is, was the storyline about Kevin and her engagement to Cole shattering--that damper of a storyline that really dragged the first episodes of this season down--worth it?

It's too early to tell, of course. One, I'm sure she'll get a couple of hours because Bill Prady's body is discovered stashed in the holding room. Two, there are much more pressing things to tackle, the least of which is the imminent threat of a nuclear explosion in Manhattan.

In case you haven't heard, this season of 24 is the very last one, so we're not just counting the last 11 hours of the day, but the last 11 hours of the show ever. That announcement floats the serious possibility of Jack Bauer getting killed off at the end of this season--especially after the close call of the last season, and more so now that the fate of New York (and President Taylor's peace treaty, and the world order at large) rests in his hands once again.

No, I doubt he'll be killed off. There's a movie coming up, remember?

Anyway, on tonight's 24, Jack indeed gets to handle this escalating situation all by himself. Or at least he leads the efforts. With CTU recovering from the EMP and efforts to intercept the nuclear rods unsuccessful, President Taylor gives Jack a special task. I'm guessing it's a really big task since the guest list for this episode includes a lot of generals, agents and soldiers, not to mention Ethan Kanin and Tim Woods.

And this has to happen. With the peace treaty on the back burner--really, when your life's on the line do you even think of world peace?--and her idealistic nature buckling with it, President Taylor has to do something. I bet Jack is more than willing to help, now that he doesn't just have two feet in the tub, but his entire body. He's drowning in action!

24 returns tonight from 9pm on Fox. Eleven hours to go, kids.

(Image courtesy of Fox)