Terri Bauer would be spinning in her rarely visited grave, if she knew how long it has taken me to write this. Her husband bit his way out of a Chinese prison for crying out loud. Quite frankly I’m ashamed of myself. Sailing into the hours when the kids should be in bed, the bad men come out of the woodwork in 24 land. These bad men, with their bad facial hair, bad skin and bad plans make this one of the most uncomfortable double bills in 24’s history.

Renee’s past is brought into focus as she submerges herself deep under cover inside a Russian syndicate, with the hope of getting closer to the men responsible for President Hassan’s attempted assassination. A harrowing and turbulent former relationship with the syndicate’s leader gives a clearer indication of Renee’s motivation for reactivating her previous identity.

Having set up a meeting with Vladimir (Calum Keith Rennie) she offers him the deal of a lifetime, the chance to buy nuclear weapons material. Having not seen Renee for some five years, Vladimir is understandably suspicious. Not suspicious enough to have a quick glance in her ear for the transmitter she’s using to keep in contact with Jack and the rest of CTU but suspicious enough to ask her a few questions at least. Suddenly a drastic change of mood sees Vlad and his team, drag Renee and her informant to the pier demanding the truth. The syndicate is more vigilant than I give them credit for however, sending a dummy car for Jack to tail, while the important action takes place minutes later, in the opposite direction. The next few minutes shows us the true despair of Renee’s life after having left the FBI. With nothing to lose, the honesty of her pleading with Vladimir to shoot her ends up saving her life.

Civil unrest in President Hassan’s homeland, sees the figurehead roll back the years with the sanction of some good old fashioned street beatings. Hassan’s desire to show strength in the face of those who tried to kill him, is an admirable and necessary sign of power in a lawless region but it is also threatening to undermine his efforts for peace at the UN. The poncy British are already getting a bit apprehensive. And people wonder why we’ll never win the World Cup when we can’t even handle a few, state ordered human rights violations.

Now that Hassan has proved he isn’t just a big haired softy with an outdated goatee, Dana Walsh is having trouble getting rid of her own poorly bearded ex. As an accessory to murder in a previous life, Walsh is blackmailed into getting Billy Goat a six figure score in order to pay him off. In one of the better series’ of 24, at the moment, this storyline seems poorly thought out and forced. My understanding is that Walsh has already served her sentence and was let out as a minor. She might not be invited to a few after work social gatherings like the CTU book club, or the Data Analyst bowling night but she has much more to lose by using her position to aid a robbery. Besides, Hastings still gets away with that stupid walk of his, so I’m sure her criminal past is way down the list of any internal tribunal.

The later part of the hour sees two of the most ultimate sacrifices. The Bashev family, responsible for getting nuclear material onto American soil, is torn apart as the two brothers pay the price for disobeying their father. Unwilling to watch his younger brother Oleg die, Josef attempts to get him cured at clinic, discreetly, after hours. His father’s way of ensuring his family cannot be traced by the authorities is by having his men murder a hospital full of staff and then murder his youngest son in front of his disaffected older brother.

Renee meanwhile, remains stoic and restrained in the face of Vladimir’s sexual advances, before painfully giving in to a man she so intensely detests, in order to continue the mission. The scene is one of the most uneasy and uncomfortable moments I can remember in 24.

Vladimir sends his men to meet Bauer who is acting as Renee’s financer with the intention of stealing his money and then killing him. Jack may have been caught out with the bait and switch of cars earlier but a man who has shot, punched and kicked his way of tight spots before, isn’t about to be a mugged off twice. With Cole positioned nearby as a sniper, all but one of Vladimir’s men are taken out, with a face to face meeting with Bauer to come in the next hour. With any luck, Vladimir will have the stubble ripped right off that chiseled chin of his.