Bauer by Hour: Best Episode Ever

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Matt Swenson has seen every "24" episode and knows of what he speaks.

The following takes place between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m.

SPOILER ALERT.

What does Kim Bauer plus Jon Voight minus Larry Moss multiplied by Tony Almeida equal?

The best "24" episode ever.

Remember when "Seinfeld" and "The Simpsons" were in their heyday and there were three or four classic subplots were contained in one half-hour? You almost forget they were in the same episode until you watch the rerun.

This is the same thing. Forget the minutes this week. Too much happened this week.

Kim Bauer's return looked the headliner. Mountain lions nowhere to be seen, she offers her stem cells to save Jack Bauer, infected by a deadly pathogen. There's a teary reunion — she apparently still lives in L.A. but flew to D.C. for Jack's Senate hearing and had been calling the FBI all day to reach here day. Conveniently, only now did Agent Crybaby get the messages.

"I was immature; We lost too much time," Kim says, echoing what Elisha Cuthbert must be thinking about her career once she ditched the show years ago.

Of course, Jack refuses the help but we guess Kim will be back since Jack will return next season and, quite frankly, he's a goner this day without her.

Then there was Jon Voight. He gets his meeting with President Taylor. He demands more power than the vice president in exchange for not firing off biological weapons from the Starkwood facility somewhere in Virginia.

He ends up in handcuffs, arrested by the FBI after Tony Alemeida blows up all of Starkwood's weapons.

Here is where everything changed.

Tony is a great character and all, but everything seemed to be happening too easily. Some tough guy militiaman conveniently disappears so he can take down another Starkwood agent and plant the C4. It was almost as convenient as Tony finding out there was a plot against the White House when the CIA and FBI had no idea several weeks ago. And almost as convenient as Tony getting so easily duped two weeks ago by Jon Voight's crony.

So when a climatic chase over the same rogue Starkwood baddie who disappeared earlier — now carrying a canister of the pathogen — you knew Tony is going to be involved.

FBI agent Larry Moss — Jack's nemesis most of this day — has Tony in custody for his terrorist ways that are now behind him. But he needs to catch the bad guy first so they fly together and track him down.

Larry gets shot (naturally) and is desperately warning Tony the bad guy is approaching from behind.

Then it happens. Tony says, "I'm sorry, Larry."

The bad guy stops in his tracks, and Tony suffocates Larry to death! (Larry is denied a silent countdown). Tony then gets takes the weapon and now we must conclude Tony is the bad guy behind all the day's events.

Not only is this a great twist since Tony was the classic good agent before he died and then un-died, but also because it begins to tie this whole season together.

Remember, Day 7 began with everyone thinking Tony was a terrorist. He was even on the most-wanted list. Jack stood by him and even asked the president for a pardon this week. So did the late, great Bill Buchannan before he died ending the White House siege.

That means Tony outsmarted two of the great "24" characters ever.

Jack promised to kill Tony until he's really dead in the first episodes this year. Looks like he's going to have to do it now.

As they say, it's go-time.