When season nine of 24 kicks off, Jack Bauer is lying back on his couch in NYC, enjoying time with his granddaugher. He tells Kim that he's decided to move to L.A. with her and her family, causing everyone to hug and be happy.

Guess this will be a very short season, huh? Not quite!

A former informant of Jack's comes by, just as Jack is packing for the move. He's been shot and he says he's aware of an assassination plot against President Hassan, the head of an Islamic nation that's in town (at the UN) to sign a historic peace treaty with the United States. He begs Jack to call CTU and alert them to this threat, in exchange for his immunity.

Jack can't resist the chance to save the world and does so. He convinces new CTU NY boss Brian Hastings to take this informant (Victor) in and listen to what he has to say. Hastings tells Jack and Victor to meet a CTU helicopter five blocks away and sends Cole Ortiz (Freddie Prince Jr.) out to retrieve the pair.

Of course, nothing is easy on 24. After a gun fight with the men trying to silence Victor, he and Jack eventually make it to the roof of a nearby building. Just as they are about to hop on the chopper, it gets blown up by one of the (seemingly Russian) men that are behind the Hassan plot. Just before Victor dies, he tells Jack (who survives the blast, along with Cole) that there's someone close to Hassan working with the hit men.

Who could it be? The episode ends on a shot of Meredith Reed, a reporter that seems to have gotten close to Hassan. Any true 24 fans knows it won't be her, naturally.

Other tidbits worth noting from the first hour:

- Hassan's marriage to his wife is for show only. He pretty much admits to his brother, Farrad, that he's having and affair with this reporter.

- Chloe has been working at the new CTU in NYC for less than a month. She's behind on the new programming.

- Ortiz is engaged to the head programmer, Dana Walsh (Katee Sackhoff).

- A programmer named Arlo likes to look at women in bikinis with his satellite and seems to play a big role in the new CTU.

- Rob Weiss is President Taylor's Chief of Staff; Ethan is seen taking medication and has taken on the Secretary of State role.