J. Scott Shonka Movies

Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) has been given his next command by Saunders (Paul Blackthorne). Saunders wants Ryan Chappelle (Paul Schulze) dead. Palmer tells Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) the bad news, and then it's a race against the clock to find Saunders before the deadline for delivering Chappelle's body, at 7:00 a.m. Jack tells Tony (Carlos Bernard), who realizes that they need to change Chappelle's security clearance. Jack then takes Chappelle aside and tells him the shocking news. Since Chappelle has no past connection to Saunders, Jack realizes that the demand must be due to Chappelle's work on the money trail. He has Chappelle transfer those files to Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub), who finds an encrypted bank account. Chappelle tries to leave CTU, and when Jack stops him, he claims he was just going outside to smoke. As Chloe cracks the code and finds a Los Angeles address for Saunders, Jack takes Chappelle to the trainyard where his body is to be delivered, just in case the CTU team, led by Chase (James Badge Dale) and Tom Baker (Daniel Dae Kim), doesn't get to Saunders in time. Back at the Chandler Plaza Hotel, Michelle (Reiko Aylesworth) has an emotional phone conversation with Tony. She then offers the suicide capsules to the infected guests. One guest, Kathy McCartney (Brigid Brannagh), comes forward to tell Michelle that the man she spent last night with is no longer in the hotel, and Michelle realizes that he must have left after the virus was released, but before CTU arrived to seal off the building. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Based on the novel Fatal Exposure, this cautionary made-for-TV thriller stars John Corbett as dedicated scientist and ecologist Evan Thorne. When he tries to warn the authorities that the earth's ozone layer has eroded to such an extent as to endanger all mankind, Thorne is laughed off as a nut case and his career and credibility are destroyed -- largely thanks to the skulduggery of his rival Dr. Schiffren (Tom Irwin), a scientist who has sold his soul to the industrial community. But when whales begin dying at an alarming rate, airplanes crash, corpses catch fire, wildlife goes insane, and deadly insects threaten to engulf Los Angeles, it would seem that Thorne wasn't just whistling Dixie. Even so, it takes the combined efforts of Thorne, his politician ex-wife, Jennifer (Josie Bissett), formerly cynical reporter John Morgan (Bradley Whitford), and gorgeous female scientist Elizabeth Sorel (Jo Anderson) to bring the authorities to their senses and expedite rescue-and-evacuation proceedings. By film's end, the future of humanity rests in Evan's ability to construct a bomb that will restore the balance of nature. A standard disaster flick disguised as a profound pro-environmental screed, The Sky's on Fire was reportedly produced for cable TV in 1998, but did not formally premiere until it was telecast by ABC on July 15, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi