(5:00 A.M. - 6:00 A.M.)
Review/Commentary
Reviewer: D
OK, there were at least two things laughably bad about this hour of "24." But given the amount of silliness we went through during the first 15 hours this season, that's pretty darn good. So I'll get these snarky criticisms out of the way so I can talk about the rest of the episode which, for the most part, was a return to the slam-bang mix of action, character conflict, and improbability that we love about this crazy show.
The two things were snatches of dialogue that seemed like they were lifted from a melodramatic 1940s movie. First, we have Chappelle catching Tony loading up some cyanide pills to bring to the Infection Inn and saying, "It's against every regulation in the book." I'm thinking, at most, your typical handbook would have maybe two or three regulations that cover mass suicide during a bioterrorism attack. In fact, the CTU rulebook has probably been rewritten so much lately - to include appropriate behavior during a domestic nuclear attack and the recommended lead-time before a mission to establish a heroin addiction - that they might have even pushed the regs on cyanide pills back to an appendix.
Then President Palmer confronts the smoothly sadistic Saunders with the statement "You're insane!" Oh, come on, Prez. You've been dealing with psycho terrorists since you were a candidate; this is par for the course for you. Wouldn't it have been more effective and dramatic for Palmer to purr threateningly into the phone, "Listen, jerk-off, a cell phone almost blew my head off and my hand was melted by some mysterious caustic chemical - you think you scare me?"
So maybe the 24 writers need to take a remedial course on dramatic dialogue. But at least they've rediscovered the ability to string together scene after scene of explosive mayhem and tense verbal sparring that made the first two seasons so much fun. This hour - like last hour - popped with excitement. New characters were introduced and dispatched. Intriguing leads on the origins of our current bad guy, Saunders, were discovered. The first victim of the accelerated Cordilla virus - the much abused Gael - succumbed. And the President had to struggle with doing a terrorist's bidding, not just once but twice.
Am I the only one who's wondering - why did we have to slog through all that stuff in Mexico to finally get here?
Let's start with the Hotel of Horror where Ms. Reiko Aylesworth as Michelle is doing some of her best work in the series. Why didn't they send her out in the field earlier? Get her out from behind a desk and the steely resolve that seems like bitchiness in the office turns into a commanding field presence. But not at the expense of her softer side. The subtlety that Ms. Aylesworth has brought to her role was nicely highlighted in a number of scenes this hour. She's such a good actress, I've almost been forgetting just how hot she is - almost. There was that look on her face during the confrontation with the wife of the jerk she shot - have her deep brown eyes ever looked so dreamy?
Then in the farewell scene with Gael, she made the offer of a handgun seem like a gentle, compassionate gesture. The whole scene was a little corny but relatively restrained given what it could have been. Gael has been this season's most misunderstood character so it's only fitting that they give him some quality time at the end. And his experience is probably the most complete picture we'll get of what all these nameless virus carriers are going to be going through before too long. Unless of course there's some "Dawn of the Nearly Dead" stampede planned in a future episode - filled with hotel guests running through the lobby bubbling up with blood and oozing pus. Yum! What do you think the pre-show warning will be for that one? "Due to scenes of disgusting postules and fountains of blood, parental discretion is advised."
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