(4:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M.)
Review/Commentary
Reviewer: D
“You get to live – that’s your deal.”
Oops – apparently the bad guys weren’t informed of Marianne’s deal.
Still, I loved that line, even delivered by Curtis with his slightly constipated mean look, which he must have borrowed from Sarah. Maybe it’s just the look that comes with working for Driscoll, one of the “skills” such leadership builds in a person. I expect to see it on Edgar any minute, though with him it may actually signal constipation.
Anyway, does this season just keeping getting better and better? I think so. As J has pointed out, every episode wraps up at least one thing while at the same time launching new plot lines or twisting old plot lines in new directions. There’s been a blessed few random distractions (Edgar’s mom, Driscoll’s daughter) and just when you think something is moving from main focus (like the Marianne/Curtis thread), it comes barreling on to center stage again. Perhaps the ‘24’ writers have finally hit their stride after 4 seasons of working the formula. Or maybe they went on one of those writer’s retreats where Robert Bly or someone told them to write a whole season’s worth of plot, instead of 2/3 of a season like last year.
However they got there, they’ve certainly reached new heights in intricate plotting, non-stop action, and surprising interconnections. Let me heap kudos upon congrats now, just in case everything starts sucking in another hour or two.
If this episode had a title, I would have called it, “Surprisingly Bold Displays of Balls,” and no that’s not because there were any male strippers involved (and here I once again turn to Edgar for the appropriate visual…sorry, I just can’t stop picking on the guy…) There were at least three people who came forward to take unexpected and somewhat daring steps toward advancing the 24 plot line this week. One action was dumb, one was smart, and one the jury is still out on. Let’s review:
Behrooz. Oh, Behrooz, you picked the wrong time to work out your Oedipal rage, buddy. But still, his daddy removal capped a great opening sequence. Last week’s coming attractions focused mainly on this little hospital interlude, which made me think it was going to drag on throughout the hour. But no! The whole thing built up quickly, reached
its moment of high tension and then climaxed all within 13 minutes. That’s about average for “dramatic interludes” at my house (sorry honey!) but it’s surprisingly short by network standards.
One small detail: what was with the curious little close-up on the cell phone battery booster that Navi used? [Was that a battery booster or some sort of device to scramble the call somehow? – J] Do I smell a product endorsement hear?
Anyway, I loved the Jack-down-the-chute sequence, reminiscent though it was of the first “Mission Impossible” movie (remember that one?) Of course, another suspect getting popped just as Jack was getting a hold of them (a la whats-his-face Powell at the helicopter) was a little ridiculous. It’s too bad the 24 crew couldn’t use the situation as an opportunity for a little dark humor. I imagine Tony turning to Jack and saying something like, “Any chance ONE of our suspects will NOT get shot at the last possible minute today?”
Did you notice that they gave Navi a little bit of a death scene, with a gasp and choke before he hit the ground? I appreciated that. Too often 24 has dispatched its bad guys (and girls) without an appropriate Shakespearean moment of shock, dismay and possibly even regret as they go down. The ultimate 24 villainess ever, Nina, was the perfect example of this, gunned down while defenselessly laid out on her back. Another example of 24 learning from mistakes of the past. Maybe our next big baddie, Marwan, will get a whole soliloquy in iambic pentameter when he bites the big one?
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