(6:00 P.M. - 7:00 P.M.)
Review/Commentary
Reviewer: D
At some point early in this week’s episode, I was thinking, “well, a little letdown was inevitable.” And I was OK with that. As good as 24 has been lately, the show deserves a little lull. Let the CTU staff snipe at each other, let the terrorists regroup, and maybe even give Jack a chance to convince Audrey that he isn’t some unhinged sadist. After all, we could use a little sex to go with all this violence.
But as further proof that the 24 writers have truly hit their stride this season, even this somewhat transitional episode rocked. And it wasn’t just the high-intensity cloak-and-dagger stuff at McLennan-Forster. For once, the most compelling aspects of the show were all about the relationships. And if there is anything that 24 has sucked at in seasons past, it’s relationships. Consider: Kim and Chase last season, Kim and whoever that was in season 2, President Palmer and his momentary squeeze last season, the whole Jack-Tony-Nina triangle in the first season, Jack and any woman since the first season, etc. etc..
Take your pick, within the clock-is-ticking format of the show, there hasn’t been the time, space or talent to develop relationships that ring true and that have any nuance beyond “I love you” or “I hate you” or “I don’t have time for you right now because someone is trying to blow up Los Angeles…again!” The one moderate exception I would make to this rule is the Tony-Michelle bond that built up nicely in season 2, culminating in the only verifiable hot make-out session within CTU’s gray cement walls.
But this episode highlighted just how far we’ve come this season. First, there is the increasingly interesting triangle between Jack, Audrey and Paul. To jump right in at my favorite scene of the show, the awkward discussion between Jack and Paul on their way to M & F was priceless. Paul is such a geek but you have to respect him telling Jack flat out that he’s going to fight for Audrey. Meanwhile, you can tell that Jack is already thinking he might have screwed the pooch as far as Audrey goes anyway because of the nonchalant way he applies voltage to people as a way to persuade them to talk. At the same time, Audrey is throwing out all sorts of mixed signals and showing some kind of maternal instinct when it comes to Paul. And as any high school boy knows, a girl will fool around with edgy, dangerous boys for fun, but when they’re ready to get serious, they want someone they can take care of. Jack has shown pretty conclusively that he’s not the settle down and raise puppies kind of guy.
Also on the relationship front, you have Driscoll, her dead kid, and Secretary Heller’s very believable consoling skills. You’ve got to hand it to William Devane: he’s covered all of the bases this season. From Secretary Commando several hours ago as he and Jack stormed out of the terrorist compound, all the way to Poppa Bear Heller this episode, calmly trying to ease the pain for Driscoll. The whole trajectory of these scenes felt just right to me: Driscoll initially trying to stuff down her feelings and carry on, and then the reality sinking in, and with it the distraction and the pain (though maybe her faint was going too far). As much as Maya’s very presence was annoying and her vital part in the plot machine was as trite as it was inevitable, watching Driscoll come unhinged was done quite well. And then Heller’s story about his wife sounded real, like someone’s true story that one of the 24 writers had been carrying around in his back pocket waiting for a chance like this to whip it out.
Of course, there are a couple of lingering questions from the Driscoll/Maya affair. There’s Edgar’s very valid disbelief at the amazing ineptitude of CTU’s medical personnel, which was also a somewhat vague insinuation that maybe it wasn’t suicide after all. Also, on Driscoll’s departure – doesn’t CTU ever just give someone the day off? Why does she have to be relieved of duty? It would make more sense to send her home knocked out with a half-dozen Valium and let Curtis (her presumed second-in-command) take over. Hell, at the government agency where I work, they’d send the commissioner home for a week and, after productivity doubled during the time period, maybe encourage him to make it a month.
Did Heller actually call the clinic to come give Driscoll some medical attention? Doesn’t he realize those people are killers? I’m surprised Driscoll didn’t recoil in terror when that perky little med tech showed up given the track record down there.
And before I lay the Maya plot line to rest (as it were), was it just me or did it look for a moment like Driscoll was going to pull something out of Maya’s ear when she gave her cheek one last stroke? I was prepared to get really freaked out if something from “X-Files” suddenly leapt from the poor girl’s head.
Go On to Page 2
Back to the Unofficial 24 Page
Go Back to Television
Go Back Home!