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Review/Commentary
Now, to be fair, this has been an amazing run of gripping television, so I won’t be all that critical. Every team deserves an off-night, and the writers of this show are no different. Think of it this way: think of the best movie you’ve ever seen. How much drama was there that kept you on the edge of your seat? Well, with most movies, even if it were completely fantastic, it’s not more than two or three hours. 24 is (duh) twenty four hours. Keeping the suspense alive for that kind of duration is no small feat and it really has taken some doing. I have been very impressed with this season of 24 – I was fully expecting a sophomore season letdown. However, that has not happened and so in this, the eleventh hour of the second crazy day in the life of Jack Bauer, I can deal with it. Again, by no means did I think it was “bad,” but looking through my jaundiced eye, spoiled by fantastic episodes of 24, this one just wasn’t up to snuff.
Anyway, let me get on with it.
This was the first episode of the season that has Jack doing his little voiceover at the beginning (“Right now…..”). Definitely a nifty little way to try to hook in the casual fan who had Fox on at that point. Of course, on this particular Tuesday night the preceding program was American Idol. And anyone who is “hooked” on that show probably isn’t intelligent enough to sit still and focus on a show like 24 for an hour, so Fox’s little plan was probably a wash.
What I don’t like about Jack’s initial voiceover is how it sort of implicates a few people. We see Stanton, among others, and Michele! My darling Michele! Astute viewers will remember how last season Nina was shown in that opening voiceover piece all season long and we had all assumed it couldn’t be her who was the mole inside of CTU. In fact, the writers hadn’t even decided it until the last few hours were being written. Anyway, it turned out to be her, so it’s only natural (and hard to avoid) to think about the possibility of another traitor inside of CTU. I can’t imagine they’d show us the ultimate traitor, though, like they did last year. It would be too similar Again, they’re too good for that (at least I hope so).
So the big happening in this one was Roger Stanton getting arrested and then tortured with a defibrillator. Hmm, that would probably be kind of painful. I will admit I was intrigued at the way he wouldn’t take the President’s deal (letting him walk into retirement with no mention of his involvement if he cooperates). Of course, I suppose he knows the Prez might be lying to gain knowledge and would have no intention of letting him off that easy. My point is what is it that Sherry and Roger have cooking that makes him willing to cover his involvement and not talk, despite being tortured? It better be something good. I mean, I think I’d roll over pretty quickly if you began shocking me like that. But hey, we shall see. I can think of two possibilities:
1. Roger is involved in a way that has him fearing for his life and that’s why he’s being quiet.
2. Sherry has something on Roger (although I can’t imagine what) that is keeping him quiet. We know they’re in cahoots, but how? (and did I really just use the word “cahoots”?)
As I’ve said before, I hope that Palmer continues to stay a step ahead of his conniving bitch wife. He shut her down in this hour, but who knows for how long. It looked like she was getting him to really trust her again, but now he’s making comments like “You’re not on my staff and you’re not my wife.” I loved it. Of course, her comeback was so stupid “David, that was your choice.” Well, duh, who gives a rat’s ass whose choice it was? It’s accurate, isn’t it? Solid comeback Sherry. You moron. I kind of wish the next time she calls him David he says something like, “that’s Mr. President, if you please.”
So now, reluctantly, I will talk about Marie, who is running neck and neck with Sherry as my least favorite person on this show. Last hour, she turned from sniveling, idiot, walking blonde joke to a murderous wench. Ah, one more reason to dislike her. During the review for that episode I commented on her involvement with Ali and his evidently trusting women to do some of his terrorist work. I feared that it might not be addressed, and while it wasn’t overtly discussed, it was evident in my opinion that Marie was surprised when Ali told her that he needed her help in getting the key from Marko’s locker. I was also glad they finally addressed the fact that Marko is dead. When did that happen? A few hours ago? It seems like forever, but that’s because we’ve had like two months pass since it happened on our TV sets.
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