(4:00 A.M. - 5:00 A.M.)
Review/Commentary
It seems like the past couple hours have fallen into a more focused direction. Last week felt like we didn't see much besides Jack and his predicament, with a little Palmer-Prescott mess sprinkled in. This week was focused on the Presidency issues, with a little Jack and Co. sprinkled in. There was less miscellaneous filler - not much Kim, no psychotic people showing up at CTU and strangling Carrie (although I imagine a line would form rather quickly), no dwelling on the fallout from Tony and Michelle's smooch. It was well-directed, well-written and, of course, well-acted. To that point, I want to once again say what an impressive actor Dennis Haysbert has turned out to be. As I've joked before, he was Pedro Cerrano in the movie Major League in 1988. And here he is as a dynamic, heartfelt - though tough - President. Just very good stuff.
Another comment I wanted to make was that as the episode started, right after the initial completion of Jack's re-obtaining the chip at Kate's house, we went to Division HQ and President Palmer. And they stayed with that through the first commercial. For a little while, I got the feeling it might be like those times when a show has gotten popular and they try something totally different from their typical format. You know, like when ER would do episodes completely outside of the ER, or things like that. I thought that maybe they would spend virtually the whole hour on Palmer and his cabinet. I guess as I think about it, they did spend a ton of time on it, although I still am having a hard time accepting this invocation of the 25th Amendment, and even if it was acceptable, I'm having trouble with the speed with which it has been executed. So let's discuss that.
I was extremely happy to see at least some acknowledgement that the 25th Amendment isn't really meant for what Prescott is using it for. Palmer is exactly right. As I said in earlier reviews, the amendment was adopted with things like President Garfield's situation in mind, wherein he had been shot and laid comatose for three months. However, to their credit, the 24 writers made the reasoning somewhat plausible. Prescott quoted the amendment accurately - "unable to discharge the powers…" And then he proceeded to make a case for why Palmer was "unable." It was well-done, I give them full marks. Yes, it's still a bit hasty and most likely wouldn't happen quite this quickly, but hey, it's television and instead of completely skipping over the issues of reality, they did do a good job addressing them. So kudos for that.
Random Comment #1 - "Vice President Jim Prescott" gets a freeze-frame intro?? Well, hell, if I were Tony Almeida I'd be wondering why he gets one so fast. What is this, his fourth or fifth episode? I do think it was cool to see "President" then "Vice President." It kind of gives you the full weight of what we're dealing with here.
Some great lines were delivered in this epsiode:
Palmer to Novick: "You're ordering me to the conference room?"
I liked this one because of how Palmer KNEW Novick was squirming and he actually played with him a little bit.
Palmer to Prescott et al.: "Is my voice shaking?!"
There's no way to show the emotion and power with which he delivered this line - if you watched, you know. It was great. He was controlling his anger at the insubordination and complete lack of support he must have been feeling at this time. Another good aspect to Haysbert's performance.
Palmer to Novick after Novick called him "David": "Mike, I'm the President of the United States. You don't call me by my first name."
Oh, wow. Just awesome. Palmer has lost his confidant in Mike and he knows it. At this point, he must truly feel alone, especially for a man of his stature. However, he doesn't have the complete support of his cabinet, his VP, or his COS. Like I said, what a terrible feeling.
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