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24
1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
Written by Robert Cochran
Directed by Davis Gaggenheim
This episode could almost have been called 'Aftermath.' It was all about tying up the loose ends of the last story arc and beginning to lay down the beginnings of the next story arc. It's a much slower-paced episode than those in the past, but that doesn't make it any less riveting as the truth behind the Drazen affair begins to become more and more clear.
We start out with Jack and his family being flown back to the CTU in a helicopter. Jack, of course, has a lot to answer for with all the rule breaking he committed to keep his family alive. And Teri and Kim need to go to a clinic to be make sure that they're physically all right after their experience. Of course, we already know that Teri is not. So Jack gets taken into custody while the girls are taken to the clinic.
In order to ascertain just what's going down, Chapelle, the regional manager, is brought into the CTU to conduct an interrogation of Jack. And in this, Alberta Green sees a job opportunity. Nina and Tony have managed to trace the financial account to the Balkans, and have discovered that there are actually three shooters after Palmer. One is the photographer who tried to kill Palmer at the breakfast. The second is Alexis, the assassin we saw at the end of last week's episode. The third is unknown at this time, a cipher to be solved. To make matters worse, Jack and Nina are pretty sure that there's still somebody on the inside who's working against them. Perhaps not in the CTU, but actually higher up the chain. The odds are quickly stacking against them.
In order to make sure that his family is safe, Jack asks Nina to go look after his family. She grudgingly accepts and gets permission from Alberta to do so. This is, of course, ironic considering that she's now protecting the family that Jack left her for. If this were a daytime soap opera or this season of Buffy they would probably hammer this point home, but 24 is smart enough to let it be subtle character interaction that remains close to the surface, but does not become the driving force of the storyline.
However, if 24 manages to avoid that television cliché, it sadly falls victim to another one. When Palmer decides to drop the Farragamo murder to protect his son from false murder charges, he refuses to tell him why. Now this could be explained that Palmer doesn't want Keith to feel guilty that his father had to essentially sell out to save him, but it also leads to the typical problem of a stubborn son who doesn't understand why his parents are doing what they're doing. If Keith is old enough to kill someone in "self defense" than he's probably old enough to handle the truths of the political world he knowingly inhabits. Still if the storyline seems a trifle forced, at least it's well executed as the tension remains think between Palmer, Keith, and Sherry.
Chapelle, who understands why Jack did what he did, is interrogating Jack. However, he's not sure if Jack really had to break all the rules that he did. Especially because Alberta is whispering in his ear hoping that Jack will be crucified and she can slip in as head of the CTU. To do this, she even goes so far as to try and recruit Tony who is probably the most impartial person in the whole affair. She promises him Nina's job if he'll tank Jack when he talks to Chapelle, but that's the wrong tactic to take with Tony. He wouldn't do anything to screw with Nina; he cares about her too much.
Nina herself arrives the clinic, and goes looking for Teri and Kim. She doesn't find them in the room they're supposed to be in, but does run into an FBI agent in there. The FBI agent gives her a weird vibe though, and she becomes suspicious of his actions. So much so that when she runs into another FBI agent she inquires about the first one she met only to find out that they have no clue who that could be. And I'll take 'Who is shooter number three?' for 500 Alex. Nina calls into the CTU and has a team brought in to dust for prints while she keeps close watch over Teri and Kim. There is some understandable tension between Nina and Teri, but both are trying to move on with their lives at this point.
Speaking of Teri, her stomach pains are revealed to be a ruptured ovarian cyst. It's benign so we don't have a cancer storyline on our hands, but then the doctor brings up that Teri might be pregnant. Now they need to tread carefully if they're going to go with this angle, as it could quickly turn into soap opera land. Hopefully the show has enough skill to avoid such tripe.
We then cut over to Alexis who is watching Kevin Caroll. With Gaines dead, he's become the de facto leader of the mercenary remnants and is directing them to the rendezvous spot. He calls Alberto Drazen on the phone and tells him that Gaines is dead. He offers to finish the job and kill Jack, but Alberto politely tells that won't be unnecessary before hanging up. Kevin is left wondering what that means when the shed everyone is gathered in blows up, leaving only him alive since he was outside. However, the blast has left him stunned, and Alexis calmly walks over and shoots him in the face. They are making every effort to make this guy come off as a bad ass, probably because he'll be the last truly physical menace Jack will have to face.
Palmer meanwhile is leaving town at the suggestion of the CTU, knowing that his life is in great danger. On the way out of town, Mike lets him know what they've found out about Jack. Mainly that he was special ops and led the Drazen mission on which he was the only survivor. Palmer believes that Jack is carrying on a vendetta caused by the guilt of his team's death. He has no clue that the Drazens themselves are not happy people.
When Tony talks to Chapelle at the CTU he refuses to blame Jack for his actions, saying that he would have done the same thing in his place. This has put Tony squarely in the camp of good guy now, although they'll still let the tension between him and Jack linger should the show be renewed. Alberta is talking to Jack, who quickly tells her to cut the crap and get down to business. He knows very well that Alberta is trying to screw him for his job. He's still compliant though, as he wants to make sure that Palmer is protected and wants to be physically involved in Palmer's protection.
The CTU team that Nina requested finds no trace of a fingerprints on the phone. It was wiped clean which shows that a professional was behind this. There would be stray marks from nurses and former patients if the phone was not tampered with. Spurred on by this, Nina wants Teri and Kim to leave for the safe house now, as she doesn't believe that they're safe there. With good reason as we cut to shooter number three hiding in supply room with a silencer. She manages to get them out of the building before he can do anything, but as they're leaving he gives an ominous message to a mysterious person letting them know that they've left.
We then cut to the Palmer campaign headquarters and a young girl named Elizabeth Nash who we've never seen before except in the background. She leaves a bag in the building as she walks out, claiming that it belonged to Mrs. Palmer. Now if you remember all the way back to the first couple episodes, than you'll remember that there was supposed to be a mole in Palmer's campaign as well as CTU. Meet the mole. She goes down a couple floors and goes to another hotel room, where Alexis ends up being. He really gets around in this episode. Being European they both get straight to the sex, firmly landing her in camp evil.
The episode ends with Palmer suddenly charging into the CTU and demanding to see Jack. Finally our two heroes will meet.
As I said before this was a quiet ep, with the exception of the mercenaries being killed to death. But it builds tensions and situations quite nicely, taking what's come before and laying a nice logical progression into the storyline. I must admit that the cryptic reference to the Drazen affair helps it seem mysterious and cool. And why I can see some possible trouble patches on the horizon, I can also see some really quality television as well.
Episode Rating: 8.5 out of 10
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