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Episode 2.12, "7 PM to 8 PM"
Written by: Evan Katz
Directed by: Frederick Keller

There is definitely something to be said for the art of creating tension. It seems like so few shows do it these days that it's become an overlooked quality. The key to it I think is tight writing, a serious tone, and a proven track record of pulling no punches. The shows that expertly employ this today are probably Farscape, The Shield, and of course 24. The reason I bring this up is because one of the key moments of this episode revolved around the fact that 24 really has broken all the rules in the past, and thus it's believable that Jack will stoop to any level to save the people of Los Angeles. I mean the man has already shot somebody and cut off their head with a hacksaw to build himself a cover.

This episode is also very Jack-centric, which normally leads to television goodness, and this episode is no exception to that rule. We start out with Jack realizing that Syad is still alive and lurking in the mosque, and sealing off the area. His men find a trap door hidden in a section of the mosque and Jack goes commando style to find and restrain Ali before he can kill himself.

Here's my question. It seems that Ali was planning on dying anyways when the nuke went off, so why didn't he just use his cyanide tablet when he suspected the CTU was going to take the mosque? Why try and hide in a cellar? Maybe he wanted to be taken in what he would perceive as holy fire. Before Jack finds him though, Ali calls Marie Warner and gives her the command to go finish the plan without him.

Whatever his reasons, Jack surprises him and proceeds to beat the holy hell out of Syad while forcing a baton between Ali's teeth so he can't bite down on the Cyanide tooth which Jack promptly rips free of Ali's mouth. The rest of the swat team arrives and restrains Ali while Jack prepares to interrogate.

And the interrogation takes on many forms. First Jack tries to beat the information out of him, but Ali will not break. Then the head figure of the mosque tries to reason with Ali, but he will not listen. Finally Jack pulls his trump card and reveals that he's had Saudi Special Forces kidnap and tie up Ali's family, and if he doesn't co-operate he'll have them killed.

This is the issue I was referencing earlier. On almost any other show it's a foregone conclusion that the hero wouldn't follow through on his threat. And realistically you don't expect Jack to either, but there still remains that quiet voice inside you that says that if any show would do it, it'd be 24. And that makes the following events so much more interesting.

Of course Ali thinks that Jack is bluffing, so Jack orders his oldest son killed and the Saudi soldier kicks over the boys chair and shoots him twice. This drives Ali insane, and Jack says he'll kill the youngest son next if Ali doesn't talk. Finally Ali breaks and says that the bomb is at Northridge Airfield and will be flown over Los Angeles and detonated. Which, to steal a quote from Angel, doesn't suck as far as evil plans go. Ali is dragged away screaming for revenge, and Kate is horrified at what Jack has done. We then get a video feed and we see the same Saudi special agent that shot Ali's oldest boy, pick the young man back up unharmed. It was all an act and the soldiers were firing blanks. Which is of course the expected result, but still I have to give recognition to 24 for even making me think maybe.

Speaking of Kate, she is pretty much in hysterics all throughout this episode. She finds out that the CTU suspects that Marie is working with the terrorists and goes into denial, speaks to Marie and hears her say the same thing and still goes into denial, and is finally asked by Jack to come to the airfield to try and talk Marie out of it. I don't think Jack minds her hysterics though, since it shows a deep rooted loyalty towards family which is something he himself shares.

Bob Warner is also in denial, but comes closer to accepting the truth as he sits and talks with Mason. He explains that Marie was incredibly distraught over the death of her mother and went missing afterwards. Put that together with what Kate told us last episode, and you can figure out that she went to back to her home in Saudi Arabia and met the terrorist cell Second Wave. Bob notes that Marie actually became apolitical when she resurfaced after a couple of weeks and Mason points out that handlers train their agents to be just that.

Nothing else really happens at the CTU, besides ancillary work to helping Jack. Oh, we are introduced to our new computer guy to take the place of Jamie, Milo, and Paula. His name is Murdock. Hopefully he'll have better luck than his predecessors. Tony is still looking for Kim, Mason is still slowly dying, and Michelle is playing middle ground.

The last member of the Warner clan has gone to the airport with the detonator and meets up with our old friend Omar who has the bomb prepped. They're getting ready to lead the now active bomb into the airplane when the episode ends.

Kim's story is almost non-existent in this episode, which might be to its credit. A friendly hunter comes along and springs her from the trap and offers to let her crash at his lodge for the night. He doesn't seem shady yet, but this being the Kim sub-plot I'm expecting soap opera theatrics at any moment. What they need to do with Kim is move her back to the CTU and let her help them there, since they're sorely understaffed from the earlier attack on them. That way she becomes a natural part of the storyline, and when Nina returns to the CTU there will be instant dramatic potential. Realistically, they'll probably have Ali escape and hunt down Kim for some kind of revenge on Jack. Which would be a horrible retread of Victor Drazen, so I hope they don't go that route.

Finally there's the world of political intrigue that is David Palmer. There's his own inner turmoil on how far he can go in order to stop this bomb. He can allow the torture of Stanton, but can he really stand by and let Jack kill innocent children? Even if it will get results? Mike provides an excellent analogy of comparing it to a weapons manufacturer next to a hospital, which is a direct analogy of what occurred in Afghanistan. And the U.S. bombed the hell out of that place because they believed that it would save more lives in the long run. Yet, as last season proved, Palmer is a man who will stand by his morals in all things and orders Jack to not kill off Ali's family. Of course Palmer didn't know Jack was bluffing, and Jack promptly ignored him, but it still shows off the character of David Palmer.

Too bad his ex-wife is not made of the same stuff. Sherry is lying and manipulating her way through the political world, and Lynne has information that connects Sherry to Roger from a mysterious source. She goes to meet that source and discovers that her source is missing and Sherry is waiting instead. At this point it becomes unclear of who's manipulating who in this scenario. Is the shadow government using Sherry, or is she using them? And who's going to get the last laugh? It's all rather intriguing, but Lynne cares little for it all.

The other question is who was Lynne's initial source? It makes no sense for Sherry to tip off Lynne to her own illicit behavior. And how did Sherry find out about the meeting between Lynne and her source to begin with? Could Mike Novack be conspiring with Sherry and the shadow government? He is the one who seems to have embraced the policy of sacrificing the few for the good of the many.

There are so many possible directions for this storyline to head out in, that it fairly staggers the mind. And that's the great strength of 24, it always leaves you wanting more. Next week looks to be a good deal of fun as we're treated to some balls to the wall action when Jack goes to stop the nuke. I'll be back to watch the most ruthless and badass hero to ever grace the screen make me question just how far he'll go this time.

Episode Rating: 9.5 out of 10

-- Tim Ritenour

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