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24
Episode 2.15, "10 PM to 11 PM"
Written by: Robert Cochran
Directed by: Jon Cassar
I rarely use the term perfect episode, in fact I can only think of a handful of show episodes that would deserve the term. One of them was last year's season finale, which coincidentally was written by the same man who crafted this perfect episode. I've been curious what happened to Robert Cochran, since he had not written an episode yet this year. As one of the co-creators of 24 I found it kind of odd that the season was more then halfway over and we had yet to see a script penned by him, while his fellow co-creator Joel Surnow had turned in several scripts so far this season.
Well the wait was damn well worth it. As I said before, I couldn't find anything wrong with this episode and I'm a fairly picky guy by nature. But every character nuance that bugged me and every question I might have had in a similar situation was answered in a rational manner.
I barely know where to begin with this review, but we begin with the knowledge that the nuke cannot be disarmed and that someone will have to fly the nuke to a less harmful region to let it explode. And since there is both a lack of time and available aircraft, the CTU's options are severely limited.
Now let me start out by addressing the one complaint I have heard about this episode, and that is that the Mason twist was too easy to see coming. The instant the dying man arrived at the airport, is the instant anyone with a half a brain figured out who would take the plane down. And because the nature of 24 has always been about dealing out sudden and unexpected twists, people felt let down by the sheer obviousness of what was going to transpire.
Yet I don't fault this episode for going with the obvious choice of Mason, I'll go back to the characters own words. "This was what I was meant to do." Much like Star Wars prequels, you already knew how the story was going to end, what mattered was how it arrived at the end. And since there were no obnoxious floppy eared Rastafarian speaking CGI creations involved in this episode, it ended a damn sight better then the prequels.
But perhaps I'm jumping ahead of myself. We cut to the Palmer camp, where the two available options are to fly the bomb into the ocean or the desert. The initial thought is that the ocean would be the better choice, at least I would think. But they point out the incredible ecological disaster that would fall out from that, and the fact that radiation winds would shift the toxins into LA itself. The desert is more isolated, and with the canyons surrounding it can nearly muffle the explosion as well as the ocean. Plus the loss of life factor will be far less. Of course the catch is that the pilot can't just drop the bomb into the water like they would do over the ocean, in order to ensure the accuracy on a land drop, the pilot will have to go down with the plane.
It's a suicide mission and Mason of course volunteers for it. Jack shoots the idea down though, thinking that it would be too much of a risk if Mason passed out or was too weak to fly the plane and the bomb ended up where it wasn't supposed to. He then proves his bravery is just as great as his ass kicking ability by biting the bullet and sacrificing himself for the cause. Again, the discerning viewer knows that there's no way in hell that Jack is going to actually die, but as a character study it speaks volumes about our protagonist. For one episode 24 decided to trade in the art of tension for the art of genuine emotion, and the result is a main character who the viewer will care even more for over the course of the season. Before he dies though, Jack wants a chance to say goodbye to Kim.
Elisha Cuthbert certainly proves she has the acting chops to belong on the show in her conversation with her father. After Kim receives a ride from a normal looking woman, she borrows a cell phone and calls the CTU who patches her through to Jack. Now of course the man has to tell his daughter that he's about to die and will never see her again. And even knowing that Jack won't have to truly say goodbye didn't ruin this moment for me. Keifer and Elisha turn in two acting performances that are so laced with grief, regret, and love that I couldn't help but be moved by it. There was just a raw honesty to the scene that even got me a little misty. It's the strongest acting performance Elisha Cuthbert has ever given on the show, and once again proof that if Keifer Sutherland doesn't win an Emmy the judges are severely retarded.
Now I've heard this compared to the end scene of Armageddon, and truth be told I made that comparison myself. I mean the situations are very similar, with a father having one last chance to say goodbye to his estranged daughter before he sacrifices himself for the good of others. And hell, I loved that scene in Armageddon. But the fact that I've been following the exploits of Jack and Kim Bauer for over a year and half now helped give this scene added weight. If you've ever felt any kind of an emotional connection to these characters, I don't see how you couldn't have been moved by their tearful farewell.
However, amidst all this emotion, the plot is still progressing. The CTU has found an audio tape in the possessions of Syad Ali that implicates three Middle Eastern governments in the attempted bombing. Obviously this means war, but even as they say this I realize that the tape is a forgery. We've been getting hints and clues about a shadow government operating behind the scenes of the Palmer administration for a long time now, and it makes complete sense that they'd forge this tape. They never wanted the bomb to go off in LA, they just wanted the nation ready to go to war. And as Palmer concedes, he might not have much choice. If a nuclear bomb ever truly did go off in America, the public outcry would be deafening. Think of the emotional reaction that an incident like 9/11 caused. Now imagined that magnified by ten as an entire metropolitan city is destroyed. Or even the knowledge that a foreign and hostile nuclear bomb was detonated on American soil. This country would go into a blood frenzy. These are deep and real issues that 24 is playing with, and to me the show is all the more powerful and personal as a result of it.
Palmer also decides to go to LA to manage the crisis from there, against the judgement of his counselors. He feels that he needs to be at ground zero to offer what relief he can, no matter the personal risk involved. In a show already blessed with tremendous acting talent, Dennis Haysbert is just one more feather in its cap.
Tony is dealing with getting audio confirmation of the voices with the tape and also dealing with the latest member of the CTU in the form of a foreign intelligence officer named Yusuf Auda, who helped them take down Syad Ali to begin with. Of course Tony is more then a little suspicious, and tries to placate the officer without giving him any real substantive data to work off of. This of course doesn't go over to well with the guy, and he and Tony quickly get into a heated situation. Take that into account with the strife between Michelle and Carrie, and the CTU seems ready to explode.
Meanwhile, Jack is getting ready to make his final run when Mason reveals his presence. He stowed away on the plane like we all knew he would and has brought a parachute for Jack to escape with. Of course Jack is initially reluctant to let Mason take over, until Mason confronts Jack on his deathwish. The character has been willing to throw himself into peril time and again, and perhaps it is because Jack never truly recovered from Teri's death. Combine that with his shattered relationship with Kim and personal guilt and you do have a character with not a whole hell of a lot to live for. Mason forces him to confront this, pointing out that it's far braver to have the will to live and not to abandon his daughter. Jack finally yields, staying with the plane as long as he can before letting Mason take his final ride into glory. The two share a touching goodbye, and it reminds how far each character has come and how their relationship has evolved. In the series premiere after all, Mason was the prick who Jack shot with a tranq gun in order to get him out of the way.
So Jack flees the plane and Mason begins the final descent. And since this is his last episode, it's worth commenting on the incredible job that Xander Berkely has done this season. As I stated once before, on a lesser show or actor the character of Mason would have been stereotypical and one note, but Berkely's instilled in his character a sense of pathos and understanding that increased the complexity of George Mason. Yes, he was a man willing to do anything to get to the next level and was often ruled by fear, but it was portrayed in such a way as to make it undeniably relatable. We can see far too much of ourselves and our own baser desires in George Mason. Thus, as his redemption is completed with one last act of heroism, it also helps us find that core of strength within. His presence will be missed on this show.
We finish with an incredible visual as Jack hiding near the canyon, Kim out in the woods, and Palmer on Air Force One all look out to see the dark blue sky turn blood red in the wake of the nuclear explosion and the yellow fire of a mushroom cloud billowing forth. There are those who might complain that it would have been a bolder choice to let the nuclear bomb explode in LA, but that would have weakened the storyline in my opinion. The idea that LA is gone is just so countercurrent to the world that we live in, that the gravity of the situation would not sink in. But simply having the balls to detonate the nuke at all is commendable. The disaster was averted, but the threat still remains. It comes across in a more palatable and easier to believe form. That oh so fragile suspension of disbelief is never shattered.
For those who might not be aware, FOX has officially picked up 24 for a third season. And the fact that the series can produce episodes like this, which was one of the finest hours of television I've ever seen, proves that maybe those guys know what they're doing after all. Then again they do have Married By America to answer for.
Episode Rating: 10+ out of 10
-- Tim Ritenour
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