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24
Episode 2.16, "11 PM to 12 AM"
Written by: Howard Gordan and Evan Katz
Directed by: Ian Toynton
Well it's been a hell of a dry spell without 24 for the past three weeks and things do appear to have changed in that time. For one, America is at war in the Middle East, which creates a highly disturbing echo of the plot line the show itself has laid out. This isn't the first time that 24 has mirrored real world events before they came to pass, after all the first episode of last season was somewhat controversial in the destruction of an airplane by a terrorist in the wake of 9/11. That scene was written before those events in September ever came about though.
This year 24 made a bold move in using real world controversy when they began their game of what if? By capitalizing on the tensions that existed in America due to Middle Eastern terrorist cells, 24 achieved a resonance that few shows can ever truly hope to match. And now as war looms in 24, the world itself faces a similar situation with the assault on Iraq. And unfortunately, the real world had no one like Jack Bauer around to prevent a war before it can begin.
Which is what Jack's mission boils down in the second half of this season. Jack Bauer is the one man who might be able to prevent the world from sliding into World War III. And those are some big damn stakes. So big in fact, that I have to wonder what they could possibly do next year that wouldn't seem anti-climactic in comparison. But next year can be worried about then, because now I can sit back and enjoy nine consecutive 24 episodes in a row.
Like any episode which serves as epilogue to the previous plot arc and prologue to the new one, this episode was low on action but high on relevant information. The new pieces are beginning to fall into place and the new roles assigned to our protagonists.
Jack is rescued by the CTU and flown back to headquarters, unable to reach his daughter and let her know that he didn't die due to the EMP pulse created by the nuclear detonation. His plans include nothing more then debriefing himself and finding Kim. Of course we know that nothing works out that simply in 24, otherwise it would be a pretty damn boring show.
The wrinkle comes with Michelle, who in her interrogation of Syad Ali, is confronted by his claims that he had no dealings with three Middle Eastern countries in planning Second Wave's assault. He claims to have been in Berlin at the time and thus the tape is an obvious forgery.
Oddly enough, Michelle believes him, but when she confesses this to everyone else at the CTU, she finds out that she's the only one. The tape that was confiscated at Ali's has been authenticated by the CTU and that holds far more weight then words of a terrorist with an agenda. With Tony shutting her out, Michelle turns to Jack who is begrudgingly drawn into this newest chapter. He agrees to talk to Ali, knowing how to read the man better then anyone else after the interrogation he had inflicted upon Ali earlier in the day. He lets the man know that his son was never killed and asks Ali to tell him the truth. Once more Ali confesses to being in Berlin at the time this supposed meeting was happening. Before Jack can question him further though, a sniper puts a bullet in Ali's head from a distant building.
This cements Jack's suspicion that Ali was telling the truth and there might be more to this situation then meets the eye. Unfortunately, he and Michelle appear to be the only ones willing to consider this idea. Tony is all but openly hostile to Jack, which seems to stand oddly against his behavior from this season. When you take into account the previous season though, it makes a bit more sense.
Jack used to be the head of the CTU, and now that he's a hero again and re-interested in working with the CTU, he very could regain his former position. And I don't think Tony would care to lose the promotion that he so recently gained. Thus, even the friendly advice that Jack gives Tony comes across as an attempt by Jack to reassert his control in Tony's mind. And as Tony proved last year when it came to Nina, he can be somewhat petty when it comes to competing for a sought after object.
Speaking of last season and Nina, I'm reminded of the fact that the associates she was speaking with in the finale where placed in Germany. Coincidence? Or do we have the seeds for Nina's re-entry into this season now placed? Perhaps Nina will be able to corroborate the story that Ali put forth.
Jack approaches Yusef to see if the foreign agent might be able to give him more background upon Ali, but the man is unwilling to give information to Jack without receiving information back. Out of options, Jack calls the President and lets him know that there could be a conspiracy in the works here. That someone might be strong-arming Palmer into acting the way he's about too. This further intensifies the doubts that Palmer already has about this current course of action, but without actual proof, the President must go ahead with this military strike.
Jack has no way to obtain that proof until a phone call arrives from a mysterious informant. He claims to have proof of the conspiracy, and to be the one that killed Syad Ali moments ago. He wants Jack to bring Kate Warner to him, and then he'll share his information. We see a close up of the man's arm and a Coral Snake symbol upon it. This means that we're looking at the eighth special ops commando who killed his seven compatriots at the airport and then fled. It also means that we've met Jack's physical match for the season.
Kate happens to be in the CTU being debriefed, so with a little help from Michelle Jack sneaks her out. He doesn't know why the assassin would want Kate, nor perhaps does she. She is happy to see Jack though, and you can practically hear the porn music cueing in the background when the two are together. Luckily they make a cute couple, so it's entirely forgivable.
Carrie sees this powerplay go down though, and alerts Tony to what's going on. He rushes out to stop Jack, but quickly gets his ass handed to him when Jack and Kate make their getaway. Once again it seems that Jack will have to be a fugitive sought after by CTU itself in order to find out the true manipulators in this little saga.
Palmer is also trying to deal with the manipulators, but has no idea of their existence. Instead he has to face the fact a nuclear bomb has detonated on American soil and as of yet unopposed evidence clearly indicates three Middle Eastern Countries helped plan this nuclear assault. The path seems very clear to Palmer, war is an inevitable outcome.
It seems that the Joint Chiefs of Staff agree with him, as they will be ready to launch simultaneous attacks in less then six hours on three separate countries. Yet for all of this, Palmer can't help but feel the nagging seeds of doubt in his own mind. If he's wrong about this, if he rushes in on a false piece of evidence, he will be responsible for thousands of deaths and an international nightmare. The agony and indecision that Palmer feels is clearly painted upon Dennis Haysbert's face, as the president is faced with a harder decision then anything he has encountered before. Added to that is Jack's own doubts and Palmer can't help but feel railroaded by unseen forces.
Mike Novick on the other hand, has full faith in Palmer's actions . . . perhaps too much faith. In his arguments this episode, Mike came across as more passionate then he's ever been before. It feels like he has a personal stake in all this and too great a desire to go to war. This could simply be written off as anger towards the assault on his country, but in the world of 24 it could mean much more. I'm beginning to wonder if Mike might not behind the shadow government that is manipulating David Palmer. It makes an odd kind of sense. Nobody would be better equipped to derail the Palmer administration then its own Chief of Staff, and nobody would know how to manipulate David and Sherry better then the man who has been with them since the beginning of their political careers.
And finally we have Kim. I had hope for her, I really did. After last episode it seemed like she was beginning to transform into an aggressive character and that she wouldn't wander around as the hapless victim of the week any longer. It appears that Robert Cochran is the only writer interested in a Kim Bauer like that though, which is a shame because that's the only version of Kim that would be interesting.
Instead we have a Kim who holes up in a convenience store that gets broken into by a scared man fleeing the city with his pregnant wife. The same confidence she showed last episode in scaring off the dirtbag in the car seems to have evaporated as she lets the vandal walk right up and snatch the gun out of her shaking hands. Did I mention that I hate seeing Kim rendered as a cowardly victim? It completely takes any joy out of her character. Bad things then begin to happen, blah blah blah blah.
Really with Kim, we've all already been there and seen it. One of the problems of making her such a passive character is that everybody else on the show is so dynamic. Her father is an aggressive character who goes and meets his problems head on. He doesn't wait around to be victimized; he goes out and victimizes others. This makes for a fascinating character. David Palmer is a man of great serenity and fiery anger; he has a good heart and soul, but is not afraid to get his hands dirty when the time comes to get things done. This makes for a fascinating character. Kim as a wandering victim of life who sits quietly by and only reacts to bad things around here does not make for a fascinating character. Quite frankly it makes for a boring, and even worse, an annoying character. And that is a damn shame, since Elisha Cuthbert has proved that she has the acting talent to do so much more. As long as Kim is rendered in this fashion, it will always be a detriment to this show.
Being ight on action and heavy on crappy Kim plots definitely hurt this ep, but I'm still excited about the actual story line beginning to unfurl. It's a truly compelling backdrop the writers have created for our protagonists to work against, and I'm definitely hooked to see how it turns out. But for the love of God, do something with Kim already!
Episode Rating: 7 out of 10
-- Tim Ritenour
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