By Elaine B
Lesson learned in Hour 1: Never create a computer grid to control the country.
Many blogs tend to give a blow-by-blow of the action on a series, in case a devoted watcher missed it. But since FOX will be airing full episodes on a special 24 website, if you can read this it’s also likely you can watch them. And for me the real fun of 24 lies in its intellectual side. So I was pleased when, on my Friday morning commute, I heard NPR interviewing Kiefer Sutherland about Jack Bauer and the popularity of his character.
Sutherland noted that 24 was created before the attacks of 9/11 (though the series premiered just a few weeks after) and that Jack’s actions and those of CTU were never meant to mirror real life as closely as they have. He adds that forcing information from suspects when there is a ticking bomb is not the same as questioning enemy combatants being held at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo. And, he particularly lamented that his actions on 24 were rumored to be affecting how our Armed Forces conduct themselves. “If so, they have a far bigger problem than me,” he said of those in charge of our soldiers.
In another interview, he gave his opinion of his character, “I don’t believe in ‘acceptable losses’. … I want a situation to arise within the show where he’s actually confronted with a lot of the things he’s done.” Well, this year as we usher in what is likely to be a kinder and gentler actual administration, the creators of 24 decided to give him his wish. Indeed, the entire season will center on the notion of force, how much and how often and what the consequences are.
Day 7 opens with Jack at a congressional hearing where he is grilled about the use of torture and other illegal activities at CTU. He is hardly repentant. And he should not be. This is the same government that asked CTU and Jack to do the things they did. Meanwhile, the car of an older man driving his daughter to school is rammed. He’s then kidnapped so he can repair a module that breaches a computer firewall and allows someone to take control of everything from air traffic to energy distribution (Jeesh! Have the techno-geeks in our government learned nothing from watching The Terminator?).
Soon after, Jack is pulled from the hearing by the FBI because Tony Almeida – yeah, that dead guy, but then how often has Jack himself been dead? – was involved in stealing the module. And, within 15 minutes of the first hour, the chase is on.
Jack teams with FBI agent Renee Walker. He goes along with her to question a suspect because, Walker rationalizes, the suspect knows Jack and that just might be enough to scare him into talking. Jack follows her lead like a muzzled Rottweiler until, faced with a suspect that refuses to look scared, she says, “Do whatever is necessary.” And Jack is on the guy, threatening to stab some sensitive part of his already scarred face with a pen. The suspect tries to talk but things do not go as planned and the terrorists take him out with a well-aimed shot. Since this happened so quickly, Jack immediately realizes that there is a leak in the FBI and tells Walker. She denies that anyone on her team would do such a thing.
Meanwhile, Pres. Taylor, in a move that seems even more frightening than what the terrorists are up to, plans to send out troops into Sangala, where a bloody coup is about to turn into outright genocide.
Away from the direct action, “First Gentleman” Henry meets with an investigator to prove his son Roger did not commit suicide. His secret service aide seems concerned, or perhaps he is merely taking notes to tell the other plotters. If so, the PI won’t be around very long. But isn’t it great how 24 decided on “First Gentleman” before it becomes a reality, making me wonder if newscasters could have keep a straight face if Hillary had won the election and Bill Clinton had gotten that title. I doubt Bill would have enjoyed it either.
By the end of the hour, Almeida and pals have taken over air traffic control and have repositioned two planes. Innocent little kids are in peril. Mothers are in peril. And the clock goes tick-tick-tick. Will anyone change the channel at this moment? I think not.
Lesson learned in Hour 2 – No matter what the flight attendants say, never turn off your cell phone on an airplane flight.
The hour opens with the airplanes still under terrorist control. As soon as the ground crews are aware of what’s going on, they try desperately to find a passenger with their cell phone still on. Almeida begins landing two planes on intersecting runways then pulls one up at the last minute. “That was just a warning shot,” he says. “Next time it will be the real thing.”
The FBI is going floor-by-floor in the building where the shot that killed their witness had come from. Jack has to wait in the car with an agent. In that brief quiet moment between one action scene and the next, Bauer muses to an FBI agent about the congressional investigation, “It’s better that everything comes out in the open. We’ve done so many secret things over the years in the name of protecting this country that we’ve created two worlds: Ours and the people we’ve promised to protect. They deserve the truth. Then they can decide how far they want to let us go. “But he has little time to contemplate that after he spots the shooter wearing an FBI jacket and, convinced Jack is right about the leak, Walker hands him a gun and they tail the man. Notice that Jack drives; I thought that rather interesting.
“Would you really have tortured the guy?” Walker asks Jack as he drives. “You said, ‘Whatever is necessary,'” he retorts. It’s getting clear that he won’t be following orders for much longer.
Henry Taylor and his Secret Service agent pursue the lead the PI provided, meeting with Roger’s girlfriend about a huge amount of money she had transferred to an offshore account. She has an explanation, but Taylor was a bit ungentlemanly, causing his aide to contact his superior about the “First Gentleman’s” state of mind.
Tony and his boss give the module to one of Gen. Juma’s people (Col. Ike Dubaku, a man whose brother Jack killed in 24: Redemption) who hints that he has demands for President Taylor. Tony’s boss says he has another job for him but that may not happen because Walker and Jack arrive and after not all that much of a struggle, capture Tony.
Is anyone having trouble thinking of Tony working for a genocidal maniac for the money? Oddly enough, after the first few minutes, Jack doesn’t seem to question it, which is very strange given how close they were in past seasons. But then he, and those who have been watching for so many days, have seen a lot and may be surprised by nothing. I hold the good guys to a higher standard.
Even more surprising is Pres. Taylor’s planned Sangala invasion, one she will order even though there is no international support. She’s doing it because “We’re the only ones who can.” Where did she get that strange idea? Oh, wait, I remember now. It didn’t work out so well last time, Pres. Taylor. Not a good idea to forget that.