By ElaineB
Lesson Learned: Always have a phone in your lockdown room
The strangest moments in the two-hour pow-a-minute March 2 airing wasn’t in the series. It was in two ads and a special public service announcement from Keifer Sutherland.
The first ad, appearing about the time Juma was advancing on the White House, was for the U.S. Army – “The Army made him stronger,” an army mom happily proclaims – and the second for Cisco Technology came later. The Cisco ad for communications technology included the line “as seen on this show.” Hopefully, what was “shown” are computers and pagers and not the technology that creepy arms dealer Jonas Hodges is importing, that nasty CIP device that caused so much trouble just a few hours earlier or the cell phone Renee was using that fizzled out when it got wet. And possibly, if called upon for Day 8, perhaps Cisco can correct that annoying communications problem in the lockdown room.
Sutherland’s announcement was that 24 has become a carbon neutral production. It reduced its carbon footprint 43% through the use of green power purchases, greener fuels, hybrid vehicles, Jack Bauer’s liberation and activation of thousands of GM’s supposedly scrapped EV1 electric cars, the use of eco-friendly explosives made from powdered walnut shells and the electronic distribution of scripts to help save on paper use. I’ll leave you to figure out which two of the above are incorrect. Yes, the producers have their hearts in the right place, but the announcement still seemed a bit incongruous, coming as it did amid the carnage of these two hours. It’s not unlike someone saying, “We believe in global warming” and then staging a mock polar bear hunt.
But of course it’s politicians not bears being hunted as Juma and his invading force of suicidal soldiers capture, among others, the dovish Sen. Mayer. By putting Meyer in the center of the carnage, the writers did not just follow the theme of this season, they kept hitting viewers over the head with it until it became positively – almost painfully – comical. Consider: Mayer is summoned to the Oval Office to discuss the fate of Jack Bauer because Pres. Taylor doesn’t just want to pardon Jack outright after he saves her husband from terrorists. “Things don’t seem as black and white as they once were,” she says to Mayer, who responds, “Use your power to send the right message.”
While meeting with the President, Mayer learns that his chief of staff, Ryan Burnett, who he conveniently brought with him, is on Dubaku’s list of conspirators. Jack has meanwhile dragged Burnett into an empty room to do what he does best to get a bad guy talking. “You of all people know how far I am willing to go,” Jack growls to a gasping Burnett as he removes the safety overload from his taser. Sadly for everyone soon to be dead or captured, Jack is interrupted. When Mayer sees the state of his evil chief of staff (who was just beginning to talk), he says, “Nothing justified what went on in this room. Nothing!” To which Jack counters, “You are unable to look evil in the eye and deal with it!” Hmmm, since Juma is not wearing an eyepatch, expect to see some evil cyclops before the day is done.
However, Walker risked her life to find out the actual target and got the news to Moss. (And was anyone else pleased to see that Dubaku’s teenage son was not part of the attack?). Moss phones the White House with the information, but it comes too late to stop the invading frogmen forces. As they take over the White House, Jack gets Pres. Taylor to safety in the “lockdown room” but Juma is too wise to let himself be beaten that easily. He says he has Pres. Taylor and will kill her unless the government forces pull back. Because Taylor has no way to tell anyone she is safe, the government complies.
Meanwhile, Juma calls Hodges (the first time we’ve seen the arms dealer in some time) to ask how to proceed. Hodges says Olivia Taylor is in the White House. Find her, threaten to kill her and the President will leave the lockdown.
Olivia and Aaron Pierce decide to use a flashlight and Morse code to tell everyone that the President is OK, but they don’t get a chance and are captured. When Juma threatens to torture and kill Olivia, Pres. Taylor orders Jack to open the door. He does and joins the captives – what fools these terrorists be! – where Mayer immediately hisses to him, “This is all your fault.” The collective groans coming from fans across North America will likely circulate through space until the end of time.
Next week: Sen. Mayer snaps and single-handedly rescues the President, Jack, Bill and Olivia and runs off with Agent Walker who whispers to him, “My hero!”
Photo: ©2008 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Mark Lipson/FOX