“24” Day 7, Hour 17: Kim Possibly

StayTuned Staff

17 years ago

By Elaine B
Lesson learned: Heroes prefer to die alone.

Normally 24 watchers have a death grip on the arms of their favorite TV watching chairs. This week it was a tissue or two as, taking a cue from the weepy moments on ER and Flashpoint (the first seriously weepy cop drama I can recall), Jack is tearfully reunited with daughter Kim. Renee didn’t have to work to find Kim. She has been trying to find her father since he disappeared at the end of Day 6 to head off to Africa to make Redemption. Still, Jack will not allow her to help his condition and they have a tearful hello and goodbye.

Since there is a Day 8 in the works, chances are she will donate her bone marrow cells without telling him. He’ll learn there is a “new” treatment. He’ll survive, learn the truth and he and Kim and Renee will walk happily into the sunset until Day 8.

But that comes later. Now the good guys in the field, Larry Moss and Tony Almeida, are frantically working to contain the WMDs Hodges had his team assemble. Hodges, thinking he’s won, triumphantly heads for the White House to give Pres. Taylor his terms.

”You cannot negotiate with … a traitor and a terrorist!” Jack tells Taylor and explains there is still reason to hope Tony can destroy the weapons. She gives a covert agreement that the operation can continue.

Meanwhile, the president is talking to Hodges, who is giving his terms of surrender. In a soothing voice, he tells the president, “The country has seen enough bloodshed today. Let’s move past this.” It was his bloodshed, but no matter. He’s unbalanced and probably thinks it’s the government’s fault. Taylor and he continue their discussion, Taylor stalling for time so Tony can blow the missiles and their bio warheads.

Taylor gets word the action was successful and arrests Hodges. His parting words are, “You think this ends with us! I am a small cog in a very big machine.”

Taylor thanks Jack. He turns the praise onto Tony, telling her the man deserves a break for his heroism. She agrees.

Over at Starkwood, Moss and team are taking employees into custody when Tony spots someone trying to leave the base. When he sees the bioweapon, he does an about face and “kills” Moss and leaves with the Starkwood employee who has every reason to believe Tony is on Hodges’ side. Is Tony unbalanced? He has certainly been good, bad, good, bad, etc. so many times he’s become an octo-agent.

As the quotes around kill suggest, I doubt Moss is any deader than Renee was earlier. I doubt Tony is bad. He just knows he has to stay on the inside with the terrorists. Expect more heroics from the former CTU operative next week.