TV Review – 24: 3:00-4:00 AM
Posted by Josh Radde (josh@filmschoolrejects.com) on April 28, 2009
“24″ airs Monday nights at 9/8c on Fox
Synopsis: Tony contacts “The Group,” a collection of people who have to decide what to do with the final gas canister; Jack gets the FBI to reinstate the CTU server and needs Chloe to run it; Hodges having survived the suicide attempt may actually play into President Taylor’s favor.
Review: What a solid episode last night. The tension stayed high, the drama was invigorating, and new villains came into play.
First off, Tony will be a great villain. I had my doubts at first. He’s calm and collected, seemingly rational in his motives, and has made all the right moves so far. He’s not over-the-top and wild-eyed like Jon Voight’s Hodges or as stereotypical a villain as Dubaku. And “The Group” virtual meeting was a really strange, yet effective scene. There we get a glimpse of a seemingly anonymous cadre of people who think they are doing the right thing for the country. You kill a few people so that you send a message to the government that they’re not prepared for attack. Just like in the beginning of the season, it comes back around to being similar to the plot from Die Hard 4. We also got a good look at Will Patton as Alan Wilson. Setting up “The Group” now could be a good move for “24″ moving forward.
The interrogation of Hodges by Jack wasn’t as big a moment as we were hoping, yet it still worked. With the President watching, Jack played it right for once, without taking it too far. So often we see Jack shove pens in people’s orifices or physically harm them that it becomes dull. But watching Jack talk to Hodges, especially when Hodges has no reason not to cooperate with Jack, it was actually relieving to see Jack not take it to the next level. Save the moments when Jack goes berserk for when they’ll have the most impact. Jack calling Walker as a way to trick Hodges was a nice way to see Jack playing “crafty cop” instead of “ruthless enforcer.”
Some things did bother me about the episode. Olivia Taylor needs to go. I’m sorry, she’s gone over the edge – so what, now she wants Aaron Pierce’s sympathy? There’s absolutely nothing to like about Olivia. The actress, Sprague Grayden, that plays her doesn’t give the character anything worth watching. “24″ has had its share of irritating characters who do nothing but antagonize the protagonists, but at least they’re fun to watch. Sherry Palmer – tons of fun; George Mason – always a great thorn in Jack’s side. Olivia is just irritating without the benefit of being worthwhile in any regard. She’s gotta go. Seriously, I’m sick of the screen time they’re devoting to her every episode.
Morris and Chloe’s exchange before she left: awkward. I expected nothing less from Chloe, though.
And, oh my God, that ending! Jack saying “President David Palmer” was jarring. Dude’s losing it. Honestly, I thought he was going to slap the f*ck out of Janeane Garofalo – I was rooting for it. I kept writing off the whole “Jack’s infected” plot line, because I figured he’d be cured by now. The writer’s are going to take this as far as they can, and hopefully it doesn’t get ridiculous like the Teri Bauer amnesia plot from Season 1. Maybe Jack’s going to start deteriorating faster and in doing so will revert back to a time when his life wasn’t absolute crap: his wife was alive, his daughter loved him, he had a stable job, had just saved the future President’s life.
In any event, Keifer Sutherland knows how to keep pushing the limits to how far he’ll take the drama this season, and I applaud him. He hasn’t been this good as Jack since Season 1, and I feel like for the first time since then he’s actually trying to stay alive – fitting because he’s dying rapidly.
Read More: 24 Recaps
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