I wasn't planning to write a review for this episode, but after last week's return to form, this massive filler episode really let me down again and I felt I should explain why.
Last week pretty much wrapped up Sergei Bazhaev's story, with the rods now in his son's possession. The son's character really was a wasted opportunity to have some great continuing family tension and drama. I guess bad guys can't turn good and expect to live much longer.
My expectations of where the story was going last week were high. I believed we were going to have some great sequences of Jack leading a team out to catch the son, possibly with father in tow. With Renee back at CTU, it would have been great to see Jack and Cole team up again and really bring the action to Bazhaev's son and Farhad. THAT would have been exciting!
Instead, Jack travels to CTU for a good while (sure its more realistic, but when does 24 care?) and when he gets there, he acts like a bird acting crazily over-protective of its hatchlings. When Jack went rogue in earlier seasons, it felt cool and original. Now, it seems horribly cliché of Jack to punch a random security guy and throttle a stranger against a wall. Why even have a security guard if he's only going to be placed there for comedic value? Surely that was meant to be funny, right? "Hey, Mr Bauer, you can't go in-whoooaa! Oof!" You just need a 'KA-POW!' from the old Batman series to feel just right.
As a side note, I think another wasted opportunity was not having any dialogue between Jack and Bazhaev in the car - it would have been a great chance to develop Bazhaev further, as the writers must have kept him alive for a reason.
Finally, we get some closure with the Jenny/Kevin storyline, and to be honest, it ended the only way it could have. They both died. Wow. Really came out of left field with that one. Everything about that entire last scene was predictable right down to Kevin shouting Jenny's name to save her from his idiot friend. I punched my fist in the air when Kevin was stabbed by the way - quite cold hearted, but I don't imagine many people holding a soft spot for him anyway. Really, I was so overjoyed they both died, brought down by the fact that this story really did lead absolutely nowhere. Maybe Jenny and Cole won't get married now! Oh no, because we've developed such a sympathy for Jenny/Dana! I HOPE that Cole sees sense and gets as far away as he can, but of course he won't. *Sigh*
One last thing to mention is the nuclear rods...they can't take them home, so they'll use them against America! Hmm, Season 5 anyone? Cue several episodes of searching for a detonator, maybe Jack can go undercover as Rossler again and give them fake detonation codes! I was waiting several episodes ago for this to happen, I mean, the rods by themselves aren't that dangerous, so it was inevitable that a bomb was going to come around. Hearing about Farhad's contact in New York sounded interesting, as though it might be someone we already know - that's really the only thing I'm looking forward to next week, if he's even brought up again. Maybe it was just a lie?
Usually 24's episodes have a central storyline, usually Jack, although its been through Renee quite a bit this season - for example Season 2, Ep9: Jack and Nina fend off commandos after their plane has been shot down, S3, Ep9: Jack and the Salazars have to outbid a recently revealed Nina to secure the virus, S7 Ep9: Jack and Renee place Marika undercover to get to Dubaku. This episode had no central story, once again filled with subplots and predictable filler. I really hope the writers have something special up their sleeve for the double episode next week.
Last week pretty much wrapped up Sergei Bazhaev's story, with the rods now in his son's possession. The son's character really was a wasted opportunity to have some great continuing family tension and drama. I guess bad guys can't turn good and expect to live much longer.
My expectations of where the story was going last week were high. I believed we were going to have some great sequences of Jack leading a team out to catch the son, possibly with father in tow. With Renee back at CTU, it would have been great to see Jack and Cole team up again and really bring the action to Bazhaev's son and Farhad. THAT would have been exciting!
Instead, Jack travels to CTU for a good while (sure its more realistic, but when does 24 care?) and when he gets there, he acts like a bird acting crazily over-protective of its hatchlings. When Jack went rogue in earlier seasons, it felt cool and original. Now, it seems horribly cliché of Jack to punch a random security guy and throttle a stranger against a wall. Why even have a security guard if he's only going to be placed there for comedic value? Surely that was meant to be funny, right? "Hey, Mr Bauer, you can't go in-whoooaa! Oof!" You just need a 'KA-POW!' from the old Batman series to feel just right.
As a side note, I think another wasted opportunity was not having any dialogue between Jack and Bazhaev in the car - it would have been a great chance to develop Bazhaev further, as the writers must have kept him alive for a reason.
Finally, we get some closure with the Jenny/Kevin storyline, and to be honest, it ended the only way it could have. They both died. Wow. Really came out of left field with that one. Everything about that entire last scene was predictable right down to Kevin shouting Jenny's name to save her from his idiot friend. I punched my fist in the air when Kevin was stabbed by the way - quite cold hearted, but I don't imagine many people holding a soft spot for him anyway. Really, I was so overjoyed they both died, brought down by the fact that this story really did lead absolutely nowhere. Maybe Jenny and Cole won't get married now! Oh no, because we've developed such a sympathy for Jenny/Dana! I HOPE that Cole sees sense and gets as far away as he can, but of course he won't. *Sigh*
One last thing to mention is the nuclear rods...they can't take them home, so they'll use them against America! Hmm, Season 5 anyone? Cue several episodes of searching for a detonator, maybe Jack can go undercover as Rossler again and give them fake detonation codes! I was waiting several episodes ago for this to happen, I mean, the rods by themselves aren't that dangerous, so it was inevitable that a bomb was going to come around. Hearing about Farhad's contact in New York sounded interesting, as though it might be someone we already know - that's really the only thing I'm looking forward to next week, if he's even brought up again. Maybe it was just a lie?
Usually 24's episodes have a central storyline, usually Jack, although its been through Renee quite a bit this season - for example Season 2, Ep9: Jack and Nina fend off commandos after their plane has been shot down, S3, Ep9: Jack and the Salazars have to outbid a recently revealed Nina to secure the virus, S7 Ep9: Jack and Renee place Marika undercover to get to Dubaku. This episode had no central story, once again filled with subplots and predictable filler. I really hope the writers have something special up their sleeve for the double episode next week.