There's a famous Jack Bauer meme, where if everyone followed Jack's instructions and quit going against him, "24" would go by the more economical title of "12."
Day 6: 12:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m. features the most egregious example of this principle, involving a bunch idiots screwing up Jack's good plan of blowing himself and Cheng up at the abandoned motel to prevent his former capture from obtaining the stolen technology. Doyle sees Audrey walking away from the exchange site and decides to give the order to swarm the site, although he has no visual inside. And, for reasons passing understanding, Cheng and his men escape from CTU's custody with a convenient rocket launcher.
The moment that this escape greatly recalls is when the Delta Force ordered to secure the virus were killed by Michael Amador in Season 3. When the series did all those years ago, the writers used it to open a can of worms of all the implications of having a virus under terrorist control in the United States, namely if they decided to release it in public places, which they did in the next few hours. The F-B circuit board just doesn't contain that same chaos, all threats by Russia of possible war aside. A superior era of the show could have seriously played with killing Jack Bauer and see where it took them. This just ain't that season.
Nadia Yassir and even Buchanan go along with Vice President Daniels decision to take Jack Bauer out of the field, despite most knowing what he intends to do once he hands over the chip. But of course, Doyle and CTU screw this plan up. At one time, this show would have muddled the water, giving Jack's superiors a somewhat good reason to take him out of play, but this late in the series, the best the show provides is that he "can't go against the White House!" Where's Paul Schulze when you need him?!
To be fair with this hour of "24," it's not the worst episode of the season, just equally frustrating as the past 18 hours for any jaded long-term fan of the series by now. There are nice disconnected character scenes that would feel more at home in alternate reality where season six of 24 was good.
Reed Pollock (Chad Lowe), the principal conspirator behind President Wayne Palmer's failed assassination attempt, reveals Bill Buchanan's complicity in allowing Abu Fayed leaving CTU custody in the months prior to the season to save himself from the the death penalty. When Pollock's interrogator reveals this to Karen Hayes (Jayne Atkinson), she realizes that Buchanan, her husband, needs to go shield the presidency from political fallout.
James Morrison always played Buchanan as a steady decision-maker and when Hayes breaks the news to him, he tries to defend himself against the charges, he knows cannot, his exemplary record not withstanding.
As much as I'd like to believe Buchanan wouldn't have been so careless, the idea that the people who are sworn to protect us that let their guard down temporary could have catastrophic consequences later is an irresistible idea, especially for this season of "24," which is misfiring so badly by this point.
Likewise, the relative silence that Kiefer Sutherland provides throughout recalls where the audience started with him in the first episode, and makes it all the more bittersweet, considering where this season didn't take Jack Bauer. The way he calls Buchanan "his friend" during his phone message feels especially hollow and morose speaks more about the status of the character than 70% of the writing ultimately provided.
Oh yeah, also it turns out that the Lisa Miller (Kari Matchett), the president's aid, has different allegiances to people other than the acting-President Daniels. Mehhhhh. On the plus side, it's an sufficiently acted...?
If there's anything that defines this season, it's good actors providing definition to parts that weren't given enough of it.
Day 6: 12:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m. features the most egregious example of this principle, involving a bunch idiots screwing up Jack's good plan of blowing himself and Cheng up at the abandoned motel to prevent his former capture from obtaining the stolen technology. Doyle sees Audrey walking away from the exchange site and decides to give the order to swarm the site, although he has no visual inside. And, for reasons passing understanding, Cheng and his men escape from CTU's custody with a convenient rocket launcher.
The moment that this escape greatly recalls is when the Delta Force ordered to secure the virus were killed by Michael Amador in Season 3. When the series did all those years ago, the writers used it to open a can of worms of all the implications of having a virus under terrorist control in the United States, namely if they decided to release it in public places, which they did in the next few hours. The F-B circuit board just doesn't contain that same chaos, all threats by Russia of possible war aside. A superior era of the show could have seriously played with killing Jack Bauer and see where it took them. This just ain't that season.
Nadia Yassir and even Buchanan go along with Vice President Daniels decision to take Jack Bauer out of the field, despite most knowing what he intends to do once he hands over the chip. But of course, Doyle and CTU screw this plan up. At one time, this show would have muddled the water, giving Jack's superiors a somewhat good reason to take him out of play, but this late in the series, the best the show provides is that he "can't go against the White House!" Where's Paul Schulze when you need him?!
To be fair with this hour of "24," it's not the worst episode of the season, just equally frustrating as the past 18 hours for any jaded long-term fan of the series by now. There are nice disconnected character scenes that would feel more at home in alternate reality where season six of 24 was good.
Reed Pollock (Chad Lowe), the principal conspirator behind President Wayne Palmer's failed assassination attempt, reveals Bill Buchanan's complicity in allowing Abu Fayed leaving CTU custody in the months prior to the season to save himself from the the death penalty. When Pollock's interrogator reveals this to Karen Hayes (Jayne Atkinson), she realizes that Buchanan, her husband, needs to go shield the presidency from political fallout.
James Morrison always played Buchanan as a steady decision-maker and when Hayes breaks the news to him, he tries to defend himself against the charges, he knows cannot, his exemplary record not withstanding.
As much as I'd like to believe Buchanan wouldn't have been so careless, the idea that the people who are sworn to protect us that let their guard down temporary could have catastrophic consequences later is an irresistible idea, especially for this season of "24," which is misfiring so badly by this point.
Likewise, the relative silence that Kiefer Sutherland provides throughout recalls where the audience started with him in the first episode, and makes it all the more bittersweet, considering where this season didn't take Jack Bauer. The way he calls Buchanan "his friend" during his phone message feels especially hollow and morose speaks more about the status of the character than 70% of the writing ultimately provided.
Oh yeah, also it turns out that the Lisa Miller (Kari Matchett), the president's aid, has different allegiances to people other than the acting-President Daniels. Mehhhhh. On the plus side, it's an sufficiently acted...?
If there's anything that defines this season, it's good actors providing definition to parts that weren't given enough of it.
