Monday April 16, 2007
6AFF18
Cheng offers to exchange the nuclear component for Audrey's life. Jack gains Chloe's covert cooperation, but their plans are dashed when Morris stumbles on to the operation.
Wayne gives Daniels an unpleasant ultimatum, but his fragile health soon tips the balance in the vice-president's favor.
And I thought they cannot turn this upside down hide show
Oh - I thought it is all calm now in White House but no - just as the vice president is going to resign Palmer decides to fall and lose conscious - his gamble with his life finally takes its prize.
So Jack - he is going to do everything to say Audrey and first he just goes rouge again but then gets permission when Chloe goes to Bill to tell about it.. Looks good until the events in White House and once again Jack has to do what is best for him and not listen everyone else saying he should do what is right. Who knows what comes out...
Out of the oven, into the frying pan hide show
With Fayed and Gredenko dead, Cheng Zhi once again comes out of nowhere to torment Jack. This time, he's after a sub-circuit board that can let him access Russian defense technology by… Just look up "MacGuffin". Cheng's hostage, the still-alive Audrey, gives Jack the perfect motivation to (pretend to) hand over the component. CTU even helps him out, thanks to who the President is around here.
Speaking of that, Wayne finally leaves the bunker and orders Daniels' resignation. But because things are never that easy, Wayne becomes even unhealthier and is hospitalized. Which I guess was meant to be shocking? Anyway, we won't be seeing anybody named Palmer again this season, and Daniels is back in charge. His first order of business: calling off Jack's mission.
Can't say that any of this is totally unpredictable, nor can I call this the smoothest plot transition ever. But at least they're trying to keep the tension up after the nuclear threat's glorious end. As midnight rolls around, this is where the story's headed: Jack breaks away and goes to meet Cheng himself, so it's up to CTU to stop him and possibly avert an international crisis. Yep, a few hours ago, we were looking at nuclear bombs and a war; now it's just half that. Here's hoping this will all lead to a magnificent yet perfectly plausible resolution by sunrise. PbbtHAHAHAH!!!
Hourly Highlight:
Jack kicking Doyle out of the car.
Jack is obliged to take measures that puts him in the position of a bad guy... hide show
This is obviously a filler episode that wanted to make the transition between the bomb crisis and the next one-the Chinese crisis...Jack has no choice but to obey the Chinese, if he wants Audrey to live...So he tries to get the nuclear component without scandal...But unfortunately he is found out, so he has no choice but to convince Wayne he is doing something with limited risk...After Wayne agreeing he has a stroke and Daniels replaces him...He annuls the operation ad Jack is obliged to recur to desperate measures ...No the best episode of "24", but the main attractiveness it had was seeing Jack in action.
It's just 24 by numbers... hide show
Am I alone in thinking that the last thing this show needed was Audrey returning (yes, I know it was in the previous hour but in this one she had more screen time)?
This event has led to the most unoriginal and dull hour in 24's history: Jack going covert against CTU with Chloe's help. Check. Chloe helping Jack even though she knows she shouldn't and risks imprisonment. Check. Jack asking the President for a little favour. Check. I understand willing suspension of disbelief but that only works if plotting, script and pacing are all working well and in this episode these elements were sadly lacking. The whole hour just plodded from one tired plot device to the next. It just feels like we've entered the 'second' half of this season and nothing (for me at least) seemed to work. It just felt that there was no continuity and that we may as well be starting Season 7. Some of the acting in this episode was also truly awful: all Noah Daniels needs is a top hat, cape and a moustache to twirl evily and he'd be the perfect pantomime villain. Wayne's stroke? It just looked like he was trying really hard to remember his lines and the effort had been to much.
Yes, I do love 24 and have been with the show since Season 1, Episode 1, however, just because the show's a hit and has been running for a while doesn't entitle its' makers to provide a sub-standard mess like this.
Jack's a lone ranger B-) hide show
Ok, so it wasn't as good as last week's, but that was to be expected. After every 'classic' episode guaranteed comes an episode that isn't as decent, but nevertheless, this was a good episode.
The thing about episode 18 of 24 is that it was consistently very good. not great. but also didn't dip below very good. we thankfully had a complete lack of Milo and Nadia (hopefully the writers have realized that Chloe and Morris are far far more interesting) and some good dialogue between Jack and Doyle (Jack finally remembering he killed his mate at the start of the day) and also Jack and Wayne. It's a shame it took Wayne so long to become an average character to a truly excellent one, and even sadder it looks like his time this season is numbered. Still, Daniels is a real love to hate character so no complaints about him being in.
What i also liked is that they have reverted back to the original premise of this season, which was Jack sacrificing himself. As he said at the start 'Today, i can die for something. my way. my choice' the threat may be different, but 17 hours later it applies again. Jack being rouge has always lead to some decent episodes, from the end of last season to the jail break in Season 3, and fighting a villain as sinister as Cheng, I’m sure this will continue.
the only downside was that yeah, nothing truly memorable happened. I think people who criticize the show for dipping only need to look at past episode even at this late stage of the season to remember that it has happened before. Every season there are those who automatically state 'no-where near as good as before' however whilst season 6 may be as incredible as best seasons, this merely means its a 9.910 for me, not a 1010
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