24

This is my real review for this episode and not the other review, because that was made for the previous episode.



Jack and Nina Scenes are more weaker this time, since Jack is only looking for the perfect opportunity to kill her. Until that, he makes her life more difficult.



Kate family plot continues where it started - Boring Kingdom.



Palmer plot adminstration continues to build intrigue, with Sherry and Lynne little confrontations.



Kim had this time 2 scenes, that was enough, to present Kim new problem.



Mason dying plot produced a very beautiful and emotional Scene.



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When the writers decided to kill off George Mason, he almost immediately evolved from the douchebag of S1 to a much more sympathetic version. But to really drive home the big transformation of the character, they decide to give him a solemn goodbye scene with his son John. A fatal dose of radiation is always a good excuse to bring in a previously undiscussed family member.

Jack and Nina are a bit underplayed in their story arc, which involves a sting operation at Mamud Faheen's hideout. Doesn't go well when Nina's suspicion of Jack's sanity causes her to break from the plan and attempt an escape. These scenes are intriguing, and I cannot ignore the moment when Jack again resists the temptation to shoot Nina.

In Oregon, Chief of Staff Mike Novick is back, and Palmer spends the hour getting him to look into this supposed conspiracy, starting with Stanton. And Sherry is just Sherry. Surprised, are ya?

Anyway, the Palmer stuff isn't too bad, but nothing to form a human pyramid over either. Other than that, the whole solemn goodbye thing, and the whole resisting of the temptation thing (both of which are two relatively short scenes), not much really immerses me into the story. But the mere fact that Kim doesn't have a major scene until the final act of the episode is a big plus.



Hourly Highlight:

The…resisting of the temptation thing.

Oh.. this season really has many many slow episodes and this is one of them again. The best moments of this episode go to George whose talk with his son and giving him that money (I am quite sure it is the money what he got and what jack used to blackmail him) to his son. The whole conversation was really well done.



Jack and Nina were just having another action episode nothing too special there and the whole thing with Kim and the car and the body there.. in the moment there was a blood, I figured out whose blood.



And Kate.. mm.. I do not think she is the best char, somehow shallow but I hope that storyline will find some great tunes soon.

2:02 P.M.-2:03 P.M.: Warden Airbase, Los Angeles, California. Jack and Nina arrive at the airport in their armored vehicle. Nina tries to rat on Jack to

another agent securing the base, but he is not on her side.

2:03 P.M.-2:08 P.M.: Reza and Kate finally exchange words. She is furious with him for shifting the focus onto her father. He announces that he has done

more for Bob than she will ever know. In the Palmer compound, questions are beginning to be raised about the whereabouts of Ron Wieland, the reporter who

found out about the coverup in LA.

2:08 P.M.-2:12 P.M.: Michelle informs Mason that Jack drugged the other agent assigned to protect Nina. He decides that there is really no action that can

be taken. Lesions are beginning to appear on Mason's body, and his headaches are getting worse. Mike arrives at the Presidential compound, and is concerned

with the story that there may be someone working against Palmer within his inner circle. Mike agrees to talk to Roger Stanton to find out who's side he

is on. Jack loses control of Nina, as the new FBI agents on board aren't letting him operate the way Mason was. They provide her with civilian clothing,

and force her to change in full view of everyone. There are fresh lashing marks on her back.

2:17 P.M.-2:19 P.M.: Mason calls his estranged son, John, desperate to patch things up before it's too late. John refuses to come to CTU, and hangs up on

his father before Mason can tell him he is dying.

2:19 P.M.-2:20 P.M.: Davenport Airport, Visalia, California. The plane lands, and is escorted by police car to the unloading point. With scores of people

there to meet them, Jack and Nina disembark. Nina finally tells Jack the location of her contact: a thrift store called Crescent Collectibles.

2:20 P.M.-2:23 P.M.: Mike tries to gauge Roger's loyalty by telling him he is now on the team. Lynne briefs the President about Jack and Nina working together.

Nina argues with Jack over his plan to raid the thrift store. She warns him that Mamud Faheen will commit suicide before he lets himself be taken. He says

they won't let him get that far.

2:28 P.M.-2:30 P.M.: Tony calls into CTU, and informs Mason that Reza has begun talking, and is pointing the finger at Bob Warner. Mason instructs him to

bring the pair in for questioning. Reza refuses, but when Bob requests that he go along with it, he reluctantly agrees. Bob tells Kate to call their lawyer

and tell him what is going on. Kate is confused, as their lawyer is only a tax attorney, but Bob assures her that the man will know what to do.

2:30 P.M.-2:33 P.M.: Lynne and Sherry are formally introduced. Palmer invokes executive privilege, and gives Sherry top secret clearance status. Palmer

then updates Lynne about the possibility that there is someone within his administration working against them. Sherry reveals that she knows that both

Eric Rayburn and Roger Stanton have had secret meetings with the House Minority Leader. Lynne counters by saying that she knows about the meetings and

that there was a legitimate reason for them.

2:38 P.M.-2:41 P.M.: Kate is alone at home. She powers up a PC computer, and logs into the company's financial records. She then calls up Ralph Burton's

office, and requests his help in breaking into her father's private records. Sherry asks for a private moment with Lynne. She tells Lynne to have a little

respect for her, and reminds her that she did a lot of work to help her ex-husband get into office. Palmer overhears, and asks Sherry to try to respect

Lynne's position. Jack and Nina arrive at the thrift store.

2:41 P.M.-2:47 P.M.: Nina begins walking towards Crescent Collectibles, as Jack waits one door down. Nina enters, and asks to speak with Faheen. He agrees

to come down and talk with her. Jack's monitor goes blank, and he cannot see what is going on inside. Michelle's monitor at CTU is still working, so she

relays the info back to Jack, while a translator with Michelle is on hand to translate what is being said. Nina begins talking to Faheen in Arabic. Just

when Nina goes to hug him, the audio goes dead. Jack orders the CTU team to raid the building. They kill a store worker and clear the way for Jack. Jack

goes in, but finds Faheen lying on the floor unconscious and Nina gone.

2:51 P.M.-2:52 P.M.: Nina runs up a flight of stairs towards a locked gate. She can't get past it, Jack catches up to her, and she surrenders. Jack struggles

with the desire to shoot her in the head before ultimately cuffing her.

George Mason has developed into such a strong character. I loved him in season 1 as the annoying boss who always had something witty to say, but now in season 2 he is the unfortunate one and we get to see the helpless side of him,, and I wish he didn't have to go =[ The conversation he has with his son was so moving. It is the moment he hugs him before his son tears up and says 'Dammit!' that does it, it made me burst, I couldn't help it.



Not a lot happens in scenes involving Jack and Nina, and its for this reason the episode is more slower. But there is a shoot out which is quite good as well as an anticipating moment when I really thought Jack was going to shoot Nina. Also, something that I don't think anyone has realised is that this is the very first time Jack has actually had a team assist him on a mission in the whole series. Don't forget that in season 1 he did everything by himself.



I was happy to see Mike Novick return. He was a very good character in season 1 and gave Palmer some great advice.



Kim doesn't feature a lot at all in this episode apart from the very end which is a bonus. The ending with Kim is actually quite a shocker though when Carla's body is found in the boot, its really good!!



Quote of the hour! Nina Myers: "He is going to put a bullet in my head before I say hello. Then he'll turn the gun on himself." Jack Bauer: "We'll make sure he doesn't turn the gun on himself."

Nina: He is going to put a bullet in my head before I can say hello and then he's going to turn the gun on himself.

Jack: We'll make sure he doesn't turn the gun on himself. That had to be one of the greatest lines I've ever heard ont he show. The hatred Jack shows towards Nina and yet how he is still able to keep focus on his job is amazing. I really liked this line. The scene where Mason has to tell his son who he hasnt seen in two years that he is dying is a very good scene. There has been a lot more story and a little less crisis this season, but this episode had a lot of information and a couple of good surprises

Jack forces Nina to help out in an op that can help CTU find the nuclear bomb. Palmer and Mike tries to test out Stanton's loyalty while they investigate the chopper crash. George Mason gets CTU officers to arrest his son in LA. He gets to talk to him for the last time, it's a very dramatic moment, we get to see a softer side of him. this scene humanizes him. the action is excellent, the plotting and planning are fun to watch, even thought the pacing slows down a bit, it's not so bad, because the anticipation is really engaging.

I don't understand why this episode is so underrated. I guess it's because, relatively speaking, Jack had little to do. However, this episode had some of the best little character moments I've seen in an episode of 24.



Pros

-It's amusing looking back on this episode and seeing how much Agent Rick looks like Lynn McGill.

-The return of Mike Novick! Hooray! Such a great character.

-Nina undressing in front of Jack was nice. Good acting by the two of them.

-Mason's interactions with his son just broke my heart. Incredibly emotional.

-Great acting by Harris Yulin when Mike Novick told Stanton that he was going to be inserting himself into his day.

-I loved Jack's line: "We'll make sure he doesn't turn the gun on himself." in reference to Nina's concerns over going in after Faheen.

-The scene where Sherry met Lynn was great because it quickly established that Sherry wanted Lynn out of there and wanted to replace her.

-The raid on the thrift shop was hysterical and great at the same time. CTU operated the sting perfectly. The banshee-like scream of the one woman terrorist that went down in a blaze of glory was definitely worthy of a few chuckles.

-The scene where Mason tells his son that he's going to die made me tear up. My God, that was such a nice scene. Xander Berkeley is my hero. Even when rewatching this episode, the moment where Mason grabs his son in a hug gets me down deep.

-The ending twist was great yet again. It gets repetitive stating that over and over for this season, but I didn't see Carla being the dead body coming from a mile away, although I probably should have in retrospect.



Cons

-Sarah Wynter seemed off in this episode. Weird acting from her.

-Slow beginning.

-I was pissed beyond belief when Jack decided to spare Nina's life when he arrested her. Bad of me I know, but I couldn't believe that he wouldn't shoot her.