24

Now that they have absolutely no idea what Marwan is up to and they have no leads at all. Some thing pops up suddenly and they find this Prado and they have to solve the legal issues that come in their way. This episode is slower than earlier two but they have got to fill the time.

S4 reaches its all-time low with this piece of crap, heavily marred by its cheap stab at Amnesty International (via Amnesty Global). And I'm no political know-it-all; I don't even know which side "wing" is being attacked here, but I do know that it's another over-the-top political message, and I gag at the idea of "24" stooping to such a level. Marwan's request for "an attorney" alone is self-parody territory.
But the problems start before that, when CTU picks up yet another lead simply because the writers had to advance the story somehow. No buildup; it just pops up to CTU's convenience. A literary technique that I have taken it upon myself to name…"The Formula." Totally lazy. Not to mention the idiotic and pointless drama with Edgar.
Our main hero is MIA for over half the hour. Jack being gone for long stretches of time isn't unheard of, but such episodes usually have other interesting things going on; this one's got nothing. That's right, this episode is just not exciting. At one point, I was thinking that Jack had been kidnapped by one of Marwan's guys, which would've been cool and probably pulled S4 out of its damnable rut, but then he just casually strolls into CTU. Well, nuts to that.
The two reasons I'm not giving this hour a complete 0 are:
1) The last scene is great.
2) …Well, it may be crap, but it's still "24."

Hourly Highlight:
"This'll help you with the pain." Thanks, but the episode's already over.

The usual episode of this season. They are not bad, but compared with the previous season, they can be.



The writers are missing something, they are investing into the same formula in this season - a Case/Storyline per episode.



It´s strange, if you compare with the previous episode, you will see similarities. The couple of the previous episode transform in the guy CTU caught in this episode.



CTU has a lead, thanks to one more mistake committed by the terrorists, the captured some guy, however, the situation revert, he has a lawyer defending him. This is new, but don´t make anything great,



President Logan Scenes it´s what makes this episode better. Never in 24 something like this happened before, a insecure president, this should be interesting in the next episodes. This president actually can work has a obstacle for Jack.



With only 6 episodes left to end this season 4, the writers must have save the best ideas to build a strong pack of 6 episodes.

Oh.. when last episode was good and exciting and had totally different then this one had not much sparkle. Jack is as rude and restless as ever, doing what he wish not caring what other say. And now he is really playing with it all - there is no way he comes out of this.



Ok.. it is all some pointless struggle over a suspect they cannot interrogate and they just seem to waste our time.



Weird, i really feel like this episode had nothing major going on. Ok, there was action and something all the time but it was numb, without emotions and without getting to me..

I think this episode is a little bit better then some of the reviews that it has been getting here on TV.com. Watching Logan try and act as the president is a great watch. I think Georgery Itzin plays the job of the terrified Vice President to perfection. In the next couple of episodes I think he is going to crack under the pressures of CTU and what Novick does in response to that should be really good drama. It appears as though Marwan will be the bad guy until the end of the season. I thought they would capture him and go elsewhere for the last 6 or 7 hours, but it looks like we are with him until the end. I like the actor that plays Marwan, so I dont mind that he is being kept on for 75% of the season. Tony and Michelle didnt really get into it much in this episode but the writers keep giving them a couple of important ocnversations every hour, so I think that something should happen soon. Either get them back together or make it offically over, just an answer that doesnt have us wondering when Season 4 ends. I thought this episode was better then a lot of the episodes I have considered "filler" this season.

Curtis arrests a suspect and takes him back to CTU. Michelle authorizes Curtis to interrogate him. Marwan sends in a human rights lawyer to prevent the suspect for revealing information to CTU. Vice President Logan is forced to be promoted to President while a terrorist attack is underway. This episode brings the story to a point where it seems that nothing can be done to stop to terrorist attack, but the writers are always coming up with a really great plot to tell the story. The story is so riveting, the plot is so engaging, the characters are really interesting.

A rather average episode. It was good but not amazing.



I wonder how come Jack never tires of putting his rear end on the line for his country. You'd think there'd be at least one other soul willing to make all the sacrifices he makes. Well I wonder what trouble he will get in for this stunt.



Speaking of stunts, Edgar is going to do something stupid, I'm afraid. I like Edgar, he's like a big teddybear, but he doesn't always think. I hope he won't get into trouble, I want to see more of him next season.



The new president, Logan, is really annoying me! He actually makes Mike Novick seem like a character we should be siding with! Logan is constantly either scared or angry, I take it it won't get better either. Sigh...



As much as I like Arnold Vosloo as an actor, his character is getting really boring. Marwan never seems to be threatened by CTU which makes him uninteresting. With Saunders for example they had leverage and could reach him, but they have nothing on Marwan. He's just this shadowy figure who spends each episode sitting in a car or running in alleys, talking on the phone. Give the poor man something else to do or take him out.



Everybody's rooting for Tony and Michelle at CTU, or so it seems. Now Buchanon too?



We're now 3/4 through the show. They need to pick up pace again. I'm hoping for an interesting last 4th!

After the last few episodes, it looked as if 24 recovered for the final arc of the season. Unfortunately, they needed another episode to waste before that. This episode is padded with a lot of filler material. Even worse is that this was extremely preachy and seems to be another in a continuing trend of over the top right wing messages this season, almost as if they're compensating for the left wing messages from the second season.



They have done a better job of characterizing Logan in these few episodes than Keeler in his entire run, even though Logan's been portrayed as a total wuss. To be fair, he was called upon following an assassination attempt on his predecessor on the worst day in American history. He does have a fair case to go to the bunker. Even though they attacked Keeler, Logan is still a viable target. Taking out two presidents in succession is a horrifying premise that could be one of their operations to destroy the morale of America and create mass panic. However, he needs to remain composed. He can take a few moments, but it needs to be displaced until the job is done, like what Jack does.



Yosik's stupidity comes off as very contrived. Why isn't he using cash to pay for his gas? Why didn't he ditch the car and car jack someone else? What assurance does he have that Marwan won't blow his head off for committing such a stupid error? This dim-witted incident, which should've been scrapped or retooled, serves to propel the episode's regrettable storyline.



Could Paul just remain stable for a little bit? Please? This is another problem 24 has with its real time format, where a storyline is resolved, or close to it, with hours to spare, and 24's producers and writers scramble to concoct another storyline to take up the rest of the season. It's inevitable that Audrey (who seems to be at a loss for something to do since the early afternoon) will leave Jack, but we have to wait until the end of the season for that to happen.



I'm still grateful that the emotional drama at CTU was limited to that brief scene and those between Tony and Michelle, although this one is stalling before their inevitable reconciliation. I hope that Tony will stick to his promise and keep their personal drama to himself until this situation is over. Personal problems at CTU have allowed Marwan's success. Then again, Marwan would simply kill anyone who gave him attitude.



Following Yosik's blunder, Marwan sends Joe Prado to help him out of the country. Yosik is rightfully paranoid, even without knowing that tactical teams are only a hundred feet away. This is when it starts to get murky. As the team surrounds the boat, Yosik is told by Marwan to kill Prado then himself, but Prado kills him first. CTU takes Prado into custody.



Desperate to keep CTU from interrogating Prado, Marwan calls an associate to report the incident to Amnesty Global, a thinly veiled reference to Amnesty International. The first problem with this scenario is that why he would hire more Americans than necessary. He needed Anderson to steal the F-117 and his appearance wouldn't go noticed. Whenever they've been caught this season, the terrorists have killed themselves before being captured. Perhaps Prado was useful in providing passports and aiding in the terrorists travel routes, but wouldn't there have been a safer choice for them? Second, why couldn't Marwan send one of his cells to suicide bomb CTU or sabotage it otherwise? A bombing would've been tough to do without mimicking "Day 2: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM", but it could've provided a distraction to allow Prado's escape.



Marwan sending a lawyer via a human's rights group was insulting and preachy. To be fair, I don't like when a show discusses one side of an argument aggressively, be it right (24), left (Six Feet Under) or other. Through this season, they've portrayed several people with liberal perspectives as blithering idiots (Richard Heller), people in the pockets of terrorists (Amnesty Global) or both. Although, they have had their share of left wing subtexts, like season two's evil oil men and season three's euthanasia in the hotel of doom. Perhaps they'll lose regardless of however they try to tackle a controversial topic like this one, but maybe they should explore this issue more regarding the innocents that have been torture. The show could improve if they didn't give CTU all of the benefit of the doubt. CTU's portrayal isn't as flattering either, but their incompetence is frustrating to watch too.



Edgar is justified in being upset, but why is he wasting his energy getting mad at a flunky like Prado? His delivery was unconvincing. If Marwan was captured, it would make more sense, but this felt forced. Early in the season I had liked Edgar a lot, but in the last few hours he has grated on me. Whether he agrees with it or not, he shouldn't let his feelings for revenge interfere with their investigation. Buchanan was right to turn down firmly Edgar's outbursts as unprofessional (if only he had recommended this earlier). I'm hoping that this is only the result of the episode's shoddy writing.



The Prado filler plot diminishes the impact of what should've been the center of focus this week; the interception of a nuclear warhead. Having it occur in Iowa (Iowa?) also makes it feel more detached, but they may need a few hours for the warhead to travel so that it'll be close to its target (likely LA) when the season ends. They have said there is no way to stop these warheads when they begin their mission, so whatever option Jack and CTU have when it's launched is unknown.



Jack's solution is probably the only way they could've gotten the information from Prado. But why didn't Jack consider how suspicious it would be that his resignation and Prado's assault occurred within 10 minutes of each other? Although CTU didn't permit or know in advance what Jack did, Buchanan did know that Jack was resigning to do it. Jack may have been better off going AWOL or being unclear of his reasons for resignation and left Buchanan a note or something.

Now Jack is rogue once again. While snapping Prado's thumb was tough, he can still return to CTU by season's end. Considering some of the prior things he's done rogue, this isn't the worst. However, Jack alone is usually a lot of fun to watch.



The episode suffers from the need to draw things out so Marwan and his team can prepare for the last phase (or the penultimate phase) of their operation. Surnow and Loceff fail to refresh the interrogation storyline because it feels manipulative in favor of torture. Constitutional rights are important, but they've been brushed aside easily. Granted, most of the suspects have been guilty, but even those who were innocent didn't get much in the area of an apology for what they endured. Yes torture helps amplify the stakes involved, but I couldn't be enthused by the stolen warhead below the preaching. I'm still hopeful that we'll see the other side. Perhaps Jack will wind up on the other end of the torture machine like in season two. While I was quick to say that 24 regained its momentum in the last few weeks, this week was discouraging. However, this could be just one bump before a stellar finish.