24

On contrary to the previously slower episode, this episode was far better. There are no twists but it manages to keep you on your edge of seat throughout.
it is a worth watch and the best part was when Jack needs to decide whether to take lives of innocent people to catch terrorist or not.

I enjoyed this episode of 24, but I have a problem with it. When President Logan ordered CTU to allow the terrorists to release the gas in the mall, I was reminded I was watching actors on a show. There is no way in hell a President or anybody for that matter would allow, or even worse demand, something like that to happen. That is just preposterous. Yes, there are many implausible moments throughout 24, but none as implausible as this. The writers got that one wrong. Well, nobody's perfect.

A rather disjointed two-episode arc comes to a close when Jack must go with Erwich's guys to gas some civilians. Sounds fun.
Actually, this is not the most fun I've had watching the show. It's passable for entertainment, but it's a little off. Jack's mall escapade could be great television, but something takes me out of the whole thing. Maybe it's the fact that we've already seen Jack go undercover with terrorists. However, it also somehow seems like they're not focusing on the main terrorist conspiracy. Weird, since I know that they're directly dealing with the Sentox, but this episode reminds me of several last season where the story veered off; it feels like Jack's going out of his way without going out of his way. I'm sure that makes sense. Also, Jack resuscitates a little girl. How precious…and SO not "24."
The other story is some filler about the aftermath of Cummings' suicide (yeah, suicide, whatever). Does anybody really care about this one-off subplot? Me, not that much. But let's look at the bright side—at least Logan isn't being told by an old chum to fire his brother for sleeping with his wife. THAT would be garbage.
Eventually, this and the last hour turn out to have been worthless, since Erwich escapes with the other nineteen canisters and CTU is left right where they were at 1:00 PM. 'Smatter, writers? Decaf?

Hourly Highlight:
The arrival at Sunrise Hills Mall. Nice percussion, Callery.

If you rate this episode with 9 or 10, what will be the rate for a episode like 12 and 13? Will you rate it 20?



8 is a rate that fit this episode. We have time to see the effects of this gas. Of course, Jack is able to stop it, but not with some casualties.



This episode is not shocking or the type that give you some kind of revelation that you fall of your chair.



Overall, this episode is all about tension, details, make a impression and bring the point: necessity vs morality. I don´t know how, but the writers managed to bring some material to martha.

Jack is acting as the Rossler and it does not go as he expects - they kidnap him and want little demonstration - in a mall. So CTU has to face a decision - to let them continue and kill 800 innocent people or not.. President lets them but Jack does not obey the order and ends being hit.. and gas is released.. Jack luckily manages to keep the worst from happening.



On the other hand, we have President.. and his struggle with his wife who is not so happy of covering up what have happened and she does a mistake - she tells about it to someone.. and even if the do not proceed that storyline, I am sure it comes back to hunt them..

This episode was the first time the Sentox Nerve Gas was released, and the attack on the mall showed how deadly this weapon was, especially since people dropped like flies and it was only a small amount of gas. The conflict in this episode between Lynn and Audrey was great, and Logan once again played brilliantly as a reluctant president that wants others to do the decisions for him.

The only thing I guess that brings this episode down was the fact that CTU was back to square one, and the deaths of those civilians were nullified. Thank Jack Bauer and his heroic stature for making up his own mind about whether they really should kill innocent civilians, and that only 11 died when potentially hundreds could have.

I liked the episode. I thought that the scenes in the mall were cool. What I found a little out of the ordinary is the timeline from which Jack was knocked out to when he woke up. Jack has been knocked out in previous seasons and they have lasted 20 minutes or more, this time he was knocked out for merely 5-6 minutes...waking up just in time to prevent himself from getting shot in the head. but Im just being picky now. The scene where Jack saves the girl was great, showing just how dedicated Jack is to his country. The episode ended like I would have expected, no leads and no witnesses.

Jack Bauer finds himself getting to give a crazy old engineer custody of an underage girl. Jack disguises himself as Rossler after the underage girls executes that crazy old engineer. Jack meets up with the terrorist hoping to get a lead to the other missing nerve gas canisters. Things get complicated when the terrorists forces Jack to come back with them. It turns out that they want him to release the gas inside a shopping mall. President Logan is forced to authorize an action that can get hundreds of civilians killed. But Jack Bauer knows better and he prevents the worst from happening.

The biggest problem with this episode, was, the outcome. Usually 24 is very cruel, very life-like. This episode was a contrast to the 24 I know.



I dont want to spoil poeple who didn't watch the rest of the season yet, but - if you rate this episode more than 9...Then you are gonna rate episode 12 and 13 at least 15.



The first time the gas is released, but nothing too serious. Honestly, I expected a little more. It could have been dramatic if lets say 100 people die. Instead, 11 died. Jack played a hero - he saved a very young girl. It was a nice touch, although him putting mask on the girl was a stupid move since Jack was still in the part of the building where the gas was present.



The problem is, Logan still can't make his mind up. And this is going to be a big problem. A problem that exists until the last quarter of the season.

Although the episode is slow to get going, the action is delivered in masses as Jack is trying to escape the terrorists and then stop the nerve gas. Just seeing him run through the shopping centre with the silenced gun and the gas mask made my spine shiver and tingle. I love seeing Jack ina ction, saving the day as he was there... he even managed to save a little child. I don't see the real relevance to that other than Jack doing his part for the little ones. The only disappointment was the time descrepancy with this episode and the next. You'll notice as the clock fades, Irwik is just driving down the road past Jack, but at the very begining of the next episode, he is walking into Vladmir's base/HQ.

Better than last week, weaker than the earlier episodes. I have to admit I'm starting to lose interest in the plotline. And honestly it bugs me to no end that (hopefully just on TV) the US always manages to get these powerful weapons stolen. Sometimes I can't help but want to scream at the TV that if they didn't produce these weapons to begin with then there wouldn't be a problem. Well that's the problem with being from a "pacifistic" country I guess...



The Logans bored me in this episode. As for Walt's death I still suspect foul play. End of what I have to say about this particular storyline.



I was interested to see Audrey take on Lynn in this episode. Even more interested to hear Sean Astin roar at someone. I agreed with both sides in this episode, Audrey had a great point but so did Lynn/Bill. Well they semi-ended up with a compromise, didn't they?



The whole mall storyline was kind of interesting. But the mall looked a lot like the location where Tony was shot in season three.



What now? No leads to the terrorists.

After last week's episode, which a bit sluggish, this one was a much more welcome installment. Although both dealt with the issue of whether it is right to do morally questionable things for the greater good, this one felt more focused and is a good stepping stone for the showdown with this nerve gas, which must be coming soon. It didn't suffer from lame side stories, like Lynn's sister, which is addressed quickly, even if that means we'll have to deal with it later.



If Lynn's impromptu beat down did anything, it made him cranky. He is flexing his district muscle a lot more, in an effort to prove himself as effective. Perhaps his insistence on letting the terrorists release the nerve gas is a way for him to unleash that frustration at being rendered helpless less than an hour earlier. Only we know what happened, but that will likely be revealed soon.



It would've been funny if they had a scene with Lynn impatiently waiting outside CTU's entrance for someone to let him in while trying not to look suspicious because he lost his ID card, but instead he gets back in easily. No one asks why he looks disheveled, something more noticeable on repeat viewings.



The central problem of this episode is a common one for "24": how many need to be sacrificed to prevent a larger scale slaughter? How many casualties are acceptable? In addition, is there a way they can avoid loss of life and still be able to avert the attack? "24" has answered that question several different ways during its run, most notably with the Saunders situation at the end of season three. It is even more important now as they have this single lead to use, although they are forgetting one that I mentioned in the previous review.



Though Lynn and Buchanan believe that this would help, Jack and Audrey don't. Although following this canister lead is the best lead they have, there is no guarantee that the tracker on the remote will lead them to Erwich or the other nineteen canisters, which could easily be en route to their new target if not there already. It is a huge gamble, and Audrey can't use the lives of the people in the mall as collateral.



It's not surprising that Jack disobeyed Logan's order to allow the terrorists to release the nerve gas. While Jack is willing to help avert the crisis, he doesn't respect Logan the way he respected Palmer. Seeing how he reacted after discovering Walt's deception alerted Jack to Logan's inability to lead. Logan wasn't much to offer help during the warhead or hostage situations, so Jack would logically defy Logan when he had an order. Also, considering they know how to activate the canisters on site, the remote activation lead is moot.



The release of the canisters is a lighter version of the hotel saga from season three because only a small portion of the people succumbs to it. It also gives Jack an opportunity for some heroism. Because there were no puppies or little old ladies nearby, he saves a little girl from the nerve gas. This is worth noting since they don't go for these moments on 24. He has helped civilians before, but not to the degree where some may cry manipulative.



What surprises me is how long it took Erwich to realize that CTU is onto their mission. Only two hours earlier he learned that Walt was going to betray them. In this episode, he arranges the meeting with Jack as Rossler with Jack only saying one quick word and only suspects something when Jack surprises Pulakov and the other henchman. Considering Walt was a high ranking government official and the fact that his operation has been changed at the last moment, it seems sloppy of him not to be aware of potential government intervention.



Logan reverts to being a little twerp. Walt's suicide gave him the opportunity to escape from a potentially long and embarrassing trial, something that would damage his much coveted legacy. Of course, it fits his character to take this route, and it still sets Logan up for a more tragic fall. Although they hope the potential scandal would die with Walt, it won't be that easy.



Logan's plan relies heavily on CTU's ability to keep the Russian threat under control. Since this is only the third way point, this attempt to cover up will cause considerable fall out, and that will be interesting to see. Martha warned Logan that the public wouldn't forgive him if he lied, so this statement about Walt's "heroism" is irrevocable. Evelyn knows the truth, and considering her job performance, this should be on every major news outlet before the evening news comes on.



When Martha confronts Logan with the lie, he manipulates her by trying to get her to tell Walt's widow the truth about her husband. We're rooting for Martha to do the right thing, but Logan's request is kicking Mrs. Cummings when she's down and we can understand why she wouldn't want to go there. Thankfully, Martha doesn't lie, but it isn't entirely the truth: Walt claim of patriotism is what got him in bed with terrorists, who in turn set forth to attack America. Logan's decision also cuts down the hour he spent with her trying to work on remedying the situation, further splitting these two. You have to wonder if Novick is comparing the Logans to the Palmers.



This episode moves a lot faster than the predecessor. The moral question of CTU's actions remains a strong part of this season and we see that dilemma over "the greater good" paralleled with Logan's storyline. I'm not sure what to expect after the nerve gas problem is solved, but I like 24 that way.

I know Rossler was supposed to be important, but I still can't be sorry she shot him.



Lynn - trying to clean himself up after having the crap beat out of him, and act like nothing has happened. It's finally out in the open - McGill is in charge, Buchanan has been punted off to the side - what I would like to know is why? Why did Logan send McGill over to CTU, and what is the relationship between the two of them...



Jack impersonating Rossler - could go either way. If the meeting place is only five minutes from either place that means Erwich is somewhere within a ten minute radius of Rossler's building. Why are they not looking for a place where Erwich could do the required work on the canisters within that radius?



How about Mike's idea of letting Cummings "die with dignity" - I for one find that reprehensible - the man was a traitor, and it should be known that he was. Martha has told her assistant the truth, and now that will probably make it's way all over the White House even though it was said that it could not leave that room until the press release.



It's hitting the fan now - Logan's office has issued a statement that totally covers up the actions of his chief of staff, and Martha is seriously ticked off. The challenge for her to tell Cummings' wife the truth when she comes to pick up the body is a gauntlet picked up willingly by Martha - will she do it? Or will she stick with the lie... Ahhh, she couldn't do it - so much for that brave speech she gave about telling the truth, and how if Logan couldn't, she would.



A mall? Again? They did that in third season...



Logan is a git - "This is a field operation - it's your decision!" What a wimp!!! Then he decides to sacrifice up to a thousand innocent people, on the *chance* that the remaining canisters will be recovered, and McGill blindly follows along with the order.



Oooo, bad Jack... giving them the wrong unlock code. Don't blame him, I don't think they made the right decision either - how is killing a thousand people right under any circumstance? Of course now he's in trouble - handcuffed to a table leg while they reconfigure the canister.



Very smooth moves by Jack - of course he panics everyone by running around looking like an aardvark in that gas mask, but he managed to do what was the right thing, not the expedient thing, and save as many people as possible.



Finally all caught up - now just waiting for the next one... hehe

Timothy Omundson (terrorist) looks SO MUCH like Day 4\\\'s character Paul Raines (James Frain), so I was just shaking my head all confused. Thank God they killed them both so it\\\'s not going to be a continuing distraction. They both even have UK accents!



Otherwise a great episode as usual.

although quite a nice episode, it is a little disapointing the overall clumsyness of the team, I mean, when we usually see clever operations the one in this episode is just faulty. This all began the last episode with a very forseable killing, and then Jack got out of the problem in a very dumb way.

This episode is a perfect example of what this series is all about: on the surface, it’s a thrilling ride, with a constant theme of necessity vs. morality, which is even more apparent this season than in the past. But just under the surface, the logic of each situation is questionable at best and ludicrous at worst. It’s been said season after season, but the fact remains: this is a series where it’s best to stop thinking and just enjoy the spectacle.



For instance, it would be easy to point out that getting kicked in the face hard enough to make one bleed also, by simple logic, should result in serious bruising and swelling. Yet Lynn runs around within minutes of getting pummeled with little more than ruffled hair and bad attitude about the world.



Similarly, it was a little too simple for Jack to answer the phone for Rossler and get the location of the meet. This was, of course, an excuse to get to the meat of the episode, but it could have made more sense than having Erwich simply dump the information without a hint of suspicion! (Sure, Erwich ultimately demonstrated a more cautious approach, but that was oddly contrived.)



The set-up is relatively simple. The chip has a locator beacon which allows the person carrying it to be followed. Erwich is sending out a team to meet with Rossler, but that team is also meant to carry out a quick field test on a local mall. So one canister out of 20 is in play, and if the locator beacon doesn’t get taken to the location of the remaining 19 canisters, the one existing lead is lost. Thus the question is raised: how much can be accepted in the name of preventing future acts? This drives the action of the episode.



Meanwhile, Logan continues to make decisions based on PR and expediency, especially when he can point to someone and say “He told me to do it!”. How many people deal with “leaders” who shift opinion and policy based on the most recent powerfully expressed “advice”? Logan was more than willing to go along with Martha when she was the dominant voice of reason, but now that Novick has a strong point to make, he shifts direction accordingly.



Logan makes two decisions in this episode, and they are of very different character. His decision to go along with Novick’s advice regarding Walt, rather than full public disclosure, is not necessarily the wrong decision. In fact, Martha begins to see that by the end of the episode. Sometimes concealing the truth is less harmful, and from a more pragmatic point of view, there’s still a great deal to be determined and uncovered.



Logan sent out a glowing, positive press release regarding the loss of Walter Cummings, which has the benefit of short and long-term benefits. In the short term, if things do not escalate and the terrorist threat is contained, the matter will be swiftly dealt with by the proper channels. There’s every reason to believe that there’s more to the plot, and Walt could have been a dupe. Should something else happen in the long term, there’s no reason why they can’t turn around and reveal that Walt was implicated.



On the other hand, if all the cards are laid out on the table, there’s no turning back. If new information comes to light, his memory would still be in doubt. More to the point, disclosing the circumstances of the terrorism connection could impede the investigation into the activities currently in play. Logan makes the choice that leaves him with the most options after the fact.



The main thrust of the episode, the incident at the mall, plays out in roughly the same fashion. In this case, Lynn and Bill are the ones pushing for Logan to allow the terrorists to succeed in a small-scale incident in the hopes that the other 19 canisters will be located. It’s about keeping options open. Audrey, on the other hand, focuses on the fact that Logan would be ensuring the deaths of some civilians, all in the hopes that more deaths could be prevented as a result.



This is thematically no different from the disclosure of Walt’s activities, and in essence, Logan makes the same kind of choice. He pushes everyone around him into giving advice with strong conviction, and then takes the direction that leaves him with the most options for the future. In the case of Walt’s reputation, it’s not a bad call; in the case of the terrorists, it’s a lot less defensible.



This is the main issue with the episode. It doesn’t take much to wonder how in the world CTU would support the idea of letting hundreds of civilians die, even if it preserves one lead to help eliminate another related terrorist threat. There are examples of such thinking throughout history, and at times, it can be justified. However, in this case, despite what Lynn might say, there is no guarantee that the locator beacon will actually reach Erwich. After all, Erwich has already deviated from CTU’s understanding of the situation on several occasions.



The irony is that the characters don’t seem to recognize (except, of course, Jack and perhaps Audrey) that this kind of value judgment is exactly the kind of thinking that led to Walt’s covert anti-terrorist operation. Walt was all about letting the terrorists achieve a minor victory in the name of defeating them on their home turf. Logan is willing to let civilians die on the assumption that the locator beacon will then lead to Erwich. There’s a distinct similarity, and thus a direct link to the necessity vs. morality theme.



Jack forces the issue, making the moral choice. He decides to risk the long-term goal of protection civilians to achieve the short-term goal of preventing assured civilian losses. This once again brings up the question of Jack’s autonomy, which was referenced at the top of the episode. If Jack has full autonomy, he should be the one making the call, not Lynn or Bill. And if Lynn is serious about making the decision covert, Logan shouldn’t be involved at all.



The net effect is that CTU loses the one direct lead that knew about, which means it will be that much harder to prevent a large-scale attack. This is especially true because Erwich is aware of the fact that law enforcement is on his heels, this driving him to act more quickly. Yet it’s overstating the situation to assume that there are no leads at all. Walt had a contact, and if that contact was knowledgeable enough to work with the terrorists and coordinate Walt’s gambit, then he ought to have resources to track or contact Erwich.



Does Jack take that into consideration before acting? Perhaps, perhaps not. The fact remains that he has seen options disappear, only to have new leads present themselves in short order. He knew that Erwich might fall into the trap, even if it was unlikely, and so he must also be prepared for the worst.



The real question is whether or not Lynn, having been chastised, will have enough self-awareness to realize that Jack made the only call that he could under the circumstances. Or will Lynn push to have Jack punished for violating a direct order? Will this become another example of a mid-season slump, where idiotic bureaucratic obstacles are dumped in Jack’s path so the terrorists have a few more episodes until the next major beat of the story?



As it happens, this is episode 5.8, which means that this is the first major turning point of the season. Things will necessarily complicate even further in the next 7-8 episodes. That means that something significant will happen around episodes 11-12 and then more significant in episodes 15-16. It’s not quite clear from the plot what will happen, but odds are, Jack will be facing some emotional and political fallout coming into the next turn as the terrorists regroup and make their next move.

although some of the themes from this epsiode have been used before last season (jack held, undercover etc) it still delivers! Its tense, dramatic and has excellent action, i think the music used help to increase certain emotions and make 24 what it is, not so much silly sub-plots this time either, but you know there gonna happen

Over all this was a good episode. Finally lynn shows a lot more authority around CTU, didnt like him that much before because he still reminded me too much of samwise gamgee but after this episode he's grown on me



Audrey is really starting to get annoying now i wanted lynn to fire her she's soo whiny.

I thought this was a pretty good episode, all in all.



Honestly, was Walt Cummings the true bad guy in the White House, or just a patriot as he said? Well, sometimes Mike Novick makes me think differently sometimes. In the least he is a sneaky guy. And he knows the exact buttons to push on Logan. Which there aren't many. Should I be a big wuss today or a little one? Those are the two options.



Now as wild and crazy and nail biting as 24 can be. I have one complaint. How stupid was the terrorist that handcuffed Jack to the table leg. There were a million ways anyone could have escaped from that. (Weak plot device in that situation.) My money was on Jack gnawing through his arm to get free of the handcuffs. They'll probably save that one for Kim when she returns



As par for the course, Jack once again disobeyed orders. And if you watched the previews, once again we hear those words, "Bring Jack in!" Whatever! Everytime he comes in he goes back out, they should have learned that by now. One of these days they'll bring him in and to escape he'll blow up CTU.



This episode did leave me wanting more and I'm looking forward to next week. It looks to be action packed. As Jack appears to be working w/ a terrorist! Shocker..lol I mock but I do it because I love it.

What else can I say the setup for this episode was just sub-par, the writers tricks and all just weren’t even close to feasible in real life, not the action but the characters interaction and roles in this episode were just conflicting with other times in the past, honestly Hollywood needs a better system than 1 billion writers and 1 billion directors for one show. (if there is only one director and writer for this whole season, they have to check back to the previous chapters to see if it’s still the same story their writing on)

Jack Bauer takes the initiative, like we know he can and used to do, in this episode. He gets his pushed and knocked around, but handles the situation excellently in the mall. In this episode, I think we finally see the Jack truly doing his job like in season 1 and 2.

CTU cooperation and the Logans's Cummings dilemma takes up time and is handled ok, even though it dulls the episode at some pivotal points.

The action in this episode reflects why so many people are addicted to this Monday night thriller. The writers keep the audience surprised, on their feet, and the action going. With no lead in sight, where will Jack Bauer and CTU be led to next?

This episode was the best this season... and one of the best of the series, I think.



This hour was what 24 and Jack are all about. And at the sametime they have introduced an entirely new element to the show. The office of the President is almost a bad guy. (interesting timing)



When David Palmer made decisions he always seemed sure and even when he was sure he always seemed to be trying to find the right choice. This season we have a white house which seems totally focused on covering up their mistakes, leaving Jack totally on his own.



And although the worse possible outcome was produced by Jack's actions, with no lead to the canisters, you know he still made the right choice.



Jack is the man.