(S07E06) "... you have to stay dead." - Buchanan
This isn't a good sign. After five incredibly strong hours, Day 7 of 24 just fell flat fast. It's inevitable in this show; there will be slow and boring hours. You can't avoid it. However, it typically doesn't start to occur until hours 12 to 18 - right before the final act.
Granted, we got some solid plot advancement in the sixth hour, but even by 24's standards, a lot of it was really drawn out.
On the plus side, at least Bill and Chloe were back again. "No... I'm a stay at home mom." Great line!
Even though it's a given with this show, we picked up right where we left off last week (surprise!) with Bill and Chloe digging up Renee, who had finally succumbed to being shot, wrapped in plastic, and buried alive. She wasn't breathing but after a shot of adrenaline, things were OK. Bill fills her in on everything (Jack and Tony are good, the FBI is compromised, etc.) and obviously Renee goes along with it. However, there's one problem with all of this - it's takes Renee out of the action. She can't call Larry at the bureau and she can't be involved with the plot to stop Dubaku because they think she was killed. So she's just a bystander now. We know what she's capable of and I'm sure she'll find some way to insert herself into the action, but for now... she's just sort of there.
As for Tony and Jack, everything played out as you sort of expected it would. I always assumed that Emerson was a dead man walking - just not this soon. It seemed like Tony had really grown attached to him. He had tears in his eyes as Emerson told Jack that it was his old mentor, Christopher Henderson (Peter Weller), who had been tasked with only incapacitating Tony - not killing him - in season five. The whole "we're brothers" thing got played out a bit too heavily, but you really saw the difference between the two when Emerson thought Tony was doing it to steal the diamonds. It never crossed his mind that Tony was doing it to save lives. That being said, I'm having a hard time believing that in their three years together, Tony and Emerson were never involved in another plot that endangered or led to the death of innocents. So why the conscience now?
More thoughts on hour six --
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Henry is still going to have a hard time cleaning up Gedge's mess. It still looks like Henry killed Samantha, tried to commit suicide, Gedge discovered it, tried to stop him, and Henry killed Gedge. How else would you interpret that scene?
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We did learn one important thing - Ethan isn't Gedge's boss. So who in Taylor's administration is the mole? We know that whoever it is, they stand to gain by having US troops pull out of Sangala so that Juma's regime can succeed. Based on Ethan and Tim's conversation... that's the entire cabinet. Joe, the Secretary of State, already resigned. So he's out. Any guesses? We still haven't met the VP.
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I'm glad Jack shut Renee down the second she acted indignant about not being in on the plan from the get-go. She had this "duh" look on her face - she would have never believed him and she knew it.
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I've never been a huge Star Trek fan, but I've noticed lots of readers mentioning Brannon Braga (one of 24's new Co-EPs) and how he destroyed either Enterprise or Voyager. Well... he co-wrote this episode. I assume this is what everyone was talking about? Then again, he also wrote this season's third hour and that was a great episode.
Dubaku's next move is to shut down a chemical plant in Ohio. Had he not crashed those two planes in this episode, I don't know if I would have believed him. However, based on next week's preview, it looks like Jack and Tony are closing in on Iké fast, thanks to the tooth transmitter Chloe put in Matobo's mouth. I wonder if this will play out similar to season three and the plot will shift drastically from Dubaku to Jon Voight's Jonas Hodges the same way that it shifted from the Salazars to Steven Saunders back then?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1-27-2009 @ 10:36AM
Michael said...
I agree that the hour was a bit drawn out, but I wouldn't necessarily say that it fell flat! There was tension in the Henry/Samantha/Gedge scenes (Will they kill off the First Husband? Will Samantha get the drop on Gedge?), but I think the best part of the ep was how conflicted Tony seemed to be. He had to choose between Jack and Emerson, killed a man he considered "like a brother" and I think it's going to affect him the rest of the season.
Just a couple of nits from last night...
(1) It was a very clear and sunny DC day... Why didn't the planes see each other and avoid the crash?
(2) How could two planes get that close to the White House in the first place?
(3) Jack has surgeon-like marksman skills... A few centimeters one way, Renee would have been killed. A few the other way, Emerson would have know she wasn't shot.
Otherwise, another solid episode on a (thus far) solid season!
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1-28-2009 @ 7:59AM
Eludium-Q36 said...
I agree, M, this ep did NOT fall flat, it had a lot of action and excitement -- especially the vitriol that rises when Pres Taylor is willing to sacrifice even MORE American lives to hold to her principles. I was happy to see an opposition start to form to contest her on that. I expect to see a Press leak regarding her culpability for the air-crash, that should start some impeachment talk.
As for your nits, this is just the level of implausibility we have to accept with fictional series like this. We'll all get through this season just fine if we don't overthink these things, that is as long as the implausibilities are acceptably marginal; otherwise, if it just gets ridiculous then we'll switch channels, but I've been able to hang with this season longer than prior ones, so here's hoping ...
2-08-2009 @ 6:13PM
larry said...
I'm amazed that they cast Jeanine Garafaloe in this series. she can't act and frankly has bombed on everthing she has done. she always has a bad attitude and it shows.
1-27-2009 @ 10:36AM
h8rain said...
Henry big saving grace is he was not just restrained. He was drugged, and I think this would show up in a blood test. Plus, he should have the evidence again.
So is the silent clock last week for Renee? I guess she was technically dead, but they have always reserved that for truly dead people. Or did I miss someone?
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1-27-2009 @ 10:37AM
Andrew said...
Didn't Gedge still have the plastic gloves up to this biceps when he fell from the balcony? Had he been trying to stop Henry from committing a crime, he wouldn't have donned them. Seems to me like good evidence for Henry's innocence, no?
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1-27-2009 @ 10:37AM
Zach said...
I agree Michael, don't think the ep fell flat. Wasn't as great as the previous 5 hours, but still pretty good.
The one thing about the Henery scene is Gedge did have the saran wrap up his sleeves looking very Dexter like.
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1-27-2009 @ 10:37AM
Zach said...
I agree Michael the ep didn't feel flat. Not as good as the previous 5 hours, but still pretty good.
Andrew, you are right. He had the saran wrap up his sleeves looking very Dexter like. So 'd buy his story based on that.
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1-27-2009 @ 10:37AM
ConspiracyGuy said...
The Henry-Gedge-Samantha scene: Henry will have a hard time, his fingerprints are on the knife that killed Samantha, but, Gedge is wearing latex gloves and plastic wrap up to his armpits. Who wears that? It's obvious Gedge was doing something sinister.
Also, I was laughing at Gedge when he got attacked by Henry. Henry was sitting on that couch, paralyzed for almost 50 minutes! Serves him right for poor planing!
Tony's conscience: Didn't early in the season they mentioned that Tony was just doing stealing, infiltrating the FBI, general undermining of the government etc? Tony was angry when he joined up with them, he probably rationalized that any loss of life could be blamed on the government. But this, he was directly responsible, and the end game was to directly kill Americans, so he drew the line there.
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1-27-2009 @ 10:37AM
fsu120 said...
Henry should not have a problem proving what happened. He will not have any blood on his suit because he was far enough away from the stabbing. He couldn't have stabbed her all those times and not got any blood on his suit.
1-27-2009 @ 10:37AM
Erin said...
Great point about the Henry/Gedge/Samantha scene...it might appear that Gedge came up to the apartment to talk to Henry, then realize that he has murdered Samantha. Hopefully there is some way to prove that he had been drugged, and Gedge still has plastic gloves and everything on. Either way, it will be a hard sell, since everyone seems to think the death of his son drove him crazy.
Also, are we sure that Emerson is really dead? He appeared to be dead, but it didn't seem like we knew that for sure. There is something about Tony's demeanor right now that I'm really uncomfortable with.
Next season I'm just not going to watch until the whole season is over so I don't need to wait a whole week to get these answers!!!!!!
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1-27-2009 @ 10:37AM
Guido said...
yeah I thought that about Emerson as well.
funny you say that about Tony, because i said that right before the shootout.
1-27-2009 @ 10:38AM
dukrous said...
Braga didn't destroy Voyager/Enterprise. That was mostly Rick Berman who was show runner on those series. Braga and Ron Moore used to be writing partners, but Moore split after disagreements with Berman and Braga decided to keep his job and follow orders. Granted, all fan hearsay, but Braga gets incorrectly named as the prime suspect when Berman was the one at the top.
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1-27-2009 @ 11:57AM
MikLamb said...
You shouldn't have to worry about Renee being taken out of the action. I have a feeling she will get right back into it -- all she has to do is get back alongside Jack (she's already gone over to the dark side anyway). All of the bad guys who were around when she got "killed" are themselves dead, so no problem there. They just have to make sure that the FBI doesn't see her too soon.
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1-27-2009 @ 12:22PM
hessian said...
I like Brannon Braga's work. He wrote Halloween episodes for STNG. (REALM OF FEAR, SCHISMS) and the series finale.
It's good to see him teamed up with Manny Coto, who if I recall correctly, gave ENTERPRISE a 9-11 themed arc that would have saved the show had it not been on UPN.
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1-27-2009 @ 12:34PM
Randy said...
We should all just be glad that 24 is back. Last season was ok but not one of the best. It seems that they are pulling out all the stops so far on this one and I am glad. It does seem that the first part of this plot is going to wrap up this week, and I seem to remember a preview when the President asks Jack whos side he is really on. We know the plot runs deeper than what we have seen so far, lets wait and see what happens next without dragging the show through the mud.
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1-27-2009 @ 1:28PM
Jeremy said...
Why has no one said that the President herself might be in on the plot? She's been the only one to truly keep pushing for the invasion.
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1-27-2009 @ 1:01PM
Jonathan Toomey said...
Jeremy -
That wouldn't make sense. Those involved, whomever they are, stand to gain with Juma succeeding. Supporting the US troop presence would go completely against that.
1-27-2009 @ 1:28PM
C C said...
Flat? I thought last week's episode was flat! Last night was well-structured, if not subtle. I thought it was very Hitchcockian, especially the business with Henry Taylor, Samantha Roth, and the S.S. agent.
My feeling is that the first act of this season is one big Macguffin. The producers have hinted the episodes they filmed after the strike are better than the eight they filmed before. I suspect they planned it that way in the first place.
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1-27-2009 @ 1:51PM
MERVE-THE-PERVE said...
Henry is still not out of the woods yet. He wasn't moving around very good after that fall and he still has that drug at least partially affecting him. And Gedges partner is still waiting outside in his car for Gedge to call him back when its done. He may go in there to see whats taking so long, esp if he calls Gedge and theres no answer. He may try to finish the job or just take Henry somewhere else and frame him for 2 murders. I don't think they will wrap this plot up this quick.
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1-27-2009 @ 1:51PM
Diego M said...
this was a good episode a solid 8 out of 10.
The problem now with the Taylor/Gedge storyline is that there is another thug in the street. he can come upstairs and kill Henry unless he is able to grab Gedge's gun, since he won't need it. too bad about samantha gettin OJd. Henry got the Flash drive now so this plot is moving forward pretty well.
This next hour will be very action packed, dubaku and jack should meet and hopefully will avert the tragedy.
One thing i don't get, the planes were put in a collision course then they tried to evade and still clipped each other and crashed bellow? cuz as someone pointed out it was daylight, no clouds.
lookin forward to hour 7. oh and jack and Tony got some serious bling!!!
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