Gregory Itzin ushered in what will go down as the single greatest season of 24, alongside Jean Smart. Itzin portrayed Charles Logan with such villainous glee that with every twist of his head you could just see the scheming going on in that twisted mind of his. Oh, it was great fun to have him back again!
You can tell when an actor enjoys a role, and to this point in his career, I think President Logan is probably the most challenging and enjoyable role Itzin has seen yet. He rolled seamlessly into this new season, and like the snake in the Garden of Eden, immediately started whispering in President Taylor's ear.
Despite Ethan's attempts to keep her from listening, Logan was able to appeal to her commitment to peace, her legacy and the sheer amount of work that went into bringing this peace treaty to this penultimate moment. What's great about this moment in '24,' is that I'm not sure who or what is right.
Logan knows more than he's letting on to Taylor, including that Dana Walsh is a key figure in the Russian government's orchestration of the previous day and night's events. What he doesn't need, then, is for Jack Bauer to mess it all up and get her to fess up to what she knows. If the Russians are outed as behind the treaty, there is no way it will get signed.
The appointment of Mrs.Hassan to stand in his stead was both plausible and something that has happened historically on more than one occasion. But to expect her to sign a treaty with the very government who had her husband killed is ludicrous. What's fun, though, is that 'm not sure if Logan is really pushing for this treaty to get signed, or if he has yet another ulterior motive.
I think Cherry Jones was pushed into a more complex position with her portrayal of President Taylor. To this point, she's always done what was right, no matter the costs personally (as we saw last season) or politically. Yet again, she is pushing forth, but this time she's looking at the greater good the treaty will bring, and in doing so turning a blind eye to what she knows about the Russians.
Jack, of course, is hell-bent on finding the men who killed Renee. Names he's told Dana Walsh has. The collision course he was on with President Walker set up a brilliant face-off, because it's so hard to say what is the right thing to do in that situation. Do you get the treaty signed, and then go after the Russian government covertly? Do you sacrifice the peace treaty to confront Russia now? I see both sides of the argument, but of course Jack always knows what's right.
In the end, I'm sure his position will turn out to have been the right one, but for now we can relish in the fact that when Chloe turned on the audio on the roof, he was yelling and threatening people commandeering that helicopter. What's the plan? Jack doesn't have one. He doesn't need one. He yells and bullies and saves the day. That's the definition of Jack Bauer.
It's almost laughable now when he goes into his super-Jack yelling mode because we've seen it so many times. "Drop your weapons! I will kill him!" While Chloe got promoted to interim head of CTU, Jack Bauer is the same old Jack.
I kind of like the idea of Chloe in charge of CTU. She has years of experience, doesn't take crap from anyone, and seems to have a better grasp of the big picture than anyone else there ... except for Jack, of course, But Jack's a superhero, and they never run government operations.
With six hours left to go on Jack's TV adventures, there is still plenty of ground to cover. In a way, this episode marked the start of the final chapter in Jack's journey, by closing the doors on the IRK nuclear threat, and opening a new more complex one with the Russian government. It is this story that will close out Jack's time with us, so I appreciate that the writers made it personal, though I miss Renee.
