Normal 24 recapper Michael had to take the night off. Something about his neighbor not having cable of any kind, and Michael was kind enough to pantomime the entire episode for them from his living room. He’s now tuckered out, but will be back ready to rock next time you need your 24 commentary fix.
Tonight’s recap of 24 was sprung on me later than last minute. I was informed that regular recapper Michael wouldn’t be able to do it this week as the end credits rolled, which happened to be at around 10:30 pm for me. As much as I enjoy this season of the show I can’t help but feel trepidation about recapping a show I’ve given up on understanding in the past few weeks. All I know is that things happen a lot in the show and we never know which direction the story is going. I doubt that Jon Voight will be the bad guy after next week the way this season is going.
”This threat is not over!"
While Jack’s sentiment may be about the national security issues running rampant in the president’s casa blanca, I think he really feels the whole thing is about uppity agent Moss. No wonder terrorists get away with whatever they want when Jack Bauer isn’t running his game; guys like Moss make the FBI look like mall cop rejects.
While getting ready to clear out her office Renee gets a call from her friend, and soon to be lover, Jack “Stoic and Scary, but a little loveable” Bauer. He’s gotten a picture of Ryan Burnett’s real killer and needs her to find out the guy’s identity. Once again proving that Jack’s a real hero who relies on the kindness of the women in his life to sort out his situations. Just ask Chloe about doing favors for Jack, she’ll tell you all about the time she gave him directions to catch a guy who was forty miles away. It was a super intense night of running, gunning, and no sleep.
Renee needs little convincing and calls Jack back to let him know the guy is a black ops badass named John Quinn who now works for Starkwood, a group who used to be defense consultants and now are basically guns for hire. When Agent Moss comes into the room Walker evades a bit and it looks like she’s gotten away with her under the table Bauer dealings. But Moss proves himself not completely incompetent when he tells Janeane Garafalo that her stand up is merely OK, and also that agent Walker is in contact with Jack and she’s their best link to him. At some point during this we cut away to Jon Voight yelling at a subordinate, which just goes to show how much he is the bad guy. Or maybe it’s just to justify Voight’s salary.
Back over at the White House the president’s daughter, aka Kim Bauer primer, tells her mother that maybe she should claim Juma’s death as a win in her speech to the nation. The president agrees, and then Shawshank Warden shows up to rain on the parade. He explains what he did with Bauer and Burnett, and the president forcefully requests to be informed when Jack is caught by the FBI.
The FBI is now following agent Walker, only they decide to intercept when she hits the hallway. They’ve traced two calls that she had with him and now Moss wants to know where Jack is. Um, see if Jack were there he’d have informed everyone the best move would be to track Renee until she led them to the target. In his desire to show how his penis is just as big as Jack’s agent Moss puts Renee in a holding cell.
Senator 70’s Show Dad arrives home after his ordeal tired and ready for a scotch and nap. Unfortunately Jack has a better plan that involves far less relaxation. The Senator thinks Bauer is there to kill him, but Jack makes a good point about the Senator being dead already if he wanted it that way. It turns out that the Senator was involved in a six month inquiry into Starkwood. Ah ha! Confirmation of the bad organization’s name is granted.
The Senator vows that he is going to shut down Starkwood, but nothing points to them performing a terrorist attack on American soil. When asked for the files on Starkwood Senator 70’s Dad inquires of our hero if the connection between Starkwood and Juma doesn’t exist, will Jack turn himself in? Well no. I mean we already know you’re incompetent, sir. So why would Jack hinge his freedom on the hope you did a decent job with this particular investigation?
Shawshank Warden and Kim Bauer Primer have a bit of a tiff at the president’s national address when a reporter says he’s running a story about the Bauer/Burnett incident. Warden confronts the president’s daughter about the leak, and she denies it. She tells him that he’s messed up again and wants to blame it on her. He grabs her saying, “I’m not going to let you get away with this.” Tommy Lee Jones replies, “I don’t care.” And the president’s daughter tells him to let her go. Then Harrison Ford jumps off the dam and…wait, that was a movie I watched the other day.
Back at FBI Janeane Garafalo isn’t good enough to break the encryption done by Renee’s personal computer. The only person with the know how is…Chloe! But Moss realizes that her husband is in the building, and he too is a level 6 analyst. Take that Garafalo, what are you…like a level nothing analyst? Zing! Moss tells Morris that they need him to help the FBI find Bauer, and in return maybe Chloe will be set free. Morris obviously doesn’t believe Bauer killed anyone. Well, not anyone innocent at least. Morris initially refuses but Moss threatens minimum jailtime of fifteen years, and Morris capitulates. Not that I blame him this time around, he’s doing it to protect his wife. You are forgiven for the choice, Morris. I love that the FBI can’t decrypt “Blowfish” at all, and Morris finishes the job in less than a minute.
Chloe’s mad at Morris for what he did, but the compelling family argument helps her to gruffly not hate her husband. She’s still scared that Jack will not be taken in peacefully to face a trial. For some reason Jack decides to open his heart to the senator, telling him he does have regrets. He regrets losing his family, and he regrets knowing that innocent lives may be deemed expendable for the “greater good.” But Jack regrets the most that the world needs people like him. It’s kind of like The Operative acknowledging his innate evilness in Serenity, except we don’t get anything as awesome as River demolishing a group of Reavers after the scene is over.
This season is really about a clashing of ideals. There’s the “do what it takes” attitude of guys like Bauer and Buchanan, and then there’s the approach of the loftier goal of a higher standard of being taken by the Senator. The reality is that there are situations where the enemy will never bow down before the turned cheek. And when you’re talking about millions of innocent lives – not to mention national security – then the Senator should be thankful that there are Jack Bauer’s in the world who can do what no moral person could.
It’s interesting for 24 to take such a course in its story. Usually things are cut and dry, with only betrayals to liven up the tale. During a perusal of files Bauer discovers that Starkwood was trying to acquire a bio-weapon. How the hell did the Senator not think that this would be important to follow up on? Especially in light of Juma destroying evidence.
When the police show up the Senator vows to protect Bauer and order them to listen. The Senator tells Jack he has to start trusting the institution he has vowed to protect, and I immediately get apprehensive. You see fans, whenever things look up for Jack something very bad happens. Now he’s given a reason to trust the government, that maybe talking is the best way to go about things. The Senator goes to open the door only to find himself being filled with bullets. Right when you think 24 might get a little cerebral the writers slap you and say, “Silly man. Don’t you know this is the Jack Bauer Power Hour?” And now Jack is being hunted by Starkwood and the FBI.
The president’s daughter is squirrely. I don’t know why I don’t trust her, but it might have to do with her self-important attitude around Shawshank Warden. It keeps coming to me that she’s likely a red herring, but what if she ends up being the mastermind behind Starkwood’s plans and I never spoke up? I’d feel horrible. Plus I don’t like her. She comes to the president with proof that she wasn’t the leak on the story, and the editor will squash the article if given a little one-on-one time with the president.
To prove that he’s the biggest badass of them all Jack Bauer brings a bulldozer to a gun fight. While being chased by Starkwood Jack leads the guy into a building, which he then tips over using the bulldozer. The two get into some good old fashioned fisticuffs, and after some ninja ops moves by the bad guy, Bauer puts him down for good. Before the man dies Jack asks where the weapons are coming in, to which the guy responds, “They’re already here.” Jack checks the cell phone and is conveniently met with the port and yard where the weapons arrived in America. Moss of course thinks Bauer killed the Senator, and Jack once again calls on CTU Almeda to help him out.
