24 8.22 Day 8: 1:00pm-2:00pm Are You Ready for Iron Jack Bauer?

24 8.22 "Day 8: 1:00 p.m to 2:00 p.m"

Are you ready for Iron Jack Bauer?

BY BLAIR MARNELL
MAY 18, 2010

Episode Title: "Day 8: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m"

Writer: David Fury

Director: Milan Cheylov

Previously on "24":

Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) recovered evidence of Russia's involvement with the day's attacks and brutally slaughtered the man who killed his lover, Renee Walker (Annie Wersching). Former President Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin) demanded that current President, Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) publicly reveal his role in keeping the fragile peace process alive, while he also coordinated the attempts to eliminate Jack.

Meanwhile, back at CTU, Chloe O'Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub) attempted to uncover evidence to support Jack, while Agent Cole Ortiz (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) stewed in custody following Jack's execution of Dana Walsh (Katee Sackhoff).

Finally, Jack was able to tie the Russians back to Logan, thanks to the former President's voice-message service.

Story:

Logan finally gets his wish, as the President's press secretary gives a press conference praising his role in the peace negotiations with the I.R.K.. Eluding a CTU team, Jack and Ricker (Michael Madsen) split up, while journalist Meredith Reed (Jennifer Westfeldt) leaves with the evidence to expose the cover up. Realizing that the net is closing in, Logan convinces President Taylor to use her power to intimidate Reed's newspaper and take her into custody.

Back at CTU, Chloe gets Cole released in order to help her track down Jack through Ricker. Meanwhile, Jack plans and executes a one-man assault on Logan's vehicle, kidnapping the former President. Jack briefly interrogates him and gets most of the answers he was seeking,

Later, Jack stages another assault on the offices of Mikhail Novakovich ( Graham McTavish) — one of the leading conspirators behind the day's events. However, Jack is stabbed in the process and appears to be badly wounded.

Recovering from Jack's assault, Logan finally calls the arriving Russian President, Yuri Suvarov (Nick Jameson), revealing that Suvarov is the true mastermind of the day's events — a fact Jack is now also aware of, thanks to a bug planted on Logan.

Breakdown:

The thing I'm going to miss the most about "24" is the action. Whatever problems the series has had keeping plotlines and character motivations straight, the action has always been top notch. The assault on Logan's limo in the tunnel was a stand-out segment. Although, when Jack stepped out in full body armor my first thought was "My god, it's Iron Jack!"

When Iron Jack was breaking into the limo, there was a moment I was half-expecting the soundtrack to go "Ki Ki Ki, Ma Ma Ma." He definitely had his Jason going.

Prior to that, Logan finally called President Taylor out on her BS and essentially made the same arguments I mentioned last week. Here's the woman who is so righteous that she put her own daughter in jail for murder. But here she is down in the muck and still pretending that she's better than everyone. If the writer's intent was to make her unsympathetic, then good job. For someone supposedly tortured by what she is doing, it took very little convincing for her to subvert the constitution. Taylor lies so easily and it's still all on her.

I also love that everyone is so horrified that Jack gutted the guy who killed Renee — which was one of the goriest deaths we've seen on "24" — but by no means the worst thing Jack has ever done. Remember in season 2, when Jack cut off a child-molester's head so he could reestablish his cover in a half-hour? That was probably worse than this.

It's also kind of shocking how easy it is to steal a car in the "24" universe. Jack literally just finds a very poorly watched van with the keys in the ignition and basically drives off without the owner even noticing.

But back to Jack and Logan. Going face-to-face with the former President had to have been cathartic. That and punching him in the gut a few times. For all of Logan's talk of never exposing his Russian cohorts, when interrogated by Jack, he folds faster than anything in the world has ever folded before. Then Jack chocked him out and left him behind.

By the time Jack gets to the Russian's, he's just mowing people down without a thought. He does get stabbed and it's supposed to look serious... but come on! He's already been stabbed and shot today! And does anyone else remember when Jack killed a guy while having a heart attack in season 2?

I do have to applaud bringing in President Suvarov as the last major villain of the series, since at least it's someone we've seen before. Not that I fully buy the Russian's motivations this season.

Also, Logan falls for the same trick twice when Jack bugs him. In just 90 seconds on the phone, Logan and Suvarov lay out almost their entire villainous plan while Jack listens in. I honestly can't decide if the writers are being lazy again — on "24," there's rarely a plot twist that hasn't been used two to three times previously — or if it's Logan's fault for not thinking to check.

Still, it feels like a cheat.

Next Time on "24":

The clock winds down on Jack Bauer as President Taylor desperately tries to keep the peace agreement alive.

Crave Online Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Source: Crave On Line