24: Season 4, Episode 14: Day 4: 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM Review

Day 4: 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Original Airdate: March 21, 2005

Writer Howard Gordon & Evan Katz

Director Tim Iacofano

Like the last two episodes, 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM is another transitional episode connecting the kidnapping and nuclear override plot to what comes next. The pacing has increased, but it is still slow compared to the first half. Not much in the area of significance happened in the episode, just further steps necessary to get to a more exciting part. Paul was in surgery and Audrey was watching. Jack spent most of the episode as a hostage trying to get to Marwan. Anderson kidnapped and murdered a pilot so he could use his credentials to get onto the airplane hangar. And CTU was trying to keep up with the hunt. This would be more acceptable if they got this within the first two acts of the show. I would’ve liked to see more from the Michelle/Tony dynamic, since that was one of the last episode’s assets.

Audrey is in a difficult position. When this day began, she was ready to let go of her marriage to Paul and officially start her life with Jack. Seeing Jack torture Paul hours earlier gave Audrey a glimpse to how dark Jack can get and hearing that Paul was shot saving Jack reminded her of why she fell in love with him. Now it’s likely because of her ex-husband’s sacrifice he may be paralyzed and such an action should spark her reaction.

One aspect of the episode I thought didn’t get an appropriate introduction was the possibility of President Keeler declairing martial law if another attack happened. If Keeler does decide such action, the consequences would be huge. However, it’s only mentioned briefly; as if to set up what Heller will be doing. Heller has been in a lull since being rescued from Omar and his character has been used as leverage for CTU workers to get what they want or as someone to react to Audrey. Thankfully they’re taking care of it.

Adultery never goes well on 24 and John and his family are the latest casualties. Aspects of this plot are similar to the pilot episode where the cult favorite Mandy slept with Jonathan so she could steal his identity and give the terrorists access to the area vital to their plan. Although this time there is the added impact of having his entire family killed. However, when John finds out and is murdered shortly afterwards, it feels like an afterthought. Granted Anderson’s delivery was appropriately merciless, but it was so quick that the impact isn’t as deep as they were hoping for, especially since this is a character just introduced.

But what does Anderson want? After spending an episode getting to the hangar, they had better make sure he does his part in the next episode or else it will be more filler. Considering Keeler is now accelerating to a martial law plan, it’s likely Anderson will come into play next week.

Bringing Chloe back helped to remedy one of the biggest problems in the writing in the first half. Mary Lynn Rajskub had to leave temporarily so she could work on “The Sketch Show”, but couldn’t her exit have made more sense? She sided with Jack who never got in any trouble for his actions and became the heading the search. Plus, they have mentioned several times that she is the best in her field. I am worried about the possibility of removing Edgar because I have grown to sympathize with him, even to where I liked the subplot involving his mom. Not to mention he has proven to be very effective at his job when others were petty.

How great was it to have Shorheh back on the show? You could almost connect the lack of quality from the last two episodes to the fact that she wasn’t in them. Fayed’s connection is implied that he is another sleeper cell in Marwan’s control. While it’s improbable that they would know each other, I’ll allow it simply because it brings her back, even for one episode. Seeing Jack and Dina interact was great, especially when Jack stabbed himself to add weight to their story. She probably didn’t think people were as dedicated to preventing these attacks as she and her associates were towards committing them.

Watching Dina say goodbye to her son felt almost incestuous considering how affectionate she was to him, but it could’ve been slightly misplayed. Dina knew that she may end up dead because of this mission and that she was doing this for him. Throughout this day, Dina has shown that she loves Behrooz enough to put him above her cause. Combine the two and you can argue that her affection wasn’t dirty.

Fayed and Marwan’s conversation was intriguing because of the plot convenience friendly interference in the phone call. Marwan knows Jack since he was able to alert Fayed. How Marwan knows Jack is unknown, but for dramatic purposes we should assume that they’ve met. I hope that they won’t go the route of tying it with a previous season like last year and have a connection that initially is intriguing, but in the end doesn’t pay off. In Marwan’s case, it would likely involve Syed Ali or any of the terrorists from the second season. Jack must have a reputation considering how effective he is with his work, so they may be better off creating another past incident that would involve Marwan and Jack.

Seeing CTU use more cool techie toys to monitor the terrorists was fun, but it was predictable how Dina and Jack were switched. It reminds me of an Alias episode where something similar happened. We should have found out about the switch when CTU did. Side note: at one point Michelle advises them to maintain a safe distance and it comes off almost like a Jedi mind trick.

There were several repeated events in this episode; the adultery kills theme, removing a thumb to use its fingerprint and Jack injuring himself to give the impression of a struggle. These events can be easily forgiven as they worked dramatically, but the recycling could be a poor indicator of what’s to come.

Another repeated event was the confidence game, played last year when Ramon asked Jack to prove his loyalty by pulling the trigger on Chase (both episodes were co-written by Howard Gordon). This time it was played differently. To a degree, it seems right that Dina would forsake shooting Jack because it could mean that the deal to go in witness protection with her son would be voided. However, Jack believes that keeping cover is the most important thing to do, and that’s what kept him and Chase alive. Dina clearly said she wanted Jack dead.

One nitpick some 24 fans have with the show is that Jack has infallible intuition. Jack has an incredible sense of knowing what the terrorists are going to do. However, having Dina take him to Marwan via Fayed was a mistake. Had they rushed into Fayed’s house, they could’ve snuck in and got him. Dina was able to make it to the front door without a problem and Fayed was watching the news away from his weapon when this happened. Had Jack tried this he could’ve ended up with at least another person to interrogate. Instead, he wound up getting Dina (as far as we know) killed and he’s now a hostage of the mastermind.

Dina’s assumed demise is interesting, as it further fuels speculation that she could still be alive since we never actually see her get shot. I hope that she’s still alive, but I'm not optimistic that that is true. Although if she is alive, what was the importance of making Jack believe that Dina was dead? Next week we should find out her fate definitively, at least to ease speculation. Her death does reinforce the notion that anyone could go at any time.

Behrooz, we have to assume, is an orphan. Combined with the death of his girlfriend, he has had a terrible day. It would be too corny to have him after this show active interest in becoming a CTU agent or something to that affect, but I hope that he can get a new start since he has proven to be a good person.

While this episode is above what 24 has been the last two weeks, it still isn’t quite the level of the first eleven episodes of the season. Some of the repetitive things and the slow forward movement hindered the episode. However, 24 has always slowed down midway through a season, likely so the writers can have some time to concoct a good second half. Even though it’s expected now, it doesn’t make the wait for the next arc better.

Score: 6/10