24: Season 1, Episode 3: 2:00 AM - 3:00 AM Review
2:00 AM - 3:00 AM
Original Airdate: November 20, 2001
Writer: Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff
Director: Stephen Hopkins
Although this is a filler episode, it is still good. Unfortunately, not enough is done to capitalize on the momentum from last week. Some things are taken care of, but reset to buy them some time before the culmination. However, it's good that we learned a little more about this conspiracy and Palmer's family secret.
So, Jack's impromptu amputation wasn't just ruthless brutality after all. Jack scans the thumb he cut off last episode to get the thumbprint. This thumbprint is quickly sent over to CTU to identify. Elsewhere, Teri calls Jack to tell him that Kim called. She's worried about the "I love you", but Jack believes she's trying to avoid a major punishment. Alan wants to drive around looking for them, but Jack would prefer that they stay at the store in case they do come back. Teri's afraid that Jack is going to start a fight with Alan, but instead remains calm.
At the compound, Gaines yells at Mandy for getting an amateur involved in the operation. There is no more money to spare and Brigit wants another million dollars. Brigit tries to speak for herself, but Mandy slaps her. Mandy tells Gaines that she'll teach her about the work they do. Later, Brigit uses their relationship to get her to side with her instead of Gaines. They passionately kiss, which ensures Mandy's status with the male audience for the rest of the series, regardless of how much of it she actually is in.
After a few episodes of hints, it is time we got to see some real character development from the Palmer storyline. It starts at the hotel with security attempting to locate him. Desperate to help, Keith takes his keys to look personally. However, Sherry manages to stop him from going. Although this could be easily forgotten, in retrospect this showed the viewer a glimpse of how Sherry can exert her will over people.
Because of the ID problem, Gaines calls Dan to tell him he's running late. We now know that Kim's kidnapping is connected to the Palmer hit, but not much else. Kim tries to console a seriously injured Janet while convincing Dan and Rick to help ease her friend's pain. This is where we finally learn how much of a doormat Rick is, going along with Dan's decision not to take her to a hospital. He does assert himself in a weird way. He gives Janet heroin to calm her down.
Palmer is in a seedier side of LA. The audience knows this from the abundance of graffiti and the flickering neon signs. As he parks his SUV, he sees two kids smashing other cars' windows and headlights for fun. When they approach him, he doesn't submit to their threats and stops one of them from hitting him with a baseball bat. They back away, but still smash Palmer's back window. He remains calm and commanding. Such characterization would've been welcome had it come earlier, especially in the pilot. However, this episode is where Palmer's story really starts.
Jack returns to CTU, but stays low to avoid getting Nina's attention. He calls her and sends her on a menial task that takes her away from her desk and allows him to find Jamey. He gives her the card. Jamey is worried when she finds out that Walsh died because of this card. Jack trusts her to find out if Nina burnt the card on her station. If she did, it would signify her guilt.
After talking to Jamey, Jack gets a call from the person assigned to find the fingerprint. Unfortunately, there is no record of the gunman on file. This revelation further deepens how sinister the conspiracy to kill Palmer really is. Those behind it have taken such care in their operation to have literal "nobodies" do the dirty work. One minor nit pick; the analyst says that Jack sent the fingerprint an hour before, when we know it wasn't even thirty minutes prior. Perhaps this revelation was meant to be the major twist revealed at the end, but considering many of the threads in this hour aren't resolved or are reset to what they were, such a twist wouldn't be good for a lasting impression.
Kim knows that she has to escape from these guys. She gets Janet to go with her since Rick and Dan are smoking weed away from the van. Though she had mixed feelings about her parents following their separation, she has learned a little from Jack. They run for it, using a plane's take off to help buy more time. Their run ends in a seedy alley in North Hollywood, where they stumble on a guy being serviced.
It turns out a male prostitute was servicing him. The customer storms back to his car. The gaunt prostitute, a young man, yells at Kim and Janet for costing him money. Although he's mad, he doesn't give up Kim and Janet. He may seem like a hooker with a heart of gold, but he actually misleads Rick and Dan so he can take some of their things to make up for his lost business. Rogow, the prostitute, is an anomaly of a character. While he's made at Kim and Janet, he still protects them from the boys and later helps them when a pimp tries to hurt them.
In the seedy parking lot, Palmer meets with Carl, his seedy aide. Palmer tells him the situation. A few years ago Palmer's daughter Nicole had been raped. The rapist was believed to have killed himself, but Kingsley claims to have evidence incriminating Palmer's son in the death. Palmer wants this quieted because he believes it's a lie, but doesn't want to resort to dirty politics. Before they can have a long talk, secret service arrive, and Carl ducks out, indicative of his character's questionable reputation.
Jamey confirms that the keycard was burnt on Nina's computer. As Nina gets some coffee, Jack confronts her about it. Although it took a long time for Jack to do this, it results in the now classic line "Who are you working for?" Later he gets Jamey to verify the ID card. Unfortunately, the card was made when Nina and Jack were on vacation. Nina storms out, furious over the accusation. After Walsh, Nina was Jack's most trusted ally at CTU. In retrospect, the two worst candidates at CTU know that Jack knows there's a leak.
Walsh's memorandum is sent out and Tony wants to know how and why it happened. Suddenly a senior member of CTU is dead on a night where Tony has been constantly suspicious of the motives and actions of his co-workers. After reviewing the file, he secretly calls a CTU superior requesting that Jack be replaced. This lone action provides plenty of potential for the rest of the day and how Jack's role in CTU changes because of this day's events. It can't be easily reset.
Gaines confirms the transfer of the extra million dollars, so Brigit agrees to give him the ID. The only condition is that only Gaines, Mandy and herself go find it. Of course, the big mistake she made was not considering the well-trained sniper working for Gaines, who picks her off easily. It rendered her precaution useless. Mandy, in the crosshairs, is asked again if she wants to work on Gaines' summer project. With a tear in her eye, she accepts. Then she disappears, to return unexpectedly later. It would be nice to know why she suddenly left, because having her lover gunned down so ruthlessly after killing an entire plane full of people could've been interesting to see play out. However, it would've been appropriate to include it after 9/11.
With the pimp's phone, Kim calls her mother again to confirm that she was forced to lie to her about her location and that she's in real danger. Teri calls 911, but Kim doesn't, an early example that many of Kim's critics latch onto for instances of her stupidity. Kim and Janet make it only a little bit further before a car hits Janet, the punching bag of the early morning episodes. The boys take a shaken Kim back, leaving Janet in the street. Unfortunately for them, she's still alive.
It's hard to believe now that they had a Kim subplot that was actually dramatic and suspenseful. Having it connected to the main threat helps. However, the rest of the episode feels like filler. All Teri and Alan do this episode is sit in the store waiting for a call. By the end, it feels like whatever complications that began the episode were negated by the end. Some of the character developments do help improve the episode, and the revelation of what's bothering Palmer is necessary.
Original Airdate: November 20, 2001
Writer: Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff
Director: Stephen Hopkins
Although this is a filler episode, it is still good. Unfortunately, not enough is done to capitalize on the momentum from last week. Some things are taken care of, but reset to buy them some time before the culmination. However, it's good that we learned a little more about this conspiracy and Palmer's family secret.
So, Jack's impromptu amputation wasn't just ruthless brutality after all. Jack scans the thumb he cut off last episode to get the thumbprint. This thumbprint is quickly sent over to CTU to identify. Elsewhere, Teri calls Jack to tell him that Kim called. She's worried about the "I love you", but Jack believes she's trying to avoid a major punishment. Alan wants to drive around looking for them, but Jack would prefer that they stay at the store in case they do come back. Teri's afraid that Jack is going to start a fight with Alan, but instead remains calm.
At the compound, Gaines yells at Mandy for getting an amateur involved in the operation. There is no more money to spare and Brigit wants another million dollars. Brigit tries to speak for herself, but Mandy slaps her. Mandy tells Gaines that she'll teach her about the work they do. Later, Brigit uses their relationship to get her to side with her instead of Gaines. They passionately kiss, which ensures Mandy's status with the male audience for the rest of the series, regardless of how much of it she actually is in.
After a few episodes of hints, it is time we got to see some real character development from the Palmer storyline. It starts at the hotel with security attempting to locate him. Desperate to help, Keith takes his keys to look personally. However, Sherry manages to stop him from going. Although this could be easily forgotten, in retrospect this showed the viewer a glimpse of how Sherry can exert her will over people.
Because of the ID problem, Gaines calls Dan to tell him he's running late. We now know that Kim's kidnapping is connected to the Palmer hit, but not much else. Kim tries to console a seriously injured Janet while convincing Dan and Rick to help ease her friend's pain. This is where we finally learn how much of a doormat Rick is, going along with Dan's decision not to take her to a hospital. He does assert himself in a weird way. He gives Janet heroin to calm her down.
Palmer is in a seedier side of LA. The audience knows this from the abundance of graffiti and the flickering neon signs. As he parks his SUV, he sees two kids smashing other cars' windows and headlights for fun. When they approach him, he doesn't submit to their threats and stops one of them from hitting him with a baseball bat. They back away, but still smash Palmer's back window. He remains calm and commanding. Such characterization would've been welcome had it come earlier, especially in the pilot. However, this episode is where Palmer's story really starts.
Jack returns to CTU, but stays low to avoid getting Nina's attention. He calls her and sends her on a menial task that takes her away from her desk and allows him to find Jamey. He gives her the card. Jamey is worried when she finds out that Walsh died because of this card. Jack trusts her to find out if Nina burnt the card on her station. If she did, it would signify her guilt.
After talking to Jamey, Jack gets a call from the person assigned to find the fingerprint. Unfortunately, there is no record of the gunman on file. This revelation further deepens how sinister the conspiracy to kill Palmer really is. Those behind it have taken such care in their operation to have literal "nobodies" do the dirty work. One minor nit pick; the analyst says that Jack sent the fingerprint an hour before, when we know it wasn't even thirty minutes prior. Perhaps this revelation was meant to be the major twist revealed at the end, but considering many of the threads in this hour aren't resolved or are reset to what they were, such a twist wouldn't be good for a lasting impression.
Kim knows that she has to escape from these guys. She gets Janet to go with her since Rick and Dan are smoking weed away from the van. Though she had mixed feelings about her parents following their separation, she has learned a little from Jack. They run for it, using a plane's take off to help buy more time. Their run ends in a seedy alley in North Hollywood, where they stumble on a guy being serviced.
It turns out a male prostitute was servicing him. The customer storms back to his car. The gaunt prostitute, a young man, yells at Kim and Janet for costing him money. Although he's mad, he doesn't give up Kim and Janet. He may seem like a hooker with a heart of gold, but he actually misleads Rick and Dan so he can take some of their things to make up for his lost business. Rogow, the prostitute, is an anomaly of a character. While he's made at Kim and Janet, he still protects them from the boys and later helps them when a pimp tries to hurt them.
In the seedy parking lot, Palmer meets with Carl, his seedy aide. Palmer tells him the situation. A few years ago Palmer's daughter Nicole had been raped. The rapist was believed to have killed himself, but Kingsley claims to have evidence incriminating Palmer's son in the death. Palmer wants this quieted because he believes it's a lie, but doesn't want to resort to dirty politics. Before they can have a long talk, secret service arrive, and Carl ducks out, indicative of his character's questionable reputation.
Jamey confirms that the keycard was burnt on Nina's computer. As Nina gets some coffee, Jack confronts her about it. Although it took a long time for Jack to do this, it results in the now classic line "Who are you working for?" Later he gets Jamey to verify the ID card. Unfortunately, the card was made when Nina and Jack were on vacation. Nina storms out, furious over the accusation. After Walsh, Nina was Jack's most trusted ally at CTU. In retrospect, the two worst candidates at CTU know that Jack knows there's a leak.
Walsh's memorandum is sent out and Tony wants to know how and why it happened. Suddenly a senior member of CTU is dead on a night where Tony has been constantly suspicious of the motives and actions of his co-workers. After reviewing the file, he secretly calls a CTU superior requesting that Jack be replaced. This lone action provides plenty of potential for the rest of the day and how Jack's role in CTU changes because of this day's events. It can't be easily reset.
Gaines confirms the transfer of the extra million dollars, so Brigit agrees to give him the ID. The only condition is that only Gaines, Mandy and herself go find it. Of course, the big mistake she made was not considering the well-trained sniper working for Gaines, who picks her off easily. It rendered her precaution useless. Mandy, in the crosshairs, is asked again if she wants to work on Gaines' summer project. With a tear in her eye, she accepts. Then she disappears, to return unexpectedly later. It would be nice to know why she suddenly left, because having her lover gunned down so ruthlessly after killing an entire plane full of people could've been interesting to see play out. However, it would've been appropriate to include it after 9/11.
With the pimp's phone, Kim calls her mother again to confirm that she was forced to lie to her about her location and that she's in real danger. Teri calls 911, but Kim doesn't, an early example that many of Kim's critics latch onto for instances of her stupidity. Kim and Janet make it only a little bit further before a car hits Janet, the punching bag of the early morning episodes. The boys take a shaken Kim back, leaving Janet in the street. Unfortunately for them, she's still alive.
It's hard to believe now that they had a Kim subplot that was actually dramatic and suspenseful. Having it connected to the main threat helps. However, the rest of the episode feels like filler. All Teri and Alan do this episode is sit in the store waiting for a call. By the end, it feels like whatever complications that began the episode were negated by the end. Some of the character developments do help improve the episode, and the revelation of what's bothering Palmer is necessary.
Score: 7/10
posted by Matt @ 5:02 AM
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