24: Season 4, Episode 11: Day 4: 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Review
Day 4: 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Original Airdate: February 28, 2005
Writer: Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff
Director: Jon Cassar
It is time to conclude another arc on 24. What wasn't resolved this week is resolved in this episode. The override comes to a satisfying conclusion, but some of the stories merely annoy, like Maya. Luckily, it ends in this episode. Aside from that, we have a great hunt for the override that makes up for the shortcomings, and the beginning of Audrey's experience with Jack's dark side.
Jack has secured Paul in a chair. Before waking him, he asks Audrey to leave the room. She has never seen the Jack who will threaten a man with a towel or stage an execution to get information out someone. Jack continues when Audrey refuses. He wakes Paul with a wet sponge and asks why his name was on the lease for a terrorist hideout. When Paul refuses to answer, Jack pulls an electric cord from a lamp and electrocutes him. Audrey watches in horror. Paul says that he may be able to find out the connection on his laptop. Then Jack stares at Audrey in a "I told you so" moment.
At the mysterious Office Building of Doom, Marwan arrives to meltdown the plans manually because CTU has blocked them from doing it automatically. One of his associates, Ali, gives him the credentials needed to access the office where the override is. Marwan works in a cubicle while those around him work unaware. Having terrorists work around unsuspecting civilians has been a long running theme of 24, but this is an extreme example.
Ali tells the thugs downstairs to kill Curtis, sitting limp in a chair. Real life terrorists would probably kill him there, but they pick him up and carry him. Curtis was faking his unconsciousness. Curtis kills his captors in an unexpected turn for his character. Before this, he hasn't been much aside from Driscoll's flunky. After this episode, many fans dubbed Curtis "Black Jack". He does have many of the resourcefulness and survival skills Jack has, plus his surprise attack was Jack's style.
It's an interesting development to see that Forbes is just a thug and not a mastermind. This could be because they decided to make Marwan a recurring role. Originally Marwan was only slated for four guest spots, but the writers liked him enough to keep his character. To accommodate such a change, the storyline was altered to fit. Perhaps had they gone a different route Forbes would've been the one behind the major conspiracy or another step closer. However, the writers may have been wary to repeat what happened in the second season and went a different route. It does leave some things murky. Why would an American agree to help the terrorists?
Paul finds his company's information. It was going under when someone came and bought a majority of the shares. The buyer was Harold Barnes, but this name is an alias that some terrorists use. The current owner of Harold Barnes' identity is Habib Marwan, whose name Marianne gave during questioning.
Tony questions Dina. She pretends that Navi was the only one directly involved in the terrorist activities, but Tony doesn't believe her. Playing the Behrooz card, Tony gets her to divulge a few names. I'm surprised Tony handed her a pen to write them down since she could easily kill herself with it, but she has shown to put her own life over her son's. When asked about Marwan, she lies, saying she only knows he's an engineer.
Sarah still can't find Curtis, who now is sneaking around in the OBOD. Forbes finds Curtis' handiwork and informs Ali. Ali then tells Marwan, who advises that Ali disconnect the phone lines so Curtis can't call CTU. Curtis can't leave the floor because the exits have been secured. This is a great situation for suspense, as Curtis can't hide in many places since the rooms are bare and he can only access one floor.
With no word from Curtis, Jack assumes that he's in trouble. There is no proof that Marwan is at the OBOD, but Jack heads there anyway to investigate. Audrey ponders why Paul was used in the conspiracy. Jack believes that Paul's connection to Heller and Audrey prompted Marwan to buy control of the company. It still doesn't explain how he would know that they would be in Los Angeles this day. This question feels a little random looking back since they didn't make much of an effort to answer it later, although some could argue that an upcoming event explains it.
Obviously, Paul can't believe that he may have helped terrorists kidnap his wife and father-in-law and plan a large scale attack on America. It isn't hard to believe that he lost track of the dozens of companies he does business with, but not as easy to forgive, as Paul becomes racked with guilt. Audrey consoles him, with Jack noticing in the driver's seat. The triangle arc has officially begun.
Since the names Dina gave all connected to Marwan, Tony knows that Dina is not saying everything. Given full license to do whatever he felt appropriate, he gets the surveillance for the interrogation room shut off and ejects everyone else from the other room, including Driscoll. Then Tony accosts Dina, threatening to revoke Behrooz's pardon. The president won't uphold it if the plants meltdown. Knowing Behrooz, he tells her that he will commit suicide within months of his sentence. She confirms that Marwan is the person her cell reported to, but can't say how many other cells exist. She also tells them his location, in the OBOD.
Marwan heads downstairs to speak to Ali regarding Curtis. Forbes calls Ali, whose phone Marwan rips out of his hand. Marwan can't have mistakes now since they are so close to accomplishing their goal. Unfortunately for Forbes, Curtis surprises him, finding out what he knows and knocking him unconscious. Curtis grabs Forbes' cell phone and tells Sarah about what had happened.
Jack is on his way. He stops at a parking garage a block away from the building. Sarah patches Curtis through, who gives Jack some valuable information about the building layout. Their only problem may be a guard, but Curtis will take care of that. Jack heads off, leaving Audrey and Paul safely behind with a group of agents. The final act is already set, even though this is heading into the penultimate one. It will end with Jack confronting Marwan.
Jack arrives at Curtis' floor, finding the guard dead and Curtis nearby. They go upstairs alone while the rest of the team secures the bottom floor. During their walk upstairs, they tie up some loose ends about how the terrorists were able to attack the power plant firewalls. They manage to get inside the office, only to find rows and rows of cubicles and no description of Marwan. It is funny how complicated this hunt suddenly became.
They try to be inconspicuous, but it still looks weird to see Jack prowling a 9 to 5 (or in this case, 9 to at least 6) office. They find a man who looks like he may be Marwan and slowly approach him. This would've worked had the actor looked more like Arnold Vosloo because it would've tricked the audience as well. But the guy clearly isn't. Just before they capture him, they see that he is merely playing solitaire, only a threat to productivity.
Normally this would've tipped Marwan off to what CTU was doing, but it doesn't. He's too focused on the override to have a non-event distract him. Downstairs, Ali sees the CTU team. He calls to warn Marwan and tries to get a shot in before Castle kills him. Abandoning his mission, Marwan gets up and fires his gun at the ceiling, creating a massive panic. Jack and Curtis push and shove their way to him, but can't.
Curtis stops to secure the override. At CTU, Edgar instructs him to type some commands into the computer to let him access it. Once Edgar has control, he types more code, presses enter and we all hold our breath. Each plant's core cools down and Edgar becomes a bigger hero than he was before. I love it when the geeks save the day. I still cheer for Jack, but I can relate more to being like Edgar.
Since this is 24, it can't be an entirely happy ending. Throughout the episode, Maya was aggressive towards the medical help, who were clearly not trained to handle such a situation. It's understandable that CTU has a medical center considering how often people get hurt, but it's no substitute for a hospital. Maya's behavior escalates. At the end of the episode, she slits her wrists and dies. The medical staff doesn't do much aside from gawk at her dead body. Not even an effort to put pressure on her injuries was made. While this is supposed to make us feel sorry for Driscoll, many were just happy that this distracting storyline had ended. It feels like the writers wanted it gone too. The frequency of her storyline in this episode implies that they crammed most of it here to finish it and quiet the critics.
Back at the OBOD, Jack struggles to find Marwan. He sees a dead body lying on a doorway and goes to inspect it. It is an agent and he has been stripped of his vest and helmet. He warns the other agents that Marwan is impersonating one of them, but it is too late for Agent Solarz, who Marwan kills. Marwan makes his first successful escape from CTU clutches.
Unfortunately, little was done to establish what was going to happen next. In episode six, though the kidnapping plot was foiled, they had the override plot waiting to spring up. Many of the payoff episodes mid-season contain some hints about the future. Whether it's Andre Drazen or the chip, these hints are important to keep the show's suspense going when the bubble from one threat bursts. Unfortunately this season, the next threat would be merely a set up for the final threat, which leaves the subsequent episodes lagging.
Nevertheless, this is an extremely compelling episode. Curtis' change from lackey to commanding force is welcomed. As with other culminating episodes, the threat is real and the hunt is more suspenseful since something has to happen in the end. However, not enough effort was made to create the next threat, which results in several less than stellar episodes.
Original Airdate: February 28, 2005
Writer: Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff
Director: Jon Cassar
It is time to conclude another arc on 24. What wasn't resolved this week is resolved in this episode. The override comes to a satisfying conclusion, but some of the stories merely annoy, like Maya. Luckily, it ends in this episode. Aside from that, we have a great hunt for the override that makes up for the shortcomings, and the beginning of Audrey's experience with Jack's dark side.
Jack has secured Paul in a chair. Before waking him, he asks Audrey to leave the room. She has never seen the Jack who will threaten a man with a towel or stage an execution to get information out someone. Jack continues when Audrey refuses. He wakes Paul with a wet sponge and asks why his name was on the lease for a terrorist hideout. When Paul refuses to answer, Jack pulls an electric cord from a lamp and electrocutes him. Audrey watches in horror. Paul says that he may be able to find out the connection on his laptop. Then Jack stares at Audrey in a "I told you so" moment.
At the mysterious Office Building of Doom, Marwan arrives to meltdown the plans manually because CTU has blocked them from doing it automatically. One of his associates, Ali, gives him the credentials needed to access the office where the override is. Marwan works in a cubicle while those around him work unaware. Having terrorists work around unsuspecting civilians has been a long running theme of 24, but this is an extreme example.
Ali tells the thugs downstairs to kill Curtis, sitting limp in a chair. Real life terrorists would probably kill him there, but they pick him up and carry him. Curtis was faking his unconsciousness. Curtis kills his captors in an unexpected turn for his character. Before this, he hasn't been much aside from Driscoll's flunky. After this episode, many fans dubbed Curtis "Black Jack". He does have many of the resourcefulness and survival skills Jack has, plus his surprise attack was Jack's style.
It's an interesting development to see that Forbes is just a thug and not a mastermind. This could be because they decided to make Marwan a recurring role. Originally Marwan was only slated for four guest spots, but the writers liked him enough to keep his character. To accommodate such a change, the storyline was altered to fit. Perhaps had they gone a different route Forbes would've been the one behind the major conspiracy or another step closer. However, the writers may have been wary to repeat what happened in the second season and went a different route. It does leave some things murky. Why would an American agree to help the terrorists?
Paul finds his company's information. It was going under when someone came and bought a majority of the shares. The buyer was Harold Barnes, but this name is an alias that some terrorists use. The current owner of Harold Barnes' identity is Habib Marwan, whose name Marianne gave during questioning.
Tony questions Dina. She pretends that Navi was the only one directly involved in the terrorist activities, but Tony doesn't believe her. Playing the Behrooz card, Tony gets her to divulge a few names. I'm surprised Tony handed her a pen to write them down since she could easily kill herself with it, but she has shown to put her own life over her son's. When asked about Marwan, she lies, saying she only knows he's an engineer.
Sarah still can't find Curtis, who now is sneaking around in the OBOD. Forbes finds Curtis' handiwork and informs Ali. Ali then tells Marwan, who advises that Ali disconnect the phone lines so Curtis can't call CTU. Curtis can't leave the floor because the exits have been secured. This is a great situation for suspense, as Curtis can't hide in many places since the rooms are bare and he can only access one floor.
With no word from Curtis, Jack assumes that he's in trouble. There is no proof that Marwan is at the OBOD, but Jack heads there anyway to investigate. Audrey ponders why Paul was used in the conspiracy. Jack believes that Paul's connection to Heller and Audrey prompted Marwan to buy control of the company. It still doesn't explain how he would know that they would be in Los Angeles this day. This question feels a little random looking back since they didn't make much of an effort to answer it later, although some could argue that an upcoming event explains it.
Obviously, Paul can't believe that he may have helped terrorists kidnap his wife and father-in-law and plan a large scale attack on America. It isn't hard to believe that he lost track of the dozens of companies he does business with, but not as easy to forgive, as Paul becomes racked with guilt. Audrey consoles him, with Jack noticing in the driver's seat. The triangle arc has officially begun.
Since the names Dina gave all connected to Marwan, Tony knows that Dina is not saying everything. Given full license to do whatever he felt appropriate, he gets the surveillance for the interrogation room shut off and ejects everyone else from the other room, including Driscoll. Then Tony accosts Dina, threatening to revoke Behrooz's pardon. The president won't uphold it if the plants meltdown. Knowing Behrooz, he tells her that he will commit suicide within months of his sentence. She confirms that Marwan is the person her cell reported to, but can't say how many other cells exist. She also tells them his location, in the OBOD.
Marwan heads downstairs to speak to Ali regarding Curtis. Forbes calls Ali, whose phone Marwan rips out of his hand. Marwan can't have mistakes now since they are so close to accomplishing their goal. Unfortunately for Forbes, Curtis surprises him, finding out what he knows and knocking him unconscious. Curtis grabs Forbes' cell phone and tells Sarah about what had happened.
Jack is on his way. He stops at a parking garage a block away from the building. Sarah patches Curtis through, who gives Jack some valuable information about the building layout. Their only problem may be a guard, but Curtis will take care of that. Jack heads off, leaving Audrey and Paul safely behind with a group of agents. The final act is already set, even though this is heading into the penultimate one. It will end with Jack confronting Marwan.
Jack arrives at Curtis' floor, finding the guard dead and Curtis nearby. They go upstairs alone while the rest of the team secures the bottom floor. During their walk upstairs, they tie up some loose ends about how the terrorists were able to attack the power plant firewalls. They manage to get inside the office, only to find rows and rows of cubicles and no description of Marwan. It is funny how complicated this hunt suddenly became.
They try to be inconspicuous, but it still looks weird to see Jack prowling a 9 to 5 (or in this case, 9 to at least 6) office. They find a man who looks like he may be Marwan and slowly approach him. This would've worked had the actor looked more like Arnold Vosloo because it would've tricked the audience as well. But the guy clearly isn't. Just before they capture him, they see that he is merely playing solitaire, only a threat to productivity.
Normally this would've tipped Marwan off to what CTU was doing, but it doesn't. He's too focused on the override to have a non-event distract him. Downstairs, Ali sees the CTU team. He calls to warn Marwan and tries to get a shot in before Castle kills him. Abandoning his mission, Marwan gets up and fires his gun at the ceiling, creating a massive panic. Jack and Curtis push and shove their way to him, but can't.
Curtis stops to secure the override. At CTU, Edgar instructs him to type some commands into the computer to let him access it. Once Edgar has control, he types more code, presses enter and we all hold our breath. Each plant's core cools down and Edgar becomes a bigger hero than he was before. I love it when the geeks save the day. I still cheer for Jack, but I can relate more to being like Edgar.
Since this is 24, it can't be an entirely happy ending. Throughout the episode, Maya was aggressive towards the medical help, who were clearly not trained to handle such a situation. It's understandable that CTU has a medical center considering how often people get hurt, but it's no substitute for a hospital. Maya's behavior escalates. At the end of the episode, she slits her wrists and dies. The medical staff doesn't do much aside from gawk at her dead body. Not even an effort to put pressure on her injuries was made. While this is supposed to make us feel sorry for Driscoll, many were just happy that this distracting storyline had ended. It feels like the writers wanted it gone too. The frequency of her storyline in this episode implies that they crammed most of it here to finish it and quiet the critics.
Back at the OBOD, Jack struggles to find Marwan. He sees a dead body lying on a doorway and goes to inspect it. It is an agent and he has been stripped of his vest and helmet. He warns the other agents that Marwan is impersonating one of them, but it is too late for Agent Solarz, who Marwan kills. Marwan makes his first successful escape from CTU clutches.
Unfortunately, little was done to establish what was going to happen next. In episode six, though the kidnapping plot was foiled, they had the override plot waiting to spring up. Many of the payoff episodes mid-season contain some hints about the future. Whether it's Andre Drazen or the chip, these hints are important to keep the show's suspense going when the bubble from one threat bursts. Unfortunately this season, the next threat would be merely a set up for the final threat, which leaves the subsequent episodes lagging.
Nevertheless, this is an extremely compelling episode. Curtis' change from lackey to commanding force is welcomed. As with other culminating episodes, the threat is real and the hunt is more suspenseful since something has to happen in the end. However, not enough effort was made to create the next threat, which results in several less than stellar episodes.
Score: 8/10
posted by Matt @ 10:42 PM
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