24: Season 1, Episode 4: 3:00 AM - 4:00 AM Review
3:00 AM - 4:00 AM
Original Airdate: November 27, 2001
Writer: Robert Cochran
Director: Winrich Kolbe
After the previous episode experienced some filler tendencies, this episode appeared to move the action forward, although some of the stories plod forward. However, this slower pace in some of the storylines allowed more time to develop character, especially Palmer and Mason. It seems like they are on a steady roll with this episode.
Rick and Dan drag Kim back to van while Janet lies barely conscious on the street. Kim demands that they go back and get Janet, but neither of them complies. She appeals to Rick, but still Dan shuts him down. These guys are obviously amateurs or else they would've figured out immediately that leaving her there is a major loose end for their part of the operation.
Jack tries to reassure Nina of her place at CTU moments after she was cleared of leaking information. Because of this, Jack brings her into his circle of trust. Jamey, Nina and Jack have to trust each other and work together to stop the threat. Any person at CTU could be working with the terrorists. Although I'm surprised Jack didn't do more to root out who this dirty agent was, but he is too busy in the next few hours to thoroughly investigate.
At Palmer's hotel, he calls his advisor again, ordering Carl on the phone to find who the source of the story about Keith is. Sherry sees him talking and asks him where he was in the last episode. He doesn't tell her exactly. When she informs him about the assassination threat, he shrugs it off. Being the first black presidential candidate who could win certainly makes him a target for many radical groups. He's used to threats as much as a person could be.
Tony has found a lead with an empty seat in the flight manifest. Since the flight was full and had a waiting list, they wouldn't have departed with an empty seat. This lead is left open because of purges the writers had to do out of respect for 9/11, but this seemingly loose end serves the purpose the terrorists wanted. We can assume that the "empty seat" belonged to Martin Belkin. Every government agency would probably have access to this information. If they knew Martin Belkin was dead and his impersonator appeared at the breakfast, game over. By the time the authorities find out, it's too late.
Jamey finds another worthwhile lead in the keycard. Decrypting pieces of the data, they isolate an address. Unfortunately, it'll take Jamey hours to decrypt the entire card, so Jack decides to check this address out now. As soon as Jack leaves, Jamey's analysis of the keycard is disrupted. Mason returns and places CTU under lockdown. Jack plays dumb for a guard and with the help of some slight of hand, knocks him out and escapes CTU.
Under lockdown, Tony tells Nina that he was the one who called Mason in because of Jack's behavior. With two of their agents dead, Tony needs to know what is going on. Mason then confronts her about Jack's location, but Nina feigns ignorance. This episode, if anything, explores Nina and Jack's relationship. Why is she so unwaveringly loyal to him? Why is she willing to sacrifice her job or go to jail for him? These questions are left open to explore later, but it's good that they set it up early.
Sherry must've informed Secret Service about Palmer's nonchalance regarding the terrorist threat, because Agent Pierce arrives to inform him about the seriousness of the threat. It isn't that convincing since they do not know much about the threat yet. Today is Super Tuesday, a pivotal day for Palmer's campaign, and he can't spend it locked away in the hotel. Both jobs, protecting Palmer and winning the election, are both much more difficult now.
Back in the van of doom, Kim continues to beg Rick and Dan to go back for Janet, but neither of them budge. Despite Rick being the better of the two, Rick doesn't do anything. Dan suddenly realizes that Kim does have a point, only that Janet could identify them. Therefore, they need to keep her quiet. Kim pleads more assertively, but is silenced when Rick ties her up.
Nearby, Teri and Alan are pulled over for speeding. They alert the officer to the 911 call they made, but Alan is impatient when the officer checks it out. When he gets too aggressive, he's placed under arrest for disobeying a direct order. Unbeknownst to them, the van of doom passes the scene. Yes, this storyline is filler, but it also provides an interesting look into Alan's psychology. Previously he had been seen as compassionate towards Teri and her problems, but now we see a darker side.
At the address on the keycard, Jack finds a mostly rundown building complex, evident by the spray painted address number. While investigating, he finds a man, Penticoff, smoking a cigarette. A chase ensues and shots are fired, alerting a nearby police officer. She stops Jack, enabling Penticoff to escape. After he explains the situation, she allows him to continue pursuing the suspect with her. You can almost tell the lack of confidence they had in this actress considering how little dialogue she had and how unconvincingly she delivered it.
Mason grills Nina further about her relationship with Jack, exposing flaws that he hopes will lead to her talking, but she doesn't say anything. He really gets under her skin, describing her as a cast aside lover and a flunky who had the potential for greatness in the agency. Part of this is obviously out of jealousy for the respect Jack commands and the frustration that comes from not knowing why. Regardless, she remains quiet.
The van of doom approaches the road where Janet is still lying unconscious. Dan holds his gun out the window, preparing to shoot. Kim screams, but can't make enough noise to stop him. Rick doesn't do much either, sitting aside and only half-heartedly telling his friend not to do it. Fate, by way of an ambulance, intervenes and stops him.
In a dark room, Palmer listens to Carl on the phone. He found the source. It is George Ferragamo, Keith's former therapist. After the call, Palmer shares the news that has been troubling him. They both initially believe Kinglsey is lying. Doubt creeps in, and Palmer starts to believe that Keith may have killed the rapist. Kingsley has proven herself to be a professional journalist, and wouldn't do something like this unless she had enough evidence to prove it.
Pursuing Penticoff, Jack gets a call from Teri. He never learned to put his phone on vibrate. Penticoff hears the phone and fires. Jack has to turn it off. Unaware of the circumstances, Teri's obviously not pleased. The officer, Jesse Hampton, calls for back up. Jack and Hampton split to cover more ground. However, Jack is pinned down by the police helicopters who are unaware that he isn't a hostile. In one of the lamer plot contrivances, this largely empty building has a janitor who cleans it at 3 in the morning. This janitor distracts Hampton long enough to allow Penticoff to take her hostage.
The 911 call Teri made is verified and the officer lets a cranky Alan go. They speed off to find an ambulance racing down the road. Believing it could be one of the girls, they ask a homeless woman if she knows where it went. In a Boston accent, she tells them that it likely went to St. Marks. Elsewhere, Rick and Dan meet with Gaines to deliver Kim. When asked about Janet, Dan lies and says they killed her and hid her body. This is definitely a bad move to lie to a man like Gaines. The mercenary turns to his new leverage and makes a simple threat; if she's bad, she won't "be back in the mall in a day or two".
Jamey is next in Mason's interrogation block. He emphasizes that Jack could be using her. She doesn't say anything. The interrogation ends abruptly when they find Jack's name on a police frequency. Knowing where Jack is, Mason ends the lockdown and leaves to find him. Before he leaves, he asks Nina, who he still believes was involved, what's the big deal with Jack. She doesn't answer. We learn what the big deal is if we haven't already.
Penticoff calls for Jack to reveal himself, which he does. Hampton yells to Jack not to because Penticoff will likely kill them both anyway. Jack tells Hampton, who he knows speaks Spanish, to cover because he is going to lunge at Penticoff. Penticoff drops a rare extreme swear word before shooting Hampton dead, just like Hampton warned. Jack manages to subdue him.
After Hampton's body is taken away, Jack demands to speak to Penticoff. The cops don't want him to take him in because he killed one of their own. However, wouldn't Jack be able to pull rank as a federal agent? Penticoff is a part of a federal investigation. It's not like Jack would let him go after what he did. They do allow him a few minutes. Penticoff demands that Jack spring him, which he refuses. Then Penticoff calls Jack by name and warns that if he wants to see Kim again, he'll help him.
Things are slowly coming together. Now Jack knows that his daughter has been kidnapped and it is connected with Palmer's assassination attempt. This becomes a major part of the entire season, so his discovery of this knowledge is an appropriate bombshell. It's great to see Mason back and further developed regarding his relationship with Jack. We also learn more about Palmer and his family, which helps us since he didn't get a lot of coverage early in the season.
Writer: Robert Cochran
Director: Winrich Kolbe
After the previous episode experienced some filler tendencies, this episode appeared to move the action forward, although some of the stories plod forward. However, this slower pace in some of the storylines allowed more time to develop character, especially Palmer and Mason. It seems like they are on a steady roll with this episode.
Rick and Dan drag Kim back to van while Janet lies barely conscious on the street. Kim demands that they go back and get Janet, but neither of them complies. She appeals to Rick, but still Dan shuts him down. These guys are obviously amateurs or else they would've figured out immediately that leaving her there is a major loose end for their part of the operation.
Jack tries to reassure Nina of her place at CTU moments after she was cleared of leaking information. Because of this, Jack brings her into his circle of trust. Jamey, Nina and Jack have to trust each other and work together to stop the threat. Any person at CTU could be working with the terrorists. Although I'm surprised Jack didn't do more to root out who this dirty agent was, but he is too busy in the next few hours to thoroughly investigate.
At Palmer's hotel, he calls his advisor again, ordering Carl on the phone to find who the source of the story about Keith is. Sherry sees him talking and asks him where he was in the last episode. He doesn't tell her exactly. When she informs him about the assassination threat, he shrugs it off. Being the first black presidential candidate who could win certainly makes him a target for many radical groups. He's used to threats as much as a person could be.
Tony has found a lead with an empty seat in the flight manifest. Since the flight was full and had a waiting list, they wouldn't have departed with an empty seat. This lead is left open because of purges the writers had to do out of respect for 9/11, but this seemingly loose end serves the purpose the terrorists wanted. We can assume that the "empty seat" belonged to Martin Belkin. Every government agency would probably have access to this information. If they knew Martin Belkin was dead and his impersonator appeared at the breakfast, game over. By the time the authorities find out, it's too late.
Jamey finds another worthwhile lead in the keycard. Decrypting pieces of the data, they isolate an address. Unfortunately, it'll take Jamey hours to decrypt the entire card, so Jack decides to check this address out now. As soon as Jack leaves, Jamey's analysis of the keycard is disrupted. Mason returns and places CTU under lockdown. Jack plays dumb for a guard and with the help of some slight of hand, knocks him out and escapes CTU.
Under lockdown, Tony tells Nina that he was the one who called Mason in because of Jack's behavior. With two of their agents dead, Tony needs to know what is going on. Mason then confronts her about Jack's location, but Nina feigns ignorance. This episode, if anything, explores Nina and Jack's relationship. Why is she so unwaveringly loyal to him? Why is she willing to sacrifice her job or go to jail for him? These questions are left open to explore later, but it's good that they set it up early.
Sherry must've informed Secret Service about Palmer's nonchalance regarding the terrorist threat, because Agent Pierce arrives to inform him about the seriousness of the threat. It isn't that convincing since they do not know much about the threat yet. Today is Super Tuesday, a pivotal day for Palmer's campaign, and he can't spend it locked away in the hotel. Both jobs, protecting Palmer and winning the election, are both much more difficult now.
Back in the van of doom, Kim continues to beg Rick and Dan to go back for Janet, but neither of them budge. Despite Rick being the better of the two, Rick doesn't do anything. Dan suddenly realizes that Kim does have a point, only that Janet could identify them. Therefore, they need to keep her quiet. Kim pleads more assertively, but is silenced when Rick ties her up.
Nearby, Teri and Alan are pulled over for speeding. They alert the officer to the 911 call they made, but Alan is impatient when the officer checks it out. When he gets too aggressive, he's placed under arrest for disobeying a direct order. Unbeknownst to them, the van of doom passes the scene. Yes, this storyline is filler, but it also provides an interesting look into Alan's psychology. Previously he had been seen as compassionate towards Teri and her problems, but now we see a darker side.
At the address on the keycard, Jack finds a mostly rundown building complex, evident by the spray painted address number. While investigating, he finds a man, Penticoff, smoking a cigarette. A chase ensues and shots are fired, alerting a nearby police officer. She stops Jack, enabling Penticoff to escape. After he explains the situation, she allows him to continue pursuing the suspect with her. You can almost tell the lack of confidence they had in this actress considering how little dialogue she had and how unconvincingly she delivered it.
Mason grills Nina further about her relationship with Jack, exposing flaws that he hopes will lead to her talking, but she doesn't say anything. He really gets under her skin, describing her as a cast aside lover and a flunky who had the potential for greatness in the agency. Part of this is obviously out of jealousy for the respect Jack commands and the frustration that comes from not knowing why. Regardless, she remains quiet.
The van of doom approaches the road where Janet is still lying unconscious. Dan holds his gun out the window, preparing to shoot. Kim screams, but can't make enough noise to stop him. Rick doesn't do much either, sitting aside and only half-heartedly telling his friend not to do it. Fate, by way of an ambulance, intervenes and stops him.
In a dark room, Palmer listens to Carl on the phone. He found the source. It is George Ferragamo, Keith's former therapist. After the call, Palmer shares the news that has been troubling him. They both initially believe Kinglsey is lying. Doubt creeps in, and Palmer starts to believe that Keith may have killed the rapist. Kingsley has proven herself to be a professional journalist, and wouldn't do something like this unless she had enough evidence to prove it.
Pursuing Penticoff, Jack gets a call from Teri. He never learned to put his phone on vibrate. Penticoff hears the phone and fires. Jack has to turn it off. Unaware of the circumstances, Teri's obviously not pleased. The officer, Jesse Hampton, calls for back up. Jack and Hampton split to cover more ground. However, Jack is pinned down by the police helicopters who are unaware that he isn't a hostile. In one of the lamer plot contrivances, this largely empty building has a janitor who cleans it at 3 in the morning. This janitor distracts Hampton long enough to allow Penticoff to take her hostage.
The 911 call Teri made is verified and the officer lets a cranky Alan go. They speed off to find an ambulance racing down the road. Believing it could be one of the girls, they ask a homeless woman if she knows where it went. In a Boston accent, she tells them that it likely went to St. Marks. Elsewhere, Rick and Dan meet with Gaines to deliver Kim. When asked about Janet, Dan lies and says they killed her and hid her body. This is definitely a bad move to lie to a man like Gaines. The mercenary turns to his new leverage and makes a simple threat; if she's bad, she won't "be back in the mall in a day or two".
Jamey is next in Mason's interrogation block. He emphasizes that Jack could be using her. She doesn't say anything. The interrogation ends abruptly when they find Jack's name on a police frequency. Knowing where Jack is, Mason ends the lockdown and leaves to find him. Before he leaves, he asks Nina, who he still believes was involved, what's the big deal with Jack. She doesn't answer. We learn what the big deal is if we haven't already.
Penticoff calls for Jack to reveal himself, which he does. Hampton yells to Jack not to because Penticoff will likely kill them both anyway. Jack tells Hampton, who he knows speaks Spanish, to cover because he is going to lunge at Penticoff. Penticoff drops a rare extreme swear word before shooting Hampton dead, just like Hampton warned. Jack manages to subdue him.
After Hampton's body is taken away, Jack demands to speak to Penticoff. The cops don't want him to take him in because he killed one of their own. However, wouldn't Jack be able to pull rank as a federal agent? Penticoff is a part of a federal investigation. It's not like Jack would let him go after what he did. They do allow him a few minutes. Penticoff demands that Jack spring him, which he refuses. Then Penticoff calls Jack by name and warns that if he wants to see Kim again, he'll help him.
Things are slowly coming together. Now Jack knows that his daughter has been kidnapped and it is connected with Palmer's assassination attempt. This becomes a major part of the entire season, so his discovery of this knowledge is an appropriate bombshell. It's great to see Mason back and further developed regarding his relationship with Jack. We also learn more about Palmer and his family, which helps us since he didn't get a lot of coverage early in the season.
Score: 8/10
posted by Matt @ 2:35 AM
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