24: Season 5, Episode 4: Day 5: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Review

Day 5: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Original Airdate: January 16, 2006
Writers: Michael Loceff and Joel Surnow
Director: Brad Turner

This is the 100^th episode, a huge feat for any show, especially one like 24, which almost didn’t live beyond its first season. Many shows like to offer some major event or events to coincide with their milestone, but this one didn’t have that “event” punch to it. Of the episodes this season, the premiere was most like a 100^th episode, with two major deaths and tons of action. This episode is a lot more restrained, partly because our hero is on his knees for most of the hour (not that the rescue sequence wasn’t fun). With the four hour premiere event, the 100^th episode’s significance is downplayed to the point where none of the promotional ads bothered to mention it.

Considering the terrorists could’ve blown Jack away to end the last episode, they needed to explain why they kept him alive, especially since he is highly trained and eager for some payback for what has happened so far today. As the only person inside with access to CTU, he has control over where to direct the agents and for the terrorists that is a major advantage. It is lost on repeat viewings since Jack knows how to maneuver around this dangerous situation. In the past, we’ve seen some good dramatic results when Jack is in a position where he doesn’t know how to proceed.

Derek isn’t nearly as annoying as would be expected of some younger actors. He has had a rough morning, learning the truth about Jack and being plunged into that world. It’s tough for him to let go of the guilt he has of making Jack, their best hope, give up and become a hostage. Accepting that guilt helps us sympathize with him. Jack, despite whatever bad blood Derek had against him, forgives him because the situation is far greater than anything they expected. When it’s over, Derek’s sobbing testimonial to his mother fits in with a boy who feels guilty about pegging a guy as a jerk when he proved to be something truly heroic and clever.

Sean Astin, as boy wonder Lynn McGill, adds an interesting piece to Jack and Buchanan’s characters. His introduction is more profound on Buchanan. Since Lynn is half Buchanan’s age, Buchanan resents having him as his boss, especially when Lynn flexes his district muscle into Buchanan’s office and second guesses the plans Buchanan has authorized shortly before they were to be executed. Even when Lynn attributes part of the victory to Buchanan, it doesn’t do enough to gloss over their differences.

Lynn seems to be an overachiever whose ambition paid off early for him, but he must deal with people who think he is too young for his role. Perhaps Buchanan and Lynn have spared in the past over this issue. Although I don’t think Lynn is taking over CTU full time as Spenser hinted, his comment about firing 20% of his staff fits that character.

Lynn also seems to be Jack’s match at CTU. While Jack breaks every protocol possible, Lynn remains by the book, but both get results. Because Lynn is the only one aware of the duress code, they work together in a way to foil the terrorists’ plans. It’s interesting that the first major thing he does is prevent a major blood bath, since many CTU Directors have shown bouts of incompetence.

Speaking of incompetence, Logan shows the same character that quickly took all the credit for preventing the warhead from going off when the hostage crisis was averted. One may not be ready to admit it, but Beresch assertion that Logan was weak was accurate. Logan is being set up as a type of tragic figure. His incompetence, his obsession with legacy (something he has in common with Suvarov, who also has a lot invested in this) are all heading towards a very unpleasant conclusion. Whether he falls entirely or tries to redeem himself would be a good candidate for the rest of his storyline.

Since the first episode, Martha’s instability has been toned down from a woman who dunks her head into a sink full of water to a woman strategizing on how to tell her husband about the Palmer phone call. This works to help us be willing to believe her story, especially since it is true. One thing I mentioned in the last review is that I would hope that Martha would have made some back up copy of this crucial piece of information. With her concerns this would be an appropriate action.

I wonder when Evelyn will be fired. Considering the facts that she hasn’t been able to keep Martha in her room and was unaware of Walt coming in and attacking the first lady, this doesn’t bode well for her performance. Anywhere the president or anyone close to him go should be extremely safe.

I almost thought that when Derek was being handed over that Jack would inadvertently hand him over to Yellow Tie Man (this was before I recognized YTM from his work on Firefly), who happened to change into one of CTU’s uniform’s during the raid. Now I know that would be too ridiculous even for a show that pushes suspension of disbelief like 24. There is no way that Jack would hand Derek over to the man who he stared at for some time. Derek is in some ways similar to Kim, but 24 has thankfully tried to distances themselves from the infamous Perils of Pauline plotlines as often as possible.

The endgame for this hostage situation was to pass this access card to Yellow Tie Man, who was among the hostages. If they raided the terminal and the terrorists killed themselves, then how would the card find its way to the terminal containing the canisters of doom? There is some fault there, but we must remember that there was an inside man. Since he was away from the terminal when they hit, he was in perfect position to head to the canisters of doom because everyone would be focused on the hostage situation. However, there is a small fault as far as what they would do if they were attacked and all of them detonated their vests. Whether they had a back up plan is unclear, but had it played out differently, the crucial piece of their plan would’ve failed.

This episode wraps up the introductory arc fine, but there are some errors in the writing that make the episode fall short, such as the reasoning behind the hostage situation to Martha keeping a valuable piece of information in a place where it could be easily jeopardized. It is also a bit odd that despite the sensational route often taken by 24, this episode doesn’t hype up its milestone status.

Score: 7/10