Day 5: 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Original Airdate: March 5, 2006
Writer: Nicole Ranadine
Director: Jon Cassar
Originally aired as part one of a two hour event, 24 set out to conclude its first half with some of its darkest material yet. This two parter, like the first ones this season, fit together well. The events in this episode set us up for the explosive culmination. We get a little bit more from Henderson, and a potentially disastrous (artistically) B-plot is woven into the story with no interference.
Since Bierko leveled a heavy threat against Logan, the guns would have to be turned back on America in a big way soon. They have nineteen canisters of deadly nerve gas, so for the sake of the show, they had to be deployed soon. While it may be a little much to believe that they already have a schematic for the hospital and a time written on a piece of paper that just happened to be on one of the dead motorcade terrorists, it gives us the possibility that CTU can stop it. Having it occur in a hospital, where they can't evacuate everyone keeps the stakes high.
While they averted another major loss of life, one has to wonder when CTU's luck is going to run out. The final moments of this episode confirm that Ostroff is heading to CTU for a pivotal piece of their operation. Whatever action they take, it certainly will mirror the one Wald's crew did when they bombed CTU back in the second season, which also sought to cripple CTU, giving the terrorists some space to accomplish their goals. 24 hasn't been afraid to let the terrorists win some of the battles to remind us of how dangerous it is.
In an earlier review, I theorized that Dwayne could've wanted Lynn's ID for two reasons: because the terrorists got to him and were planning to use the card for nefarious reasons, or he was planning to get high, barge into CTU and cause mayhem. Unfortunately, 24 has done the latter too often, so the confirmation that it wasn't continues a good trend against tacked on personal subplots to add character this season. I do feel a little bad for Jenny and even the loser boyfriend. Neither of them deserved what they got.
In addition to having nerve gas in terrorists' hands, Logan now has to face the repercussions of surrendering the motorcade route. Although Logan blaming Martha's mental illness for her uneasiness before the attack is another way he can weasel out of responsibility, this is one situation where the truth would be far more harmful. Still, we hate him for getting in that situation to start. Suvarov, while allowing Logan access to their intelligence, doesn't appear to believe Logan's story as he bolts from him shortly after Logan's lie.
Many viewers are now getting on the Martha/Aaron bandwagon for good reason aside from her husband being a twerp (although I'm still against an affair). Aaron has shown true heroism whereas Logan, well, it's been said plenty. However, this isn't just Martha jumping into the arms of another man. She is grateful for Aaron's actions, and sometimes that can be confused for love. In addition, she's more interested in making her husband uncomfortable. He certainly deserved it for what he did.
Aaron's reaction to Martha's gratitude is a sad comment on the sacrifice he needed to make for his job. 24 has done a lot about detachment affecting those involved in public service, especially in season three. Aaron's uncomfortable because he distanced himself from this for the sake of his work.
While his appearance in the episode is brief, Tony's moment establishes his motivations for the rest of the season. Originally, Tony was supposed to die in the car bomb that killed Michelle, leaving us to believe that the writers have a reason to keep him alive. CTU's decision to keep him unaware of Michelle serves more as an impetus for his arc than. It doesn't appear to be important enough for them to reapply the bandage on the side of his face.
This could be a simple continuity error for the sake of narrative, but how can Jack get to the Henderson's home twenty-five minutes before Henderson does? 24 has taken many liberties with the real time format (not that I have a problem with them omitting Jack in gridlock for several episodes), but perhaps Henderson did something before coming home that may be important later. We understand the contrivance of Chloe being unable to decrypt a PC in time is to give Jack opportunity to question Henderson so we can see how far he's willing to go.
Henderson's inability to cooperate also adds to the terrorists' momentum. While he may have been there for Kim following Jack's "death", he is clearly a sociopath; using patriotism to justify the horrible things he's done today, even refusing to tell after Jack took drastic measures. Of the two other players we've seen involved on the American side, Henderson is clearly the big one. Had he been in Walt's position five hours earlier, he probably would've let Jack gouge out his eyes. It's worth noting is that Henderson was Jack's mentor and recruiter, and has gone through similar training, as we saw when he called Jack's threat to blow off his knee cap.
Shooting Miriam in the leg was a great surprise moment, as well as giving us an unintentionally hilarious (in an awesome way) line: "She can still walk!" However, seeing his wife in pain isn't even enough to get him to talk. The question worth asking is what is he hiding that is making him so determined to be quiet? On the other hand, is he just that devoted? We have seen fanatical terrorists before, but they have been largely religious, not political.
Although this episode is good, it needs to be seen alongside its following episode, as they are designed to complement. Things start rolling, but it is not until the next episode before we get a payoff.
Score: 8/10
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