24: Season 5, Episode 14: Day 5: 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Day 5: 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Original Airdate: March 20, 2005
Story: Sam Montgomery
Writers: Evan Katz and Howard Gordon
Director: Brad Turner

24 is quickly approaching the payoff stage with the nerve gas. There's little way they can prolong this without trying the audience's patience. So they have to present the problem facing CTU for the second half. Luckily, they've had the back up plot ready since the sixth episode (although it is common knowledge that they don't plan a season in advance, they've done a great job making us believe it was all planned.) We had hints that the American conspiracy was far reaching, and now we're starting to get the full scope.

The opening shot certainly hurt many people who were holding out hope that Tony would be all right (I would've been one of them if I hadn't read the speculative stifling episode summary of 7-8 PM). Unfortunately for 24, they can't do much eulogizing, especially with canisters of nerve gas ready to be deployed, but I wish there was more to Tony's demise than the brief covering of his body. Jack tells Stoller that getting Bierko is "personal": wouldn't this be more apt for hunting down Henderson, since he killed Tony less than an hour before?

As correctly assumed, Collette becomes the latest thread for Jack to pursue to get to the nerve gas. However, they drop the ball following up Henderson. What should be a major plot point, his escape, is explained a little too easily. Why didn't they more aggressively pursue Henderson while he was still close to CTU (or within its walls)? The big question, though, is what exactly was he doing this whole hour?

Refreshingly, Stoller isn't a mere patsy for 24's latest femme fatale. Stoller's involvement with Collette reminds Jack of his own complicated relationships he's had in his work. We've never seen him get involved with a woman for the sake of his cover, but he did have to break his relationship with Audrey so he could remain off the grid and alive.

As far as getting the information he needs, Jack is in a difficult position. He can't use torture or other aggressive methods to extract information out of Stoller because of potential international fall out, much like the Chinese incident from last season. So Jack has to exchange something valuable to the US counterterrorism investigations to get Stoller to surrender Collette to the US. Since Jack was never really going to surrender this list (and the fact that the WET list is fictional), the writers don't bother to explain fully how devastating giving them the list is until just before Collette is apprehended.

There has to be more to the Stoller story than we saw in this episode. Since he knows who Jack is, he may find out about Jack's problem with the Chinese. Considering how little that important piece of information has been used this season, it would be wise to have that play an important part in the second half of the season. The one problem would be how much Henry Ian Cusick will be able to appear, since he may play a big role in the final episodes of Lost this season.

The Homeland Security team doesn't earn any sympathy points with fans, especially with Miles callously referring to Edgar's station as "vacant". It certainly sets the stage for Chloe and Miles' rivalry, which plays out in the next few episodes (I'm up to episode 17). It's funny to have Chloe knock over Miles' coffee, get the WET list, and get back to her desk and back to work with this hunched over look that is classic Chloe. This stuck up bureaucrat had it coming.

Logan continues to be useless, shifting the responsibility when he goes through with Gardner's questionable solution to civil unrest in LA. He must've known about potential fall out from this decision, but he seems happier complaining about it.

I am glad that Wayne is back in the fold. We knew early in the season that Palmer had hidden clues about what he knew in his manuscript, but all they found was the airport mole who quickly killed himself. There had to be more to what Palmer knew to warrant his assassination. Thankfully, they brought Wayne back to answer that question, and while we don't know what he wants to give Aaron, it is certainly big considering a group of soldiers are determined to keep him from reaching his destination.

The fact that a black ops team just happens to be within the road block within the retreat confirms that the conspiracy goes high up. Although 24 is often over the top, it would be a little too much for them to shoot out Wayne's tires with a shotgun and run him off the road if they didn't have someone powerful who could cover it up.

Vice President Gardner, whose assurance to Logan that he has the martial law situation "under control", coupled with Martha's uncertainty, draws a lot of suspicion to his direction. He seems a little too eager to declare martial law, and ready to throw Logan in the fire for damage control. The most damning piece is the fact that he knew of Wayne Palmer's arrival on the compound. However, like with the Audrey revelation, this could be mere misdirection.

Finally, we have Collette reveal that Audrey sold her the information. It doesn't fit Audrey's character (especially her new and improved status on the show this season) that she would sell out her country to the terrorists. They usually never reveal a mole in this fashion: on 24, you're exposed by either doing something overtly evil (like murdering one of the good guys) or directly contacting a terrorist in a dark room away from everyone else. It should still make for an interesting confrontation soon!

Like many transitional episodes, this one seeks to place characters where they need to be for the major pay offs. A lot is made about the government conspiracy, which should be a major piece of the final part this season. Pieces like the German intelligence fall out could be interesting to see, but this may be nothing.

Score: 7/10