24: Season 5, Episode 19: Day 5: 1:00 AM - 2:00 AM Review

Day 5: 1:00 AM – 2:00 AM
Original Airdate: April 25, 2006
Writers: Craig Van Sickle and Steve Mitchell
Director: Dwight Little

The final fourth of the season starts with an effective display of the deeper runs of the conspiracy, which helps set the stage for what should be the final stage of the season. It helps with some victories for the good guys, but there are some devastating set backs to keep the story going along.

The previews certainly proved that Heller was doomed, becoming the sixth recurring character to die this season. It's a huge price for Heller to pay for not listening to Jack and planning something with him. It also refreshes the personal nature of this season's threat while still making sense, unlike Tony's unfortunate demise. This establishes the mood for the episode as Jack and Audrey face their desire for revenge against needing Henderson to bring down the conspiracy.

It is further reinforced when Jack has to track the person who was handed the recording, while leaving Audrey with Henderson until Curtis and his team arrives. Much like Tony did, Audrey has plenty of reason and opportunity to exact revenge, revealing a dark side we haven't seen from her before, but she can't do it. Fortunately for Audrey, her instance doesn't involve her getting killed by Henderson in some slasher flick manner. Obviously, Henderson and his men would kill her, but thankfully Curtis comes out from hiding to save the day (Hurray for Curtis' return).

Henderson knows how to manipulate people. His monologue to Audrey made me believe that Heller possibly could still be alive and his detailing of her father drowning horribly only makes it worse. Of the deaths this season, Heller's is the most likely to be faked. I'm not expecting him to come back since he didn't within this hour, but that seed will be with the fans until the end of the season when it's beyond clear he is gone.

Henderson is obviously a very smart villain, so he's aware that this recording serves to keep him alive. It is now revealed that Walt's suicide wasn't filled with continuity errors (hand-cuffs, secret security detail allowing enough time for him to die of suffocation), but a planned murder. I don't buy that Logan was directly involved, but rather tipped Graham and his men and let them do the rest, or that secret service were involved, and managed to get the noble Aaron away for them to do it.

Thankfully, they decided to add a new element to the conspiracy, since there isn't enough between Logan and Henderson to last for the rest of the season. Their motivations aren't as clear as the "patriots'", embarking on this conspiracy for their country. Graham and his men may be most likely out for the oil profits, much like Kingsley and crew in season 2.

Both sides certainly manipulate Logan to the fullest extent possible. The writers have to be careful how to deal with Logan's turn, and so far they have done well. Logan has been spineless since we met him, so it would make sense that once he started down the road of compromising himself in the hopes of improving his status that those whose morals were clearly questionable would be able to control him.

Graham certainly is aware of Logan's uncertainty. Since the time they started planning this coincides with season four and Logan's ascension, perhaps they even had something to do with the attack on Keeler that got Logan where they needed him. It probably won't be explored, but considering what they have done, it wouldn't be out of place for them.

The harder Logan and his cronies try to cover up their plan, the bigger the mess is. Besides the unwise decision of getting Jack involved on a deeply personal level, the body count they are responsible for is too much for even those in the 24 world to shake off as another bad day. A beloved former president, the president's chief of staff and the secretary of defense have all died in the last twenty, all the while the president tries to make us belief that things are solving themselves.

The part that most worries fans is the fate of our favorite secret service agent, Aaron Pierce. No one buys that Aaron was suddenly transferred to Washington in the middle of this crisis considering what he knows and leaving his cell phone where he was supposed to meet Martha. However, the dialogue between Graham and Logan imply that he hasn't been "taken care of". Hopefully this is a good sign.

Of course, this leads to Martha's scene, where Logan finally reveals the truth, further reinforces why we love her while reinforcing the tragedy of Charles Logan. While Martha is a godsend for Logan, he treats her like a nuisance. So it is fitting that she asserts herself, but puts Logan in his place. Although they claim their marriage is now for show, Martha would wisely break up with him by the end of the season. Like she said, Logan deserves to suffer for what he's done.

Karen gets some high marks for CTU directors. She has been wary about Logan's choices, and now she has enough reason to believe that Jack might be right after all. Many previous directors would conveniently throw out this logic, which was a bit annoying. It is much more logical for Karen to do something now that the conspiracy is in focus. Warning Chloe about CTU eminent arrival at CTU: Bill's House is definitely a risky move, but it is makes her sympathetic. I wonder if she considered getting Miles involved in helping her, or perhaps she thought he was too much of a stickler to support even her protocol breaking actions. Considering the sheer amount of deaths this season, we may see more of her in season six.

Entil pointed this out in his review, but Karen is also in an interesting position at CTU. She'll have two major pieces of the conspiracy in her office (the wormholes CTU travel through will certainly deliver Curtis and his men to CTU early in the next episode). Although Bierko is the mastermind behind the Russian side, Erwich was the one who brokered the deal with the Russians. How much he knows is up for discussion, but he survived the gas plant explosion for a reason.

As for CTU: Bill's House, Buchanan and Chloe's interactions, complete with Chloe's awkward observations that he wasn't her boss anymore, were really great. Of course, they were more useful for the investigation than the actual CTU, who didn't seem to do much aside from chase them down. They get Jack to another airport I'll never visit where Jack can slip in, complete in his Unabomber hood onto a diplomatic flight. It'll be interesting to see how they play this out, perhaps a Chinese diplomat is on the flight who would be very interested in Jack hijacking the plane.

The core group of writers must be working hard on the final five, since this episode was written by and directed to people new to 24. Despite the pratfalls of new writers, this episode is surprisingly good since they stuck with the lead they were given. The personal nature gets to stew as they confront Henderson, who simultaneously adds to the body count. The stage is set for the final act, and it is looking good.

Score: 8/10