Whew! Talk about raising the ante! Last season on 24 we saw Jack deal with the President of the United States, who turned out to be one of the bad guys. Not the worst of the bad guys, but a conniving cooperator.
Tonight we found out an awful truth: the guy calling the shots for the bad guys last year, Graem, played by Paul McCrane, turns out to be ... Graem Bauer - Jack's brother. And Jack's father may also be involved.
We don't yet know the full connection between Jack's evil brother (not twin, they don't look much alike) and the nuke in the LA suburbs, but it's obviously substantial. Tonight's episode featured some brief but provocative references to the death of Jack's wife, Teri - the last time Jack and Graem saw each other was at her funeral - and the beginning of a glimpse into a part of Jack's life we did not know before.
Jack's father Phillip - played by James Cromwell - will make his appearance next week. My only regret is Donald Sutherland doesn't have the part.
I'm sure there's a story there, somewhere. But that's real life. And I'm enjoying this fiction far too much to far worry about it...
the 2 and 1/2 minute podcast of this review
Keith Olbermann, Jack Bauer, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge
