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Monday, January 12, 2009

24 Season 7: Hours 3 and 4, Jack and Tony and the Guerrilla CTU

I knew that Tony wasn't bad - as I said in my review yesterday, his not letting the two planes crash could not have been a coincidence - and tonight's Hours 3 and 4 brought the satisfying revelation that Tony is really working undercover, to foil the very plan that he was trying to implement in Hours 1 and 2...

Tonight told us a lot more: Buchanan and Chloe have a sort of guerrilla CTU going, because the traitors are running deep in our government, and Tony is working with Buchanan and Chloe. Tony explains to Jack that, after being rescued and revived from death by the bad guy mercenaries three years ago - or, whenever Season/Day 5 ended - they put him to work. He did bad things for a few years, but couldn't go along with the death of innocent Americans that the current takeover of the air control, power grids, etc. called for.

Actually, the best scene between Jack and Tony - one of the best in the series, in fact - is when Tony needs to goad Jack to almost strangle him, or get close enough, so Tony can give Jack a code to let Jack know that Tony is still associated with CTU. Tony asks Jack how he can keep working for a government that killed his wife Teri (Nina was a traitor working for CTU), estranged him from his daughter Kim, and turned Audrey into a vegetable (our government left Jack to die in China, which led Audrey to go there to save him). These were things that definitely needed saying to Jack, and who better than Tony.

Meanwhile, Buchanan (well played by James Morrison), always looked better out of his suit, and tonight he never looked better. He's also getting tougher, willing to sacrifice Jack if necessary for the ultimate goal of the mission (and when Tony and Jack were escaping from the FBI, Buchanan tells Tony that they'd be better going, even though Jack has not yet broken through to their van).

Renee is still looking good, but, unfortunately, Jack has to choke her out in order to spring Tony, and this doesn't do much to support Renee's good feelings about Jack. She's now determined to bring him, and Tony, back in, any way she can, but I'm thinking it's just a matter of time until she realizes Jack is her soul mate, or least someone on the right side.

Renee and Jack certainly have similar attitudes about when to get tough with suspects, even more similar than in Hours 1 and 2. In another excellent scene, Renee does what is necessary to get information from Tanner - i.e., she comes close to killing him (and, for we know, maybe she even did).

But Renee certainly no longer trusts Jack, and trust is a large part of what this season is all about. Someone's working for the bad guys in the FBI - not just in the field, but back in the office - and likewise someone who is close to the President. I'm still guessing Larry Moss - Renee's boss - at the FBI, and I don't like that Chief of Staff Kanin at all. He was Wayne Palmer's Secretary of Defense, and I can't recall what I thought of his advice last season, but I don't like it now. But maybe that's too obvious.

These four hours have already covered a lot of territory, and this season may be weaving the most complex plot of all. Rather than terrorists trying to blow up LA or set loose a pathogen in the middle of town, these bad guys are layer upon a layer, and I'm guessing we've seen nothing like the worst of them, yet.

Which means we're in for a great season of 24. And I'll be back with my review of Hour 5 next Monday.

See also
: Hours 1 and 2 ... Hour 5







7-min podcast review of 24 7 Hrs 3-4






The Plot to Save Socrates


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"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book


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4 comments:

dawn said...

I don't know I think they gave us to much to soon, I knew Tony had to be on the right side and I do think this may be Jack soulmate. It's gonna be a bumpy ride and I'm liking it

Paul Levinson said...

Bumpy rides are a good way of putting 24's strengths and pleasures!

Anonymous said...

I agree about Jack and Renee being soulmates. And Kiefer might, too! I found this link that takes you to an interview that Kiefer did a few months ago. Listen to the end because he talks about Jack finding love...

http://www.vimeo.com/1583960

Shane said...

I'm not a fan of your politics, but that was an excellent review of the first four hours of 24.

Maybe there's still hope for you!

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