"I went to a place to eat. It said 'breakfast at any time.' So I ordered french toast during the Renaissance". --Steven Wright ... If you are a devotee of time travel, check out this song...

Monday, January 18, 2010

24 Season 8 Hours 3 and 4: The Female Jack

Hours 3 and 4 of 24, Day (or Season) 8, were on tonight with a fine, heart pounding, surprising story.   The two hours actually told two very different, though interconnected, stories ...

In Hour 3:  Omar Hassan (played by Slumdog Millionaire's Anil Kapoor - he reminds me a little of Omar Sharif back in his Lawrence of Arabia days) does the right thing, and supports reporter Meredith Reed's (Jennifer Westfeldt) admission to Hastings that she and Hassan had been having an affair.  But Hastings still think she could be part of the assassination attempt, and is swayed by planted evidence on Meredith's computer.   Only Chloe thinks the evidence may have been planted, but Hastings won't listen to her, and the assassination plan proceeds...

Out in Queens, Jack's doing his best to track and stop the assassin, but he winds up with a gun in his hand and a dead cop and his wife - they were killed by the assassin, who is now taking the slain cop's place in the protection detail for Hassan at the UN.   A Vic Mackey wannabee (actually, Domenick Lombardozzi - Herc  - from The Wire, a fine actor) and his partner played by Johnny Wu take Jack into custody.   Domenick beats Jack, certain that he's a cop killer.  Fortunately, Wu doesn't like this and is just convinced enough by Jack's story to call it in ... This allows Jack to get in touch with Cole at the U.N., and arrive there himself, just in time to -

Save Hassan.   As I say in my review of just about every episode, with 24 you never know...  But it's clear now that Cole is a major, valuable CTU agent, able to think and act almost as fast as Jack, and drive a wild car to stop an assassination with the best of 'em.

On to Hour 4:  There's almost always a bad guy behind the bad guy we've been dealing with on 24, and we soon meet that guy and his son (played by David Anders - Alias's Sark! and he just appeared in a reprise of Hiro's arch enemy in Heroes tonight).   There's weapons grade uranium involved, but Jack's still determined to get back to L.A. ... but hey, this is 24, as in 24 hours, so that's not gonna happen just yet.

But the real reason is the not the uranium but a radioactive relationship that didn't quite happen last year - between Renee (Annie Wersching) and Jack.  Here's my take on last year (Season 7): the two are attracted to each other, even love each other, should sleep with each other already.   Other elements:  Renee didn't approve of some of Jack's violent methods last year, but by the end of the year, well, maybe she had been transformed.

We find out just how much tonight.  She's called back from private security to help get to the Russian gang (the father and son) who are behind the uranium dealings.  Jack doesn't think she's ready to get back into the cross fires.   Hastings and Renee ignore his advice.   Jack won't be going to LA just yet.  He's going to go in with Renee.    She's not thrilled about having a babysitter, but, like I said, she feels something real for Jack so I'd say she's mostly glad he'll be with her.

So the two go out on the mission together.  And in Renee's very first interaction with a bad guy, she gets a little frustrated, and cuts his hand off!

This is the first time in the series that I can recall Jack partnered with a woman who has less patience with bad guys than he does.    Should be a riveting day for Jack and Renee and all else concerned.  (By the way, Chloe's better than ever.)


6-min podcast review of 24

See also Season 8 reviews: Hours 1 and 2


And see also Season 7 reviews: Hours 1 and 2 ... Hours 3 and 4 ... Hour 5 ... Hour 6 ... Hour 7 ... Hour 8 ... Hour 9 ... Hour 10 ... Hours 11-12 ... Hour 13 ... Hour 14 ... Hour 15 ... Hour 16 ... Hour 17 ... Hour 18 ... Hour 19 ... Hour 20 ... Hour 21 ... Hour 22  ... Hours 23-24 

And see also Season 6 reviews: Hours 1 and 2 ... Hours 3 and 4 ... Hour 5 ... Hour 6 ... Hour 7 ... Hours 8 and 9 ... Hour 10 ... Hour 11 ... Hour 12 ... Hour 13 ... Hour 14 ... Hour 15 ... Hour 16 ... Hour 17 ... Hour 18... Hour 19 ... Hour 20 ... Hour 21 ... Hour 22 ... Hours 23-24










4 comments:

MC said...

See, I thought the whole setup at CTU New York was so SD-6.

Paul Levinson said...

Good point there, Matt - and great to see you back here!

I had a feeling 24 might lure you back :)

M.P. Andonee said...

Here are my thoughts Paul:
(I meant to visit earlier and read your review and discuss, but I am prepping for a business trip):

1-I think the only thing Hastings fears is politics (as in office and white house politics, and the White House Chief of Staff - I already dislike that dude).

2-Dana Walsh story could be important. It's as if she has two personalities, but more important to me, is why this guy shows up now all of a sudden. I do think this will play a very important subplot with Chloe figuring stuff out and working things out behind the scenes and ...improperly? And could this guy be important in some way... be tied into the overall plot?

3-Man... What to say about Renee. First of all, I have to admit, I am smitten by the actress (and by redheads in general), but I did love her role last year (she played just the proper proportion of FBI Agent and concern for Jack and also came to a realization that things are not as pretty out there in the big bad real world as they appear to be behind a desk.) Was that experience enough to change her? I dunno. This is an interesting character development for her. Personally, I am not very happy with it, especially if it ends with her death - which is where I see this going. I just simply am not buying her transformation into a psycho.

4-Finally Jack. The reluctant HERO. Fascinating change from seasons past, but in many ways bringing us back to where it all begun. You know, Kiefer has said that he would only return for a 9th season if they did a much simpler story, like the 1st season. But so far, this year's Jack does remind me of the reluctant Jack of season 1. We'll see where things go from here.

Brian McFadden said...

Dr. Lev -

I found this new website via a Twitter 'tweet,' and thought it would further support your "Female Jack" position:

The Walker Counter

I know a lot's been made of how many kills Jack can rack up every season, but it seems as though fans are looking at Renee in the same light. The site looks like it's in its infant stages, but this is more devotion (by fans) to a character *not* named Jack Bauer than I've seen yet (no offense to Tony, Michelle, Curtis, Bill B., David and Wayne Palmer, etc).

Seems like the fanbase is really identifying with Renee as "The Female Jack,: afterall.

InfiniteRegress.tv