It isn't pretty. It's certainly not legal. But it's 100% believable about Jack. And, horrible as it is to see, maybe warranted.
Jack gets nothing from the sniper. 24 here makes the point, very clearly, that torture accomplishes little or nothing - a refutation in this last season that 24 across-the-board glorifies torture as sound policy in dealing with terrorism.
But Jack figures it out, anyway. He realizes the torture isn't working. He gets the sniper's cellphone, retrieves the sim card by cutting open the sniper's stomach (the sniper is conscious) - this last extreme act is at least thoroughly motivated by logic, and does work. And when Jack puts the sim card into the phone, he sees the last caller was-
Logan. Enough said. So now, with just three episodes left of the finale season, Jack is on a collision course with former President Logan, a Nixonian President who may be even worse than Nixon. What is Jack going to do - torture Logan to get him to reveal his connection to the Russians? Kill him afterwards?
Torturing a terrorist or a Russian murderer may not be legal or effective, but it could certainly be forgivable by people in high places, especially if it suited their purposes and they needed Jack for something else. But torturing and/or killing even a disgraced ex-President?
If Jack does any of that, it's hard to see him continuing in any fashion. Yet I'm sure he will - both confront Logan (which we saw in the coming attractions) and continue. The next three episodes, in which Jack is pushes to and pushes the very limits, should be extraordinary television.
See also Season 8 reviews: Hours 1 and 2 ... Hours 3 and 4 ... Hour 5 ... Hour 6 ... Hour 7 ... Hour 8 ... Hour 9 ... Hour 10 ... Hour 11 ... Hour 12 ... Hour 13 ... Hour 14 ... Hours 15-16 ... Hour 17 ... Hour 18 ... Hour 19 ... Hour 20
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
The Plot to Save Socrates"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News
"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book
3 comments:
Have you seen the recent news story in which the producer is quoted as saying "This story is a tragedy" and "The writers are taking [Jack] to a place he's never been before." (But also that the script is already written for the movie.)
In all the past controversy about Jack using torture, I have held that it was justified because under the show's premise, he had less than 24 hours to prevent some immediate disaster befalling large numbers of people -- and I believe such a situation justifies extreme measures that are not justified with a longer timeframe and/or a lesser threat. They never zeroed in on the distinction, which I thought was unfortunate.
But Jack has crossed the line this time. The question is, will they ever make plain where the line was?
I suspect that Jack will go to the line, but might not cross it. You might ask, hasn't he crossed it already? I don't think so. I think, if he abducts Logan, which he certainly seems poised to do, he will try to extract his revenge - after all Logan almost had him killed before, and was responsible for a lot of his personal pain, but there might be a just in time intervention by good, ol' reliable Chloe.
Either way, Logan and the current President will be disgraced as they should be. What they've done is inexcusable. I know, I am talking in absolutes, but that's the kind of ethics I believe in. No peace is worth such a comprise.
The last 3 hours of 24 will be dynamite.
i believe that a second someone becomes a terrorist he forfeits his rights. killing innocent men, women and children is an inexcuseable act. these people have A RIGHT to live and to do so in peace. in season 7 when Jack is questioned about his "methods" he makes this point very well telling the comitte that his actions safed innocent lives many of those children. such measures should not be used on foreign soldiers for instance since their goal is not killing innocent people but engaging the enemy forces. two very different things. and it was never used in such a way on 24.
about the episode i don't thik the line has been crossed yet. Jack would have simply killed the Russian if he told him who ordered the killing of Renee. When he got what he wanted from Dana he killed her, he didn't torture her for his sadistic inclinations. she killed CTU personnel and was responsible for so much more death that it was (in the eyes of many) a justified killing. Jack never killed anyone without having a very specific reason.
what i would really like to see is Jack crossing the line a little then pulling back at the last second. i believe that psychologically it would suit him since he's been under a lot of stress to go a bit to far then returning to the "right side." but we could see the things he did with the russian as a little to extreme and he's going to pull back a bit from now on.
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