It started last week with VP Daniels, played by the gravelly bulldog Powers Boothe, refusing to accept Wayne Palmer's return to consciousness and office. Palmer doesn't agree with Daniels' move to nuke an Arab state as a response to the terrorist attacks on our country.
The cabinet must decide if Palmer is fit to resume presidential authority. In truth, Palmer is still weak - after all, he was just in a coma a few minutes ago - so he asks the doc to give him a shot of adrenaline, dangerous but pretty effective.
The cabinet vote is split - enough to keep Palmer in power - but Daniels objects that Karen Hayes, who had resigned and returned, had not been formally reinstated, and therefore her vote should not count. (This, by the way, is why I'm always against good people resigning. Better to hold on to your power, so you can do good.) The case is on its way to the Supreme Court, where Daniels' chances are not the greatest, when his assistant Lisa Miller (played by Invasion's Kari Matchett) comes to him with a proposal.
This sets us up for the first big surprise. I had noticed that Lisa had tears in her eyes during the cabinet meeting. It looked as if she was upset about Palmer being made to go through this ordeal, but it was hard to know what she was thinking, or where her deepest loyalities resided. So when she offered to perjure herself to help Daniels' case before the Supreme Court, it certainly didn't seem impossible that she might do that.
And, possibly, she was sincere in her attempt to help Daniels - though I think she was setting him up. But either way, Lennox had bugged the VP's office, and had a recording of Daniels accepting Lisa's offer to perjure herself. Daniels, faced with exposure, withdraws his case from the Supreme Court.
Too bad, on at least one account - it would have been great to see the Supreme Court make it to 24! But at least the country was now in Palmer's saner hands...
Though ... Palmer's not well. He needs more adrenaline to keep him going. His doctor - one of my favorite characters on the last few shows (Dr. Welton played by Jim Holmes)- reluctantly gives Palmer another shot, only to-
Turn Palmer into an aggressive, well, not madman, but suddenly concluding that the very nuclear attack he had opposed with Daniels now should go ahead!
Great irony: Adrenaline allows Palmer to stand up to Daniels only to turn him into Daniels! And since he just survived an attempt to remove him, the adrenaline- aggressive Palmer is not likely to be challenged again...
Perhaps his sister can talk sense to him, and get Palmer-Hyde to get back to Palmer-Jekyll.
Or maybe Doyle, who is continuing his development as a very appealing Jack Bauer type, tough but with a deep sense of supporting good people in CTU to fight the bad guys.... True, Doyle has no access to the President that we know of, but he is becoming a major figure on the show...
Useful link: 5-min podcast of this review at Levinson news clips
1 comment:
Of the things that impressed this episode, I have to put that a true, blue, what-the-hell's-gonna'-happen-next CLIFFHANGER that's been sorely missing over the last what: 10 episodes?
I look forward to seeing more episodes that take at least fresh looks at "things that we've seen before" and that leave us with that desire to ask at the Watercooler, "What's going to happen NEXT week?"
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