Saturday, April 17th, 2010
06.00 24
07.30 24
02.30 24
03.30 24
24. Season 8, Episode 8. "11:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m."
Most of this episode shows Jack being tortured by the Russians, getting away and killing most of them.
Which is, I believe, a core part of the appeal of 24. Jack has been captured/tortured many, many times and - at this stage - we know how it will play out. We can predict exactly what will happen and it does not spoil the enjoyment of it. In fact, for me, it's part of the real fun of the show. Watching Jack overcome these guys and escape.
Why does it work? Maybe it works because we love to see Jack in action, and maybe it works because so many other elements within the show are un-predictable. This episode ends with a twist involving the David Anders that I did not see coming.
So, for me, that's part of the appeal of the show after all these years: the balance between things we can easily predict (and will enjoy seeing again) and things that we are surprised by.
24. Season 8, Episode 9. "12:00 a.m.-1:00 a.m."
The best part of this episode was the final quarter, as Cole caught up with Dana and events in her storyline reached an ending that I would never have predicted. In fact, as the main bad guy lay dying in her arms and made his apology I felt partially sorry for him. Something I would never have predicted in the earlier episodes of the story.
Over in the Jack plot, this is the episode where he returns to CTU and finds out that they are about to make Renee take the fall for murdering the Russian mobster. Jack defends her (as only Jack can) and ends up doing a deal with Hastings to lead the team on the rest of the mission. This is an example of 24 doing things right, and playing three different storylines off one another. This season has been about getting inside Renee's head in lots of ways and this decision to burn her has allowed us even more scenes of her in grief. In itself, it's good stuff. But, I like they way they are able to play this into the bigger picture and make this a reason for getting Jack involved for the rest of the season.
And why is their a vacancy? Because Cole is tied up in the resolution of the Dana storyline and there's nobody around to lead the CTU team into battle.
Sure, some of this is a bit silly, but I don't care. 24 has always been a bit silly. What matters here, and what impresses me is the way they show can move it's pieces around on the chessboard and have them bounce off one another in ways that drive the story.
24. Season 8, Episode 10. "1:00 a.m.-2:00 a.m."
Usually a season of 24 is easily broken down into story arcs. These arcs are defined by whatever role Jack happens to have at the time. Jack will be undercover for X episodes and have a specific goal, then Jack will be on the run for X episodes and have a new goal, then Jack will be leading a CTU Strike Team for X episodes and have another goal, etc. Often when Jack changes roles, a lot of things change, too. The story might unveil a whole new set of bad guys, with a whole new agenda. Sometimes the supporting cast will change drastically.
This season is different. So far. Jack has changed roles, yes, but everything else has stayed - more of less - stable. Faces have come and gone, yes, but the show is - nearly halfway through the season - still telling pretty much the exact same story they started to tell in the first hour. In many ways, this is a return to the storytelling style of Season One and, for this viewer, it's a very welcome return to bygone days.
In other news: what's up with the criminal waste of Cherry Jones? She was one of the main reasons for watching last season, and this season she's reduced - week after week - to expressing concern with the things that people are doing over in the real storylines. A waste of her talent.
24. Season 8, Episode 11. "2:00 a.m.-3:00 a.m."
A filler episode. 24 has these from time to time (the prison riot in Season Three was the worst) and - to be honest - this one is pretty good.
The lifeblood of 24 is moving the story forward at breakneck pace, so these episodes go against the grain. The end point (in the big story) of episodes like this is always the exact same end point (in the big story) of the previous episode, so there is a danger that the viewer could be frustrated by the padding. But... not here. Mare Winningham and Rami Malek give Emmy-worthy performances. Yet, strangely, they are not the best performances in the episode. Kiefer Sutherland blows them both out of the water with his final speech as Jack. That **** is awesome.
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