"Day 3: 1PM - 2PM"

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In which Los Angeles becomes the target of a bioterrorism plot connected to the result of a drug cartel operation recently completed by Jack Bauer...

Status Report - 60 Minute Drill - Final Analysis




Status Report

“24” is a series that has several advantages over others in the genre. For one thing, each season is effectively its own animal, not unlike a series of novels featuring the same characters but taking place several years apart. But just like such novels, there are character and plot threads that carry over from season to season, allowing each season to cover its own ground while free to reference previous events.

This season begins a little differently. Unlike the first season, which was piecemeal and fragmented at best, the second season was developed with the knowledge that a third season was already optioned. Even as the major plot threads for the second season were concluding, the seeds for the third season were being planted. As a result, the audience is well aware that the current biological weapon crisis is linked in some way to the assassination attempt on Palmer three years earlier.

Given how abruptly the second season ended, this season premiere covers some of the basic questions. Palmer survived the assassination attempt, but the result was a massive amount of scarring where the biological agent touched his hand and an unknown ongoing health issue. That health issue likely involves heart damage, though one cannot be entirely sure.

This episode doesn’t definitively link the Palmer hit to the current crisis, but the logical connections are there to be seen. For one thing, the failure of the entire plot to discredit and destroy the Palmer presidency last season led to the use of a biological weapon. The fact that it didn’t immediately kill Palmer probably led to three years of further development, culminating in the third season.

The timing is suspect, because apparently Jack Bauer’s covert operations with a Mexican drug cartel interconnect with the biological terrorism. It should be remembered, however, that Nina Myers was working for an unidentified terrorist organization with ties to the Drazens, Middle Eastern terrorism, and US domestic terrorist groups. The idea that they would have also been involved with drug cartels, probably for funding, is likely…just as it’s likely that they became aware of Bauer’s operations when Salazar was detained.

The drug cartel plot thread neatly explains what Jack has been doing for the last three years. Apparently having recovered from his heart attack, Jack was involved in ongoing covert activities for the CTU and at some point was promoted. During his undercover operations for the past year, he was forced to live the usual lifestyle of those heavily involved in illegal drug trafficking, and he is privately dealing with the ongoing addictions. How this could have escaped the CTU is an interesting question.

Tony Almeida is still in charge of the Los Angeles CTU, though he is sharing space with Jack’s FieldOps department. How this came to be is not at all clear, especially since it already appears that Jack is the one with higher authority. Granted, it might be more correct to say that Tony defers to Jack’s experience, as he has in the past. Regardless, the interrelationship between the two groups is not good, especially since Kim Bauer is working under her father.

Kin Bauer’s sudden inclusion within the CTU is baffling, to say the least. The fact that the writers have characters questioning Kim’s employment speaks to how ludicrous it sounds. One wonders, right from the beginning, if Jack hired her as an analyst in the hopes that she’ll remain in sight if there’s another really bad day. However, to be fair, three years is more than long enough to turn one’s life around, and Kim’s character was originally far more competent than the moron she became last season.

Adding to the office tension is the interpersonal relationship aspect. Between the CTU and the Los Angeles branch of the CIA on “Alias”, the intelligence community appears to be a hot place to pick up potential love interests! At least Tony and Michelle have a reason to be together, and the plot thread of Tony’s possible move to Washington ought to stir up trouble.

Far more contrived and questionable is the relationship between Kim and her father’s latest partner, Chase. Chase looks like he wants nothing more than to start pulling a gun and screaming at people, so maybe Kim just feels comfortable around someone like family. Still, if the writers were looking for a way to make Kim look less ridiculous, this was a bad move. The fact that she’s even worried about revealing her relationship to her father within seconds of hearing about a major terrorist threat speaks volumes.

For someone who is supposed to be extremely good at handling people and crises, David Palmer continues to have some serious gaps in his paranoia. It doesn’t look like hiring his younger brother as his new chief of staff was necessarily the right one. Nor does it look like Palmer is at all concerned about being in a relationship with the one person who knows his medical weaknesses. Both characters look like perfect sources of betrayal.

While this episode neatly sets up the initial plot and character threads for the season, it will be interesting to see how they link the current plot into the overall activities against Palmer. By linking Nina’s activities to a larger group in the second season, and using Mandy as the assassin in the second season finale, the writers have put that question into play.

Should the series continue beyond the third season, and there’s no reason to believe that it wouldn’t, then the writers should start thinking about when to provide the final payoff. The common link for all of the season is Palmer, and assuming that he survives this season to see a second term, time is quickly running out at the overall pace of the series.

For the moment, however, the third season has started strong. That strength ought to carry through the first third of the episodes, if past history is any indication, but the challenge will be to maintain that strength throughout. Like the first season before it, the second season became mired in repetition and convoluted plot threads about halfway through the episodes. The goal this season should be consistency in the tone and quality of the season overall.


60 Minute Drill

(This section was unable to be completed, due to the suspicious destruction of the source tape upon which the episode had been recorded…but it will be featured starting next episode!)


Final Analysis

Overall, this was a strong start to the season. It’s interesting to see Jack Bauer, ostensibly the dark hero of the series, placed in such a terrible position. As usual, the writers challenge the perceptions and expectations of the audience, which doesn’t always please everyone…but it does generate a great deal of respect.

I give it an 8/10.




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