"Day 3: 2PM - 3PM"

Written by Joel Surnow and Michael Loceff
Directed by Jon Cassar


In which Jack deals with the relationship between Chase and Kim while hunting down the source of the virus, while Palmer discovers that something may be amiss in his campaign for re-election...

Status Report - 60 Minute Drill - Final Analysis




Status Report

As expected, this episode follows the established pattern of breaking the season into 24 chapters. Like any standard spy potboiler, the overall plot of the third season “novel” appears to be taking its time in terms of development. That doesn’t mean that there are some tantalizing hints about where the season is heading, but it does mean that the bulk of the episode feels a bit well-worn; very little new material is introduced, in terms of the series.

When it comes to “24”, it pays to remember that each season is like a volume in an open-ended series of novels. While past seasons inform the plot and character threads, the focus is definitely on the present. That should be clear just from the season premiere, but a quick look at the series webpage emphasizes that fact. Character biographies pertain specifically to events since the last season, almost as if those earlier events are long-lost memories.

One perfect example is Kim and her seemingly unexplained employment at the CTU. It hasn’t been explained to the audience why Kim has been deemed an acceptable employee for the CTU, especially since they would be well aware of her troubles during the past few years. Perhaps this is something meant to be covered in the future, given some of the questions from other analysts regarding her credentials.

However, it’s interesting to see that Jack admits that he pushed for Kim to get a position at the office. On the face of it, Jack’s decision isn’t that bad of an idea. As he says, experience has taught Jack that keeping Kim in a place where he and others can keep an eye on her is a wise precaution. If anything, this episode completely justifies that point of view.

In the middle of a massive national security threat, Kim is fixated on telling her father about her relationship with his new partner. One can imagine that the news would have been distracting regardless of the person in question, but the fact that Kim’s love interest is an up-and-coming field agent has to be the worst news ever.

Jack is completely justified in his reaction, no matter how harsh it seems to be. The fact that Michelle backs Kim is simply a consequence of the circumstances of her own marriage. Jack knows that being a field agent is an extremely dangerous line of work, which essentially requires putting everything in one’s life on the line. Considering what happened to his family in the first season, any other reaction would be out of character.

If the writers were trying to portray Chase as somewhat naïve, then they have succeeded. He had to know that Jack would place his daughter’s future ahead of the ambitions of anyone on his staff; that’s what Jack has always tried to do. But there’s also the issue of trust. Jack could trust Chase to follow orders, even to the point of keeping Jack’s drug problem off the radar. That might not be the most intelligent move, but it does speak to respect between the two men. By keeping his relationship with Kim a secret for months, Chase undermines that rapport.

As in previous seasons, this episode highlights some massive security problems at the CTU. While many of those problems are admitted failures by the writers to maintain the proper level of authenticity, perhaps the issue needs to be approached from a different perspective.

It is clear from this episode that the Salazar plan is part of something more than revenge against Jack Bauer. Hector Salazar specifically asks about Palmer’s whereabouts, suggesting that the president is a critical part of the overall plot. Given the Salazar connection to international terrorism, this points directly to the same organization that was behind the assassination plot of the first season and the plot to unseat Palmer in the second season.

Any terrorist organization that has been able to plant moles and double agents in high ranking positions within the government and US intelligence would need some kind of tap into intelligence communications systems on a long-term basis. The fact that the same organization would be able to effectively redirect retaliation after the failed attempt to kill Palmer with the original virus also speaks to continued inside knowledge. All of which explains how yet another mole could be located within the CTU.

The presence of another mole within CTU covering the Salazar operations suggests strongly that the entire plot is once again designed against the Palmer presidency. As a result, the writers had better address that fact within the context of the season arc. It is completely unreasonable to think that all of these clearly related events would not be tied together by CTU, given the fact that Bauer is also on the hit list.

Of course, Palmer has other problems. His brother is displaying some underhanded tactics in the re-election campaign, but perhaps more importantly, there’s reason to think that Wayne is not thinking things through. If Keeler’s team has somehow made Keeler’s debate playbook available, it has to be suspect. After all, this is something pulled right out of the headlines from the last election, when scandals regarding that kind of information leak came into play.

In exactly the same way, whatever information Wayne has uncovered regarding Anne has to be considered suspect at best. Of course, true or not, anything potentially damaging could be suggested during the debate and made enough of a media concern to have significant damage on Palmer’s re-election. Timing such a false charge to come into play at the exact moment that a virus linked to Palmer’s earlier assassination attempt would be one quick way to suggest weakness in Palmer’s administration.

Much like the distracting subplots with the Warners and Kim’s child abduction adventures last season, the background drama regarding Hector, Claudia, and deluded teen Kyle is rather weak. At least Kim’s romance with Chase has an obvious effect on the current crisis. Kyle and his family issues are just a means to an end, and the Salazar plot threads would work much better in a minimalist capacity.

It’s likely that the early episodes will be serviceable at best as the key conflicts and dramas are staged. Perhaps unfortunately, that’s part of the game. Writing a novel for television still requires the key elements of any story, and that means the early chapters will be little more than an introduction to the players. When you add the overly informative promos and the high expectations, it’s almost impossible for episodes like this to be anything but underwhelming.


60 Minute Drill

(Note: The following observations are made in real time.)

2:03:51 – Where did Dr. Macer get the video of a subject presenting the effects of the virus? The time code indicates hours of observation!

2:05:41 – So I guess at least one person has figured out why Jack ordered the remote-controlled shades...

2:05:57 – I don’t know if Chase’s suggestion to take heroin while dealing with a national crisis gave Jack the warm fuzzies during his conversation with Kim!

2:07:00 – And apparently CTU hires people like Chloe out of the same employment agency that my company works with...

2:09:20 – Why would Chase use a floppy to transfer the list to Chloe? Doesn’t he know how to use the CTU network yet?

2:09:45 – OK...right here is the spot where Jack decides he wants to rip Chase’s heart out through his rectal cavity!

2:11:03 – How exactly does Michelle make the immediate leap from white powder to bag of cocaine or heroin? Granted, that’s what Salazar’s cartel deals with, but a lot of weaponized biological agents look like white powder! Maybe it’s just the “Pay attention!” way she says it...

2:18:30 – What interactions could Tony possibly need to “work up in real time”?

2:18:57 – “Let’s go, Chase!” (I swear, you can hear his teeth grinding!)

2:19:50 – Is it me, or does Wayne have a real problem answering a question with specific information?

2:20:03 – Doesn’t Keeler’s guy, the leak, look a little like Jon Voight?

2:22:22 – Good job, Chase, don’t let the angry dog lie...

2:23:03 – “Damn it, Chase, you cannot have a normal life and do this job at the same time!” (Well, maybe 364 days out of a given year, but that one day...)

2:24:30 – Boring subplot alert...

2:26:00 – All this once again proves that Tony Almeida is the best Latino badass on this show, without a doubt!

2:32:50 – “Pulling a Sherry”??? That’s hilarious!

2:33:11 – The way Palmer says his line, it sounds like Wayne is a recent addition to David’s staff. So who was playing Chief of Staff for the past three years?

2:35:24 – From interesting Palmer-related conspiracy talk to annoying Latino machismo in ten seconds flat...

2:37:42 – Oh, dear Lord...can they can Chloe already?

2:44:48 – I’ve decided that I don’t like the name “Chase”. It just doesn’t roll off the tongue very well...

2:45:22 – So...after almost hitting Jack with a blind sideshot, the drug dealer completely misses Jack while firing several rounds at effectively point-blank range!

2:45:38 – “Shut up, stupid!”

2:46:10 – You know Chase was just waiting for that moment...

2:46:52 – And here we are with the boring and obvious subplot again!

2:47:42 – $1800 to live in an apartment building with a pool in Los Angeles?

2:48:08 – If I were the landlord, I’d still throw them out, because it’s obvious that the kid is handing over drug money!

2:48:42 – Tony’s rough! Department paperwork in less than five minutes? It has to take that long just to fill out the forms!

2:55:11 – That’s an awful lot of food...

2:57:01 – Good idea, Chase, question orders and piss off Jack a little more!

2:58:51 – Of course, Anne was probably a porno star or...even worse...a Communist!

3:00:00 – Now the real question is...does the mole work for Tony or Jack?


Final Analysis

Overall, this episode confirmed many of the early theories regarding the season arc, especially in terms of how certain scenes in the premiere played out. The emphasis on subplots takes away from the episode’s strengths, but the apparent indication that the overall plot against Palmer might be addressed makes up for it.

I give it a 7/10.




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Email: entil2001@yahoo.com