If there’s one complaint that I’ve had about this season of 24, it’s there hasn’t been enough Jack. It feels like he’s been pushed aside in favor of focusing on the blossoming soap operas taking place at CTU and underneath the White House. And he’s only killed a handful of people. Jack Bauer has not killed this few people in a day since he was in junior high.
And so I’ve been thinking, what can, or will they do, to bring the focus back to Jack? In what way will they bring back the one-man killing squad that we’ve watched over the past six years?
The answer to those questions: team him up with Rain Man.
Watching the opening scenes of tonight’s episode unfold, I was looking forward to seeing Jack get back out in the field. It was nice to see the terrorist he shot last week die from those injuries. And as the plot to take down Gredenko progressed, Jack actually formed a bond with Brady, who was being used by his evil brother.
But something just felt wrong about the whole setup. I don’t want to be all sensitive and say they were exploiting Brady and his condition (because anyone who knows me can tell you I’m one of the least sensitive people out there). But the whole plot just seemed like it was from a whole different show.
Although, I have to admit, after seeing the terrorists use someone with, shall we say, “unique mathematical skills” to exploit some security system, I found myself wondering why that hadn’t been used earlier.
The other main plot was way underneath the White House, as Vice President Yosemite Sam proved his machismo by threatening a nuclear strike. Meanwhile, those officials who didn’t have to prove their manhood (or womanhood) were urging a more sensible course of action.
This storyline is allright, I guess. But there are two things about it that get to me:
-It screams of the Day 2 25th Amendment removal of David Palmer.
-Whenever I see Sandra Palmer and Karen Hayes on the screen, I have to fight sleep.
Well, at least Wayne Palmer is awake again. And this show featured more than five minutes of Jack, so maybe it’s moving in the right direction.
Your thoughts?
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