Season 5; Hour Thirteen (7:00PM - 8:00PM)

Air Date: 13 Mar 06
Reviewer: J

Let me just say right up front that I loved this hour and felt that as much as D lucked out with last week’s second hour, I am privileged to be bringing you this week’s commentary. Hopefully, I won’t seem “flyby” again. Of course, when you’ve written a couple hundred thousand words about any subject, you’re bound to have off-nights. My apologies if any of our loyal readers ever feel short-changed. This hour marks my sixtieth (60th) review of 24 over the course of three and a half seasons. I like to think I’ve had a lot more good ones than bad […or when they’ve been bad, they’ve been, like, wicked bad, which really is good. – D]. Regardless, believe me when I tell you that both D and I are true writers, in that we often beat ourselves up over our work much more than anyone else could. Anyway, onto the review.

As we crest the hill and begin barreling down the hill into the second half of the season (can you believe we’re only just beginning the second half?), 24 once again does not disappoint. For the second week in a row, we have an awesome episode that seems a bit more focused and, thus, a bit different than 24’s usual herky-jerky style. Where there used to be many storylines at once, we’re currently embroiled in one major-league storyline into which all the other parts seem to pretty much mesh nicely. What this allows is for us to basically see only two locations in Hour Thirteen – CTU and the Presidential Retreat.

Well, we don’t really see all that much of CTU. We specifically see the rooms that are safe to inhabit during a time when noxious gas is permeating the building. Presumably, these are the rooms the staff gather in after Edgar has a Mexican lunch. (Is it wrong to continue making fun of the big guy posthumously?) Anyway, let’s do a headcount: We’ve got Jack, Audrey, Kim, her shrink boyfriend Barry and Chloe holed up in the conference room. They’ve also got some extras along with them who are evidently mute. It appears a few techies were wise enough to get in there as well as a field agent or two and a security guard or two. Bill, wisely, booked it up to his office since he really wanted it back from Lynn. Or maybe he didn’t want to be cooped up with all those nutbags in the conference room. The Death Clinic, ironically, is one of the four safe zones (although I could swear there were only three at the end of last hour – someone must have realized they needed to save McGill) and in there we have Tony and the doctor who tried to save Paul Raines last season but was forced at gunpoint by Jack to work on another patient who had been injured during Jack’s international incident-caused raid on the Chinese consulate. Oh, yeah, what about that, huh? Please tell me that won’t be a completely dropped storyline because that would be….. stupid.

Also in the clinic is Henderson and Burke, who is the new special agent in charge of torture for this season. As I mentioned, Lynn is still in his holding room. Interesting that CTU ensures that any criminals they have will be safe – safer than their employees. Anyway, there’s also a security guard named Harry in the holding room with McGill. Early on, McGill confides in Harry that this is all his fault. Yeah, that’s a great idea, Lynn. Harry has a gun. Anyway, Harry – rightfully – expresses indignation that Lynn was such a stupid ass that he didn’t report his keycard stolen until it was too late. In fact, Harry goes so far as to say, “So we’re all gonna die” because of McGill. Oh, Harry, not everybody’s gonna die. Some people have guaranteed contracts with Fox.

One of the first things Bill does (and I give him credit for still running point on everything and staying under control) is call Curtis in the hopes that he can help from the outside. And, presumably, to give him a heads up not to walk right into the building. Curtis is in his truck (not the one Jack boosted from him, I guess) and reports that it could be 30 minutes before he’s back at CTU. Which is interesting, given that he was on his way back to CTU at 6:17 and it’s now 7:01. Thirty more minutes means that the hospital was an hour and fifteen minutes away. Jack, however, was able to get from the mall to Omicron to Henderson’s house and back to CTU in probably less time than that. And during rush hour to boot. Maybe Curtis is just a slow driver. Or maybe he’s smart as hell and isn’t going to go anywhere near the festering death stew that is CTU. Regardless, take a good look at Curtis since you won’t see him again this hour.

Fortunately, the writers of 24 are catching on that there are a lot of us nit-pickers out here and they had someone ask Buchanan early on where their gas masks and atropine (which, evidently, can combat nerve gas?) are. Buchanan points out that they’re in the armory, which is contaminated. Good planning. Knowing the threat level that’s out there, I’d have had mine on since the Ontario Airport situation.

Meanwhile, in the conference room, Chloe has flipped her shit even more than usual and is having some serious PTSD issues. Nobody else is, but she refers to Edgar in this hour as her “best friend” so we know something is seriously wrong with her. Jack tries his usual smooth techniques of demanding she get back to work until Barry the doctora steps in and says maybe he can help. You know, being a clinical psychologist and all. Plus he’s had experience with other CTU employees who were dealing with issues. I’m referring to Kim, for those of you slow kids in the class. He’s also “experienced” Kim, if you know what I mean. And I hope you do. Because I’m laying it on kind of thick. Sort of like Barry’s done to Kim. Okay, I’m done. For this paragraph.

Jack calls the Death Clinic to see if Henderson made it in. The doctor, within 10 feet of Tony, tells Jack over the speakerphone that Henderson and Burke are indeed in there. Smart move. Tony now knows there is someone there he can blame for Michelle’s murder and puts the doc in a sleeper hold. He then heads into the room where Henderson is and relieves Burke of his sidearm. He even refers to Burke as “Rick” when he says, “I don’t want to shoot you Rick, but I will if I have to!” Rick realizes his $40,000 a year job as torturer extraordinaire isn’t worth it and backs off. Jack pipes into the room via the intercom and talks Tony out of killing Henderson. Of course, Tony should have just shot the phone but he listened to Jack turn on the velvet and convince him that he really does understand since he lost his wife Teri the same way. Well, not really. Teri was shot in cold blood by Nina; Michelle was the victim of a car bomb. Or, as I said in the premiere, a hell of a factory recall.

Anyway, Tony relents, giving full implication that CTU can try to continue to break Henderson but then he plans to kill him. Burke doesn’t even ask for his gun back.

Incidentally, Burke is injecting Henderson with something that Jack as well as the Fox Web site refer to as “hyoscine-pentothal.” I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the reason that it isn’t working on Henderson is that it doesn’t exist. Seriously, I’m amazed they chose a drug that doesn’t even exist. The only results on Google were for 24 Web sites and Wikipedia had absolutely nothing on it. However, I dug a little further (because we’re all about full service here at The Unofficial 24 Page) and I learned that hyoscine itself is also known as scopolamine. In the medicinal form, it’s known as “scopolamine hydrobromide” and has indeed been used as a truth syrum. The government looked into this in the 1950s but subsequently abandoned the use of it since it was known to cause so much delirium that it couldn’t be considered reliable. Or maybe its use wasn’t abandoned.

Ten minutes into the episode we finally leave CTU and go to Camp David Palmer, where the prez and vice-prez are speaking with Karen Hayes, who is apparently a Homeland Security…agent? I didn’t realize Homeland Security had such a role in our governmental decisions. Anyway, VP Hal Gardner (who gets his own freeze-frame intro this week, interestingly) is played by Ray Wise, who I always remember from The Chase. I don’t know why, but I do. Anyway, Gardner is evidently making the decisions for Logan now, who is only too relieved to have someone do this for him. Last year, it was David Palmer. This year, it seemed to be Walt and Mike, until Walt died and Mike decided to make Logan be a man (good day for that lesson, Mike). Now Gardner comes in and begins barking orders and Logan gets all turned on and allows it. Not a good sign. You know, come to think of it, Vice Presidents on this show are for shit.

Anyway, Ms. Hayes from Homeland Security confirms that CTU is in deep shit and that they’ll head over there (apparently not in a rush, though) and take over operations. More on this later.

Hal Gardner continues to push Logan to declare martial law and to herd the people off the streets. Yes, that’s a great idea. That could cause mayhem and panic in Peoria, Illinois – Gardner is suggesting doing it in Los Angeles. Logan weakly protests but Gardner makes the point that if they control the streets it will be a lot harder for the terrorists to move about. Well, yes, but that’s one of those messed up arguments with so many holes I don’t even know where to begin. So I won’t. But the point Harold makes (I like calling people with nicknames that cover their dorky names by those dorky names) is seemingly legitimate enough to Logan that he clearly is leaning towards going with Hal’s idea.

Back at the increasingly tense situation room (I’ll call it situation room now since it’s clearly become a situation), Jack belittles Barry’s profession and again implores Chloe to help them work. Basically, he needs her to hack Henderson’s computer since Henderson won’t talk. Barry accuses Jack of not being there for people who need him. This is an interesting approach by Barry considering that a) he knows Jack’s a trained torturer/killer and b) he’s a psychologist who should know better how to handle people who are a smidgen unhinged. Anyway, Jack walks right up into Barry’s face and C. Thomas Howell plays this scene very well by his subtle backing away from Jack until he’s against the wall. Jack accuses Barry of taking advantage of his daughter and comments, “You’re twenty years older than her, don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing.” Barry is incensed at the accusation but Jack grabs Barry by the throat to prove he is getting tired of being pissed off by Barry. Nobody in the room seems to think this is unusual or tries to intervene. Hey, I guess the thought is that Barry got himself into this. Chloe, usually the cause of tension, reduces it by agreeing to get back to work.

And it’s a good thing, too, because right about then we learn that there’s a problem with the seals in the room. What is it? Not enough fresh fish to feed the seals? Not enough water to keep them wet? Oh, not those kinds of seals. Gotcha.

No, it turns out the nerve gas has a corrosive agent (did Bierko’s boys add this?) that is eating away at the seals. Yikes, that’s some persistent nerve gas. Fortunately, though, it doesn’t affect every seal. Only the ones in CTU.

Buchanan tells people of the seal situation and makes it top priority to figure out how to flush the air out of CTU. As though there was ever any other top priority. In the midst of this, Jack dumps some of his guilt on Audrey, saying that he’s the reason Kim stuck around. Audrey tells him there’s no way he could have known she’d be in danger at CTU. Jack looks at her as if to say, “Do you not know anything about this place?”

Chloe, meanwhile, has figured out that she can cycle the air out of CTU with the A/C system but there’s a computer program on another terminal that she can’t access and it’s complicating matters. This is the computer we saw Ostruff mess with last hour and it’s the issue that cause Hot Carrie to go looking for trouble and get killed. I would say nice continuity, but since they film two episodes at once on 24, this probably wasn’t that hard.

They realize the seals are being eaten quickly and Jack, of course, is willing to climb through the walls and find his way to that terminal and then get back to the safe room that Chloe can somehow air flush. In an interesting twist, Chloe is wrong about Jack being able to access the computer in question because when he pulls the paneling away from the wall, there is metal jail bars in his way. Well, that sure sucks. He (barely) gets back to the room that Chloe can air flush and reports this bad news. Chloe then finds the bars in a CTU schematic, saying they were an addition (perhaps in the wake of Nina Myers shenanigans).

I do find it interesting that Jack is able to be out in the contaminated air without the nerve gas burning him. I mean, it is corrosive enough to eat through rubberized protectors in a matter of minutes – imagine what this could do to skin. He does sort of explain that he won’t be exposed long enough but I think I’m calling “bullshit” on this story. [Also, don’t you wonder why all the bodies lying about CTU aren’t displaying some radically nasty form of decay? If the gas is that corrosive, CTU should be entrail city…--D]

Regardless, Chloe informs the crew at CTU (and us) that the only way to that terminal for anyone currently alive in CTU is from the holding room that Lynn is being held in. Looks like you drew the short pipe cleaner, Lynn. The phone in his room rings and he punches the speaker button and says “McGill here.” I don’t know why, but I liked that answer for some reason. Almost like, yeah, we all had our differences and whatnot, but now we’re all in this together so speak to me. Anyway, Jack tells McGill the situation and how he’s the only one who can get to the computer and that he’ll have to run out there unprotected. “I see,” says McGill. “No you don’t,” says Jack, always having to be right. Jack then proceeds to tell McGill that once he does what’s needed at the terminal, he, too, will be….terminal. That is, his room can’t be re-airlocked (which is an interesting twist of luck for everyone involved) so he’ll be dead for certain. McGill seems to absorb this well and, magnanimously, his first thought is that Harry is in there with him. He tells Jack as much and Harry gets a little panicky. Lynn eventually convinces Harry that they have no choice and must do it. I must admit, I was really impressed with Lynn’s approach. I thought, however, that Harry might choose to draw his weapon in order to stop the unarmed McGill but he did not. I also think it’s interesting that McGill went from pain-in-the-ass division guy to reasonable dude to out-of-control division dude to contrite understanding man to holding room occupant to fearless hero who goes out honorably while saving lives. Things move much faster on 24 than they used to – George Mason had this same career trajectory but it took years, not hours.

Approximately ten minutes after agreeing to do the deed, McGill and Harry are still in the holding room. There is no evidence that they spent the past ten minutes doing that deed, you perverts. No, currently, Harry is on the phone with his little girl. This scene bothered me for a variety of reasons. Yes, it was heart-tugging because of the little girl’s voice and Harry’s humanity. However, we don’t know Harry so it’s a bit ridiculous to ask us to care about him when 24 routinely makes security guards so expendable. Harry tells his daughter to do what mommy says, including “When she goes to bed, you go to bed.” It’s a good thing Harry’s daughter isn’t 17, or else he might be saying “When mommy tells you to stop screwing guys in your bedroom while she’s asleep in the living room, you listen to her.”

McGill has clearly tried to be patient but he knows they have very little time so he tells Harry to say goodbye. Harry capitulates and McGill uses his wadded up tie to block his breathing orifices as he rushes up to the computer in question and stops the program that is running on the A/C units. He then bolts back to the holding room (I wish they all chanted “Ruuu-dy, Ruuu-dy” over the intercom), where Harry is still holding his breath. This was a well-done scene, too. I wasn’t sure if we’d see all this or if we’d be left to understand that they died a horrible death. But no, 24 comes through and shows us how it might really go down. Sure, you’re holding your breath, but for how long? Until a miracle happens? Harry, sadly, thinks that he might just have found that miracle when he finally has to breathe, and he says as much. Then, naturally, the nerve gas actually gets into his lungs and he chokes to death. Poor McGill has to watch this. Meanwhile, Jack has spoken to them over the intercom and thanked them for their service and dedication. He promises to tell their families how heroic they were. McGill is doing his best to hold his breath for the 15 minutes it’s going to take Chloe to clear the air so he is unable to respond to Jack with, “Hey, man, do me a favor and put a stop on my L.A. Times subscription.” Instead, he finally has to breathe and he, too, suffers the horrible nerve gas death. Much as McGill was an ass for a while there, I was sad to see him die.

Jack takes the few minutes they have to ask Kim to stick around so they can talk. What? Weren’t you just beating yourself up for asking her to stay, Jack? Jesus, make up your damn mind. Regardless, Kim has decided (again) that staying away from CTU is a good idea and she tells him to go scratch. When the building is safe, she and Barry head out but not before Barry (who might be bipolar himself) goes to Jack to thank him for saving their lives. Jack just growls at Barry to get Kim out of the city.

Back at the Presidential Retreat-ranch, Gardner has succeeded in getting Logan to effectively declare martial law in Los Angeles. Novick is disgusted and Martha tries to convince Logan to reconsider. Greg Itzin gives yet another masterful performance as Logan about breaks down to his wife. He admits he doesn’t know how much more of this he can take and, damn, it’s just so well-acted I can’t really make fun of it. He even asks Martha if he “lost” her when he almost “lost” her in the limo attack. Wait, didn’t these two make up last hour as Logan studied the stars above? (The stars that were out the same hour the sun set, I might add.)

It’s at this point that we’re introduced to a really hot bad chick whom the Fox Web site refers to as Collette Stenger. Evidently, Mandy has already been hired out for this particular day. [In with the bad hot chick, and out with the good (Kim). Balance is restored to the Force. – D] Anyway, Collette gets a call from Bierko who is looking for some sort of “high-security schematics.” Why does he need schematics? Just put the gas canisters anywhere near a vent system and you’ll kill everyone in the building. Just where is this going? We also see this hour that Bierko plans to release all of the remaining gas in one location. Interesting. Guess he’s not saving any for a rainy day in Moscow. You know, I must admit, in the scenes Bierko got into this hour he made the most of.

Karen Hayes from Homeland Security is on her way to CTU with Miles Papazian. (Is it me or does this name sound suspiciously like “Papa John”? Mmmm, pizza.) Anyway, she lets Buchanan know they’re coming and she then tells Miles that Buchanan will be relieved of duty and that nobody at CTU will be able to keep working after what they’ve been through. She effectively suspends the existence of CTU Los Angeles as they drive towards it. Miles has himself a nifty little laptop, on which he has changed everything in CTU-ish to Homeland Security-ese. I say the laptop is nifty because he’s making changes to the CTU system while he’s in transit. Hell, I can’t get my home wireless Internet setup to work from more than 15 feet away.

Our last scene was truly another shocker. Tony decides (again) that it’s time to kill Henderson. He knows if Jack gets to him he’ll talk him down with his velvety smoothness. But just before Tony (who has always been my favorite 24 character) injects Henderson with what’s presumably a lethal dose of hyoscine, he gets a pang of conscience and realizes he probably shouldn’t do this. In an non-Tony way, he looks away from his prey for a second. Of course, he probably believed Henderson was in the coma Burke reported he was in since, hell, Peter Weller looks even more dead now than he did two hours ago. But he’s far from dead. Much like Nina Myers a few years ago, Henderson was faking his coma and turns the syringe on poor Tony. Noooo!! My mouth fell open as Tony took what I knew was a death injection right to his chest. Henderson then took the gun and did something I found amusing. He jacked a round into the pipe and then chose to release the clip to make sure it was loaded. Why wouldn’t he drop out the clip to check this first and then jack in a round after re-inserting it? I don’t know. Perhaps Peter Weller screwed up. Or maybe this is how Robocops check ammo.

Random thought here: You know Kim isn’t walking away that easily. Want a prediction? Robocop Henderson somehow oozes out of CTU and comes across Kim and Barry. Since Kim knows Henderson (remember, he and Miriam checked in on her), she won’t be afraid of him. That’s when Henderson will nab her and just like that, Kim will be kidnapped for the 4,367th time.

Anyway, Jack gets to the Death Clinic just as it’s about to claim another. Tony is dying as Jack cradles him in his arms. Tony tells him he couldn’t kill Henderson and as Jack asks Tony to hold on and screams for help (towards a hallway of dead people) Tony, heart-breakingly whimpers to Jack, “She’s gone…” He means Michelle and his implication is that he has nothing to hold on to anymore and no reason to stick around. This hurts so bad to watch as Carlos Bernard utters his final line on 24. I am truly saddened as I sit here and type this, just as I was when I watched Tony die. Jack, consistent with his character, sheds tears as well. And if you blew over this, you haven’t been paying attention. When was the last time Jack cried over a death on 24? His wife, that’s when. Final minute of Season One. Jack and Tony had a special bond and both of them played it beautifully over the past four and a half seasons. So long, Tony. I can’t believe it’s really over.

So that marks three somewhat regulars in the past hour alone. Edgar, McGill and Tony. What’s next? I don’t know, but whatever it is, we’ll be here to ramble about it.