WRITERS: Michael Loceff & Joel Surnow DIRECTOR: Jon Cassar
CAST: Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer), James Morrison (Bill Buchanan), Peter MacNicol (Thomas Lennox), Carlo Rota (Morris O'Brian), Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe O'Brian), Marisol Nichols (Nadia Yassir), Gregory Itzin (Charles Logan), Jean Smart (Martha Logan), Glenn Morshower (Aaron Pierce), Powers Boothe (Noah Daniels), Rade Serbedzija (Dmitri Gredenko), Lauten Richard Metcalfe (Agent Shavers), James Ellis Lane (Medic #1), John Noble (Consul Markov), Lex Cassar (Agent Ryan), Rick Schroder (Mike Doyle), Boris Krutonog (Russian Agent Vasili), Ajay Mehta (Ambassador), Kathleen Gati (Anya Suvarov), Gideon Emery (Leon), Scarlett Chorvat (Female Hostage), Kari Matchett (Lisa Miller), Adoni Maropis (Fayed) & Nick Jameson (Yuri Suvarov)
With Jack trapped inside the Russian consulate with vital information, CTU prepares a rescue that could start a war. Meanwhile, Daniels continues to use Palmer's assassination attempt to bolster his own ideology...A more sustained installment of action and drama this week, as 24 enters its second half with fire in its belly. The absence of Wayne Palmer has certainly energized proceedings now that frighteningly right-wing Vice President Daniels is able to cause strife in the White House bunker.
CTU even gets a shot in the arm with the arrival of a new character: Agent Mike Doyle (Rick Schroder), the new Field Agent who replaces Curtis Manning and already has everyone's backs raised. His introduction is hardly original (24 often used new faces to shake-up office cosiness) but it could prove a masterstrock if he's developed properly.
Kiefer Sutherland is playing second fiddle to events this year, looking predictable and stale. All of the season's standout moments have relied on wow-factor events (nuke), identity reveals (the Bauer family) and the return of old favourites (Logan, now Martha), with Jack's role being pure reaction.
It's a shame, because the season started with strong inferences we'd be seeing a different version of Jack after his Chinese jailing... but this hasn't happened. In Episode 13, Jack has his hands full battling his way out of the Russian consulate single-handed, as CTU wait on the periphery for a greenlight to storm the building.
Elsewhere, Logan goes to speak with ex-wife Martha, to get her to persuade Russian President Suvarov, via his wife Anya, to allow American action on the consulate. Gregory Itzin is on great form alongside Jean Smart as Martha, with both actors bouncing off each other brilliantly. The return of Aaron Pierce (Glenn Morshower) is also a nice continuation from season 5, revealing a somewhat bizarre new role for the ex-Secret Service Agent. Incidentally, this makes Morshower the only actor to appear in all six seasons of 24, alongside Kiefer Sutherland.
The overall plot also seems to be gathering speed, with Gredenko putting the finishing touches on his unmanned nuke-carrying drones. But the real drama is coming from Powers Boothe as the dangerously gung-ho Vice President, forcing Lennix to lie about Al-Assad's involvement in the assassination plot and threatening nuclear retaliation. It makes a change from the pragmatic David Palmer and the incompetent Logan and could prove to be a turning point in season 6's identity.
In summation, there are definite signs the writers have realized season 6 was beginning to limp and some of their ideas weren't really working that well (the Bauer family conspiracy and Wayne Palmer primarily). With those subplots on hiatus for awhile, the story is rapidly gaining some momentum again.
All we need now is for the writers to get Jack back on the trail of Gredenko after the consulate distraction and for the character dynamics at CTU to improve. I still think season 6 is suffering from writer fatigue, with too many plots, characters and ideas stolen/reworked from previous seasons, but change seems to be afoot...
