WRITERS: Robert Cochran & Evan Katz DIRECTOR: Brad Turner
CAST: Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer), James Morrison (Bill Buchanan), Peter MacNicol (Thomas Lennox), D.B Woodside (Wayne Palmer), Powers Boothe (Noah Daniels), Marisol Nichols (Nadia Yassir), Rade Serbedzija (Dmitri Gredenko), Eric Balfour (Milo Pressman), Jayne Atkinson (Karen Hayes), Dylan Kenin (Victor), Rick Schroder (Mike Doyle), Regina King (Sandra Palmer), Adoni Maropis (Fayed), Jim Holmes (Dr Welton), Ryan Cutrona (Admiral), Lex Cassar (CTU Agent Ryan), Kari Matchett (Lisa Miller), Said Faraj (Halil), Jolene Kim (Melinda) & Ray Laska (Attorney General Graves)
Wayne Palmer risks his health to fight Daniels' for the presidency and Jack uses Gredenko in a sting operation to get to Fayed...Something has to be done, because not even Jack Bauer can save this sixth day. It's too late to prevent this sporadic season being chalked up as unsuccessful (it's actually less enjoyable than season 3 right now), but can we just have a late upswing in quality for the final third?
Episode 16 (gulp, just 8 away from the finale) is another exercise in reheated 24. There are a few thrills along the way, but a misjudged final punch really irritated me. Kiefer Sutherland's role seems to be reduced this year, with Jack running around acting like a self-parody at times, jostling for screentime as the presidential power-struggle continues.
The writers don't seem to have any fresh ideas, that's the main problem. Robert Cochran and Evan Katz ask fans to forget the 25th Amendment was ever invoked back in season 2 and, while moderate recycling is par for the course on 24, to restage an old plotline isn't good. After three years of added experience writing for 24, they're doing a more effective job with it, but it's still old-hat.
The only fresh element of season 6 was the Bauer family's involvement in the crisis, but all this was fudged and consequently brushed aside. I'm sure James Cromwell will be back as daddy Bauer before the season's done, perhaps justifying his exit, but for now the (Groundhog) Day shows no signs of life. Jack even performs his second sting operation in as many episodes!
D.B Woodside's performance is marginally better as Wayne Palmer (now he's fresh out of an induced coma, funnily enough). But the goodwill he acrues in Episode 16 is totally flushed away by the end, with a silly reversal that seems to render the past few episodes pointless.
Ignoring the fact National Security Advisor's aren't members of the Cabinet (something that makes the bunker drama null and void), the political maschinations between Palmer, Daniels, Lennox and Hayes are the most interesting aspects of this episode.
Elsewhere, Jack (remember him?) has another scheme to get to Fayed's nukes by injecting an isotope into Gredenko's arm, so they can track him when he meets with Fayed's men. Unfortunately he also decides to equip him with a bulky "wire" last used on Miami Vice in 1987!
You can sense desperation creeping into the show. The reason I'm being flinging so much vitriol in 24's direction is because the show is above all this. 24 has set a benchmark so high for action drama that I expect far better than these lazy attempts to surprise viewers.
Overall, this is another slick production that says very little we haven't heard before. 24 has always had cliches and cheeky contrivances, but disbelief was always gladly suspended in return for shocking twists, well-written characters and unpredictable high-octane plots.
Sadly, after a great six years, the strain is beginning to show. There was a time when someone cutting their arm off would have stunned me (not after season 3), when attempting to relieve a President of duty would have had me engrossed (not after season 2), or the threat of a nuke going off in L.A would have had me aghast (not since... well, a dozen episodes ago, actually!)
I have faith 24 can build to a late burst of quality from here, but season 6 is beyond total reprieve. If there is to be a seventh season, or the fabled big-screen movie, the producers are going to have to make some drastic changes, because it's clear their imaginations are spent at CTU Los Angeles.
