WRITERS: David Fury DIRECTOR: Bryan Spicer
CAST: Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer), James Morrison (Bill Buchanan), Peter MacNicol (Thomas Lennox), D.B Woodside (Wayne Palmer), Marisol Nichols (Nadia Yassir), Eric Balfour (Milo Pressman), Jayne Atkinson (Karen Hayes), Rick Schroder (Mike Doyle), Adoni Maropis (Fayed), Jim Holmes (Dr Welton), Ryan Cutrona (Admiral Smith), Tzi Ma (Cheng Zhi), Ajay Mehta (Ambassador), Said Faraj (Halil), Merik Tadros (Jamal), Ismail Kanater (Mohmar Habib) & Kim Raver (Audrey Rains)
President Palmer continues to battle ill health after ordering the nuclear strike and Jack devises a cunning plot to make Fayed reveal where his remaining bombs are hidden...Okay, I stand corrected. Last week's uncharacteristic move by Wayne Palmer to nuke a foreign territory is neatly explained and, simultaneously, bolsters the character's credibility. I haven't been this impressed by a President's actions since the glory days of his brother David. I bow to the writers for completely suckering me!
In fact, this entire episode irons out some kinks and seems designed to kickstart a flagging year. Season 6 will always be one of 24's weakest outings, but it could still go out on a high. The White House storyline is handled brilliantly here, thanks to Wayne Palmer's sudden tough-guy attitude and a tense stand-off between the US and the Arab country.
Elsewhere, the show finally remembers why everyone watches 24 and gives us some classic Jack Bauer moments to savour: another torture sequence, a great plot to manipulate Fayed (wow, original too!) and action heroics like hanging underneath a moving truck and taking on a warehouse full of terrorists. Alone. Brilliant!
24 is all about immediacy and thrills. Things work best when they're fast, plausible (yet knowingly ridiculous, at times), dramatic, violent, full of interesting characters, involving situations, a few double-crosses, twists galore and buckets of tension.
Episode 17 certainly manages to deliver a hectic hour of blistering entertainment, courtesy of writer David Fury. It's not enough to erase all the guff we've been asked to swallow this year, but it's a step in the right direction and the game-changing final moment came as a wonderful treat. Why is it whenever Jack's phone rings, it's always bad news?
Big mistakes have been made with season 6's trajectory, but the remaining seven episodes can still go out in style. My hope, for now, is restored and I'm genuinely excited to see what Episode 18 will bring...
