WRITER: Manny Coto DIRECTOR: Bryan Spicer
CAST: Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer), Peter MacNicol (Lennox), Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe O'Brian), Marisol Nichols (Nadia Yassir), Eric Balfour (Milo Pressman), Carlo Rota (Morris O'Brian), Powers Boothe (Noah Daniels), Ricky Schroder (Mike Doyle), Kari Matchett (Lisa Miller), Tzi Ma (Cheng Zhi), Michael Shanks (Mark Bishop), Rena Sofer (Marilyn Bauer), Ron Yuan (Chinese Gunman), James Cromwell (Philip Bauer), Matt McKenzie (Agent Hollister), Evan Ellingson (Josh Bauer), Ian Anthony Dale (Zhou), Marci Michelle (Marci), Kenneth Choi (Cheng's Operative), Terry Savage (CTU Guard #4) & Lex Cassar (CTU Agent Ryan)
Jack is held in custody, Lisa goes undercover to feed false information to her spy lover, Josh feels guilty over his grandad's involvement with terrorism and Cheng mounts an assault...As new arrives that season 7 will "reboot" 24, following the fatigue evident throughout season 6, this tumultous year nears its end. Episode 21 is certainly memoable for a few reasons, not least another decent hour of Jack in Die Hard mode, coupled with the writers attempting to pull season 6's narrative together by rememberingabout the Bauer family...
Of course, to enjoy the dramatic machismo you have to accept a few contrivances and repetitiveness. At this late stage, I don't blame the writers for throwing caution to the wind and just giving fans action and tension over logic and freshness. Yes, CTU is attacked -- not for the the first time in the show's history -- no doubt prompting guffaws at how the Counter Terrorist Unit's security measures barely rival those of a convenience store! I'm willing to bet their front door combination is 1-2-3-4, too...
Still, despite writer Manny Coto slurping the last drops from 24's well-of-overused-ideas, this episode is a lot of fun. Kiefer Sutherland always makes for a great action-man whenever Jack gets to flex his trigger finger, and having gunmen marauding around CTU, barking orders and killing a main character, certainly made arresting television. It may not be 100% original, but we've never seen CTU embroiled in a hostile takeover before, so the situation is different enough to enjoy...
The only real subplot involves the White House's ploy to feed false intel to spy Mark Bishop (Stargate's Michael Shanks; employed to bare his chest). Bishop's lover Lisa, also the V.P's secret squeeze, hopes to save herself from a jail sentence by going ahead with this plan, in the hope the Russians will call off threatened hostilities.
This isn't a bad diversion to the main story, but the episode stretches it out too long and it doesn't lead anywhere significant here. It was also annoying that Lisa couldn't come up with a feasible excuse to leave the room in one scene. Erm, how about "I just need to use the bathroom?"
Rena Sofer return as Marilyn Bauer, although her character has been so underwritten it's painful to watch her reduced to just flashing those hypnotic eyes of hers. Her first appearance in the show promised fireworks with Jack but, like so many subplots this year, that early promise fizzled away quickly.
Evan Ellingson returns as young Josh Bauer, a character untarnished through lack of use, so I hope the writers will use him well now. I still think Josh must be Jack's biological son, effectively to "replace" his daughter Kim Bauer, or perhaps one day replace Jack himself if Kiefer Sutherland ever quits?
To summarize, I got my fun from this episode despite its knockabout nature and vague desperation. At this stage, while 24 isn't making logical sense very often, season 6 appears to be edging towards a decent enough send-off.
But, seriously, roll on the reboot!
