||SPOILERS|| A mixed bag this week from former-Millennium scribe Chip Johannessen, as 24 begins to suffer from keeping Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) on the sidelines, as his exposure to the bioweapon begins to show symptoms, and the whole Starkwood situation (while fresh territory for 24) is slowly becoming a tad silly...Here, Larry's (Jeffrey Nordling) FBI response team are being held at gunpoint by Starkwood's soldiers and ordered to leave their property in light of the fact their search has found no evidence of a bioweapon. President Taylor (Cherry Jones) has decided to order an air strike of Starkwood if the FBI can find photographic evidence the bioweapon is on their land, so Larry creates a diversion that allows Tony (Carlos Bernard) to sneak away to find the bioweapon with the help of Mr. Stokes (Michael Rodrick), Starkwood's chairman who was helping Senator Mayer expose his company's corruption.
What followed was mostly lukewarm filler, with Tony shouldering the espionage, directed by Jack and Renee (Annie Wersching) from the Field Office, as Taylor debates the situation with government heads. Unexpectedly, the most satisfying storyline belonged to Olivia (Sprague Grayden), whose press contact Ken (Tim Guinee) tries to blackmail her into confirming unsubstantiated reports about recent events, leaving her no choice but to meet with him in a hotel room. Olivia's hopes Ken will put a lid on the story after being told the risk to national security (with a quick romp thrown in),but she's proven incorrect. However, in a rather neat twist of expectation, Olivia proves she's not a totally naïve airhead, having recording their bedroom antics to use as leverage in ensuring his silence.
One thing that was particularly irksome about this episode was the tenuous reasons for Hodges' (Jon Voight) motivation: he's just upset the government haven't been more appreciative of Starkwood's help in various global operations, essentially! It's not the most plausible reason a so-called patriot would threaten his own country with a WMD, but perhaps there are more details to come in the presidential meeting he organizes at the end -- after stopping the air strike by threatening to launch a few of his weapons aimed at cities on the eastern seaboard.
Maybe we're just expected to go along with the idea Hodges is consumed with bitterness and, well, crazy enough to have masterminded this whole thing. Check out his lip-smacking when he returns from murdering a partner in the firm. I still don't see how he can possibly achieve anything of any value here, though. And how has he convinced so many Starkwood employees to help him? Those guys seemed genuinely horrified just to see a few spots of blood on Hodges' white shirt after he killed Stokes -- how will they feel when thousands of people are given slow, painful deaths?
Overall, I'm still entertained, but I need something more substantial and gripping right about now. There are still seven episodes to go! It seems likely that Jack will decide to take the experimental stem-cell procedure to cure his sickness (meaning a return for daughter Kim Bauer, no doubt), which means he'll soon be back in the thick of the action. Which is great, but was all this worth the price of a few episodes of mild uncertainty over Jack's fate? Still, Day 7 has a large and talented ensemble, so the show has survived without Jack as the centre of attention these past few weeks. And his return to a more proactive role should be worth the wait. Tony's great, but we need some Bauer power.
13 April 2009
Sky1, 9pm
Writer: Chip Johannessen
Director: Brad Turner
Cast: Kiefer Sutherland (Jack), Cherry Jones (President Taylor), Annie Wersching (Renee), Jeffrey Nordling (Larry), Janeane Garofalo (Janis), Carlos Bernard (Tony), Frank John Hughes (Tim Woods), Chris Mulkey (Doug), Michael Rodrick (Stokes), Ryan Cutrona (Admiral Smith), Philip Anthony-Rodriguez (Tom Chapman), Jon Voight (Hodges), Jack Maxwell (Starkwood Commando #1), Tim Guinee (Ken Dellao), Sprague Grayden (Olivia), Glenn Morshower (Pierce), Christina Chang (Dr. Sunny Macer) & Rory Cohrane (Greg Seaton)
