WRITERS: Manny Coto & Brannon Braga (story by Howard Gordon)[SPOILERS] Not quite as good as last week's (if I was directly comparing the two), but it just about sneaked an equal rating because I appreciate the impetus Day 8's achieved in recent weeks, and there wasn't much threatening to bore you here. I hope we're beginning to see the season take shape now, particularly as Fox announced this will be 24's final year on television, as it would be a terrible shame to end on a sour note.
DIRECTOR: Milan Cheylov
GUEST CAST: Stephen Root, John Boyd, Nazneen Contractor, Mido Hamada, Julian Morris, Necar Zadegan, T.J. Ramini, Chris McGarry, Ethan Rains, John Eric Bentley & Justin Alston
To recap: CTU's servers and comms have been knocked out thanks to an EMP bomb, so the NSA send their expert, Frank Haynum (Chris McGarry), to restore the systems, but Chloe (Mary Lyn Rajskub) becomes frustrated when her proposal for a faster repair isn't listened to; Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) and Cole (Freddie Prinze Jr.) have the NSA close the bridges leading out of Manhattan, to limit the terrorist's escape routes, but end up driving into a trap along the riverfront, enabling Tarin (T.J Ramini) and Samir to escape with the nuclear rods aboard a raft; Renee (Annie Wersching) was informed of Jack's situation and decided to go look for him herself; and Dana (Katee Sackhoff) was forced to take drastic measures when it became clear Prady (Stephen Root) doesn't believe her story that video evidence of Wade's robbery was erased by the EMP...While there wasn't much here we haven't seen before (Jack's orders being ignored, resulting in the death of agents under his command; the arrival of a corporate prick whose "help" is anything but; Chloe's ideas being ignored), it did everything quite effectively and there was definitely more tension and excitement than the majority of Day 8's episodes have served up. A decent episode of 24 can typically be judged by how many of the subplots irritate you, or how many unreasonable leaps in logic you're asked to make, and there wasn't much of that here. Even Dana's storyline, while exasperating, redeemed itself thanks to an unexpected turn, with Dana strangling Prady to death to prevent him talking to Hastings (Mykelti Williamson), hiding his body in an air vent on CTU premises, and then contacting Samir to reveal she's been a mole all along!
Yes, 24 played the mole card again. When all else fails, it's the easiest twist the writers can come up, but it just might be the adrenaline shot to the heart 24 needs mid-season. I'm not sure it makes total sense that Dana has been working for the terrorists all this time, although the fact she has a secret criminal past can perhaps be taken as foreshadowing -- although I have my doubts it was ever intentional. Even if it doesn't make sense in retrospect, I'm just pleased this reveal signaled the end of the Prady storyline (well, until someone finds his body, or Hastings wonders where he went), and gives Katee Sackhoff a chance to play the bad girl now. She has the perfect scowl for it, and she may even get to fire a gun. Asides
-- A part of me was hoping Chloe would electrocute herself and set fire to the server room, if only to be less predictable.
-- Thank goodness Renee's role in Day 8 isn't over and she can now partner Jack out in the field. Also nice to see Hastings continue to show some solidarity with his team and support Chloe.
-- No sign of President Taylor again. Do you get the feeling the writers have no clue what to do with her character, beyond ask for status reports from CTU every once in awhile?
28 MARCH 2010: SKY1 (HD), 9PM
