24 4.19: "Day 4: 1AM - 2AM"
Written by Howard Gordon and Evan Katz
Directed by Bryan Spicer
In which Jack and CTU come under fire for the torture of one of Marwan’s associates, jeopardizing an attempt to capture Marwan, while a lead takes Chloe into the field…
Status Report
For several episodes now, the writers have been plotting by numbers, or so it seems. There’s been precious little controversy, beyond hyping a predictable plot twist and ignoring anything approaching layered storytelling. The previous episode, at least, made an attempt at political commentary, even if it missed the mark and wound up delivering a disturbing message. Oddly, that disturbing message is reinforced in this episode; how it happens is actually far more interesting, because it manages to delve into character exploration at the same time.
Not that the early part of the episode doesn’t have major problems, because it surely does. After making much ado about Jack’s faux-resignation at the end of the previous episode, that little detail is completely ignored. Looking back, it’s not entirely clear if Buchanan agreed to Jack’s resignation or decided that Jack was right, though the suggestion is certainly that Jack is going rogue by choice to shield CTU from consequence.
So what happens? As soon as Jack gets the information from Prado and seemingly knocks him silly, Prado is suddenly in the CTU infirmary, where he’s getting more and better attention from the staff than Driscoll’s daughter received. Audrey notices that Prado has been tortured into giving information, and just like that, the whole idea of shielding CTU is out the window. As Buchanan defends the decision to countermand the President, further invalidating Jack’s rationale, Jack compounds the problem by joining in on the mission to take Marwan into custody.
If Jack had actually resigned, then how could he be on the mission, let alone effectively running the show with Buchanan’s blessing? His duties would revert to the DOD, and as the representative of the Secretary of Defense, Audrey would technically have the authority over Jack and his activities. As such, if Audrey had such a major issue with Jack’s decision to ignore the President, she could have had him arrested right then and there.
The overwhelming tone of the episode, however, suggests that Jack was absolutely right to take action, even if it meant going against the desires of the President. Buchanan wholeheartedly stands behind Jack, and most of the CTU personnel are of the same opinion. As Mike Novick badgers President Logan into accepting the torture of a civilian (however guilty), Logan is portrayed as weak for failing to make this kind of decision.
Oddly enough, if the intent is to sell the audience on the idea that Jack/CTU are morally correct and Logan is weak, that’s not quite what happens. The message is far more subversive, whether the writers intended it or not. Every time someone defends the use of torture, there’s a self-righteousness that creeps into their tone of voice, a belief that their front-line tactics should not be questioned, even by a President. And that’s a very slippery slope to defend, which is the point that the writers ultimately communicate.
The scene that drives this morally ambiguous message home is between Mike and Buchanan. Buchanan defends Jack’s decision, and even acknowledges that he would also be accountable (further negating Jack’s gesture in the previous episode). He goes even further by suggesting that they fabricate the timeline in the official report, so that it appears that Jack acted after Logan’s presumed acceptance of extreme methods. It’s an eye-opener, if only because one begins to wonder what else Buchanan is willing to overlook in the name of “getting the job done”. “Asking forgiveness instead of permission” is one hell of an arrogant and self-serving policy.
And that’s probably the point. For those that believe in Jack’s mandate that he should have the ability to act using any means necessary when national security is on the line, this is where that logic ultimately arrives. CTU becomes little more than a government-sponsored organized vigilante syndicate, operating outside the law whenever it’s convenient. It’s one thing to act with confidence and purpose, and quite another to suggest that the President is unfit for duty if he doesn’t agree with CTU’s interpretation of “necessary”.
Meanwhile, as if to drag the audience further down that slope, the terrorists get closer to arming the stolen nuclear warhead. This is meant to remind the viewers that the debate is not, in terms of the narrative, purely theoretical. There is a clear and present danger. But that’s exactly the kind of situation where this moral dilemma rises to the forefront. If the stakes weren’t so high, CTU wouldn’t need to operate on their own authority, and the President wouldn’t be involved in the process of authorizing the torture that CTU saw fit to use on citizens earlier in the season.
While the audience ponders the fact that CTU’s tactics all season long have been highly questionable, no matter how expedient, the writers slip another plot thread into the mix. Nabila is a more subtle example of the “loyal” Middle Eastern American; she’s willing to take a stand against a loved one when she discovers his anti-American sentiments and unusual travel schedules. It’s a little odd that she would be more disturbed by what she can access on his computer than the fact that most of the other files are encrypted, but it serves the purpose of delivering the necessary message: true citizens of every nationality support anti-terrorism.
Audrey has already been shown as unrealistic in her assessment of Jack and his methods, so it’s only fair to use her as a way to defend Jack’s rationale for torturing Prado. Buchanan doesn’t deny giving Jack permission to act against Logan’s wishes, and he even chides her for being foolish enough to think that the rules apply on the front line of the war on terror. The fact that many fans view Audrey as being a harpy for strongly disagreeing with ignoring the President for the sake of expediency more than justifies this particular plot thread; it exposes an area of debate missing from the season for quite some time.
Logan, rather annoyed with the idea of having his wishes ignored, orders Secret Service to arrest Jack and hold him accountable. Now, this is another area where the writers make it too easy for Logan to look stupid and CTU look justified. Logan refuses to wait until the terror threat is over to arrest Jack and hold him accountable; he insists that Jack be taken into custody immediately. There’s simply no way for that to end well, especially since Jack and Curtis doing a very good job of surrounding Marwan.
While Chloe takes a call from Nabila and gets the feeling that it could be important, Marwan records a speech to be aired on the East Coast at dawn. Apparently the plan is to detonate the nuclear warhead before then, so that Americans will awaken (some a lot sooner than others) to the news of millions incinerated for the crimes of American imperialism. Taken in context with Buchanan’s anything-goes mentality, it’s hard not to wonder if Marwan has a philosophical point. How he communicates that point, of course, is entirely reprehensible, but that doesn’t mean that his anger is unjustified.
Secret Service arrives just at the wrong time, when Jack is in a sensitive location and spying on Marwan. The idea of pulling him out and replacing him, when they have solid reason to believe that Marwan is in the building, is ludicrous. However, the point must be driven home that Logan is entirely weak and ineffective, and that interfering in CTU operations is a foolish and potentially deadly move. Except, of course, the Secret Service logically could have justified waiting for Jack without violating their mandate, if only by contacting the President again once the specific situation was recognized.
Of course, that doesn’t happen, and Marwan gets away because CTU’s cover is blown. Despite claiming that he understands the gravity of his earlier decision to act against Logan’s orders, he doesn’t recognize that the Secret Service wasn’t the real problem. He and Buchanan were. The situation could have been avoided just as easily if Jack had been kept out of the field until the matter with Logan was resolved, concurrent with Curtis’ operation at the nightclub. One can argue that Jack and Buchanan couldn’t have known how Logan would react, but the fact is, they knew within minutes that Jack’s “resignation” gambit wouldn’t work and that Jack would be held accountable.
Since Chloe’s conversation hasn’t resulted in a lead yet, CTU is left without options. Worse, they have the ability, thanks to Jack’s video feed, to use Marwan’s presence as instant justification of their actions, the ultimate example of “the ends justify the means”. Logan is left feeling responsible for all but aiding and abetting a terrorist plotting to kill millions. It’s little wonder that the man feels like he’s the biggest screw-up in the history of mankind. Mike, however, recognizes that there is a man of relative integrity (third season aside) who can help: David Palmer. (Isn’t it interesting to note that Palmer is a one-term president with a sudden chance to regain political stock?)
Even if Logan comes to the conclusion that he was wrong to take Jack into custody during a critical op, it seems a bit easy for Jack to be given an instant pardon. Why wouldn’t Logan simply defer the arrest, since it was still an unauthorized assault on a civilian? This could come up in future episodes, but it wouldn’t be very surprising if it didn’t. This helps to underscore the idea that CTU (and Jack) should simply be allowed to do what they want. (Hopefully, the point is to let the audience be as uncomfortable with that as they want to be.)
The character exploration comes into play when Logan is shown, throughout the process, to be a man of sincere doubt. He’s not stupid; he’s overwhelmed. Keeler was no less overwhelmed, but he was also pushing CTU to do more and deal with the situation before things got out of control. It’s hard to imagine any Vice-President with the ability to lead effectively within minutes of a major terrorist act and the near-death of the President. Logan’s doubts are overdone a bit, and placed in a negative context, but his self-doubt is well-depicted.
Lest an episode be free of CTU Office Drama, Chloe and Edgar battle over the use of critical systems. Chloe’s information is the only lead on the table, but as already ably demonstrated in an earlier episode, CTU doesn’t know what the audience knows and thus bickering gets in the way of promoting new leads. In short order, however, Chloe is able to show Tony and Buchanan what Nabila found on her boyfriend’s computer. Apparently Sabir was encrypting porn, because the schematics of the microchip used to reconfigure the nuclear warhead are readily available for download.
This, however, triggers the plot development that gives this episode an instant level of fan appreciation: Chloe goes into the field! Granted, it’s initially just to get her hands on Sabir’s laptop and conduct the analysis, but the look on Chloe’s face says it all. The plot quickly moves forward to Chloe on the way to the Nabila’s house, ready to gnaw her way out of the back of the car, bemoaning her situation to Edgar. There’s even the hint that all the drama has been geek foreplay; Edgar tells Chloe exactly what she needs to hear to gain some measure of confidence.
For the fans, things get tense when the terrorists arrive to kill Nabila and any CTU in sight. Chloe ends up calling Jack, who actually seems incredibly worried that something might happen to Chloe. (After all, she was the only one willing to help him at the beginning of the season, so the case for loyalty is there.) Chloe eventually winds up in the CTU car, without the keys, and things are looking grim. Considering the seasonal body count, Chloe’s chances were not looking good. And then she manages to pull out that rifle, and with zero hesitation, she pulls that thing out and drills the terrorist assassin until he’s mincemeat.
It’s the perfect place to end the episode, because most of the earlier sins of slanted politics are quickly wiped clean by the sheer enjoyment of watching Chloe kick some major terrorist butt. The fact is that Chloe is the CTU tech with the most personality, and as a result, she’s a fan favorite (as much as they hated her when she was first introduced). There was reason to worry about Chloe’s survival, and the writers had to know that the audience would love the idea of Chloe letting out some negative energy with a high-caliber weapon!
Without the final plot development with Chloe, the episode would have been another example of the “quickly resolved plot complication” problem that has plagued this season since the meltdown. The hourly reports disappeared once they were mined for drama, the lawyer from Amnesty Global completely vanished (was there no follow-up?), and Jack’s little resignation doesn’t seem to have mattered at all. There’s also the question of Secretary Heller’s absence, Tony’s future status, Driscoll, Jack’s previous rogue activity, and the apparent lack of concern over the San Gabriel body count. There’s a lot to be dealt with in the final episodes, that’s for sure.
But in terms of this series, there’s a certain expectation that some issues will remain unresolved, since the action takes place in one 24-hour period. How many complex issues find resolution in that kind of short time frame? It’s more about resolving the immediate threat, and then making it clear that certain consequences will result from the extreme measures taken in the process. So in many cases, resolution is relative. The concern is that the writers set up some situations as if they represent the beginning (at a minimum) of a defined story arc, which is then quickly abandoned.
This is sometimes inevitable, but the duty of the writing staff is to make the season arc so exciting and unpredictable (within certain logical bounds) that the audience is able to overlook the dangling plot threads. This episode largely accomplishes that task, since it’s hard to imagine that anyone was thinking about the ramifications of the earlier acts once Chloe was in the field. Had the attack on Air Force One not been telegraphed and overhyped, it might have served the same purpose. When one looks to compare this well-received episode against the less-favored episodes from the middle of the season, this factor should be kept firmly in mind.
Final Analysis
Overall, this episode had many of the same pitfalls as the previous run of episodes since the meltdown, but the final plot development regarding Chloe did a great job of making them easy to forget. While there were some serious logical and continuity-related problems with the first half of the episode, it did lead to some welcome character exploration. It’s still not hitting all cylinders again, but it’s getting better.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 7/10
Season Average (as of 4.19): 6.7
Directed by Bryan Spicer
In which Jack and CTU come under fire for the torture of one of Marwan’s associates, jeopardizing an attempt to capture Marwan, while a lead takes Chloe into the field…
Status Report
For several episodes now, the writers have been plotting by numbers, or so it seems. There’s been precious little controversy, beyond hyping a predictable plot twist and ignoring anything approaching layered storytelling. The previous episode, at least, made an attempt at political commentary, even if it missed the mark and wound up delivering a disturbing message. Oddly, that disturbing message is reinforced in this episode; how it happens is actually far more interesting, because it manages to delve into character exploration at the same time.
Not that the early part of the episode doesn’t have major problems, because it surely does. After making much ado about Jack’s faux-resignation at the end of the previous episode, that little detail is completely ignored. Looking back, it’s not entirely clear if Buchanan agreed to Jack’s resignation or decided that Jack was right, though the suggestion is certainly that Jack is going rogue by choice to shield CTU from consequence.
So what happens? As soon as Jack gets the information from Prado and seemingly knocks him silly, Prado is suddenly in the CTU infirmary, where he’s getting more and better attention from the staff than Driscoll’s daughter received. Audrey notices that Prado has been tortured into giving information, and just like that, the whole idea of shielding CTU is out the window. As Buchanan defends the decision to countermand the President, further invalidating Jack’s rationale, Jack compounds the problem by joining in on the mission to take Marwan into custody.
If Jack had actually resigned, then how could he be on the mission, let alone effectively running the show with Buchanan’s blessing? His duties would revert to the DOD, and as the representative of the Secretary of Defense, Audrey would technically have the authority over Jack and his activities. As such, if Audrey had such a major issue with Jack’s decision to ignore the President, she could have had him arrested right then and there.
The overwhelming tone of the episode, however, suggests that Jack was absolutely right to take action, even if it meant going against the desires of the President. Buchanan wholeheartedly stands behind Jack, and most of the CTU personnel are of the same opinion. As Mike Novick badgers President Logan into accepting the torture of a civilian (however guilty), Logan is portrayed as weak for failing to make this kind of decision.
Oddly enough, if the intent is to sell the audience on the idea that Jack/CTU are morally correct and Logan is weak, that’s not quite what happens. The message is far more subversive, whether the writers intended it or not. Every time someone defends the use of torture, there’s a self-righteousness that creeps into their tone of voice, a belief that their front-line tactics should not be questioned, even by a President. And that’s a very slippery slope to defend, which is the point that the writers ultimately communicate.
The scene that drives this morally ambiguous message home is between Mike and Buchanan. Buchanan defends Jack’s decision, and even acknowledges that he would also be accountable (further negating Jack’s gesture in the previous episode). He goes even further by suggesting that they fabricate the timeline in the official report, so that it appears that Jack acted after Logan’s presumed acceptance of extreme methods. It’s an eye-opener, if only because one begins to wonder what else Buchanan is willing to overlook in the name of “getting the job done”. “Asking forgiveness instead of permission” is one hell of an arrogant and self-serving policy.
And that’s probably the point. For those that believe in Jack’s mandate that he should have the ability to act using any means necessary when national security is on the line, this is where that logic ultimately arrives. CTU becomes little more than a government-sponsored organized vigilante syndicate, operating outside the law whenever it’s convenient. It’s one thing to act with confidence and purpose, and quite another to suggest that the President is unfit for duty if he doesn’t agree with CTU’s interpretation of “necessary”.
Meanwhile, as if to drag the audience further down that slope, the terrorists get closer to arming the stolen nuclear warhead. This is meant to remind the viewers that the debate is not, in terms of the narrative, purely theoretical. There is a clear and present danger. But that’s exactly the kind of situation where this moral dilemma rises to the forefront. If the stakes weren’t so high, CTU wouldn’t need to operate on their own authority, and the President wouldn’t be involved in the process of authorizing the torture that CTU saw fit to use on citizens earlier in the season.
While the audience ponders the fact that CTU’s tactics all season long have been highly questionable, no matter how expedient, the writers slip another plot thread into the mix. Nabila is a more subtle example of the “loyal” Middle Eastern American; she’s willing to take a stand against a loved one when she discovers his anti-American sentiments and unusual travel schedules. It’s a little odd that she would be more disturbed by what she can access on his computer than the fact that most of the other files are encrypted, but it serves the purpose of delivering the necessary message: true citizens of every nationality support anti-terrorism.
Audrey has already been shown as unrealistic in her assessment of Jack and his methods, so it’s only fair to use her as a way to defend Jack’s rationale for torturing Prado. Buchanan doesn’t deny giving Jack permission to act against Logan’s wishes, and he even chides her for being foolish enough to think that the rules apply on the front line of the war on terror. The fact that many fans view Audrey as being a harpy for strongly disagreeing with ignoring the President for the sake of expediency more than justifies this particular plot thread; it exposes an area of debate missing from the season for quite some time.
Logan, rather annoyed with the idea of having his wishes ignored, orders Secret Service to arrest Jack and hold him accountable. Now, this is another area where the writers make it too easy for Logan to look stupid and CTU look justified. Logan refuses to wait until the terror threat is over to arrest Jack and hold him accountable; he insists that Jack be taken into custody immediately. There’s simply no way for that to end well, especially since Jack and Curtis doing a very good job of surrounding Marwan.
While Chloe takes a call from Nabila and gets the feeling that it could be important, Marwan records a speech to be aired on the East Coast at dawn. Apparently the plan is to detonate the nuclear warhead before then, so that Americans will awaken (some a lot sooner than others) to the news of millions incinerated for the crimes of American imperialism. Taken in context with Buchanan’s anything-goes mentality, it’s hard not to wonder if Marwan has a philosophical point. How he communicates that point, of course, is entirely reprehensible, but that doesn’t mean that his anger is unjustified.
Secret Service arrives just at the wrong time, when Jack is in a sensitive location and spying on Marwan. The idea of pulling him out and replacing him, when they have solid reason to believe that Marwan is in the building, is ludicrous. However, the point must be driven home that Logan is entirely weak and ineffective, and that interfering in CTU operations is a foolish and potentially deadly move. Except, of course, the Secret Service logically could have justified waiting for Jack without violating their mandate, if only by contacting the President again once the specific situation was recognized.
Of course, that doesn’t happen, and Marwan gets away because CTU’s cover is blown. Despite claiming that he understands the gravity of his earlier decision to act against Logan’s orders, he doesn’t recognize that the Secret Service wasn’t the real problem. He and Buchanan were. The situation could have been avoided just as easily if Jack had been kept out of the field until the matter with Logan was resolved, concurrent with Curtis’ operation at the nightclub. One can argue that Jack and Buchanan couldn’t have known how Logan would react, but the fact is, they knew within minutes that Jack’s “resignation” gambit wouldn’t work and that Jack would be held accountable.
Since Chloe’s conversation hasn’t resulted in a lead yet, CTU is left without options. Worse, they have the ability, thanks to Jack’s video feed, to use Marwan’s presence as instant justification of their actions, the ultimate example of “the ends justify the means”. Logan is left feeling responsible for all but aiding and abetting a terrorist plotting to kill millions. It’s little wonder that the man feels like he’s the biggest screw-up in the history of mankind. Mike, however, recognizes that there is a man of relative integrity (third season aside) who can help: David Palmer. (Isn’t it interesting to note that Palmer is a one-term president with a sudden chance to regain political stock?)
Even if Logan comes to the conclusion that he was wrong to take Jack into custody during a critical op, it seems a bit easy for Jack to be given an instant pardon. Why wouldn’t Logan simply defer the arrest, since it was still an unauthorized assault on a civilian? This could come up in future episodes, but it wouldn’t be very surprising if it didn’t. This helps to underscore the idea that CTU (and Jack) should simply be allowed to do what they want. (Hopefully, the point is to let the audience be as uncomfortable with that as they want to be.)
The character exploration comes into play when Logan is shown, throughout the process, to be a man of sincere doubt. He’s not stupid; he’s overwhelmed. Keeler was no less overwhelmed, but he was also pushing CTU to do more and deal with the situation before things got out of control. It’s hard to imagine any Vice-President with the ability to lead effectively within minutes of a major terrorist act and the near-death of the President. Logan’s doubts are overdone a bit, and placed in a negative context, but his self-doubt is well-depicted.
Lest an episode be free of CTU Office Drama, Chloe and Edgar battle over the use of critical systems. Chloe’s information is the only lead on the table, but as already ably demonstrated in an earlier episode, CTU doesn’t know what the audience knows and thus bickering gets in the way of promoting new leads. In short order, however, Chloe is able to show Tony and Buchanan what Nabila found on her boyfriend’s computer. Apparently Sabir was encrypting porn, because the schematics of the microchip used to reconfigure the nuclear warhead are readily available for download.
This, however, triggers the plot development that gives this episode an instant level of fan appreciation: Chloe goes into the field! Granted, it’s initially just to get her hands on Sabir’s laptop and conduct the analysis, but the look on Chloe’s face says it all. The plot quickly moves forward to Chloe on the way to the Nabila’s house, ready to gnaw her way out of the back of the car, bemoaning her situation to Edgar. There’s even the hint that all the drama has been geek foreplay; Edgar tells Chloe exactly what she needs to hear to gain some measure of confidence.
For the fans, things get tense when the terrorists arrive to kill Nabila and any CTU in sight. Chloe ends up calling Jack, who actually seems incredibly worried that something might happen to Chloe. (After all, she was the only one willing to help him at the beginning of the season, so the case for loyalty is there.) Chloe eventually winds up in the CTU car, without the keys, and things are looking grim. Considering the seasonal body count, Chloe’s chances were not looking good. And then she manages to pull out that rifle, and with zero hesitation, she pulls that thing out and drills the terrorist assassin until he’s mincemeat.
It’s the perfect place to end the episode, because most of the earlier sins of slanted politics are quickly wiped clean by the sheer enjoyment of watching Chloe kick some major terrorist butt. The fact is that Chloe is the CTU tech with the most personality, and as a result, she’s a fan favorite (as much as they hated her when she was first introduced). There was reason to worry about Chloe’s survival, and the writers had to know that the audience would love the idea of Chloe letting out some negative energy with a high-caliber weapon!
Without the final plot development with Chloe, the episode would have been another example of the “quickly resolved plot complication” problem that has plagued this season since the meltdown. The hourly reports disappeared once they were mined for drama, the lawyer from Amnesty Global completely vanished (was there no follow-up?), and Jack’s little resignation doesn’t seem to have mattered at all. There’s also the question of Secretary Heller’s absence, Tony’s future status, Driscoll, Jack’s previous rogue activity, and the apparent lack of concern over the San Gabriel body count. There’s a lot to be dealt with in the final episodes, that’s for sure.
But in terms of this series, there’s a certain expectation that some issues will remain unresolved, since the action takes place in one 24-hour period. How many complex issues find resolution in that kind of short time frame? It’s more about resolving the immediate threat, and then making it clear that certain consequences will result from the extreme measures taken in the process. So in many cases, resolution is relative. The concern is that the writers set up some situations as if they represent the beginning (at a minimum) of a defined story arc, which is then quickly abandoned.
This is sometimes inevitable, but the duty of the writing staff is to make the season arc so exciting and unpredictable (within certain logical bounds) that the audience is able to overlook the dangling plot threads. This episode largely accomplishes that task, since it’s hard to imagine that anyone was thinking about the ramifications of the earlier acts once Chloe was in the field. Had the attack on Air Force One not been telegraphed and overhyped, it might have served the same purpose. When one looks to compare this well-received episode against the less-favored episodes from the middle of the season, this factor should be kept firmly in mind.
Final Analysis
Overall, this episode had many of the same pitfalls as the previous run of episodes since the meltdown, but the final plot development regarding Chloe did a great job of making them easy to forget. While there were some serious logical and continuity-related problems with the first half of the episode, it did lead to some welcome character exploration. It’s still not hitting all cylinders again, but it’s getting better.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 7/10
Season Average (as of 4.19): 6.7
posted by John Keegan | 10:56
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