24 5.4: "Day 5: 10AM - 11AM"

Written by Michael Loceff and Joel Surnow
Directed by Brad Turner

In which Jack becomes another hostage held by the terrorists as the anti-terrorism summit comes down to the wire, forcing CTU to stage an assault as management takes a turn for the worse…


Status Report

So far the episodes seem to be wavering between strong storytelling and the issues that have plagued the series since the middle of the first season. Coming on the heels of a very strong episode, it only makes sense that this would seem weaker in comparison. It was still quite entertaining, but it wasn’t on the same level as the third hour.

One of the most immediate problems with the story is the decision by the terrorists to keep Jack alive. While he does have some general value as a means of dealing with the CTU response, but that doesn’t seem to be in mind when the terrorists first take him in hand. Why leave a seasoned counter-terrorism agent in the room when the goal is to pass off a keycard to one of the hostages as quietly as possible?

It would have been more logical, in terms of the terrorist plot, for them to shoot Jack in front of the media. For one thing, he was being used as a dupe in the assassination, and his death would prevent the truth from coming to light. Second, even if the terrorists didn’t care about that anymore, he would have been a high-profile victim, someone to kill to embarrass Logan even more. Leaving him alive, in the same room where the handoff is meant to take place, is an incredibly stupid decision.

The producers seem to find every opportunity to show Jean Smart’s bosom, which is somewhat odd. But they are also dialing back from her nutty side and showing a more calculating and focused individual. Can someone, however, explain why the supposedly mentally unstable First Lady has such light security that Walter can drug and assault her without anyone noticing?

Lynn McGill comes from the “politics is king” school of management. In other words, if it works to make one look better politically within the organization, it’s something worth doing. His attitude with Bill is intolerably smug, but the writers also go to great lengths (in this episode and the two previous episodes) in showing Bill as just a little too willing to accept new information with little or no scrutiny. There’s also the hint that Lynn used to work for Bill, perhaps as a protégé.

For instance, Bill should have been able to tell that Jack was trying to express that he was under duress. Why else would he toss out that line about “Flank 2” time and again? More importantly, why did it take so long for Chloe to remember that it was a term used for this very purpose? It seems a little convenient that the most annoying boss on the planet would figure out, in minutes, what experts on Jack can’t work out in almost an hour. For that matter, why didn’t Beresch figure out that Jack was trying to give CTU a warning? It wasn’t at all subtle, and they knew they were dealing with a seasoned agent.

Logan and Suvarov also fall prey to odd logic. If Logan were to give in to the terrorists and postpone, then he would be sending a message that the terrorists can use the lives of innocents as political capital. If he sticks to his guns, even if the hostages are killed, he sends a message. It’s a bloody and terrible message, but it’s a message. Both men seem way too concerned with the political legacy the accord will bring, more than the reality of what the accord should represent.

Once again, the terrorist plot is in and of itself a possible plot weakness. If the point was simply to cover the transfer of the keycard, why do something so public to get it done? It could have been quietly taken care of in a backroom without any issues. Was it just to ensure that any increased chatter would be attributed to the hostage situation and not the true goal? Or was it complete overkill? Time will tell, but right now, it doesn’t quite add up.

Returning for a moment to the question of Lynn McGill (and could his attitude have something to do with growing up with that name?), his character is very smooth with Bill, but he doesn’t have an ounce of sincerity in his voice. And he’s right too damn often! Letting him be the one to figure out what Jack was doing was too easy, definitely a way to maximize the smarm. Yet his interpretation of Jack’s status was perfectly legitimate and highlighted one of the major issues with Bill’s response to Jack in the past two episodes.

This is likely to bring about something that was predicted in the review for the previous episode: Bill will be taken to task for making pragmatic decisions to achieve success. Lynn seems to be the mechanism towards that goal. And more to the point, there always has to be some jerk from Division who comes in and tries to apply book policy to real world scenarios. Sure, protocol gives direction for a reason, but it doesn’t cover extreme circumstances.

It’s a wonderful change of pace, however, for Jack to concede the necessity of being taken into custody. It won’t last, but it’s a nice change for the character. After all, he’s not an agent anymore, and there are serious consequences that should follow from his return. The writers could spend a lot of time just on the topic of Jack as political hot potato, especially once the Chinese get wind of it all. Granted, those moments will exist only when the terrorist plot needs more time to build organically, but for now, the genie is out of the bottle and the writers have their work cut out for them.


Final Analysis

Overall, this episode has a number of logic problems, all of which are designed to place newer characters in an immediate context and ensure the survival of others. Despite some of the issues with internal logic, there are some good moments, and by the end of the episode, the writers achieve the goal of setting up the new season with a relatively contained mini-arc.

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 7/10

Season Average (as of 5.4): 7.7