24 5.8: "Day 5: 2PM - 3PM"

Written by Evan Katz and Robert Cochran
Directed by Brad Turner

In which Jack attempts to pose as Rossler, but when the terrorists decide to test the remote control over the nerve gas canisters on a local mall, Jack is stuck in the middle…


Status Report

This episode is a perfect example of what this series is all about: on the surface, it’s a thrilling ride, with a constant theme of necessity vs. morality, which is even more apparent this season than in the past. But just under the surface, the logic of each situation is questionable at best and ludicrous at worst. It’s been said season after season, but the fact remains: this is a series where it’s best to stop thinking and just enjoy the spectacle.

For instance, it would be easy to point out that getting kicked in the face hard enough to make one bleed also, by simple logic, should result in serious bruising and swelling. Yet Lynn runs around within minutes of getting pummeled with little more than ruffled hair and bad attitude about the world.

Similarly, it was a little too simple for Jack to answer the phone for Rossler and get the location of the meet. This was, of course, an excuse to get to the meat of the episode, but it could have made more sense than having Erwich simply dump the information without a hint of suspicion! (Sure, Erwich ultimately demonstrated a more cautious approach, but that was oddly contrived.)

The set-up is relatively simple. The chip has a locator beacon which allows the person carrying it to be followed. Erwich is sending out a team to meet with Rossler, but that team is also meant to carry out a quick field test on a local mall. So one canister out of 20 is in play, and if the locator beacon doesn’t get taken to the location of the remaining 19 canisters, the one existing lead is lost. Thus the question is raised: how much can be accepted in the name of preventing future acts? This drives the action of the episode.

Meanwhile, Logan continues to make decisions based on PR and expediency, especially when he can point to someone and say “He told me to do it!”. How many people deal with “leaders” who shift opinion and policy based on the most recent powerfully expressed “advice”? Logan was more than willing to go along with Martha when she was the dominant voice of reason, but now that Novick has a strong point to make, he shifts direction accordingly.

Logan makes two decisions in this episode, and they are of very different character. His decision to go along with Novick’s advice regarding Walt, rather than full public disclosure, is not necessarily the wrong decision. In fact, Martha begins to see that by the end of the episode. Sometimes concealing the truth is less harmful, and from a more pragmatic point of view, there’s still a great deal to be determined and uncovered.

Logan sent out a glowing, positive press release regarding the loss of Walter Cummings, which has the benefit of short and long-term benefits. In the short term, if things do not escalate and the terrorist threat is contained, the matter will be swiftly dealt with by the proper channels. There’s every reason to believe that there’s more to the plot, and Walt could have been a dupe. Should something else happen in the long term, there’s no reason why they can’t turn around and reveal that Walt was implicated.

On the other hand, if all the cards are laid out on the table, there’s no turning back. If new information comes to light, his memory would still be in doubt. More to the point, disclosing the circumstances of the terrorism connection could impede the investigation into the activities currently in play. Logan makes the choice that leaves him with the most options after the fact.

The main thrust of the episode, the incident at the mall, plays out in roughly the same fashion. In this case, Lynn and Bill are the ones pushing for Logan to allow the terrorists to succeed in a small-scale incident in the hopes that the other 19 canisters will be located. It’s about keeping options open. Audrey, on the other hand, focuses on the fact that Logan would be ensuring the deaths of some civilians, all in the hopes that more deaths could be prevented as a result.

This is thematically no different from the disclosure of Walt’s activities, and in essence, Logan makes the same kind of choice. He pushes everyone around him into giving advice with strong conviction, and then takes the direction that leaves him with the most options for the future. In the case of Walt’s reputation, it’s not a bad call; in the case of the terrorists, it’s a lot less defensible.

This is the main issue with the episode. It doesn’t take much to wonder how in the world CTU would support the idea of letting hundreds of civilians die, even if it preserves one lead to help eliminate another related terrorist threat. There are examples of such thinking throughout history, and at times, it can be justified. However, in this case, despite what Lynn might say, there is no guarantee that the locator beacon will actually reach Erwich. After all, Erwich has already deviated from CTU’s understanding of the situation on several occasions.

The irony is that the characters don’t seem to recognize (except, of course, Jack and perhaps Audrey) that this kind of value judgment is exactly the kind of thinking that led to Walt’s covert anti-terrorist operation. Walt was all about letting the terrorists achieve a minor victory in the name of defeating them on their home turf. Logan is willing to let civilians die on the assumption that the locator beacon will then lead to Erwich. There’s a distinct similarity, and thus a direct link to the necessity vs. morality theme.

Jack forces the issue, making the moral choice. He decides to risk the long-term goal of protection civilians to achieve the short-term goal of preventing assured civilian losses. This once again brings up the question of Jack’s autonomy, which was referenced at the top of the episode. If Jack has full autonomy, he should be the one making the call, not Lynn or Bill. And if Lynn is serious about making the decision covert, Logan shouldn’t be involved at all.

The net effect is that CTU loses the one direct lead that knew about, which means it will be that much harder to prevent a large-scale attack. This is especially true because Erwich is aware of the fact that law enforcement is on his heels, this driving him to act more quickly. Yet it’s overstating the situation to assume that there are no leads at all. Walt had a contact, and if that contact was knowledgeable enough to work with the terrorists and coordinate Walt’s gambit, then he ought to have resources to track or contact Erwich.

Does Jack take that into consideration before acting? Perhaps, perhaps not. The fact remains that he has seen options disappear, only to have new leads present themselves in short order. He knew that Erwich might fall into the trap, even if it was unlikely, and so he must also be prepared for the worst.

The real question is whether or not Lynn, having been chastised, will have enough self-awareness to realize that Jack made the only call that he could under the circumstances. Or will Lynn push to have Jack punished for violating a direct order? Will this become another example of a mid-season slump, where idiotic bureaucratic obstacles are dumped in Jack’s path so the terrorists have a few more episodes until the next major beat of the story?

As it happens, this is episode 5.8, which means that this is the first major turning point of the season. Things will necessarily complicate even further in the next 7-8 episodes. That means that something significant will happen around episodes 11-12 and then more significant in episodes 15-16. It’s not quite clear from the plot what will happen, but odds are, Jack will be facing some emotional and political fallout coming into the next turn as the terrorists regroup and make their next move.


Final Analysis

Overall, this episode delves into a bit of complicated and even clever character exploration, continuing with the now-familiar theme of necessity vs. morality. Logan makes two decisions of completely different magnitude, but in the process, he confirms one of the defining aspects of his brand of leadership. Even so, the scenario at the heart of the episode seems a bit overdone.

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

Final Rating: 7/10

Season Average (as of 5.8): 7.3