24 5.24: "Day 5: 6AM - 7AM"

Written by Robert Cochran
Directed by Jon Cassar

In which Jack and his allies engage in a risky gambit to force a confession out of the President regarding his complicity in the day’s terrorist attacks, but things don’t go as planned…


Status Report

The past few episodes had undone what the writers had accomplished since around midnight: establishing the final arc as the chess game between Jack and Logan. Even as that conflict draws to a close, the writers felt the need to toss in ridiculous plot elements that only served to muddy the waters. The question is this: did the writers manage to still end the season on a high note?

It doesn’t begin with a very complementary scene for Logan. Literally minutes after his wife offers a little “make-up sex”, they already have their clothes back on. If she wasn’t already pissed off, she certainly has reason now! It’s almost as unbelievable as Jack’s instant recovery from Tony’s death earlier in the day.

Thankfully, they return to one of the stronger elements: the relationship between Martha and Logan. She appeals to his sense of desired legacy, which was the driving motivation for Logan from the very beginning. Had the writers stuck with that idea throughout the season, it would have probably played out better. That said, it becomes a logical reason for Logan to believe what Martha tells him, setting the stage for the final confrontation.

For all that Logan committed horrible acts, Jack is completely out of line to confront the President on these terms. Logan touches on these ideas, but not quite enough. In many respects, Jack risks the validity of any action he takes or any confession rendered simply by the methods he employs.

Granted, the season was designed to place Jack in an emotionally compromised state. He has lost more than enough to send him over the edge, and he has personal reason to hate Logan. For a man who has come to terms with the idea of taking desperate and highly immoral action to achieve the goal of national security, how easy would it be to take this personal vendetta far beyond any concept of reasonable?

It’s an interesting place to take the season and the audience. Had it been consistently applied over the course of the final episodes, it might have been even more effective. As it is, the audience must quickly come to terms with the idea that their anti-hero has taken the President hostage. No matter how craven a man Logan might be, no matter how ruthless and scheming, he is still the President. Jack is on the edge of becoming an assassin.

So the question is, this early in the hour: can Jack’s actions be justified as necessary under the circumstances? Or have his actions to this point already crossed the line? When does the President’s legal and moral trespasses overshadow the protections afforded the office? And when do those crimes grant permission by some representative, self-appointed no less, to exact some form of justice? It’s a good source of tension for the rest of the episode, and one that should have been properly developed by writers with a sense of responsibility.

Logan understands Jack’s predicament. He understands that all he has to do is maintain his innocence and ensure that a record of Jack’s personal vendetta is available. In a nice touch, Jack begins providing a confession of his own, outlining the personal cost of Logan’s scheming, dating back to the end of the fourth season. (Of course, this also serves to remind the audience of the whole Chinese problem, because ultimately, that’s something that should be addressed.) Jack becomes all but unhinged, and before any confession can be made, it’s over, with a perfect record against Jack waiting at CTU.

It’s not the expected outcome, but in a way, that’s why it works. Who expected Logan to win even a momentary victory? It masks the obvious ploy. In a matter of minutes, Jack appears to be out of the picture and completely compromised, and Martha’s reaction appears completely unhinged. Yet at the same time, since Martha is the only one who gets under Logan’s skin, Logan responds more than he should. And though the recording device is rather predictable (replacing the original recording that was destroyed because the writers had no other means of generating tension), it did play out slowly and methodically, instead of being rushed, which is a nice touch.

Yet much remains unresolved, which makes it somewhat worrisome once the pleasant music starts to play. Jack has a special moment with Audrey, even though he should still be in custody and facing serious charges, regardless of Logan’s illegal actions. Before anyone can wonder about Logan’s allies and their oft-mentioned plans of dealing with Jack, things quickly go south. Why weren’t the writers particularly concerned with sticking with realism and having Jack remain in custody for what would probably be weeks, if not months? Because they needed him out in the open for this last little plot twist.

Other aspects take away from the resolution. For all that was built up in very short order regarding Chloe’s ex-husband, his role was completely unnecessary. Why ever bother, other than to create a false sense of tension (that didn’t even work)? And the less said about the sudden and inexplicable “romance” between Bill and Karen, the better. Still, the photo of Edgar and Chloe was a very nice touch.

All season long, Jack’s history with the Chinese was left unresolved, even though it was a glaring plot point. And as mentioned in earlier reviews, it was the obvious way for Logan to get Jack out of the picture. In this case, the question becomes: will Logan take full responsibility, leaving Jack to the Chinese and his oil magnate allies free and clear? And how will that play into the sixth season?

In retrospect, this is the best way for the Chinese to re-enter the story. For one, it creates the nice illusion of continuity, since the fifth season now serves as the bridge between the fourth and sixth seasons. When all is said and done, for all the plot conveniences and writing woes, it will probably look rather seamless once the series has run its course. And this ending gives the writers an interesting option: beginning the sixth season without Jack in the picture in the traditional sense. After all, who knows how the new administration will handle things in the post-Logan fallout, and the Chinese could use Jack as a bargaining chip for something far worse.

This is the part where the series finale review would usually launch into a discussion about the season as a whole, but things will be done differently moving forward. The “24” post-mortem (so to speak) will be the main focus of this week’s episode of “Dispatches from Tuzenor”, a new podcast started as an expansion to the written reviews conducted every season. That episode should be up after the weekend, so anyone interested is invited to drop by the archive site (www.entil2001.com) and click on the link. (It’s also available on iTunes.)


Final Analysis

Overall, this episode does a nice job of wrapping up the season arc, even if there are a number of implications tossed aside to facilitate the final plot twist. Despite an ending which pays of the patience of many in the audience, the episode tries to fill the character development gaps with new information that doesn’t quite track. In the end, the season ends in keeping with the series: with plenty of potential still on the table, hampered only by the poor planning of the writing staff.

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

Final Rating: 7/10

Season 5 Final Average: 7.0