24 6.13: "Day 6: 6PM - 7PM"

Written by Joel Surnow and Michael Loceff
Directed by Jon Cassar

Status Report

With the season entering its second half, the fans of “24” have one expectation: that the shortcomings of the first half will be resolved and rendered moot by a superior escalation and conclusion. Certainly there’s more than enough time, and despite the flaws and plot holes, there’s enough potential left in the season’s premise to finish out on a high note.

Mike Doyle’s planned assault on the Russian consulate is rather ironic, given the price that Jack has paid for roughly the same action on the Chinese consulate in the fourth season. It’s also going to be a little difficult to take Doyle seriously, if only because he’s played by Rick Schroder. In an odd twist of fate, he looks like he could be Robert Patrick’s younger cousin. If he manages to pull off similar presence in the future, the credibility factor wouldn’t come into play so much.

Shaking up the stagnant CTU this season is a great start. Giving him a connection to Milo could be a mistake. It would be a lot more interesting to have someone come in and question Bill and Nadia on their lack of decisive action. That might still happen, but Milo’s grievances might take something away from Doyle’s moral authority.

Logan is taken to CTU rather quickly, given the circumstances, but such travel oddities are hardly new in the “24” universe. Somehow Logan manages to get past Bill’s defenses (not a difficult task these days) and insert his opinion on Jack’s situation. His suggestion is an interesting means of getting Jean Smart back in the spotlight, but such plot contrivances are now a given.

Seeing Martha and Aaron together is another nice touch for the fans of the fifth season, many of which wanted to see them as a couple. There’s a wonderful tension once Logan calls and interrupts Martha’s pleasant day. Against all odds, this particular subplot is actually quite good, reminding the audience that this season is something of a coda for the fifth season. Martha’s methodical breakdown led to one of the more shocking and unexpected moments yet, made far better by the fact that it made sense within the context of the series.

The net result is that Logan’s gambit works. Markov makes the wrong move by refusing to follow orders from his own president, who then gives CTU the go-ahead to storm the consulate without reprisal. That appears to wrap up the rather short involvement from Logan, just in time for Jack to be rescued. If the writers are smart, they’ll keep Logan around long enough for his involvement with Philip Bauer to be revealed and clarified.

In a remarkably uninteresting subplot, Jack doesn’t wait for rescue, either from CTU or Logan. He stages another improbable (yet highly entertaining) escape attempt, taking out Russian security forces in the process. Markov rallies the troops with his overwrought accent, while Jack threatens anyone and everyone necessary to stay alive. That puts him in position to be rescued, after a brief and almost pedestrian holding action.

Tom Lennox’s conversation with Vice President Daniels is an interesting one. It’s possible that Daniels is just an opportunist, but it’s definitely hinted that he was at the top of the conspiracy. That would be a lot less interesting, but the net effect may be the same. Tom continues to be at the center of a massive moral dilemma, because Daniels is more than happy to start the equivalent of world war. This definitely plays into the theory that the conspiracy against Palmer is connected to Philip Bauer and his company’s goals.

Since the writers marked out a two-hour window from the beginning of Logan’s involvement, it’s no surprise that the terrorists are ready to make their next move just as the short-term action at the Russian consulate comes to a close. And that’s really part of the problem with this episode. The outcome at the consulate was a foregone conclusion; it was just a matter of how it would play out. The subplot with Logan, Martha, and Aaron made it work, but it still presented nothing new.

As with many of the episodes since the premiere, the villains are far in the background, which seems massively inconsistent. The season began with the terrorists hitting target after target, and that provided a lot of the necessary tension. It’s hard to remember the intensity of those early episodes. In fact, despite all the reminders, the fact that the nation is under siege is easy to forget. Perhaps the next episode will help bring that aspect of the season’s premise back into perspective.

Final Analysis

Overall, this episode continues to explore a side story within the season arc, designed to mark time more than anything else. It does manage to pay off some of the lingering ideas from the fifth season, far better than the previous installment, but it’s still a question of diminishing returns. It’s been a long time since the villains of the story were on-screen, and that absence is a major stumbling block.

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

Final Rating: 7/10

(Season Average: 7.0)