24 – Day 8: 9:00am – 10:00am

There were some surprises for me tonight, though not on the scale of previous weeks. I have a feeling the next six episodes will come down to a sort of Jack vs. the World scenario, where all of the characters will be grappling with the right thing to do against the “greater good.”

Let’s get on to the recap…

Debrief

• Jack calls Chloe and demands to know what Renee was working on when she was killed. Chloe tells him that Renee recognized someone at Samir’s murder scene from her days undercover with the Red Square. Jack forces Chloe to tell him where Sergei, the Red Square’s leader who Jack arrested earlier, is being held. Jack goes to Sergei and threatens to kill his entire family unless Sergei can tell him who killed Renee. Sergei tells Jack that the Russian government has been behind all of the day’s events, including assassinating Hassan and Renee, and that Dana Walsh was their contact in America. Jack returns to CTU.

• Logan visits the Russian UN delegate and blackmails him. Logan says he will tell Pres. Taylor about the Russian government’s involvement in the day’s events if the Russian’s don’t sign the peace treaty. The Russians agree. Once Logan hears of Jack interviewing Dana, he knows that his victory might be short-lived. Logan eventually tells Taylor about the Russians’ plans for the day and what they have done. It is clear that, if that information is released, the peace process is over. Pres. Taylor travels to CTU.

• At CTU, Taylor tells Jack that she cannot grant Dana immunity, which would interfere with the peace process. She orders Jack to get on a helicopter to an Air Force base where he will be debriefed. He takes the helicopter hostage and goes rogue.

Agent Philboy’s Debrief

Episodes like this are why I’ll miss “24” so much when it’s gone. Episodes like this are kind of like “The West Wing” with explosions and bullets. There are a lot of ethical and political ramifications to every facet of what’s going on at this point. There’s so much that I could probably fill up another column entirely mapping out everything. But, I’ll try not to.

In every season of “24,” at least the season’s that have worked very well, Jack has been the straight line that dissects and intersects with all of the twists and turns and double-crossing that the show has become so good at. This is usually because Jack is right and everyone else is either unknowing or unwilling to accept this fact. Now, in this final season, Jack is, by many accounts, wrong. It’s certainly wrong to hijack a helicopter and disobey the President’s orders. But, Jack is and will always be Jack and that’s where the show gets its driving action every week, in watching how all of the other pawns on the board react to Jack’s independent actions.

There were some surprises, like I said, in this episode. I really expected Taylor to give Jack permission, but in a covert way, so as to not disrupt the peace process. I expected that Logan would keep what he knew about the Russians secret for at least a little while longer, and take Jack into his own hands. I expected the helicopter to blow up. But, I was wrong, and I’m so glad.

This season might have been uneven at times, but it’s returning to what was fantastic about it in the first place. In the years since it was hugely popular, it has been boiled down to Jack vs. the bad guys. But, when it’s at its best, there’s much more going on than that and a clear, concise definition of “right,” “wrong,” “good,” or “evil” is hard to find.

Now, I believe that Logan’s craziness will force Taylor to cover things up even more to the point where she can’t stand it anymore and realizes that this cover up is what she became President to fight. But, until she gets to that point, whether it takes an hour or the next six, it’ll be a fun ride.

Thoughts?