Scott Davis reviews the sixth episode of 24: Live Another Day…
Like the end of season hoopla that greets every Premier League “champions elect”, the s**t is about to hit the fan. As every second ticks away, and the stakes continue to grow, you wonder why Jack Bauer hasn’t stopped full flow, sat his gun on a side table, tiredly collapsed onto a soft chair, brushed away his sweat and said “enough is enough”.
Such is the renewed intensity of 24 in its latest incarnation, that even Bauer himself, knee deep in drone attacks, presidential hesitancy and renewed loves, would just stop and say no more, no more longest day’s of my life.
As LAD crosses the halfway point, one thing is for sure that without Jack, and by assimilation Sutherland, this show wouldn’t be half as good. Not that it isn’t good, quite the opposite, but with this one particularly episode, everything that is good about Bauer, every nuance, every shout-off, is given so much more by Sutherland’s continued intensity and commitment.
After the previous hours events, Jack is being brought back into the game slowly but surely. His talks, and plan offering, discussed and subsequently denied by President Heller (William Devane), Jack is still unsure of how the day’s events will ultimately unfold. He remains adamant he has the best solution: reintegrate himself with arms dealer Karl Rask (Aksel Hennie), whom he had worked with previous in order to get to London before the threat increased.
Soon enough, Heller gives Jack permission to try and bring big bad Margot Al-Harazi (Michelle Fairley, again delightfully evil) in for questioning. Jack asks assistance, in the form of Kate Morgan (Yvonne Strahovski), who helped him escape the clutches of the military in the previous hour. But there is a trade-off: as Rask will believe it was Jack who turned against him and sold him out to the US government, their only play is to accuse Kate of being involved, and hand her over for questioning. Or, in “24 World”, excruciating (and very graphic) torture.
With the drone attack imminent, and Heller’s ever diminishing health, Parliament, and indeed Prime Minister Davies (Stephen Fry, slowly getting more and more to do), are of course getting worried that Al-Harazi won’t be stopped in time, nor that Jack can be trusted. Fearing it will be too late if he doesn’t take matters into his own hands, Davies has Jack and Kate followed, and wants answers as to why he is being kept in the dark.
A few shoot-outs and computer hacks later, those second ticks are about to stop the episode dead. But this is 24, and a double whammy is soon thrown at us: Rask is dead, the British could have screwed everything, and (in best Austin Powers impression) MOLE! All in another day’s work for Jack Bauer: Bladder Control King.
It’s hard not to repeat yourself when reviewing 24. Every episode brings something new and shocking, while maintaining its high level of energy and potency, that over the last two hours, has reached light-speed. Governments are in danger of imploding, weapons used against their creators, revenge being dished out cold and calculated, and double-crossings and dodgy dealings have all been present and correct over the last few hours, and while they are nothing new to the show, all have a boldness and shock-value that continues to thrill.
Sutherland is truly in his element now, and as already mentioned, it’s where the show gets its heartbeat, and in turn, our pulses racing. Stripped off a little baggage he carried at the start of the season, Bauer has been truly unleashed a-new, and with it Sutherland regaining control of the metaphoric bike again, it’s like he had never de-saddled.
Strahovski is slowly becoming a key component of the show, much in the same way that the brilliant Annie Wersching did in Seasons 7 and 8, with both charm and intensity; the ever reliable Rajskub is a great counter balance;. And as the hours tick by, there will surely be more to come from Devane, Fry and Bratt, as well as Kim Raver’s inevitable shift towards Jack, all of which will only elevate an already stellar return.
Every second does indeed count.
Scott Davis
Originally published June 5, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
