Date of airing: January 15, 2002 (FOX)
Nielsen ratings information: 7.51 million viewers, 4.7/7 in Households, 3.7/9 with Adults 18-49
Here we are. The assassination was attempted, and yet we are only a third into the season, begging the question of what is about to happen, now that Ira Gaines failed to see David Palmer dead on his television screen. Will he try to kill the presidential candidate yet again in a few hours or will the story change from here on and be something else for the remainder of the season? With Jack in Secret Service handcuffs, it seems a bit difficult to blame the murder of David Palmer on him, and now that Gaines’s well-oiled plan has gone into his well-oiled butt, he would need to come up with a whole new plan to finish his mission, which means he is most likely going to wing it from here on, bringing some unpredictability into the story, and maybe even some chaos. Heads will heat up after this episode because of the events that unfolded during the last few minutes, and I am pretty sure those heads will stop thinking straight.
What this episode did well was putting the assassination attempt into it and essentially ... well, “ending” that story. Normally, a premise like this would put the inciting incident either straight in the middle (which would be in about four episodes) or at the end for the best way to sell a climax, but this is only episode eight and stuff has already happened. There is still so much time for the characters to get into trouble and save the day, and the writers already sold the first part of their conspiracy premise. Color me impressed.
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| Jamey can't believe she is in this situation. |
Jamey was in the spotlight for this episode, and her efforts to be Gaines’ mole inside CTU have now failed because she simply did not think that she might be working for one of the worst terrorists ever. The entire mess Jamey was in could have been prevented if the two dudes following Jack in the car during the previous episode (and at the beginning of this one) had called a few of their guys to pick up the dead body of Nina Myers (because Los Angeles can’t just have dead folks lying around everywhere, that would cause suspicion and alert police). Then they would have realized that Nina is still alive, which means Gaines would not have inadvertently put Jamey in a difficult spot. It turns out though that Jamey in those cuffs happened to be a great emotional visual for her character arc. As her cover has been blown, the CTU storyline became a whole lot more interesting. Finally, the potential love triangle between Jack, Tony, and Nina has been finished by having Jack deal with something completely different, and with Nina and Tony working together (and touching each other like they are about to embrace in a loving kiss) to solve the case and save a man’s life, the writers have found a way to mix the character drama with the conspiracy thriller plot. It helps that Tony and Nina are now united to help Jack, if that is what they will be doing after this episode. Nina knows something is fishy, and now that Tony knows, he might become a little friendlier to his romantic rival, co-worker, and supervisor.
Yes, the assassination attempt finally happened. TWENTY-FOUR was already expanded to a full season by the time of this episode’s airing (which is probably why the producers included the show’s premise at the beginning, serving as a recap and a friendly reminder to the audience what TWENTY-FOUR is about, in case new viewers just tuned in for the first time), but it seems surprising at first that the original premise established in the pilot has now been concluded (most likely) after a third of the season. Gaines and his goons will have to try again, but the writers had two thirds of a season to fill, and they had to fill it with something else than a planned assassination attempt. To create suspense, you can only do it once. To create personal stakes, you might try it a second time, but after that, it would only become repetitive.
Jack’s efforts to stop the assassination attempt were good enough. He risked his own life and essentially his family’s life (he does not even know yet that they might still be alive after this – he probably thinks Gaines has killed his family, which should create an interesting dynamic between Jack and everyone else at the start of the next episode) by disrupting Gaines’ plans, and he bought himself some time. I guess that was all the writers needed to do after eight episodes, especially since the writers only needed five more to end the series in case FOX would have canceled it after the initially ordered 13 episodes.
Meanwhile, the hostage situation back at Camp Gaines felt off for me, and not because I wanted to feel it off and not like a single bit of it. I get why the near-execution of the two women came so suddenly, but with all Gaines had probably planned, it seemed a little ridiculous that he would just have Teri and Kim killed because David Palmer was still alive by the end of the hour. Gaines could have waited a few minutes and assessed the situation before making a decision, but it looked like he was acting emotionally, making him both a dangerous and silly villain. One who was supposed to have the greatest plan for the greatest assassination plot, and then the emotions went over his head as soon as one part of his plan did not pan out.
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| Jack can't believe he just successfully did not assassinate a presidential candidate. |
It also seemed illogical that he would keep Teri and Kim alive. He had Bridget killed for being a little too cocky and demanding, but now he listened to Jack’s pleas to not kill his family? I like that it makes Gaines a character with a little more depth than other villains (because he actually let the women live, so he cannot be that evil), but together with his silliness, it makes him an inconsistent character. Still, the despair in the women’s faces was a little more noticeable this time around, even though I still believe that the show could have pushed for more emotions. Teri and Kim believed they were about to be executed. Spending more than 15 seconds with them after they realized they are still alive would have been great to push that emotional narrative. Elisha Cuthbert could have been given more time to fully deliver the emotional range she was not able to deliver during that scene. Maybe she should have died after all.
