Date of airing: April 9, 2002 (FOX)
Nielsen ratings information: 8.84 million viewers, 5.5/9 in Households, 4.5/11 with Adults 18-49
written by: Joel Surnow, Michael Loceff
directed by: Frederick K. Keller
Happiness arrived all around and within me during the second half of the episode when David Palmer was having his press conference, telling the whole world about the cover-up of Keith’s accidental murder, as well as Teri Bauer regaining her memory again, even though it took another traumatic event for her to do so. Two storylines that have been dragging their feet lately have finally found their conclusions, and I could not be more glad about it. It took the entire episode for these two stories to end and for the characters to lead themselves to the next chapter of their eventful lives, and I am thrilled that it happened, and the final five episodes of the season can deal with the last chapter of the series, uninterrupted by subplots that just drag the show from episode to episode.
The cover-up within the Palmer family (and David’s filthy rich businessmen friends, essentially buying themselves a seat in the Oval Office) should have been ended episodes ago, and Nicole should have been emotionally affected by her past ordeal sooner as well, instead of being cast into the background of the events while not getting her point of view of her traumatic experience told. It was a nice character moment for her to have something of a panic attack midway through the dinner/argument scene, but I wondered why it had to happen to her when her past of being a rape victim already resurfaced a few hours after midnight and could have given Nicole some airtime much earlier. All the story was about was Keith and his actions, but no one seemed to have been bothered or interested in what Nicole may have been thinking and feeling about all of this.
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| George Mason cannot be bothered jumping over this fence. |
Also, Teri’s amnesia story should not have been in this show at all (together with Kim’s story, it is one of my least favorite of the show), though I can still understand why the writers did it: There probably would not have been a nice way for her to get through three hours, all while Kim is in some serious boy trouble and came to face actual gangsters again. By the way: Kim’s story over the last few episodes ended surprisingly nice as well. Getting arrested is a good way to stay safe and a bad way to get among bad people again, though the chances that one or two villains working with the Drazens might have police chatter in their ears, will soon learn of Kim’s arrest and finish the job, now that she is in an enclosed area. Then again, the writers needed to create another assassin character for that part, since Henri Lubatti’s character got killed off here.
Jack was not doing a lot in this episode, which was once again a welcomed surprise. He pretty much dealt with the aftermath of the shooting at the plaza and then just hopped into a car with George Mason, drove towards a new lead for about a half hour, and then arrived at that place, not knowing anything that could happen. The writers had their ways to keep the main star of the show quiet for an episode or two and let the other characters do their thing. TWENTY-FOUR is an ensemble show after all and could easily live without Jack Bauer, although I am sure I am the only one saying that – this series as always about the real-time, terrorist-bashing premise, not its lead character, and you could easily emulate the series' action and thrill with another troubled and emotionally affected lead character (although that did not work for the spin-off sequel 24: LEGACY).
Anyway, it was nice to see Jack and Mason together, for once not bickering about what happened between the two and instead just working themselves towards a potentially huge lead and being friendly towards one another. Some might say that Mason’s efforts to keep the disappearance of Teri and Kim a secret was stupid of him to do, but it was also understandable. That meant he cares about the investigation enough to not have Jack worry about something he should not be worried about now (unbeknownst to him, his family might be missing, but they are kind of safe right now), which is a step forward for his character compared to the first few hours of the show when he was a dick.
The situation in Rick’s house was concluded in a fashionable way, though the way to that ending had me rolling my eyes again. Frank learns that his brother is dead. He does not give a damn, and just wants the money to make the drug deal. He calls in his goons with big guns, so they can shoot their way out of a deal that is about to go bad. That made Frank a terrible character, and Kim was in terrible danger she could not get out of because she was so terribly stupid to get into this danger in the first place. If she had not given a damn about Rick and how smart and good-looking he is, none of this would have ever happened. If she had died in that car explosion, none of it would have happened. But at least she got arrested now, and that might be the end for Rick as well, since his minutes as a meaningful character for Kim are over. Because really, now that Kim is in jail for now, what good is Rick for?
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| This is just another traumatic event for Teri today. |
The story with Teri and her creepy Dr. Phil was also okay, but only because it was kept quiet and slow, and creepy Phil was not making a move towards her, almost seeming intent to not be the creep who uses the situation for his own gain. Every once in a while, I was thinking about the possibility that he might be another evil white rapist, but it looks like he was sincere from beginning to end. This means he would have gotten a randomized death scene, and that idea I kind of liked – although I have no clue if Phil was actually killed or if he will survive and find a way to be more of a creep later in this life. For starters, Henri Lubatti’s character only gave the bodyguard a headshot, and Phil was moving when Tony yelled at Teri to stay back.
Still, it was obvious that Teri would not die in that scene, so I was waiting for the savior moment, and of course, it was Tony who conveniently arrived at the right time and finished off Drazen’s assassin, half a second before he would have killed Teri. This is a standard scene of saving someone else's life in a surprising twist. One I am thankful for, because now she can remember again, and Tony can quickly tell her that Kim is okay, since he got a phone call from her an hour or two ago. This way Teri does not need to cry her way through the next episode and can continue focusing on getting Kim back.
