Date of airing: April 23, 2002 (FOX)
Nielsen ratings information: 8.49 million viewers, 5.2/8 in Households, 4.1/11 with Adults 18-49
written by: Robert Cochran, Michael Loceff
directed by: Stephen Hopkins
This was another very entertaining hour, again with not a lot of screentime for Jack, and instead, the writers were giving attention to some of the other characters and reminding the audience that TWENTY-FOUR does not necessarily have to be the Jack Bauer Power Hour. Again, the writers wanted to focus on the people around Jack and made sure they are placed where they needed to be for the final three hours of the season,to make things a little more exciting and threatening for them.
But the end of the episode might have been a little questionable, albeit extremely predictable, especially after the detective said that he would drive Kim to CTU himself (in TWENTY-FOUR terms, that is usually a huge moment of foreshadowing). As expected, some of Drazen’s goons were following the police chatter and decided to kidnap Kim once more, making this young woman the person with the worst luck imaginable. Getting kidnapped twice within 24 hours is just a crappy and horrible thing to live through, but when it comes to scripted television, it is a plot device you cannot bring twice. Doubling up on the story kind of feels lame, even if it eventually speeds up the storytelling of the next three episodes and would lead to the writers going all-in during the final chapters of the season.
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| This is a nail-biting hour for Kim. |
The events in the secret prison bunker were okay. Victor Drazen turned into an actual villain with a backstory in this episode, and bless Dennis Hopper’s portrayal for that because he brought along the “eye for an eye” issue between Victor and Jack and made me think for a hot second whether or not I should feel sorry for Victor losing his wife and daughter. Then again, he is as evil as all the other villains in the show, making him a bit less interesting in the process and filing his character arc with tropes. DeSalvo’s death scene came as a surprise to me (it should not have been, as it was transmitted way ahead of the plot development like Kim’s second kidnapping), and I am a little saddened now, as I happened to like the guy in the previous episode. But alas, the white guys survive everything, so everyone who is not white has to get a bullet in the back of the head sooner or later. Except Dan, but he was a drug dealer, so he got his comeuppance.
What a shame that DeSalvo’s death was quickly forgotten, since Jack needed to fight for his own survival and did not have room to think about a murder he witnessed just minutes ago. However, it was a good thing that Jack did not immediately win this fight and is now on the bottom of the Drazen boots, though it was laughable how often he cheated death in this episode. He was supposed to be killed by Victor, but they decided to use him as a bargaining chip instead. He should have been killed for attacking Victor, but he was yet again alive after that. And then Victor wanted to kill him again at the end of the episode (“using him as a bargaining chip” be damned) before Jack played the Alexis Drazen card. I laughed at least once about this.
Teri learning about Jack’s predicament was a great scene. Once more, Leslie Hope delivered the emotion in the scene, which makes her amnesia plot hurt even more in hindsight, because she was unable to deliver that kind of desperation during her family’s constant peril of danger, since she could not remember who her family was. Also, the fact that Nina was the one who told her was quite fitting, considering their shared backstory. They are both in love with Jack, they both are in a conflict with another they need to resolve, and it looks like that exact conflict was the only thing that connected Teri and Nina in this scene, giving them both something to hold onto. Maybe Teri and Nina could be best friends after this?
At least Teri is at CTU now, meaning she will not be in danger any longer, except of course the presumed second mole within CTU might do something stupid and kidnap her from within federal walls. When it comes to yet another Bauer family danger hour, it has to be said that only Kim is in true danger right now. Jack will most likely manage to get out of his own peril by swinging some knees and fists into Andre and Victor’s stomachs at one point, meaning that his safety is pretty much guaranteed. Kim however not so much.
Before Kim got kidnapped again though, her time in jail was entertaining as well. For once she stood up for herself, and her angry speech delivered to Melanie was the best thing about Kim the entire season, after Melanie managed to question Kim’s decision the way I have been all this season when it comes to Rick, except much nicer than I have. I was a bit curious about all the other girls in the tank who were most likely listening to Kim going berserk on Melanie: What were they thinking about what transpired in front of them? Did they like the minute of soap opera theater that was performed for them? By the way, how convenient was it that Melanie would decide to recant her statement and get Kim out of there? As it turns out, it was very convenient, because it gave the bad guys another shot at kidnapping Kim. Thank you, Melanie, for being such a good plot device.
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| This is a comfortable hour for David Palmer. |
And finally, there was still something going on in the Palmer campaign for the White House, even though the primaries are pretty much over after this when you win eleven primaries in one day. I do not even know if a presidential candidate can win all states during a Super Tuesday primary (I might have to check the history books on that one, or ask Rachel Maddow), but that little story of the day guaranteed that David will be president in the next season, pretty much assuring him a spot in the future of the show. Winning the primaries in eleven states during Super Tuesday, as well as getting good grades in an instant Fox News poll? Congratulations, Senator David Palmer, you have just won the general election, you just do not know it yet.
Patty flirting with him though and giving him a shoulder massage was a bit eyeroll-worthy though, as it came out of nowhere and added another element to the Palmer storyline that was rather weird. Do not get me wrong, I find Patty attractive as well, but she was never supposed to be the character to be focused on, and now she is going full in with David and ... I do not know, wants him to get into bed with her? David’s enjoyable moan during the massage was amusing though. A minute more of this and TWENTY-FOUR would have delivered its own XXX parody.
