24: Biohazard Pay

The second half of this season of “24” is rounding into shape very nicely, making the perfectly-solid first half of season 7 look a bit ordinary. I mean, can you even remember a time when the biggest threat was a “CIP firewall” and how we weren’t even exactly sure how the damn thing worked?

I was reminded of the first half of this season (and how far we’ve come) thanks to First Gentleman Henry Taylor’s cameo return last night. Seems like he’s going to be all right (um, yay?) and the president told her husband about Olivia working in the White House. She also assured him that she’d be over to visit him “soon.” To recap, the guy has been paralyzed and nearly murdered TWICE, but the president is in no rush to see him, confirming that Henry is almost as unimportant to his wife as he is to me.

He’s particularly expendable given what a force his daughter has proven to be. In a surprise to no one, it turns out Olivia WAS responsible for the story about Ethan authorizing Burnett’s interrogation/murder being leaked. So far it still seems she’s working in her mother’s best interest (she wants Ethan to take ALL the blame for the Burnett scandal), but she’s giving off an unmistakable whiff of evil I just can’t ignore. Will it turn out that she’s league with Starkwood and was (indirectly?) responsible for her brother’s death? Either way, a HUGE thanks to actress Sprague Grayden for livening up the Taylor family.

Ethan, on the other hand, will apparently take a Henry-style extended break from this season. I’m now 99% convinced that Ethan not being present during the attack was merely a clever coincidence concocted by the writers to make us suspect him. (The unconvinced 1% still can’t ever trust the warden from “The Shawshank Redemption.”) I felt bad for the guy as he agreed to fall on his sword for believing his is responsible for Burnett and Sen. Mayer’s death. I still have a feeling we haven’t heard the last of Ethan this season.

Meanwhile, in eccentric old Oscar winner news, Jon Voight delivered the goods again as Jonas Hodges, who was given his most extended screen time yet this season. Turns out his board at Starkwood (the six year olds who need their carrots) was nervous about Hodges’ plan to cut off the rest of the government. Hodges was passionate that his Starkwood soldiers could’ve been of help during the day’s attacks, and vowed to not answer any calls for help and challenge the Senate subcommittee’s investigation.

Of course, Hodges can say this because he knows subcommittee leader “Red” Mayer died “tragically” (loved how Voight said that last word sarcastically). I’m also thinking his plan for the bioweapon (and the day’s other events) is to cause a calamity so great that it will make Starkwood essential. Then again, the most important thing I got out of this storyline was the reveal that Seaton’s first name is “Greg”, so what do I know?

Well most of the time I know more than clueless Larry Moss, so imagine my utter delight when the Special Agent in Charge of Being Two Steps Behind actually wised up and seemed open to the possibility that Jack didn’t kill Sen. Mayer (or Burnett). I’m not suggesting these people should have ever trusted Jack blindly, I just thought someone in Moss’ position should’ve been smart enough to take ALL of the day’s events into account before deciding Jack was a cold-blooded killer. As a special added bonus, we got to see him channel his inner CSI as he figured out that the shooting at Mayer’s house probably involved a third party. He reached out to Renee (still in timeout) who gave him the Starkwood name. That wouldn’t be the last time Moss heard Starkwood that evening.

Jack had met up with Tony at the port where the bioweapon was delivered. Soon thereafter, we met Carl, the head of security at the port. As soon as we saw this random character had a wife pregnant with kids, we figured something horrible was going to happen to him.

Jack and Tony cornered him and Carl told them that he’d agreed to let the Starkwood guys (led by the smug Stokes) come into the port because they’d told him they were smuggling in electronic equipment and because he needed the money. Jack convinced Carl to go out, pretend like everything was ok and let Stokes in. Carl asked Jack if they had his back and Jack said “yes.” Unfortunately for Jack, it turns out that Carl watches “24”(and knows about the flimsy-at-best track record Jack has for keeping people alive) and said “Promise me.”

Despite Tony’s (legitimate) protestations, we knew as soon as Jack gave his promise he wouldn’t let Carl die. This isn’t the same “get the job done at any cost” Jack we saw earlier in the season who repeatedly lectured everyone else (especially Renee) about how soft they were. This is also a character that has repeatedly lost people (even people close to him) in service of saving even more lives. However, given his talk with Sen. Mayer an hour before about sacrifice, and the trauma of losing a friend like Bill Buchanan, I’m ok with the character’s evolution at this point. (Maybe all Marika needed to do to stay alive a few hours ago was ask Jack to “promise” to keep her alive, instead of having her sister Rosa make Renee promise to keep Marika safe.)

Anyway, maybe Jack simply thought he was awesome enough to save Carl AND get a hold of the bio weapon. I loved Jack’s reaction when Tony pointed out that instead of following he weapon, they’d be engaged in a 2-on-10 firefight: “2-on-9” Jack coolly corrected.

Turns out Jack was mostly right. After the fire fight, he was able to confiscate the truck (following an Indiana Jones style punch to the driver before throwing him off the drivers’ seat), but the canister with the weapon had been damaged and gas was leaking out. Oh my, Jack did NOT just go in there himself to shut the valve off and limit the damage? (Of course he did.) As if he wasn’t freaked out enough, Stokes’ men came by, shot at Jack and reacquired the bio weapon.

Jack had gotten a hold of Moss to give him the grim update. Larry still seemed skeptical about attacking Starkwood without proof that a bio weapon existed. Here, Kiefer Sutherland got to play something he rarely gets to play on “24” — vulnerability. “I — I was exposed” he said with his voice slightly breaking.

Of course, we know nothing’s going to happen to Jack (especially given news that Kiefer Sutherland is on board for season 8), but it’s a credit to Sutherland’s ability that he still made me feel for a character I’m almost completely sure is going to be perfectly fine.

So what’d you think of this episode? Weren’t Ethan and President Taylor a little TOO touchy-feely after his resignation? (OMG did those two totally hook up one time, and is Olivia Ethan’s daughter?! Ok, I’ll stop talking like that now.) Should Carl name his twins “Jack” and “Tony” as a tribute? What's going to happen to the kidnapped Tony? Finally, is there any chance at all Jack will suffer serious consequences from his radioactive exposure?