24: Trust Issues

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Jack Bauer and I had the exact same reaction when an unlikely ally/father figure of Jack’s was shockingly gunned down in the best scene from last night’s episode. Well, maybe not EXACTLY the same reaction — while Jack yelled “NO!” and quickly jumped through (yes, THROUGH!) a glass door, I yelled “NO!” and then continued to put cream cheese on the saltine crackers I was preparing for a snack.

Of course, part of the reason Sen. Blaine “Red” Mayer’s (pictured left, with Jack) death was such a surprise was because last night’s episode of “24” was one of those slower-paced-yet-necessary episodes filled with tons of exposition. (In a related story, I threw in the “Red” in Mayer’s name, not just because of Kurtwood Smith’s great work on “That 70’s Show”, but because he absolutely does NOT look like a “Blaine.”)

What the episode may have lacked in thrills (until the last 10 bulldozer-heavy minutes) it made up for with information about the newest threat to our (fictional) country.

To find all that stuff out, Jack needed to first find out who’d set him up for the murder of Burnett in the hospital. Fortunately, he came across a car whose owner had conveniently left a laptop in plain view, which he could use to upload the security disc he grabbed. Jack recognized the man from the security footage, and sent the screen grab to Renee, the only intelligent person currently working for the FBI. (Then again, she’s officially suspended, so the FBI is currently 100% dummies.)

Renee hesitated, but eventually helped Jack after he used some reverse psychology on her. The man’s name is John Quinn and he works for Starkwood, a big-time military faction. The Pentagon has outsourced billions of dollars in military contracts to Starkwood. It also turns out that Sen. Mayer was investigating Starkwood for potentially shady dealings. Jack got Sen. Mayer’s location from Renee and went to meet him at his house, so he could sneak up on him from behind a door like a movie serial killer.

Over at the FBI, Morris O’Brian, Chloe’s husband, was waiting to see his wife. At around the same time, Agt. Moss arrived, spoke with Renee and tenderly told her to go home. Except that Larry was really reading Renee and realized that she was helping Jack. Maybe the FBI is NOT 100% dummies after all.

Still, it’s frustrating to watch Moss and everyone else spin their wheels and believe that Jack murdered Burnett after everything that’s happened this season. Earlier in the day, when Moss didn’t know Bauer at all, his suspicion was more acceptable. At this point (with Jack having saved the president AND her husband), it’s just stupid (which is why Moss is STILL a dummy, in my opinion). Of course, what’s probably happening is that Larry is letting his jealousy of Renee’s perceived feelings for Jack cloud his judgment.

Proving that NO ONE in the FBI knows what they’re doing, Janis couldn’t crack the encrypted file Renee sent Jack. Luckily, it just so happens they had someone who could crack the code sitting impatiently in the conference room. I liked seeing Morris stand up for Jack at first, but the fact that he eventually gave in was believable given that his wife would’ve faced serious jail time (I also liked the smug, cocky ease with which he cracked the file). Even better, was Chloe’s initial disgusted/exasperated reaction to Morris helping the FBI find Jack. Classic Chloe, but she eventually settled down.

With Renee joining Sean in that special, unseen jail for naughty FBI agents, the action went back to Mayer’s house. Jack had succeeded in linking Starkwood to Gen. Juma and Sangala. There should’ve been an element of great tension for the audience since we knew the feds were on their way, but I loved how reasonably and calmly these two adversaries spoke with each other and settled the audience down for what was to come.

For the second week in a row, we saw that Jack does, in fact, care, as he revealed that he regrets every mistake he made that led to the loss of an innocent life (key word being “innocent”). Eventually, Mayer convinced him to trust the institutions Jack had sacrificed so much to protect. Jack countered that he doesn’t do trust, but Mayer, in his most paternal voice said, “Son, you have to start somewhere.” Then the two went out and played catch. I wish.

Instead, there was a knock on the door from “Metro P.D.” and I had this awful moment where I thought Sen. Mayer was going to sick the cops on Jack. Instead, something much worse happened — Quinn was at the door and gunned Mayer down. (Is there still a mole at the FBI that told Quinn about Jack’s location?) Eventually, the two engaged in a semi-epic hand-to-hand fight involving a bulldozer, an overturned trailer, and a screwdriver to the chest. Before he died, Quinn told Jack that the Starkwood bio weapons were already in the country. Jack grabbed the screwdriver from Quinn’s chest, used it to steal a car (yes!), got the weapons location from Quinn’s phone and called Tony for backup.

I should also mention our weekly dose of Jonas Hodges, who assured his increasingly squeamish assistant Seaton that “the loss of a single soul was tragic to him”, but that collateral damage was necessary in war. I have no idea what war he’s talking about, but I’m still thoroughly enjoying Jon Voight’s (over)acting.

Things were also heating up in the White House where news of Burnett’s death (and Ethan’s approval of Jack’s interrogation) put Ethan in hot water. When a reporter threatened to leak the story, Ethan assumed Olivia had been the source of the leak, since this is the kind of thing she does. Instead, Olivia claimed she spoke with the producer who told her the source was someone in the Federal Marshal’s office in exchange for an exclusive interview with the president.

I realize Ethan has that whole “Shawshank” thing going against him that I mention every week, but Olivia’s aggressiveness and ruthlessness is raising red flags. Also, the whole “Federal Marshals” things sounded like it definitely could’ve been a bluff. I have no idea whether to believe Olivia and Ethan — and I like it.

So what’d you think of this episode? How long until Hodges just goes ahead and kills Seaton already? Who’s the bad seed in the White House? Olivia or Ethan? Finally, where does Sen. Mayer’s death rank in the show’s run? (I’d say it’s particularly shocking and surprisingly affecting. I mean, damn — Jack was all ready to open up and trust, and now he’s wanted for the guy’s death!)