24: Charles in Charge

Gregory Itzin (pictured, left) is a fantastic actor.

If you saw his Emmy-worthy (but tragically not Emmy-WINNING) work in season 5 of “24”, you saw how the man can elevate the stakes on this show to almost Shakespearean heights.

Needless to say, having him back in the series’ final hours is great: both the character and the actor have already made themselves indispensable.

Ex-President Charles Logan was able to bring the Russians back to the negotiating table for President Taylor’s beloved peace agreement. Meanwhile, Itzin was able to make a COMPLETELY unbelievable turn of events mostly palatable.

Sorry, but I just don’t believe for one second that President Allison Taylor – the woman who sent her own daughter to jail for her role in a conspiracy at the end of last season – would sell Jack Bauer and Dalia Hassan down the river in order to preserve her sham of a peace agreement.

Logan was able to get Novakovich and the Russians back to the negotiating table by revealing that he knew the Russian government was behind the IRK’s assassination of Omar Hassan and threatening to tell President Taylor. On his way back to the see President Taylor, Itzin unleashed some classic Logan by vainly and delusionally crowing about how great it feels to serve your country. He also got wind that Jack Bauer was on his way to potentially ruin his plans. (More on that a bit later.)

When he met with President Taylor and a mostly-recovered Ethan, he informed them that the Russians were back on board with the peace agreement. When Ethan asked how he did it, and Logan claimed he appealed to Novakovich’s morality, I laughed out loud when Ethan shot back with, “Seriously.”

The next few minutes hinged entirely on Itzin and he was excellent. Jack had found out from Sergei Bazhaev (remember when he was the season’s main bad guy – seems like YEARS ago) that the Russian government was behind Hassan’s assassination and Renee’s murder (she’s not a political figure, so I can’t say was “assassinated” – sorry).

Logan had to convince President Taylor to lock Jack down and keep him from ruining the peace agreement and Itzin used all his persuasive, slimy and magnetic charm to get the job done. He was the little devil on President Taylor’s shoulder, while Ethan was the exasperated angel. In the end, Logan won out because he was more persuasive and not because his argument made sense. Make no mistake, his argument makes NO SENSE. Why would President Taylor enter into a peace agreement with a group of people she KNOWS actively tried to sabotage it and committed multiple murders to do so.

I give President Taylor for at least having the guts to tell Jack face-to-face.

Jack was still understandably peeved about the latest love of his life getting murdered. I thought the moment in the hospital where the doctor asked Renee if she had any next of kin and Jack couldn’t answer was interesting and quietly powerful. It illustrated that Jack didn’t really know Renee that well, and now he never would. That seemed to make him even angrier.

Jack learned from Bazhaev (as he was getting sentenced) that the Russian government was supporting the IRK, but he didn’t get specifics. For that, Bazhaev said, he’d have to talk to Dana Walsh.

Cue the moment us Dana-haters have been waiting for all season – Jack slamming her head on the table (ouch!) and literally smacking her around until she agreed to cooperate in exchange for immunity. (I liked how ex-fiance Cole wasn’t exactly in a big hurry to get in there and help Dana out.) Unfortunately, Jack would get shut down by the president a little later.

(Quick side note: I can usually ignore the transportation-related leaps of logic this show takes, but last night it was too much. Jack walked into a waiting taxi cab and got to Bahzaev’s courtroom in less than 10 minutes, then arrived at CTU about 15 minutes later. President’s Taylor motorcade appeared to take about five minutes to arrive to CTU.)

The scene between President Taylor and Jack was strong. The heartbreak and betrayal on Jack’s face served as a reminder that, besides being a badass, Kiefer Sutherland is a terrific actor. President Taylor arranged to have Jack shipped off via helicopter, but Jack had other plans.

I thought the moment where Jack was being escorted to the helicopter and Chloe, noticing something was off, asked for audio, only to cut into Jack yelling “I will shoot him!” was hilarious. In a totally predictable twist, Jack did not go quietly into the morning and helicopter-jacked his way to freedom.

The episode may have hinged on a truly implausible turn of events, but I felt like it ended with an incredibly effective and stirring emotional scene. Seeing Chloe run onto the helipad and tell her men to hold fire as Jack escaped was a bit heartbreaking – the two are on opposite sides now. (Though I suspect that, if forced to choose, Chloe would absolutely go with Jack over the Head of CTU job that was foisted on her.)

So what’d you think of this episode? What’s Dalia Hassan going to do when she finds out the Russians were behind Omar’s death and that President Taylor kept that knowledge from her? Where did Logan get his intel on the Russians from? (His assistant seems mighty handy and suspicious.) Finally, where the hell is Jack going with that helicopter?