411’s 24 Review: S08E01.04 – 4:00PM – 8:00PM

Posted by John Gale on 01.22.2010

Jack Bauer relocates to New York City in the premiere of the eighth season of “24.”

Here we are again for another season of “24,” the best show still on television (since “The Sopranos” and “The Wire” have gone off the air). My name is John Gale, and I recapped Season 7 for 411mania.com last year. It’s good to be back. I’d like to thank Chad and Ashish for giving me the opportunity to recap another season.

Season 8 is set in New York City. One question going into the season is whether the writers will utilize the backdrop of New York as well as they used Washington D.C. in Season 7. I think the answer is probably. New York is the coolest city in the country.

I lived there one summer for an internship I was doing with the New York Daily News. I got to know the city pretty well for such a short time because my job essentially involved running all over the five boroughs to cover whatever assignment my editors had given me. I loved it. There’s always something to do or see. The food, shopping and sightseeing are great. And the subway system makes it easy to get around without a car (which is actually a liability).

I wasn’t as big a fan of the weather, the time zone that is unfriendly to sports fans and the prohibitive cost of living, but there isn’t a better city in the country to visit or set a season of “24.” Surely, there will be a terrorist plot involving the Brooklyn Bridge or the Empire State Building or something. And already, those nighttime shots of downtown and midtown Manhattan have been spectacular. I think it’s going to be great.

All right, enough with the preliminaries. Let’s get to the main event. Since there are four episodes this time, there’s no way I can possibly recap them as thoroughly as I did most of the episodes from last season. And I’m going to try to change things up a little, anyway. So here are some observations from the first four episodes.

4:00PM-5:00PM

I thought the opening of the season was done well with the guy who nearly gets taken out by a sniper rifle and then evades the bad guys on the way out (but not before getting shot a couple times) by giving his red jacket to one of the junkies, who got oh-so-close to meeting an untimely demise. It’s a good thing he looked up when he did. And the car chase and shootout that followed were pretty entertaining as well.

Meanwhile, Jack is hanging out with his granddaughter, Teri. I’m not sure how old she is at this point, maybe about three. I liked how Jack turned on the TV, and it was on Fox News with Bob Beckel and Monica Crowley (two actually FNC contributors) talking about the potential for a peace treaty between President Taylor and President Hassan. I’ve never seen “24” employ actual FNC employees like that before. It seemed like an advertisement.

Anyway, Jack seems to be very happy as a grandfather, and he’s decided to go back to Los Angeles to be with his daughter and her family. Why he was in New York and not Los Angeles in the first place is unknown. My roommate suggested that maybe he was in New York because that’s where he had been getting his medical treatment, and that makes sense (Kim did mention that he’d been cleared by his doctors two weeks ago).

Jack is supposed to fly back later that night, but of course that plan gets derailed when the guy who nearly got killed in the first scene (Victor Aruz) shows up and informs Jack that he is willing to trade information about an assassination plot targeting Hassan in exchange for a deal.

Also going on are negotiations between Taylor and Hassan, whose country (the Islamic Republic of Kamistan) clearly seems to be based on Iran because of its nuclear weapons program. Both leaders have their closest advisors at their side. Hassan has his brother Farhad, who just looks like a slime ball (I think I just don’t like his shaggy haircut and soul patch), while Taylor has Ethan Kanin. He’s been promoted to Secretary of State. Good for him. We later meet Rob Weiss, who has replaced Ethan as Chief of Staff. And we find out that Taylor did get divorced in the aftermath of her decision not to cover up her daughter’s involvement in Jonas Hodges’ murder.

I’ve got to say that Hassan made a pretty persuasive argument against American nuclear inspectors (asking Taylor what the US Congress would say if his Revolutionary Guard was stationed on American soil) as opposed to IAEA inspectors. Ethan reminds Taylor that Hassan used to be an appliance salesman, but she tells him to find a way to make the concession.

Shortly thereafter, a pretty blond reporter (Meredith Reed) is having problems getting through security because her credentials have been revoked, but she calls Hassan, and he promises to take care of it. It appears that Hassan is having an affair with the reporter, much to the dismay of his brother. Later on, we meet Hassan’s wife (Dalia) and his daughter (Kayla). I think Dalia is pretty attractive, so I’m not sure why Hassan feels the need to have an affair. Then again, even though she’s not really my type (I prefer girls with brown hair and brown eyes), Reed did look better and better with each passing scene. And Hassan is clearly having problems at home.

After awhile, we see the revamped CTU: New York, where several new characters are introduced. First up, there’s Cole Ortiz, played by Albuquerque’s own Freddie Prinze Jr. (I’m from Albuquerque). At first, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Ortiz, as Prinze isn’t exactly as inspired a casting choice as Jon Voight’s for the role of Jonas Hodges last season, but I ended up really liking him.

We also meet Dana Walsh, who I just can’t take seriously with the way she’s dressed. She looks like she’s attending a cocktail party, not working for a high-level government agency. She does seem pretty smart, as she helps the always-annoying Chloe with a problem. Jack then calls Chloe, and she puts him through to the director, Brian Hastings. He seems like a no-nonsense guy, and he doesn’t have much patience for Chloe’s inability to get up to speed with the new technology at CTU: NY. Evidently, she’s only been there for a month after Morris was laid off.

Also, there’s another computer guy (Arlo Glass), who is using satellites to look at girls in bikinis. He also likes to hit on Dana and try to convince her that she should leave Ortiz for him. Frankly, I think Ortiz is too good for her, so why would she leave him for Arlo?

The first episode ends with an entertaining action sequence, in which Jack and Aruz have to rendezvous with Cole’s helicopter on the roof of a parking structure while avoiding gunfire. One of the things I love about “24” is all the creative ways that Jack finds to kill bad guys. Case in point: he emerges from behind a wall to bury a fire axe in the chest of one of the unsuspecting bad guys. As an added bonus, the force of his attack causes the other bad guy to fall several floors down the stairwell to his death. That’s efficient. It might not have been as entertaining as the bulldozer/screwdriver combo that Jack used to take out Quinn last season, but still.

Unfortunately, it isn’t enough to save Aruz. Just as Jack turns him over to Cole, the bad guy who turns out to be the assassin (Davros) fires a missile at the helicopter and destroys it. Aruz dies, but not before telling Jack that someone close to Hassan is working with the assassin.

5:00PM-6:00PM

In the second episode, an interesting debate about the use of unmanned drones as opposed actual people (obviously, we don’t really have unmanned drones flying around in New York, so it was interesting that they were in the show) emerges in the wake of the disastrous bombing of the helicopter. Cole is not at all happy that Hastings ignored his request for an additional team of men, as opting for the drone instead is responsible for the deaths of Aruz and two CTU agents because the drone failed to take out the missile. Of course, Hastings just wants to protect himself from second guessing, and he tries to convince Cole to cover it up (a conversation that Jack eavesdrops on, which he uses to his benefit later on).

Meanwhile, it takes Walsh about five seconds to figure out who the “insider” is, determining through a trace that it is Hassan’s reporter friend. She is arrested right before she gets to Hassan. That seemed a little too easy, something Chloe is quick to point out. When Hastings shoots her down, she asks Jack to help out. Jack isn’t interested, but he eventually tries to talk to Hastings. When that fails, Jack mutters, “I hate this place” (seriously, Jack is almost never wrong—when are these new CTU bosses going to figure that out?) and tells Chloe that he’s done all he can. It’s not until Kim tells him that she wants him to follow up on this lead that he changes his mind.

Jack needs a gun, so he goes to the armory to steal one. He gets busted, but he skillfully blackmails Hastings by threatening to tell President Taylor that he ignored Cole’s request for more men, which caused Aruz to be killed. Hastings has no choice but to let Jack go. Chloe gives Jack the location, which is in Queens.

Hassan can’t believe that Reed is involved in an assassination plot, and he has to fend off questions from his suspicious wife. He finally tells his brother everything, and after he leaves, his brother calls Davros. He’s the insider, which isn’t too shocking. Unfortunately, Reed looks suspicious because she isn’t forthcoming about her affair with Hassan

This episode also marked the introduction of some guy named Kevin Wade, who is apparently Walsh’s ex-boyfriend or something. And her real name is apparently Jenny Scott. This leads to several more scenes in the next couple of episodes where this guy continues to bug her and even a scene where she calls one of her friends from her hometown. And every time, the episode came to a screeching halt. This guy can’t get killed off fast enough. I can’t believe Walsh was dumb enough to give him a key to her apartment. She said he could stay the night but had to be out of there the next day. Yeah, right. I’m sure he’ll respect that request.

And while we’re here, am I the only one who doesn’t get the Dana/Jenny thing? I just don’t think she’s that attractive, and yet she’s got guys falling all over her. Then again, her loser ex and Arlo probably couldn’t do any better, but I think Cole could. Don’t get me wrong. She is attractive (though not my type), but she’s not drop-dead gorgeous, and I haven’t seen a great personality so far either.

The episode ends with Davros showing up at a cop’s house. Davros is using a New York accent, so he’s obviously infiltrated the NYPD. He asks the cop to trade shifts with him, and when the cop says that he can’t do it, Davros pulls out a gun. His accent suddenly changes to Russian as well. The cop and his wife are in big trouble.

6:00PM-7:00PM

Their situation does not improve in the next episode. After the cop tells his captain that Davros (aka “Mike Farmer”) will be covering his shift because of illness, he asks Davros to leave them alone. I don’t think that’s going to happen.

It doesn’t take Jack long to discover the murdered couple. After some guys playing pickup basketball try to intimidate him, Jack shows his gun and then offers $100 to anyone who can tell him if he saw the “friend” he’s looking for. That works like a charm.

Unfortunately, the cops show up as Jack is investigating the scene. As he’s explaining the situation to one of them, the other one (played by the guy who played Herc from “The Wire”) shoots him in the back with a Taser and decides to work Jack over instead of calling it in. The other officer (Phil) tries to talk him out of it, but Herc doesn’t want to listen.

Over at the UN, Cole is briefing the NYPD officers on the security measures. I have to say that he seems quite in command of the situation. Also, Hastings calls to ask Hassan if he can confirm the affair with Reed, who had confessed after she was discovered to be in possession of a keycard granting access to Hassan’s private residence. Over his brother’s strenuous objections and after receiving assurances that the conversation isn’t being recorded, Hassan does just that. He then implores Hastings to keep this knowledge from becoming public, but he said he had to tell the truth because it was the honorable and just thing to do.

Unfortunately for Jack, Hastings still doesn’t want to send backup, even though he told Chloe he would consider it if the affair turned out to be true. My favorite of Hastings’ possible explanations for why she hasn’t been able to reach Jack (who isn’t missing, apparently) is this: “He’s in an area with bad cell reception. There’s pockets of them all over the five boroughs, which you would have known if you were from around here.” Oh, yeah. There are lots of areas with bad cell reception in New York—they’re in subway tunnels. I read the newspaper every day in addition to a few books while I was there because I couldn’t use my phone to surf the Internet. But I don’t know if there are areas like that above ground in the middle of Queens. I could be wrong, though. For good measure, Hastings threatens to fire Chloe if she leaves the building.

The third episode comes to a conclusion as Davros’ assassination plot is enacted. Jack finally frees himself from Herc, but he is stopped when Phil pulls a gun on him. Phil ignores Herc’s admonition to shoot Jack and calls in the double homicide. At Jack’s insistence, he also finds out that the murdered officer was scheduled to work with the UN Security Detail but called in sick and was replaced by “Mike Farmer.” Phil then drives Jack to the UN, while he calls CTU to tell them what he’s learned.

At the same time, CTU finally finishes decrypting a file that was found on Reed’s computer. It turns out to be schematics of a bomb at the UN. This causes Hastings to order an evacuation, even though Chloe points out that the file may have been planted. And Cole says that he doesn’t see how it’s possible that a bomb could be in the building, given the rigorous security over the last few weeks. Hastings response: “Then they missed it.” That’s very persuasive.

Of course, the evacuation is exactly what Davros wants, and it is revealed that the real bomb is strapped to the bottom of a manhole cover. Just as Jack is released and being driven over to the UN, he has Chloe put him through to Cole. Jack tells Cole that he needs to stop Hassan’s car immediately or he’s a dead man. After a moment of hesitation, Cole floors it, swerving and passing several cars before finally turning in front of Hassan’s car right before it reaches the manhole cover, which is right between the two cars. Davros detonates the bomb, sending both cars flying. That was pretty awesome. It was definitely the best scene of the season so far.

7:00PM-8:00PM

The next episode begins as everyone is trying to make sense of what just happened. Weiss is absolutely furious with Hastings. Cole then crawls out of his burning vehicle and races over to check on Hassan, who is still alive and apparently unharmed. Just as Davros is moving in to finish Hassan off, another vehicle arrives, and Hassan is driven away. As Cole is calling in to update CTU, he spots Davros, who makes a break for it with Cole in hot pursuit.

As Davros is trying to get away, he gets a call from Hassan’s brother, who is ostensibly calling to calm down Hassan’s wife and daughter. Davros informs him that Hassan is still alive, and that he needs to get out of there. Farhad then leaves the car and stabs a CTU agent in the neck to facilitate his escape.

As Cole continues to investigate, you just know that Davros is going to get the drop on him, and sure enough, he does. He orders Cole to his knees and tells him to call in, say that the southwest corner is clear and that the search needs to be moved to the northeast. Cole makes the call, saying that he’s in the southwest corner in pursuit of the assassin. After an agonizing pause, he says that the assassin is with him now. He then braces for his death, but two shots ring out, and Davros falls to the ground. Jack arrived just in time.

I have to say that as much as I liked Cole already, this is the scene that most impressed me. I thought for sure that he was going to do what Davros said because that’s what just about everyone else on this show would do and has done. But Cole was prepared to sacrifice himself to keep the assassin from escaping. He obviously has a lot of character.

Over at CTU, Hassan arrives. Hastings fills him in on the situation, informing him that his wife and daughter are fine, but his brother was the traitor. Hassan doesn’t want to believe it, but when he hears about the stabbing, he knows that it’s true. He then thanks Hastings for saving his life and requests to talk to Meredith Reed.

As they’re walking away, Hastings calls Chloe out for the look she gave him (even though she was behind him, and he couldn’t possibly have seen it) when Hassan thanked him for saving his life. Hastings asks if Chloe thinks he should have been thanking her: She says, “I was actually thinking he should be thanking Jack, then Cole, then maybe me.” It’s a pretty good line by Chloe standards. Hastings looks like he’s going to go off on her, but he finally acknowledges that he underestimated her. He adds that he’ll give her credit in his report. I have to say that while I wasn’t a big fan of his attempts to cover up the drone debacle, Hastings seems to be a pretty good CTU director.

Walsh then brings them up to speed on the tattoos that Jack discovered on Davros’ body and relayed to CTU with his cell phone camera. The two bad guys that Jack killed earlier and the assassin he just killed all have the same kinds of tattoos, so they are believed to be part of a Russian mob. Walsh also says that they’re bringing in someone that the FBI had undercover with the Russians six years ago to help. That someone turns out to be Renee Walker.

We then get a glimpse of the guy running the Russian mob in the area, and he gets a call from Farhad, who is not happy. The Russian convinces him that everything will be fine. Later on, Farhad arrives and demands proof that the nuclear rods exist before he pays for them. The Russian shows him his younger son, who was accidentally exposed to the rods and is dying of radiation poisoning. He says that the rods will be there in five hours.

Taylor calls Hassan, saying that she’s mortified that this attack happened in the US, and he says that it’s his fault for not realizing that his brother wanted to usurp his power. Hassan agrees to continue with the negotiations, determined not to give his brother the victory of stopping them.

Jack and Cole then return to CTU, and Chloe gives Jack an update. She informs him that Renee is being brought in, and Jack says that he hasn’t seen her since the last season. Apparently, she didn’t return his phone calls, so he let it go. Because of that, he asks Chloe not to tell Renee that he’s in the building.

Hassan then thanks Cole for saving his life, and Cole says that Jack and Chloe also deserve a lot of credit. Hassan says that he’ll thank them too, but it was Cole who risked his life to save him. Just as he’s shaking his hand, an alarm goes off. It’s a hazardous materials alert. Apparently, Davros had been recently exposed to highly-enriched uranium. Hassan thinks he knows what’s going on, and he says that he needs to talk to Hastings immediately.

Hassan explains that his country had been close to developing a nuclear weapon, but they had not been able to enrich enough fissile material to arm it. Soon after the peace negotiations began, his brother said that someone with access to decommissioned Soviet nuclear stockpiles had approached him about weapons-grade uranium. Hassan told Farhad to stay away from it, but he obviously had other ideas. Hastings asks if he knew where the uranium might be, and Hassan said that since the assassin was contaminated recently, it has to be in the US.

Renee has arrived at CTU, and after she and Chloe have an awkward and brief conversation, she starts to explain what all the tattoos are all about. Hastings shows up and asks Renee to go back undercover with the Russians she knew from before. He offers to give Renee her badge back in exchange for her help. She says she’ll do it because she can help, but she’s not interested in a badge. That sounds like something Jack would say.

When Chloe tells Jack that Renee is going back undercover, he decides to talk to Renee after all. After they hug and catch up a little, Jack says that he’s concerned about her. He doesn’t think she’s ready to go back undercover after she nearly killed Alan Wilson at the end of last season. He also looks at a scar on her wrist. She tells him to just go back to California.

As Hastings is releasing Meredith Reed, he tries to explain himself, but she’s not interested. She’s escorted into a room with Hassan. She apologizes for telling CTU about their relationship, but he says that there’s nothing to apologize for. She says that she didn’t know how he felt about her until he confirmed their relationship, even though he had a million reasons not to. That’s really nice for her, but his near-death experience has convinced him to break off the affair because he can’t afford to jeopardize everything he’s worked for.

I have to say that Hassan is already my favorite foreign leader in the history of the show. He seems like a genuinely good guy who cares about his country and their people. He’s also smart and very persuasive. And he has a phenomenal accent that makes him seem twice as cool. Even those reading glasses that he wears look cool. When it’s all said and done, he may end up as my second favorite “24” political leader of any kind, ranking behind only President David Palmer. One thing I find interesting is that Hassan seems to be at the forefront this season, whereas Taylor is almost an afterthought. It’s quite a departure from last season, in which everything seemed to revolve around Taylor and her family.

Renee then explains how she plans to get back undercover, only to be interrupted by Jack, who says that he thinks she’s not ready. Renee points out that they don’t have any other options, and Hastings agrees. Jack says that if that’s the case, he wants to work with her. He convinces Hastings to let him go, even though Renee isn’t very happy about it. After some time, Jack and Renee head out to Long Island.

When they get there, Renee enters a store and starts talking to her previous contact. After she flirts with him and offers to cut him in on the money, he shows her his parole bracelet. She convinces him that she can get it off, guaranteed, and she’s right. But I didn’t know exactly what she had in mind, and he definitely didn’t know what she had in mind.

Renee puts his wrist in a clamp and then gets a power saw and uses it to cut his hand off. Yeesh. That’s one of the more gruesome scenes in the history of the show. He passes out from the pain, and Jack charges in demanding to know what Renee did. She explains that he was trapped, and Jack said that the operation is now over. Renee says she’s just getting started and tells Jack to find something to cauterize the wound.

Renee continues her transformation into the female Jack Bauer. This wasn’t as bad as Jack shooting and killing a government witness and then cutting his head off with a hacksaw at the beginning of Season 2, but it was close enough. It will be interesting to see where she goes from here. When Jack thinks you just did something crazy, that’s when you know.

BEGIN DISCUSSION OF NEXT WEEK’S PROMO

Jack threatens to shut down the operation, saying that Renee’s power saw fiasco proves that she shouldn’t be in the field. Renee counters by saying that she’s still the best chance to intercept the uranium. Chloe asks Jack if he thinks that Renee is purposely putting herself in harm’s way, and Jack says that he thinks that Renee doesn’t care what happens to her. Renee is shown surrounded by a bunch of Russians, one with his gun pointed at her head, while another says, “You know, Renee. I had almost forgotten how much fun you are.”

Also, Hassan is apparently “defying his international human rights obligations,” whatever that means. And it could put the peace process at risk. Hassan says that Taylor is asking him to show mercy to enemies that are trying to destroy him. It sounds like he’s referring to political dissidents in his country.

Oh, and that Kevin guy pushes Dana against a wall and puts his hand on her throat. She’s scared. Hopefully, a bomb will blow up the apartment with both inside. Or at least him.

END DISCUSSION OF NEXT WEEK’S PROMO

Well, that’s all for this week. I’ll be back next week with the recap of the fifth episode.

The 411: A very good start to the eighth season, with plenty of drama and quality action sequences, along with the introduction of some good new characters. Unfortunately, this was offset somewhat by the introduction of other characters that I didn’t like. Overall, New York seems to be a great setting for a season of “24,” and the season should only improve as it goes along.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]