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Episode 2.03, 10 AM to 11 AM
Written by Howard Gordan
Directed by James Whitmore Jr.

Well damn, talk about changing the status quo. As a show 24 has always revolved around twists and revelations, but some things even caught me by surprise this ep. I get the feeling that the writers are now more comfortable with this kind of storytelling, and thus the stakes are going to be considerably raised.

Jack is of course still trying to infiltrate the terrorist cell in order to gain access to Second Wave. Because of this, he can't act in open opposition to their plan of blowing up the CTU. The best he can do is send off a warning to Palmer, who is currently in the midst of a press conference.

The debate between the two aides over the appropriate action is actually quite interesting. The viewer automatically sides with the female advisor in her efforts to warn CTU about the impending attack, but the warhawk does have a valid point. After all, isn't his path simply a more extreme version of what Jack himself did in the first episode? Trading the few for the sake of the majority? It's another nice question of morality vs. reality in a season that seems to be defined by that theme early on.

Another threshold is crossed when the mercs ambush telephone repair men and shoot one dead before Jack could react. With the second one in the crosshairs, I found myself wondering if Jack would truly blow his cover to save an innocent man. I walk away feeling like he wouldn't. His moral dilemma intensifies even more when Kim gets a hold of him and lets him know that she's in trouble, you can see the tension play out across his face. Kiefer once again does a fantastic job of showing the pain and humanity inside of this scarred person.

Which is not to say that Jack is going soft on us though. You only have to look at him taking a knife to the back of his own head to make it look he was hit from behind to see the steel nerve of the character. His last ditch effort to save the CTU shows that there are some lines he simply won't cross to track down the nuke and he's about to reach his breaking point again. Pity the mercs in that instance.

Kim's story picks up a bit though, as cartoon father stops turning this into Lifetime movie of vengeance and actually calls the police to get his daughter back. This is the reason she calls her father earlier in the episode, but since he's a bit pre-occupied at the moment she contacts Tony instead. He of course tells her to come to the CTU. There's supposed to be a nice moment of bonding between Kim and the little girl on the bus ride over, as their experiences are supposed to mirror each other in some ways. The problem is that the actress who plays the little girl is simply god awful. She makes Jake Lloyd screaming yippee in Ep. 1 seems like Shakespeare. The sooner the show ditches the girl, the better off it will be.

Not much to do with Palmer this episode, as he spends most of it in a press conference. As mentioned before, the debate between his two advisors is a valid one, but the way he immediately acts to save the CTU reminds the viewer that even if his world is getting grayer, Palmer is a character who will cling to his morality.

Kate is also relegated to the background in this episode, as she receives confirmation that her sisters' fiancée does have terrorist connections. She calls in a warning to the authorities, but does not tell her sister yet. She doesn't have the heart to do it. I am actually curious now to see where this storyline leads too, and how it would be connected to the overall plot.

The other big star of this episode is Mason, who is investigating a lead in Bakersfield. The shoot out adds a nice touch of action in the middle of this episode and the end result is wholly unexpected. The knowledge that Mason will die adds a nice twist to the character. At this point there is no longer any reason for cowardice, his death is already assured. Now his every action will most likely be centered on going out in a blaze of glory. I don't expect him to show much concern for his fellow man on the way out though.

And though I haven't really talked about him that much, Xander Berkely does do an incredible job as George Mason. In the hands of a lesser actor the character would become a caricature, all cowardice and vice and no really core or depth to speak of. But in the hands of Berkely, Mason becomes somebody fully human. We can see our own weaknesses and shortcomings in him, and once finds it hard to blame him for his too human frailties.

So the CTU is now blown to hell, Mason is dying, Kim is being pursued by the police, Palmer's in a moral wasteland, Kate is unsure of herself, and Jack is in the midst of a group of killers. And it's only the third episode. Yeah, I'd say that 24 is moving at a rapid pace this year, and I'm loving every minute of it.

Episode Rating: 10 out of 10

-- Tim Ritenour

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