Since the end of Season One, the idea of Jack Bauer having anything resembling a family has seemed a foreign concept. Yea, good old ditzy Kim has popped up a few times over the years, but it seemed to be pretty clear after last season that, except for his daughter, Jack Bauer had nothing to live for and nobody to care about. Which, of course, led all of us to believe that the rest of his family was long gone.
Until tonight that is.
As the nation is just starting to absorb the shock of a nuclear weapon being detonated inside an American city, our hero stands staring at the mushroom cloud rising in the sky some 20 miles away. Notwithstanding his resignation after being forced to kill fellow CTU Agent Curtis Manning, Jack Bauer quickly finds himself back in action when he finds out that there are four more tactical nuclear weapons waiting to be detonated by Abu Fayed.
Meanwhile, back at CTU, Abbas (and I’ve got to say that this is the first time that I could look at Abbas and actually recognize Alexander Siddig — he looks different with the beard), the terrorist-turned-peacemaker, reveals the name of a Russian General who may be the point of contact who supplied the weapons that Fayed obtained.
There’s just one problem.
One of the people that this General has been in contact with is Philip Bauer…….who just happens to be Jack’s father. After discovering that Poppa Bauer is unaccounted for, Jack contacts yet another estranged family member, his brother Graham. Who happens to be the leader of the Bluetooth Guys from Season Five
The same Graham who ordered President Logan to kill Jack Bauer.
To call this a Cain and Abel relationship would be an understatement. As the episode ends, Jack has a plastic bag wrapped around his estranged brother’s face, all in an effort to locate their father. What Jack doesn’t know….yet….is that his brother is in contact with the man who supplied the detonator to Fayed. Not to mention the fact that his brother also happens to be the guy who helped President Logan sell him to the Chinese three years ago.
God I’d hate to be a guest at a Bauer Family Thanksgiving.
More from Rick Moran
Previous Posts:
A Broken Hero
A Broken Hero, Part II
