Well, maybe it’s not all the way back, but last night’s episode was one of the best in months, because it got to the core of what 24 has been about from the beginning, a man named Jack Bauer.
When we last left Jack he was under arrest and held by CTU agents for turning over a key component of the Russian suitcase nukes to a Chinese agent in exchange for the safety of Audrey Raines, who is quite conceivably the last person on Earth that Jack Bauer feels close to.
Had he not been stopped by Mike Doyle, Jack was going to sacrifice himself to destroy the chip after Audrey was safe. This has happened before, in Season One when he sacrificed himself more than once to ensure the safe return of his wife and daughter. When Jack discovers the horrible truth that Audrey has been turned into a shell of her former self by the Chinese, one wonders if Jack will have anything left.
But he does. He thinks that he can somehow get through the drug and torture induced catatonic state that Audrey is in, but nobody will let him get near her.
Back at CTU, James Heller, Audrey’s father and on previous days one of Jack’s biggest supporters in the government, is waiting to take Audrey away, but not before he goes to see Jack and tells him that he will never see Audrey again:
?You?re cursed, Jack. Everything you touch, one way or another, ends up dead.?
That is not only the best line of this season, it may well be the best line of the entire series. In one sentence, Heller brings home what we’ve seen happen to Jack Bauer. Everyone around him dies and he can’t seem to do anything to stop it. Teri, Tony, Michelle, David Palmer, Ryan Chappelle, George Mason. They’re all gone, and by the look on Jack’s face when Heller tells him this, you just know that Jack thinks he’s responsible for all of it.
I don’t know where the rest of the season will go, but, last night, I remember why I love 24 so much.
Rick Moran has a full summary of last night’s episode up at his place.?
[...] Below the Beltway, Doug also thought the episode was one of the best in months. Doug has been a long time observer of the show, and so he noticed that the show “got to the [...]
Great analysis. I made a similar point in an entry at Kesher Talk about the last line and how the episode pulled together a more emotional side of 24, which was badly lacking this year. Jack is meeting his match from various people, and can’t talk or kill his way into achieving his ends. He’s like a raccoon up a tree. Heller told Jack off and lived to walk away. Even Ricky Schroder, who I think was a terrible casting choice for 24, did some good work although I’d rather see somebody like Harvey Keitel playing that role.