We’re deep into Jack Bauer formula here with things happening so fast that there’s little time for any real character moments. A bomb has just exploded killing the ex-terrorist who was working with the President and the President is incapacitated in the hospital. Tom Lennox’s assistant and his accomplice have succeeded in their plan to put the Vice-President in power and he right away begins enacting Tom Lennox’s policies of cutting civil liberties and focusing on Muslims in an attempt to find the terrorists.
Meanwhile Jack is working with last season’s villain/president Logan to discover the whereabouts of a Russian terrorist that has connections with an old ally of Logan’s currently located at the Russian Consulate. When Logan is unsuccessful at getting answers Bauer again finds himself breaking into a consulate and torturing a suspect. This is way to familiar and very irritating because I felt like I was watching a rerun of Season 4. Overall a lot of what’s happening in this season is repetitive of what we’ve seen before. Why does there have to be a villain in the White house and Jack again invading an embassy? With a conversation between Jack and Buchanan the writers wink at the audience admitting that this the same as what happened in Season 4 but that still doesn’t make it OK.
At any rate, Jack tortures his victim and does get his information but just then the Russians capture Jack and detain him before he can share his findings with CTU. When Jack convinces a Russian guarding him to call CTU the guard is executed. Meanwhile, Lennox is set free and he immediately turns himself over to the Secret Service and tells them the whole plot concocted by his assistant. The Vice-President enters the office and convinces Lennox to go along with the situation and his policies will be enacted never admitting to being a part of the conspiracy but never denying it either.
I’m enjoying the series and this episode too, because it features everything that makes the franchise fun, a breakneck pace, over the top action, and a gruff talking “take no prisoners” lead for the show. Now, with that said this episode in particular, but the season as a whole too, features too much retread of previous seasons. You might defend the season by saying that Jack’s family being involved in the conspiracy is a new twist and while you’re technically correct Jack’s family has played an integral part of the series before, most notably when his ex-partner killed his wife. Jack’s daughter has been in danger plenty of times too. It is interesting now to see Jack’s father and brother involved but in episodes like this one where Daddy Bauer doesn’t make an appearance it all feels a little too much “been there, done that”. I’d love to see an all new innovative storyline. Maybe they are saving that for the feature film that’s on the way. By the way has anyone else realized that Tom Lennox is The Dragon Slayer? Where’s that cheesy English accent he had for that 80’s fantasy film?
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