FOX's 24: Live Another Day - Episode 9.06 "Day 9: 4:00PM - 5:00PM"
Tensions between President Heller and Prime Minister Davies boil over, and one of them decides to take matters into his own hands. Jack proposes a plan to locate Margot by using someone unexpected as his unsuspecting bait. Back at the CIA, Jordan raises suspicions about Kate's husband.
Because of its structure, 24 can take the turn for the ridiculous at any given moment during a season. Live Another Day has been particular good - especially in the last few episodes - that if a ridiculous twist happened, there still would be enough good from the season to outweigh the bad. One such ridiculous twist happens in "4:00PM - 5:00PM" - the reveal that Steve is somehow shadily connected to whatever happened to Kate's husband. As well as the episode relying on too many tricks of 24 seasons past in order to derive story - Mark's dealings with the Russians, Simone interacting with her sister-in-law and niece and Prime Minister Davies getting in the way of Jack's operation.This season has been at its best when it's allowed to just be simple. The stakes are clear to all the parties and sometimes Jack isn't necessary at all. And now, things are becoming more complicated just for the sake of giving people things to do. Like I said, it's the same old tricks the show has been doing for years - especially in its later years.
What happened to Kate's husband was originally designed as a piece of backstory to help inform us of that particular character. And now, it's become a mystery that we are actually suppose to care about as well as seeming like the only thing that Benjamin Bratt will get to do all season long. I respect the show for having a ton of different political factors at play. Not only is the United Stated involved but so is the United Kingdom and Russia. The conflict at the center of the season is very precarious for all the countries involved. So this hour sets out to prove that Davies and his government can think for themselves and won't just take Heller at his word. And yes, that's of intrigue to me. What irks me is how when that story gets employed here it's to undermine everything that Jack is doing. The Brits don't know better - even though we all do.
And yet, the season has done a remarkable job at crafting an interesting core trio of Jack, Chloe and Kate. I will watch Jack and Chloe no matter what but it's amazing at how immediately the show has crafted another strong female character for Jack to frequently interact with. The episode's best moments come when Jack and Kate are forced into teaming up in order to pursue a lead. Their interactions in the car as they are driving to the hideout are just wonderful moments for both characters. They both have almost nothing to lose. She learns more about him and he learns more about her. They are both feeling each other out but also respect their thought processes. Jack is upfront with her and she's more than willing to drive that needle into her own neck. And she more than holds her own when she is the one being tortured by the thugs. And the one torturer makes the unfortunate mistake of getting too close to her legs with his back turned. She's a badass and there's no denying that. She and Jack are a great team. Now, if only the show around them could be more consistently focused.
Some more thoughts:
- "Day 9: 4:00PM - 5:00PM" was written by David Fury and directed by Omar Madha.
- Simone's interactions with Naveed's sister and her daughter were largely just to get her hit by a bus by episode's end.
- I also thought it was good that Mark and Jack got to meet for the first time before he left the government building.
- Erik also survived the blast from last week's drone strike and got some burns but he largely takes the hour off.
- It's looking more and more likely that we're just gonna get one major time jump during the day as we are now halfway through the season and each episode has occurred in consecutive hours.
