When Jack Bauer dispatched bald villain Abu Fayed in Episode 17, I was worried that the remainder of the season would be a letdown; however, I had nothing to fear. The last five installments have been a grinding ascent along the ladder of rising action toward what I am predicting will be an explosive climax followed by a resonant (and I believe) devastating resolution, but more about that later.
We picked up where we left off last week with the CTU crew and Jack being held hostage by Zhou and his Chinese gang, who were working for the evil Cheng Zhi. Jack didn’t understand why these thugs wanted his nephew Josh, but we already knew that his father Phillip (Stretch Cunningham) Bauer had orchestrated this assault to liberate his grandson. Jack, never more dangerous than when unarmed and cornered, has the wheels spinning in his head as to how to get out of the situation. Everyone else is sitting around rather helplessly with Milo’s corpse sprawled on the floor as a reminder of how ruthless these guys can get.
Cheng and Phillip are in contact by phone, and we see that there is a tempestuous relationship between them. Phillip seems to have the upper hand since he is in control of the component, but he also makes veiled threats that seem to have the usually unflappable Cheng a little nervous. He warns Cheng that he won’t be the one to deal with him should he fail, and we are left to wonder who the bigger fish are in the slimy little pond that these guys call home.
At the White House Vice President Noah (Jim Jones) Daniels is awaiting word on how his sting operation is going that involves his former lover Lisa Miller and the Russian spy Bishop. He has a heart-to-heart talk with Karen (Hillary) Hayes about his shortcomings as a leader (and, without saying it, as a lover). Hillary has never seemed kinder than at this moment, praising Jones for his strength in this tough situation, but Jones is hardest on himself, knowing he had the power to keep the country out of hot water and failed because of a blonde in a short skirt.
Article comments
1 - Mary K. Williams
John McClane, James Bond, John Rambo, and Indiana Jones And don't forget Chuck Norris!
Very, very good write up Vic.
Fav. parts
1. but he rises to the task at hand
2.Jack and his new BFF Nadia
3.heading into the Cisco Conference Room (talk about product placement)
Yeah, gotta love that Cisco stuff. I mentioned it in mine (mine is in pending)
So, remember to fling me some tidbits for our finale thingie!