“Art thee not, fatal vision, sensible / To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but / a dagger of the mind, a false creation / Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?” Fans of Shakespeare’s Macbeth will recognize these lines (and the title) as some of the most insightful words a fictional character ever uttered. While these lines highlight Macbeth's struggle with his murderous tendencies, they also apply quite nicely to last night’s episode for, if anyone read my reviews of Season 5, he or she would know I frequently referenced Macbeth in discussing the Charles Logan-Martha Logan marriage and quest for power. I even used to jokingly refer to Martha as Lady MacDeath, and it seems in retrospect there was a great deal of foreshadowing in that.
Last night it all came to fruition when old Chucky went to visit the Lady and her new beau, stalwart former Secret Service Agent Aaron (Hawkeye) Pierce. It seems old Hawk is now devoted to the Lady, dutifully bringing her home fruit from her favorite store. The Lady is on the wagon now, so no more narcotics and cocktails for her. Fresh raspberries and grapes will have to suffice. It seems she is content with Hawk, until Chucky arrives on her doorstep looking for a favor. Admittedly, this seems a contrivance, but no more so than the evil Graem turning out to be Jack’s long lost brother. In the world of 24, we have grown used to these things and move on.
Our hero Jack Bauer is still locked away in the Russian Embassy. He takes a sweet Russian couple hostage after breaking free and killing the crumb who killed the guy who tried to warn Bill about the nukes in the desert. Got that? Well, now Jack holds the girl and sends the guy off to get a phone. It must be a Russian thing, because nothing seems to work very well in this building.
Back at CTU, a new sheriff named Mike (Clint Eastwood) Doyle strides into town. Apparently, he is the head of Field Ops now and this ruffles Milo’s feathers. It seems clear that Milo is permanently on the list for Mr. Personality, for he has a history with Clint that goes back to Denver. Either Milo can’t play nice or he just has issues. Clint struts around CTU and lets everyone know he’s taking charge. Bill skulks off to his office; Milo tells Nadia that he doesn’t like the guy but that he knows what he is doing; and Chloe and Morris exchange knowing glances, as if to say things just got much worse.
Article comments
1 - Mary K. Williams
I knew you'd work the Macbeth angle Vic! How could you not? As soon as I saw this I thought - "Ah, Lady MacDeath".
Oh but I must tell you something, Curtis is actually dead! (RIP)
2 - Victor Lana
Thanks for checking in, MK. What do you mean Curtis is actually dead? I thought he was in CTU Medical getting fixed up like Tony, Michelle, and....
Oh, yeah, they're all dead. 24 will never be the same either, but we move on.
3 - Pat Fish
Great review, as usual.
I simply do not understand that bit about your Lady McDeath stabbing the former President.
It seemed a bit too forced to me.
4 - Victor Lana
Oh, I couldn't agree with you more, Pat. While these contrivances have not been unusual on the show, this one seems particularly annoying. As a friend said the other day, "24 is guilty of jumping the shark now." With apologies to Arthur Fonzarelli, I have to agree with him on that one.