Admittedly, Prez Wayne is under duress from his near-death experience with a bomb earlier that day; however, he does prove that he is carved from the same presidential timber as his brother in dealing with Vice President Noah (Jim Jones) Daniels. He tells Daniels that he must resign and literally shows him the door to the Oval Office. Things seem rather stable until Jack calls, but Wayne feels an allegiance to Jack and authorizes a mission to get Audrey back (even though it involves using the component for the trade).
At CTU Chloe is in deep trouble as Bill tells her he no longer trusts her. The rest of the gang is coordinating this new venture to assist Jack in his attempt to rescue Audrey. Milo and Nadia are seen very briefly, but there is little time for them to go into a dark corner and lip-lock again. Bill seems all the more disturbed when he gets a call from his wife Karen (Hillary) Hayes, who looks as if she got highlights in her hair at the White House beauty parlor since last week.
Hillary tells Bill that Prez Wayne has had a stroke and that Jones has taken over again, making his first order of business to stop Jack’s mission to save Audrey. We could see this coming, of course, because Jones is power crazy and also has no relationship with Jack as does Wayne. It seems Prez Wayne is now off the playing field for good, so his threat to use the recording made by Tom (Twitchy) Lennox is history. This put Jones in charge and everyone else in big trouble.
Jack is in the car with Doyle heading to a rendezvous with Cheng. Bill calls Doyle and Jack immediately suspects something is wrong, so what is Jack to do but pull his weapon and order Doyle to stop the car. Doyle tells him that he doesn’t want to do this, but Jack explains that he killed Curtis earlier that day and would have no trouble killing Doyle. Doyle gets out of the car and Jack drives off.
I’m not certain about Doyle yet. One moment he is admiring Jack’s handiwork at killing all the bad guys and securing the nukes, and the next minute he has Jack in handcuffs. The truth seems to be that Doyle is a company guy and follows the rules like a good soldier. Obviously, he can learn a thing or two from Jack about what it takes to be able to work outside the box as an effective agent.
Back at CTU Bill announces to everyone that Jack has gone “rogue,” and that is just where we want him to be. Jack Bauer is never better than when he must work against all odds, and now it seems they are all against him. As Jack heads off to meet Cheng with no support, we wonder how he will make the exchange. Will Audrey be saved? Will Jack be able to recover the component? Most importantly, will Jack pull something out of his bag of tricks (yes, the man-bag is back) that will turn Cheng into chop suey?
Until next week, Klaatu barada nikto!
Article comments
1 - Mary K. Williams
Great, great job Vic. I didn't notice Karen's hair, but I have noticed she's unbuttoned a little more since past weeks.
I know I'm weird, but I hate it when Jack goes 'rogue'. Oh, sure it's probably when he does his best work, but I just hate it when even CTU has to treat him as a virtual enemy.
Oh, loved the use of 'gobbledygook'. I felt the same way!
2 - Victor Lana
I can understand your feelings on this, MK; however, Jack works best when he is least encumbered by the suits in an office somewhere. It looks like it's going to be a bumpy ride the rest of the way.
Oh, and Jack has his man-bag. Can Audrey's white coat be far behind?
3 - Mary K. Williams
I know, I laughed at reference to the 'man-bag'. Reminds me of Seinfeld "It's not a purse, it's European carry-all!"
4 - Brad Schader
You both write amazing reviews. I personally like Jack rogue as well. The best moment from the show is still from season one when Jack thought Kim was dead and crashed the van into the warehouse. There is a rush when he gets that look in his eye and you know the body count is going to grow. I think because rogue Jack is one of the few times we get 100% pure Hollywood in the show. Every other time we honestly are not sure what the writers are going to do to us, but when Jack goes all "Bauer" on us we know the good guys are going to win and the bad guys have no chance. We can relax and enjoy the show instead of chewing the insides of our mouths out of stress.
5 - Victor Lana
You definitely have it right, Brad. That scene with the Drazens in Season 1 is very similar to the one with Fayed & company last week. Jack's eyes glaze over and he goes in for the kill. You have to love when that happens, and you know the bad guys are going to be toast.