Morris (Yul Brenner) O’Brian catches Chloe and threatens to report her to Bill (More Stoic Than Ever) Buchanan, so Chloe agrees to tell Bill what she has done. Sooner than you can say “damn it” Doyle is on scene with some other agents and gets one of the Marines to hit Jack with the butt of an M-16. Just when we think the proverbial jig is up, Jack talks to Bill on the phone and gets to make one phone call (a sly reference to his denied request after Cheng captured him last season).
Whom does Jack call? The President of the United States, of course. That Jack, always going straight to the top. Actually, it is no longer reassuring to hear Jack say those sacred words, “Mr. President,” the way it used to be when Jack was talking to David Palmer in seasons past. Now, David’s brother is the Commander in Chief and doesn’t inspire that same good hands confidence.
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.
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.