In which the greater good seems anything but
...well it wasn't as world-shattering as the LAST episode 18, but nevertheless I am left with a feeling of significant disquiet after that...
No, really. I just... when people turn on Jack like that, they end up in very bad places. And this close to the end... those bad places are likely to be so especially bad.
Let me try to get this down...
- Chloe. Oh, Chloe. She remains so utterly awesome. And such a good leader! So far any worries about how she might fare in the top office have failed to materialise - I was a tad concerned when it looked like she was asking Cole to be the Good Cop whilst Jack was interrogating Dana, but then he didn't actually end up in the room with her so that was OK. It was also good to see her finally meet Alison... though how I wish it could have been under better circumstances.
- Let me just say it, plain and simple: Charles Logan is a manipulative bastard. Always has been, always will be. And whilst it is rather fun to have him back, he is now causing A LOT OF TROUBLE and as such I am going back to my Hit With Brick phase for a while. His conversation with Mikhail Novokovich (which is an awesome name) was not only worrying in its own right, but left me wondering what his ultimate agenda is. Because that bastard is up to something. And I want to know who his mysterious source is.
- Also that little bit where Logan was in the car after his meeting and he heard that he'd gotten what he wanted and he did a big silent YES happy dance. And it made me smile. He's so sodding weird.
- Sergei Bazhaev! Remember him? I was rather pleased to see him again as I always felt there was more to happen with him - and I still wonder if we might see him again once more. It was odd, too. It seems such a long time since the dark episodes filled with beardy Russians...
- The Jack vs Dana Interrogation (Round Two: This Time It's Smashy) was impressively violent, even by Jack's standards. Would have been interesting if Cole had been in the room too but I realise that would have changed the whole dynamic and it wasn't what Jack was going for. Dana's Evil Dead Eyes still freak me out. It's like she's some terrible AU Nina. I still think he should be less with the deals and more with the extended smashy. This is Jack Bauer we're talking about, after all. When he asks for "five minutes alone with the suspect," you can bet that at least four of them are just the coffee break.
- Cole has Been Around Jack Too Long eyes, and I am convinced he's going to get into the Giant White Death Egg interrogation room and do a little talking to Dana of his own. Which, to be honest, he really needs to. This whole deep and tragic personal development thing requires him to go all the way.
- ...why has no one found the body in the wall yet? There is a BODY in the WALL, guys!
- ...yes I am totally talking around the Key Issue because I am having trouble facing it because This Is Not Happening Again. OK yes this is hardly Facestabgate and Alison Taylor is hardly Tony Almeida, but this is episode 18 and one of my favourite characters has just made an extraordinarily bad move and EVEN THOUGH IT ISN'T 7x18 IT STILL WORRIES ME.
- ...which is my way of saying, oh Alison. You are making SUCH a mistake and it makes me so SAD because you are my awesome girl!president and YOU ARE LETTING THAT BASTARD MANIPULATE YOU.
- ...yeah. I'm a trifle upset, can you tell? That scene, with Alison, Ethan and Charles... oh that isn't good. He's got into her head, used her own desire for peace and made her stray from the path... all in the name of the greater good. Now I'm all for utilitarianism under the right circumstances. Sometimes you have to. But this? Alison should know better than to work towards a peace agreement built on half-truths and deception and I fear she is going to pay for this mistake. If nothing else, Dalia will go ballistic - perhaps literally - when she realises Alison kept the truth about Omar's murder from her. And if Alison loses Dalia's support... she's screwed.
- SHE TURNED ON JACK, DON'T YOU GET HOW BAD THIS IS?! The whole CTU sequence was just... ouch. It was lovely to see Alison there, finally, and I did like her little speech to all the analysts, but all the way through it was clear that something big was on the horizon and it couldn't be good. And then she made Jack stand down, betrayed him in a way I'm not sure he'll forgive... and whilst he's still raw from Renee's murder? VERY. BAD. IDEA. In fact, I'm surprised all he did was threaten a few guys and steal a helicopter. But then, that's so far.
To conclude this particularly brief review (shock and elections being the word-reducing things they are) I can only say... this is not good. But then, the run to the end never is.
No, really. I just... when people turn on Jack like that, they end up in very bad places. And this close to the end... those bad places are likely to be so especially bad.
Let me try to get this down...
- Chloe. Oh, Chloe. She remains so utterly awesome. And such a good leader! So far any worries about how she might fare in the top office have failed to materialise - I was a tad concerned when it looked like she was asking Cole to be the Good Cop whilst Jack was interrogating Dana, but then he didn't actually end up in the room with her so that was OK. It was also good to see her finally meet Alison... though how I wish it could have been under better circumstances.
- Let me just say it, plain and simple: Charles Logan is a manipulative bastard. Always has been, always will be. And whilst it is rather fun to have him back, he is now causing A LOT OF TROUBLE and as such I am going back to my Hit With Brick phase for a while. His conversation with Mikhail Novokovich (which is an awesome name) was not only worrying in its own right, but left me wondering what his ultimate agenda is. Because that bastard is up to something. And I want to know who his mysterious source is.
- Also that little bit where Logan was in the car after his meeting and he heard that he'd gotten what he wanted and he did a big silent YES happy dance. And it made me smile. He's so sodding weird.
- Sergei Bazhaev! Remember him? I was rather pleased to see him again as I always felt there was more to happen with him - and I still wonder if we might see him again once more. It was odd, too. It seems such a long time since the dark episodes filled with beardy Russians...
- The Jack vs Dana Interrogation (Round Two: This Time It's Smashy) was impressively violent, even by Jack's standards. Would have been interesting if Cole had been in the room too but I realise that would have changed the whole dynamic and it wasn't what Jack was going for. Dana's Evil Dead Eyes still freak me out. It's like she's some terrible AU Nina. I still think he should be less with the deals and more with the extended smashy. This is Jack Bauer we're talking about, after all. When he asks for "five minutes alone with the suspect," you can bet that at least four of them are just the coffee break.
- Cole has Been Around Jack Too Long eyes, and I am convinced he's going to get into the Giant White Death Egg interrogation room and do a little talking to Dana of his own. Which, to be honest, he really needs to. This whole deep and tragic personal development thing requires him to go all the way.
- ...why has no one found the body in the wall yet? There is a BODY in the WALL, guys!
- ...yes I am totally talking around the Key Issue because I am having trouble facing it because This Is Not Happening Again. OK yes this is hardly Facestabgate and Alison Taylor is hardly Tony Almeida, but this is episode 18 and one of my favourite characters has just made an extraordinarily bad move and EVEN THOUGH IT ISN'T 7x18 IT STILL WORRIES ME.
- ...which is my way of saying, oh Alison. You are making SUCH a mistake and it makes me so SAD because you are my awesome girl!president and YOU ARE LETTING THAT BASTARD MANIPULATE YOU.
- ...yeah. I'm a trifle upset, can you tell? That scene, with Alison, Ethan and Charles... oh that isn't good. He's got into her head, used her own desire for peace and made her stray from the path... all in the name of the greater good. Now I'm all for utilitarianism under the right circumstances. Sometimes you have to. But this? Alison should know better than to work towards a peace agreement built on half-truths and deception and I fear she is going to pay for this mistake. If nothing else, Dalia will go ballistic - perhaps literally - when she realises Alison kept the truth about Omar's murder from her. And if Alison loses Dalia's support... she's screwed.
- SHE TURNED ON JACK, DON'T YOU GET HOW BAD THIS IS?! The whole CTU sequence was just... ouch. It was lovely to see Alison there, finally, and I did like her little speech to all the analysts, but all the way through it was clear that something big was on the horizon and it couldn't be good. And then she made Jack stand down, betrayed him in a way I'm not sure he'll forgive... and whilst he's still raw from Renee's murder? VERY. BAD. IDEA. In fact, I'm surprised all he did was threaten a few guys and steal a helicopter. But then, that's so far.
To conclude this particularly brief review (shock and elections being the word-reducing things they are) I can only say... this is not good. But then, the run to the end never is.