That thud you heard about halfway through last night’s show was the simultaneous sound of my jaw hitting the floor and the other shoe in this gargantuan plot dropping out of the clear blue sky. The stage is set for a thrilling final 4 hours as we now know that Jack’s ultimate target is not President Logan but rather a shadowy group of men whose power play for oil in Central Asia may or not be their ultimate goal.
And Logan? He’s no more in charge of this conspiracy than my pet cat Aramas. He’s a cutout, a cardboard stick figure being used by the cabal of…what are they? Commodities traders? Stock jobbers? They appear to be a group of GenX business school grads who have somehow convinced the upper echelons of the United States government to go along with their plot. Appearing much too soft to be ex-military or CIA, it could be that the creator of the show Joel Surnow has taken all this talk of “corporate fascism” to heart and is positing a scenario where these guys have wormed their way into government by using Henderson and his contacts at DoD in order to get the ball rolling. When and how Logan came into the plot (their leader Graham mentioned they had been working 18 months on the plan) could mean that even Marwan, last year’s baddie, may be partly their creation and the shootdown of Air Force I that brought Logan to power might be attributed to them.
Even Jack is beginning to suspect the truth when, after Heller falls on his sword, he confronts Henderson asking, “What happened to you?” Jack thinks it’s Henderson’s lust for power but is it?. Whatever it is, Jack thinks it much more than simple, misguided patriotism.
If this is indeed all about oil, I will be very disappointed. Although, by the time the last episode airs it may seem more important what with the cost of gas about to top $3 a gallon on the way up to God knows where. Maybe we’ll feel a little differently then.
SUMMARY
As Jack attends to Audrey’s profusely bleeding arm, the Secretary of Defense calls and wants to know what happened. Jack, much too polite to say “I told you so” to his former boss and father of the love of his life, nevertheless makes it clear that he feels Heller “betrayed” him by locking him in a storeroom to rot. Heller tells Jack that he must get that tape back or all is lost, a sentiment for which Jack is once again too polite to say “duh.” In the end, Jack hangs up on the third most powerful man in government.
Jack then makes a call to Bill and is surprised and delighted to find that Chloe is with him. He tells her that he needs her to hack CTU’s satellite feeds so that they can track Buckaroo Banzai’s car.
After telling Jack that she’ll get right on it, a precious bit of by-play between Chloe and Bill reminds us why we love Chloe to death:
CHLOE: If we’re going to do extensive satellite tracking, I’m going to need more than my laptop. I’m going to have to network onto your computer even though it is kind of pathetic. And I need you to get that screen to work for me.
BILL: Alright.
CHLOE: I hope you don’t mind me bossing you around but technically, I don’t work for you anymore.
BILL: (wearily) It’s alright Chloe.
When Chloe first showed up at Bill’s house, I started to think that maybe the easy-going Bill would be the perfect love match for the manic Chloe. However, after listening to that exchange, the truth began to dawn on me; the only possible love match for Chloe would be Darth Vader. And even old Darth would be left speechless at times.
After hacking into the satellite feed, Chloe finds Buckaroo’s car and tells Jack who has put Audrey into the stolen police car (that no one in the entire state of California seems very interested in finding) and gone in hot pursuit of his former colleague. Audrey worries that Banzai will destroy the tape. Not to worry says a knowing Jack. Henderson will need that tape for insurance.
Indeed he does as Buckaroo’s call to Logan demonstrates. Logan, all oily and smarmy, asks Banzai why he hasn’t destroyed the tape. When Henderson says he needs the tape for insurance, Logan gets all huffy but to no avail. Buckaroo Banzai is the smartest crook on the show and knows exactly what the score is. He realizes that once the op is over, he’s toast, a fact that’s confirmed later when Logan speaks to Mr. Big.
Thanks to Chloe’s superior geek skills, Jack catches up to Banzai and runs him off the road. Henderson takes cover in a barn and after a short firefight, Jack corners the bastard and takes him into custody. Unfortunately, Henderson has outfoxed Jack once again, handing off the tape to a confederate prior to his capture. What follows turns out to be one of the more brutal, wrenching scenes all year.
Henderson informs Jack that unless he’s allowed to leave, he’ll have his men who have been following Secretary Heller in a helicopter make Audrey an orphan. Calling Heller to confirm this, Jack makes it clear that he’s about to let Henderson go when the Secretary, proving our high opinion of his courage, tells Jack that he won’t be a pawn to be used by Logan and Henderson. We’re not quite sure what he means until he asks Jack to tell Audrey that he loves her. Then, not quite believing our eyes, Heller drives his car deliberately over a cliff and into a lake where, upside down, the car begins to sink.
The agony expressed in Audrey’s wailing “Oh no!” and Jack’s rage at Henderson explodes in one of the more dramatic confrontations of the year:
JACK: How could you do this? This isn’t about you doing what is best for the country. This is about your greed for power. You are responsible for killing ex-President David Palmer and the Secretary of Defense, two real patriots. DAMN YOU! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?
Almost everyone he loves and respects has been killed. Tony, Michelle, Palmer, Edgar, and now Secretary Heller, all victims of this insane plot. His outburst at Henderson had a flavor of desperation, as if he wouldn’t be able to take much more pain and suffering. His pistol whipping of Banzai was pure emotional release.
Logan calls Graham to update him. Mr. Big is a geeky looking fellow with weird glasses and horrible taste in clothes. The actor who plays him, Paul McCrane, also portrayed the playful astronaut Pete Conrad in HBO’s excellent series From the Earth to the Moon as well as Dr. Romano on ER. And while we really haven’t seen enough of him yet, he doesn’t strike me as much of a heavy (although Romano was a real SOB at times).
Mr. Big plays Logan like a harp. He congratulates him on handling the many crisis that popped up during the day including the news confirming earlier speculation that Walt Cummings did not commit suicide but was murdered. Logan grovels by thanking Mr. Big for recognizing his hard work. Meantime, Mr. Big tells Logan to shut Martha up because she’s getting close to the truth. Logan promises to take care of Martha just like he took care of Aaron Pierce who may have been written out of the show, dead or alive.
This is because we are told, when Martha asks, that Aaron has been “transferred.” Martha ain’t buying it and neither do we. That’s when the antithesis of the heroic Pierce, traitorous Agent Adams, leads Martha to where she thinks her husband is but turns out to be a prison. Adams locks the door, trapping poor Martha and deepening the mystery of Aaron’s disappearance.
Back at the barn, Jack finds out that Buckaroo doesn’t have the tape on him and asks Chloe to look into the possibility of a handoff between Henderson and a confederate. Sure enough, Chloe spots where it occurred and informs Jack that the car with the tape is headed back to Van Nuys, eventually going to the very same airport where Jack had just come from. After telling Chloe to call Curtis to come and take custody of Banzai, Audrey demands that Jack go after that tape else her father would have died in vain. Dubious but left with little choice, Jack once again gets into his invisible police car, leaving Audrey with Buckaroo Banzai and a gun.
At CTU, Miles, puffed up like the bureaucratic peacock that he is, informs Granny Hayes that the transfer of authority to DHS is complete…and it was done with 2 hours to spare! Holy Jesus let us hope that the real bureaucrats at DHS were not used as a model for Miles. Just as Miles is congratulating himself, the security dunces realize (after about 45 minutes) that Chloe has flown the coop. In reviewing the security tape, they discover that Sweet Sherry let Chloe go which results in Sherry being taken into custody. Hearing this, Miles realizes that Chloe will probably try and help Jack which sends him off to a computer to try and track back to where Chloe is obviously hacking into the system.
Granny’s confrontation with Sherry is painful. The obviously disturbed young sweety tells a curious Hayes about Chloe’s revelation that Logan is behind the day’s events. Seeing the wheels spinning in Granny’s head, we begin to root for the woman to put two and two together and come up with the truth.
At the ranch, Martha is starting to go nutzo again until Charles pays her a visit. It is unclear to me whether Logan really loves her or is just manipulating her feelings. Whatever the truth of the matter, Logan spills the whole sordid mess to Martha who recoils in anger and disgust. Once again, Logan trots out that last refuge of scoundrels; patriotism. He committed all these evil deeds “for the country.” Martha is sickened by his faux love for America telling him that she not only can’t forgive his treachery, but that she hates him to boot. Nevertheless, she will keep her mouth shut, a promise that somehow I don’t believe will last beyond the doorway. Watch for Martha and Mike to team up to battle the conspiracy from the inside with Granny Hayes and Chloe running the technical end of things and Jack as the sharp end of the stick.
After getting assurances from Logan that Martha is “taken care of,” Mr. Big gives us a tantalizing two minutes of background, telling us that the plot has been in the works for 18 months and that no “deal” he’s ever been involved in didn’t appear to be going south at the 11th hour. Does this make him an investment banker? A takeover specialist for Bear Stearns? We also find out that he’s doing all this for his kids which again points back to oil but at this point, could mean anything.
Back at the barn, Henderson tries a little psy-ops on Audrey which is not a good idea considering the fact that 1) she’s lost a lot of blood, 2) lost her father, and 3) is losing her mind. Not falling for Banzai’s Jedi mind tricks, Audrey bides her time – something she is running out of. For when Chloe calls Jack and tells him that Henderson’s 4th crew of baddies is on the way to the barn, Jack realizes that he won’t be there to take them out so he calls Audrey and tells her to scram. Watching the helicopter with Banzai’s men in it set down next to the barn, Audrey realizes she’s got to go; but not before she makes an effort to off Henderson herself. This is something she is incapable of doing being a civilized human being.
After being freed by his crew, Buckaroo orders his 3 men to search the barn and kill Audrey. Unable to get out the back door, Audrey starts looking for a hiding place when bless my soul if Curtis isn’t already in perfect position to ambush one more of Henderson’s endless supply of bad guys. The TAC team routinely takes out all three terrorists and takes Henderson into custody. Being informed of this, Jack has Curtis go back to CTU and get Audrey the medical attention she should have had an hour ago and also try and protect Henderson from Logan’s stooges who are certainly firmly embedded at CTU.
Jack tells Curtis this from his perch at the airport where he sees what turns out to be a diplomatic charter about to take off to an unknown destination. He knows the tape is on that plane just as he knows what he has to do to get it. Jack sneaks past the heavy security by hiding on top of a fuel truck. Once again, Jack calls on Chloe to work some geek magic as he desperately needs the passenger manifest in order to figure out who might have the tape. Chloe sounds dubious given that she has to get past a State Department firewall but starts to give it her best shot.
And then things start to go south. Miles has a Eureaka! moment when he finally figures out how Chloe has been accessing the system. He finds out that Chloe has been at Bill’s all this time and a TAC team is dispatched to pick her up.
But Granny Hayes is starting to put it all together and realizes that she can’t trust anyone at CTU which means she may very well need Chloe to help. She calls the surprised Bill and tells him to get Chloe out of there before the TAC team arrives. Chloe refuses realizing how important that passenger list is to Jack.
At the airport, Jack sees his opening and takes it. Pulling the hood of his sweatshirt over his head, he pretends he’s a baggage handler loading the plane. Grabbing two bags from a passing baggage cart (pity the poor owner of those bags who inadvertently is helping to save the American Republic) Jack meanders onto the plane and hides in the unpressurized baggage compartment. Jack will have to get out of there before the plane hits 10,000 feet or he’ll suffocate from lack of oxygen. But he’s not thinking about that now. The important thing is that he’s on the plane and his quarry is in sight.
BODY COUNT
3 more of Henderson’s men bite the dust. Jack was shut out. Is Heller really dead? We’ll give it a week.
JACK: 30
SHOW: 184
SPECULATION
Is Miles a good witch, or a bad witch? Is he more loyal to the bureaucracy or will he turn out to be loyal to Granny Hayes? Miles has been drawn so broadly as a bureaucratic caricature, I don’t think personal loyalty enters into his calculations. He may not be working directly for Logan, but once he sees Granny going off the reservation, he’ll call the President personally in order to get credit for turning Granny in.
UPDATE
Don’t forget to visit Blogs4Bauer for the best 24 summaries and updates around.
8:50 am
Ah yes, who is Mr. Big? And where is he? Any connection between him & Henderson? Did Heller jump out of the car before it went over the cliff? Get out before he drowned? Did you notice the Union Jack on that VIP limo that pulled up to the diplo-jet? That mean anything? Given all he security around that plane & other personnel, I thought it amazing that Jack needed only to pull the hood over his head to become invisible. Probably a special CTU-issue cloaking device. Did Aaron realize he was compromised before his meet with 1st Lady & get the hell outa there? Gotta love it.
9:08 am
And in the next episode, we find that one of the bags Jack was carrying wasn’t quite shut tightly. It pops open soon after he sets it down and out come about four dozen snakes.
9:11 am
All that I could think about when Henderson was talking to Audrey about how much air could be left in the car was Chappaquidick
9:11 am
As the blood begins the return trip to my brain having been drained by the last night’s excitement and the impending conclusion. I have only to repeat what I said to my wife. (Who incidently is more critical of the show and Jack’s antics than even Rick) (if that’s possible) anyway what I keep repeating is, “It’s only an adventure series, we can’t keep second guessing the action and alternating from “Let’s Roll” to I can’t believe this.” Thus we have to cut the author some literary slack. There is such a thing as literary license, taken to further the action and in the interest of time cut to the chase (no pun intended). As we adicts of “24” have come to expect, another bewildering twist is introduced, Mr. Big, some call it oil interests, but I think a little bigger in my conspiracy conjecture. The Union Jack on the limo fender reminded me immediately of international intrigue. My guess is that a society bent on world domination is behind the entire season. Of course President Logan is instrumental, 1. He is used because he is too taken with his role as President, 2. He is too stupid to realize he is being used. 3. Vanity and Pride on the order of Oedipus Rex will be his downfall as well.
As for the conspiracy, my guess is the Masons or Opus Dei or even the Bilderbergers. Oil is only a means to an end, world domination is power.
9:47 am
My skeptical hubby pointed out that Heller’s car sank very, very quickly. He thinks Heller got out into the water through a window. Let’s hope he can swim and his heart is in good shape.
I can’t watch my recording until I get home tonight. Did anyone notice if his window was open before he went off the cliff.
Gawd, I love this show
9:51 am
I saw a French flag also on one of the limos. No German flag though.
Is Theo, the German agent Jack doublecrossed, on the plane? Would he help or harm Jack if he were?
Marty H.
10:01 am
There were the four guys who have been working on the plot, but someone on that plane has the recording. Probably a bigger catch. I still think Audry knows more about all this. She seems pretty worried about the recording.
Ia Agent Pierce dead? He left his cell phone. It has info on it about the plot. The first lady has the phone.
I think Heller killed himself. That was a pretty big cliff he went over.
10:39 am
Jennie—I think the window was open. Heller stuck his head out to look for the helicopter. But as Bob Z points out, that was a pretty big cliff. I would think the impact would be great hitting the water.
Here’s a new question for you: did anyone notice if he was wearing his seatbelt…
10:49 am
Heller took himself out of the game. He knew Jack would save him for Audry. So since he already screwed up once, he wasn’t going to again. Plus would you want to face Jack again after what Heller did to him? Better to drive off a cliff!!
10:57 am
when seeing mr. big and his group of men i was prompted to think of the very real world bank organization and the trilateral commission. there’s no inkling that they are planning to hack into the global banking/stock market systems which would give them the power and money they need for control.
there’s a definite horserace going on between chloe and the sleazy sniveling miles. chloe will ‘take him out’ in the end, but it’s an enjoyable game of cat and mouse. (what are you miles, a man or a mouse? squeak up.)
thankfully karen is catching on and martha is rising to the occasion, overcoming her infirmities. it’s great to see the women joining chloe (and audrey?) in the heroism—-behind every great jack bauer there’s good women—-Ha!
i’m also wondering if heller is really dead, too.
great show last night with nary a reason to disappoint. what a great way to take your mind off your troubles for a little while every week. more shows should have such great writing. and i like to think that there are some real unsung heroes like jack bauer and bill and chloe, michelle, and tony working to keep us safe every day.
11:12 am
Here’s a twist: whoever on the plane Henderson handed off the tape recording to is NOT part of Mr. Big’s (and, by extension, Logan’s) group. The tape was Henderson’s insurance against his being killed by Logan so he never would have given it to someone in that loop… which means we have two – possibly competing – factions in play.
btw, it would be quite a kick if it turned out that Henderson handed off the tape to his brother, the baggage handler, who most certainly isn’t on the plane.
Of course, as I posted in my list of 24isms, I can’t see why Henderson – if he is the smartest crook on the show, would pass off his insurance to someone else.
11:25 am
Mr Big is simply seeking more Fame, obviously.
11:29 am
why does this start me thinking about george soros, et al?
11:35 am
Logan always reminded me of Jimmy Carter, and Martha reminds me of another Martha, Martha Mitchell.
11:46 am
I was not surprised when Hayes picked up the phone and called both Mike and Bill. She’s been teetering since Logan called her and told her to hunt Jack down, backing off of Henderson. As for Miles—slime will slither away and rejoin with other slime only to come back another day. I loved Bill and Chloe’s interaction—and her flat out loyalty. She may have cared for Edgar, but please convince me this women isn’t in love with Jack?
12:06 pm
good point Steve about Henderson giving that recording away. But Jack isn’t going to take a plane ride for nothing. Then plane might not get off the ground either.
2:00 pm
Re: Mr. Big
If you remember how season two ended, there was still a group of oily bad guys in play. They sent the woman who poisoned President Palmer. Maybe this is their return to Jackworld.
2:03 pm
haha. i love it #2. he had two bags….maybe one contained snaked and the other contained samuel l?
3:07 pm
The solution to Jack’s problem was so obvious, I’m surprised the writers didn’t see it. Jack needs the recording to expose Logan.
Do what Audry suggested, but couldn’t do herself. Kill Henderson. Henderson kept the recording to protect himself from Logan. His instruction to the holder of the recording must have been, “Keep this safe. If anything happens to me, release it.”
Bad guy Henderson is dead so Jack doesn’t have to jeopardize Chloe’s career any more to track him. The holder releases the recording on the assumption that Loagn had Henderson killed. Bad guy Logan is exposed, which is Jack’s primary goal.
The only problem is that it leaves three unfilled hours for the remaining episodes of the season.
3:59 pm
I REMEMBER MARTHA
Last night’s episode of 24 was another white knuckle experience.
Logan is married to an on-again off-again basket case named Martha, who reminds me of another Martha, who died 30 years ago: Martha Mitchell.
4:40 pm
In response to Jo (#15). Can’t help but think that will be a plot twist next year. Chloe is in love with Jack. However, what will happen when Jack tells Chloe he cannot return that love. Will Chloe betray him as the woman spurned? Will she stand by her man? Will Jack take another near lethal hit for America and bed her to keep her happy?
6:22 pm
what’s this man-bag thingie?
Can’t stand Kim but I now have to put her a rung ahead of needlenose. Kim dispatched the enemy with gun, within arms reach, could see the whites of his eyes! Took Balls !
Now poor little Audrey (with I could say it as in “FEED ME”) What’s the name of that movie? anyone – anyone
as I was saying, Audrey couldn’t dispatch the reason for her fathers death!! What’s wrong with that woman. Pull the damn trigger, fool!
7:14 pm
Re: Diamond Says:
I think the movie you’re thinking of is “Little Shop of Horrors” Hope this helps refresh your memory.
10:00 pm
Thank you T.L.
Little Shop of Horrors, that’s the one.
AAUUUUUUUUUUUUUDREY, is that close?
Are you the T.L. of the #4 post? “literary license, taken to further the action”......? Good post.
Logan, I agree with l and 2, but 3 – Oeduoys Rex!
Can you say, “Martha, what are you doing, put down that gun, the world will judge you harshly for I have been CALLED to save this country” Somewhere Aron will not be far behind!
10:30 pm
Just as an aside, Paul McCrane was also in Robocop along with Buck… I mean, Peter Weller.
3:48 pm
Was I the only one that looked at the group around the table directing the President and thought it was meant to reflect the dreaded ‘neocon cabal’ acting as puppeteer to Bush? It seemed to me like it was cribbed from an old left blogosphere conspiracy theory. I’m talking about before W became Bushitler when he was just denigrated for being dumb and malleable – which describes Logan quite nicely, though you have to also throw in ‘crumbles in a crisis’ for Logan.
9:21 am
Jack’s ‘manbag thingie’ is the equivalent of Felix the Cat’s bag of tricks… whenever he needs ANYTHING, all he has to do is reach in the bag and there it is! [You do have to be of ‘a certain age’ to remember Felix the Cat… heck, I even remember the themesong! ‘Felix the Cat; the wonderful, wonderful cat! Whenever he gets in a fix, he reaches into his bag of tricks! Oh, Felix the Cat… etcetera, ad infinitum…]
5:39 pm
[...] Great summary of 24 from last week on Right Wing Nuthouse [...]
10:00 am
[...] Like this guy who keeps writing the longest, dumbest, most ridiculous summaries I’ve ever seen. The only reason I link to them is because he slips me a twenty every time I do. [...]