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Friday, July 10, 2009

Why I Love Season 1 Of '24' (Part 2)



Season 1 (Episode 6)

5:00 am - 6:00 am

Writer: Howard Gordon

Director: Bryan Spicer

Episode Description:

Jack meets Teri and Alan York at the hospital where Janet has been admitted. But their reunion is cut short when Jack received a phone call from Gaines telling him to follow the instructions if he ever wants to see hid daughter again. Back at CTU, a dead body found in the car trunk is identified as that of Alan York. When Nina calls Teri and asks her to pass this information to Jack, Teri suddenly realizes she is also in danger.
(episode description source: '24' season 1 DVD Special Edition)

This episode of Season 1 was one of the best for two reasons: the storyline really begins to pickup momentum and the first big plot twist occurs in this episode.

Reasons Why I Love Season 1, Episode 6:

Jack Goes Off Protocol To Get the Job Done:
Jack shows once again he's willing to cut through the bureaucracy even if it means going off protocol however many times is needed to get the job done. In this episode, Jack requisitions a helicopter for personal use (against protocol) to go to the hospital where Janet is. I always enjoyed that aspect of Jack's character.

David Palmer Finds Out The Truth: David Palmer finally finds out the complete story about Lyle Gibson's death and his family's involvement in the cover-up. Wonderfully acted scene between David Palmer and our favorite sleazy political operative, Carl Webb.

Jack & Teri's Reunion: I loved when Jack and Teri meet at the hospital. You can see how much they love each other but at the same time, you can see why Teri is frustrated with Jack at times when he leaves her in the middle of a conversation to confront a guy who Jack thought was a threat but turned out to be only a guy trying to smuggle medication to his brother. I liked how both parts of the relationship between Jack and Teri were shown.

We Start To See The Real Sherry Palmer: Sherry tries to explain to David why she and the rest of the family covered up Keith's involvement in Lyle Gibson's death. You start to see in this scene how Sherry's ambition to get to the White House overrides everything else, including being honest with her husband. I think this is where the personal Palmer storyline starts to build momentum and get interesting.

Jack's Job & His Family: I absolutely loved this scene where Jack has to explain to Teri that Kim's kidnapping may be related to him being assigned to protect David Palmer. For the first time, Jack's job is affecting his family directly and it scares Jack to death. Also for the first time we really see the loving, sensitive side of Jack which is nice because it adds another dimension to the character. Jack's not just a tough Federal Agent, he's also a loving husband and father. What makes Kiefer Sutherland the perfect choice to play Jack Bauer is that he is one of the few actors who can pull off both sides of this character in such a believable way. Leslie Hope was also wonderful in this scene portraying a mother's anguish at her daughter being kidnapped and in danger.

Introduction Of Two New Characters (Mike Novick & Milo Pressman): In this episode we get introduced to two characters: Mike Novick, Senator Palmer's Chief of Staff and Milo Pressman, an independent computer analyst called in by CTU. I loved Mike's character from the very beginning, a very believable Chief of Staff. Would love to see '24' bring him back someday. I liked Milo's character much better in Season 1 than in Season 6. Season 1 Milo was much more likeable as the laid-back computer geek. He seemed like a totally different character in Season 6. That was ashame because Milo started out as a pretty interesting character, IMO.

Gaines Gets To Jack: I loved this part of the episode. Jack under control of Gaines. It was hard to watch Jack have to leave his wife at the hospital and not be able to tell her why he was leaving. I really enjoyed the tension of the whole thing; Jack being put under control of Gaines in order to protect his daughter. After Jack puts in the earpiece as ordered, he says something to the effect of "If you hurt my daughter, I will kill you." Gaines then replies "There's a nice clear signal." I loved that exchange.

First Major Plot Twist: 24's first really memorable moment: we find out the man who we thought was Janet York's father is an impostor. I'll never forget the first time I watched this scene and when Janet said, "You're not my father." I literally gasped! I was completely surprised and did not see that one coming. Then there was the cold, chilling way he killed Janet. Wow! That's what makes this show so special, completely unexpected turns in the storyline. This scene showed '24' was not going to be a typical predicable drama like many on TV. This show was going to be different.

Teri Gets A Shock: Ok, now we know the man with Teri Bauer is not Alan York so at the end of the episode, we get to see Teri find out he's not Alan as well. Teri and Nina both have been trying to call Jack but can't reach him so Nina calls Teri to ask her to pass along the message that they ID'd the body as that of Alan York! Great way to reveal this to Teri while she's alone in the car with the man she just found out is not Alan York. The look on her face when she finds out from Nina is perfectly played by Leslie Hope. I liked how Teri finds this out really by accident in just taking a message for Jack. Great writing!

Final Thoughts: This episode is one of the reasons I love '24' so much. There was so much great drama packed into this one episode. The character and storyline development was excellent as was the pacing of the episode. 5:00 am - 6:00 am of this first season was when I really started to fall in love with this season and couldn't wait for the next installment.

-By: 24FanForever

Next Installment: 7:00 am - 8:00 am (Season 1)

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