Breaking Down Bauer: Tackling the New Season of 24
Written by: Rob Van Winkle, CC2K Staff Writer
1-31-07
Having just viewed the latest installment of this season of 24, it is clear to me that this was the ultimate “meta”-episode. What I mean here is that, while the show was chock full of surprises and twists for the characters IN the show, those of us WATCHING the show knew FULL WELL what was happening. It made for a very strange viewing experience.
The first such event occurred about halfway through, with the whole “innocent Arab man in the Arab detention center gaining the trust of potential terrorist sympathizers” plotline. Throughout this story arc, this man’s girlfriend (and the President’s sister, naturally) has been watching from behind the scenes. About once per episode (so idiots like us don’t forget), she restates her assertion that she wants him out of there, and just as regularly, the Fed on the case tells her that, as long as he’s funneling them information, he’s going to stay. In this episode, it is revealed that one of the men has smuggled in a phone. Our man, despite being a lawyer or something similar, luckily is a master pickpocket, and with one smooth move steals the phone. He calls CTU, and they are able to download all its information. He is instructed to return the phone while they process what they now have. Instead of telling the man that he dropped the phone, or just placing it on the ground, he keeps it in his pocket, like a genius.
Inevitably, CTU learns that these men are NOT terrorists, and our inside man has been risking himself for nothing. The order is given to remove him from detention, and Ms. Palmer and the Fed head into the camp to get him.
…now, I wonder what’s going to happen? UNBELIEVABLY, the men discover the missing phone, grab Walid (our guy), search him, FIND the phone, and beat the living hell out of him! Who could have guessed this was going to happen? Not the characters…but us? Come ON…
The second such moment happens toward the end. Jack has lightly beaten his brother Graem for information on their father’s whereabouts. Graem has whined like a girl, but eventually gave him what knowledge he had. Jack then takes Graem with him to some office of some dude who has some information or other (it hardly matters.) There, he finds his father (James Cromwell!!) and two of his father’s flunkies brandishing guns. Now, unless I am even stupider than I know about, we have yet to learn what business Jack’s father and brother are actually in to WARRANT having flunkies with guns, but that is a talk for another day. Bauer Sr. promises to be compliant, and as a good faith gesture, Jack gives a flunky the keys to unlock Graem. BUT WAIT! Right as things are going to go smoothly, Graem loses his whiny voice for a lower, more authoritative one, and turns the tables on Jack and his father! Suddenly, it is clear that Graem knows MUCH MORE about the day’s events than he had let on before! He is EVIL! To prove this point, when the flunkies take Jack and the dad outside, they see that Graem has had two CTU agents killed in cold blood! (It’s never a good sign for CTU agents when they are all unknown actors, told to hold their position…) It’s a shocking turnaround!
Except, of course, for the fact that we ALL KNOW that Graem is evil! We have seen him skulking around for the entirety of last season, and (while my memory is a bit hazy), I’m pretty sure he was behind the assassination of David Palmer (and I KNOW that he was the one telling President Logan what to do.) This was the least surprising surprise since…I was going to come up with an analogy here to adequately make my point, but I can’t think of anything more anticlimactic than this.
Luckily for us, the producers of the show must have recognized that all their twists were obvious ones, so they threw in a real doozy: Chad Lowe as a cast member! When he first came on the screen, my wife turned to me, laughing, and said “Wow. THAT guy looks like Chad Lowe.” When I assured her that, since I saw his name on the guest star credits, it indeed WAS him, she was blown away for the first and only time in the episode.
It does bring up an interesting point though: how did Chad Lowe’s agent get him THIS high profile of a gig, after so long? My theory: his divorce. Consider the conversation with the casting agent:
Before Divorce
Agent: “Hey there. My client Chad Lowe is looking for work, and as you know…”
Casting Guy (CG): “Who’s he again?”
Agent: “…Chad Lowe. He was in Life Goes On.”
CG: “…was he Corky?”
Agent: “…No. He was the other guy.”
CG: “Oh. Then sorry, not interested.”
Now, After Divorce
Agent: “Hey there. My client Chad Lowe is looking for work, and as you know…”
CG: “Hey, isn’t he the guy who was married to Hilary Swank?”
Agent: “That’s right.”
CG: “Whoa. Do you think he left her because she reminded him too much of a dude after that one movie?”
Agent: “I’m not sure…”
CG: “Maybe it was because he was afraid she’d kick his ass after bulking up for that other one?”
Agent: “…”
CG: “That poor son-of-a-bitch. Get him in here, I’ll find something for him.”
Whatever the reason, it was refreshing to see something surprising in this latest episode. I can’t wait for next week, when we discover that Jack’s brother is REALLY taking orders from Wesley from Mr. Belvedere.