Best 24 Episode Ever

Warning! If you plan on watching the fifth season of 24 at any time, do not read this review! Spoilers are poison to 24, and since my immediate reaction to this episode is it is the best episode in this show’s history you do NOT, I repeat NOT want to read about it unless you have already seen it. The twists come rapid fire and the final three minutes are equally horrifying and heartbreaking. You do not want such a tremendously entertaining hour of television spoiled for you. So let me give you some room. Scroll down for the rest of my review.




















Few can argue that 24 is one of the most exciting, visceral entertainments ever produced. Its twisted plotlines and agonizing cliffhangers have improbably gotten nastier as the show has gone on. Season four was the show’s best and most relentless to date, and then season five came in with a devastating first episode featuring the brutal deaths of two of the series’ most beloved characters. Its ferocity has not let up through the first half of the season, with ugly executions, civilian casualties, and the type of political situations that many of us have nightmares about.

Last night’s episode of 24 was not only the best I’ve seen in the five years I’ve been a fan, but it was also the scariest. Remarkably we should have been prepared. The show didn’t use its common staple of misdirection. From the opening moments of hour 12 it is clear what the terrorists plan to do, and much like last season’s attack on Air Force One, the anxiety comes from our belief that the writers wouldn’t actually go through with it. By now we should know better.

In large part this was a quiet episode, with striking moments of human drama to keep our attention as the threat built up around us. I found the return of Kim Bauer remarkably effective. Though she gets a fair amount of grief from online critics, I’ve never had any dislike for Kim. I agree that the writers ran out of things for her to do, and much of her weakness as a character can be traced back to that, but clearly she has something to do now. After her father’s “death,” Kim went to pieces. Now, the she finds the catalyst for her problems alive and (relatively) well. Clearly there’s a lot of drama to be mined here.

But what I found most remarkable about Kim’s return was its instantaneous humanization of Jack. Though Kim as a character sometimes lacked in plotline potential, her presence always reminded us that Jack is a father, and he will do everything in his power to protect his child. When Jack went off into the sunrise last season, I had minor complaint that his last phone call was to President Palmer and not his daughter. After watching the scene between Jack and Kim last night, that choice makes perfect sense. Every person who knew Jack was alive is now either dead or should be. Had Kim known, that would have put her name on the top of that list. The Kim haters will likely bemoan the scene between the two of them because she didn’t exactly welcome him back with open arms, but the scene played as it should have played: terse, awkward, cold. And Kim has a legitimate beef.

Even with the dramatic bombshell of Kim’s return, the show went off the rails at the 44 minute mark, when a terrorist, using Lynn McGill’s stolen keycard, infiltrated CTU and armed a nerve gas canister inside the ventilation system. Now, usually this would be the moment those last three seconds of an episode click off the clock. It’s prime cliff-hanger fodder. But 24 didn’t play by its own rules last night.

The bomb is armed. The plot is discovered. CTU is locked down. There’s the usual scrambling and then… at the 57 minute mark… the bomb… went… off.

What followed were the three scariest minutes in the history of this show. I don’t mean suspenseful either. I mean scary. Watching as the invisible force of the gas took down people in the hallway and our heroes converged on the operations center was nothing short of panic-inducing. I’ve seen horror movies that lacked anything as chilling as those last three minutes. Our heroes gathered in central command and then retreated to the situation room where Chloe sealed them in.

As the blast shields fell over the glass and the doors sealed shut, I could not believe what I was seeing. Panic of the unseen gas gave way to a frightening claustrophobia. A terrified woman pounded on the glass to be let in, but Jack had to turn her away. When the screen started its ritual breakdown to end the episode, I was so relieved that this agonizing ordeal was over for the week. I didn’t even stop to think if everybody had made it into the situation room.

And then Edgar stepped out.

24 is so good at crafting its labyrinthine plotlines that the remarkable cast of characters the show has assembled can be taken for granted. Everybody loved Edgar and his unrequited crush on Chloe, but I don’t think anybody realized how much until they watched him die. I’ve cried twice watching television this season. The first was the debut of “Laura” on Battlestar Galactica. The other was last night’s 24.

Perhaps it was the fact that Edgar was so harmless and innocent; his feelings for Chloe were the epitome of the schoolyard crush, lots of teasing and pulling of pigtails. Perhaps it was the staging, the cruel silence of the moment (even the final seconds of the episode ticked away without their signature chime). Perhaps it was watching Chloe’s heart break as Edgar crumbled to the floor just feet away from their sanctuary. Whatever it was, this death felt more painful, more personal than Michelle Dessler’s or even President Palmer’s at the beginning of the season. It’s remarkable how, surrounded by all the pyrotechnics that 24 employs, they still find a way to make us care so much about a character like Edgar.

My hat is off to 24 this week. They hit on all cylinders last night – personal drama, suspense, tragedy. That being said, I have to admit, I’m almost afraid to come back next week.