Say what you want about 24: some plot elements are a bit contrived, it's strange that no one needs to take a nap or use the bathroom for an entire season, and so on... fair criticisms, but if there is one thing the show does right, it's shocking the audience with twists worthy of M. Night Shyamalan. Case in point: the ending of this episode. No spoilers - I'll just say it's my favorite twist of the entire Day 2, and arguably one of the five best of the whole series.
What leads up to that revelation is equally amazing: Reza Naiyeer (Phillip Rhys), desperate to prove his innocence, agrees to take a couple of CTU agents to Bob Warner's office and find out who's been working for Syed Ali, while the latter keeps holding Kate Warner in captivity. In the meantime, the conspiracy broadens as President Palmer discovers Roger Stanton is working against him, a fact that is directly linked to Jack Bauer's theory on the NSA's involvement in the assassination attempt he has just survived. Not that he has much time to think about it at the beginning of the episode: held at gunpoint by Nina Myers, he faces an inevitable execution, which will have to be pardoned by Palmer, or else Nina won't reveal the nuke's location.
Satisfyingly enough, the script doesn't get rid of the traitor subplot in five minutes: whereas most TV dramas would have dealt with a similar situation in one episode, 24 feeds on the increase in suspense that derives from letting certain plot batches breathe over multiple hours. The Stanton situation is a great example of this kind of clever writing: he is officially a bad guy (like Harris Yulin was ever going to play a different character), but nothing is done about him at this point just Palmer, Mike Novick and Sherry discussing their options. This deliberate pacing is mirrored in the Warner section of the story: the possibility that Reza, Bob or someone else might be a villain has been carried around since Episode 1, and only now, nine hours later, does the matter come to its startling end.
On the flip-side, the Jack/Nina issue is taken care of quite quickly (after all, he needs to find the damn bomb), but those few minutes are precious in setting the tone for future episodes: "It didn't have to be like this, Jack" Nina says, "I never meant for it to be personal.". "It seemed pretty personal when you killed my wife." Bauer retorts, giving an utterly contrived line a resonance that makes it impossible not to root for him. It also suggests things won't go smoothly in the end, but if they did the show would be rather boring, wouldn't it?
What leads up to that revelation is equally amazing: Reza Naiyeer (Phillip Rhys), desperate to prove his innocence, agrees to take a couple of CTU agents to Bob Warner's office and find out who's been working for Syed Ali, while the latter keeps holding Kate Warner in captivity. In the meantime, the conspiracy broadens as President Palmer discovers Roger Stanton is working against him, a fact that is directly linked to Jack Bauer's theory on the NSA's involvement in the assassination attempt he has just survived. Not that he has much time to think about it at the beginning of the episode: held at gunpoint by Nina Myers, he faces an inevitable execution, which will have to be pardoned by Palmer, or else Nina won't reveal the nuke's location.
Satisfyingly enough, the script doesn't get rid of the traitor subplot in five minutes: whereas most TV dramas would have dealt with a similar situation in one episode, 24 feeds on the increase in suspense that derives from letting certain plot batches breathe over multiple hours. The Stanton situation is a great example of this kind of clever writing: he is officially a bad guy (like Harris Yulin was ever going to play a different character), but nothing is done about him at this point just Palmer, Mike Novick and Sherry discussing their options. This deliberate pacing is mirrored in the Warner section of the story: the possibility that Reza, Bob or someone else might be a villain has been carried around since Episode 1, and only now, nine hours later, does the matter come to its startling end.
On the flip-side, the Jack/Nina issue is taken care of quite quickly (after all, he needs to find the damn bomb), but those few minutes are precious in setting the tone for future episodes: "It didn't have to be like this, Jack" Nina says, "I never meant for it to be personal.". "It seemed pretty personal when you killed my wife." Bauer retorts, giving an utterly contrived line a resonance that makes it impossible not to root for him. It also suggests things won't go smoothly in the end, but if they did the show would be rather boring, wouldn't it?
