This hour of 24: Live Another Day boasts more of the split-screen action fans of the series were accustomed to in earlier installments. Most effectively used during Jack and Heller’s tense phone call, the split-screen shows both the solidarity between the characters, whose facial expressions were almost mirror images, as well as the division of being in separate locations. (The best line of the episode: “Because I fired the bullets,” Bauer’s retort to when Heller asks how he knows he did not injure anybody.)
If any subplot from this episode felt a touch off, though, it was Heller’s reinstated authority. After the catcalls that greeted him at Parliament at the end of the last hour, he still manages to get a big applause from the MPs, despite a speech that goes past 2:30. (The show stretches our disbelief too much that he would have something to speak about for that long. Perhaps the applause was out of relief that Heller had finished.) His decision to send the troops in to apprehend Bauer also seemed to arrive too easily, after a couple of persuasions from Mark, who the President knows has a beef with his wife’s ex-boyfriend. (Also, it would be nice to see more of Stephen Fry’s prime minister, only glimpsed nodding away in his throne this hour.)
On that note, I am becoming a bit suspicious about certain elements that hint at future plot reveals, although it is also possible that these are red herrings. The first is Jordan’s emotional response to Kate’s side of the story when she calls the CIA base this week. His willingness to please her could soon backfire on Jack’s newest ally. Meanwhile, Adrian remains an enigma who seems too unenthused by the chance that his fellow Londoners will be under fire from a drone attack. Considering his anti-authoritative position with Open Cell, perhaps there is an underlying motive behind his need to expose state secrets a la Julian Assange.
24: Live Another Day has had a terrific run so far. Already a third of the way into this tense, thrilling half-day of international intrigue and there have been no lags in the action or drama. The performances are strong, the pacing even stronger and the potential for the new characters – Mark, Kate, Margot, Adrian – to catapult this season into an even richer one is there. With Agent Morgan working alongside Jack, Yvonne Strahovski should get the chance to show her acting chops, as seeing her chase after Sutherland’s character for a few weeks was becoming inane. A few moments of disbelief aside, Sutherland has anchored this comeback with poise and promise. It is going to be a long wait until the next hour airs, and the clock is most definitely ticking.
