24 – Season 7, Episode 8 Review

7.08 3:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M.

This is the day in which rules don’t apply.

Remember this will be a SPOILER review.

I really enjoyed this episode, it had everything in it that I want from a 24 episode; action, humour and great pacing.  It felt very much like a little contained episode in which the goal was set out from the start.  Henry Taylor has been kidnapped and Dubaku orders President Taylor to retreat from Sangala before 4pm or her husband will be killed.  She had no other choice but to have faith in Bauer to save her husband.  She stuck by her beliefs, she was willing to sacrifice American lives so why not her husband.

Everything mostly worked out, Jack managed to find Taylor by using Renee to threaten to torture the FBI’s man’s family.  A wonderful scene and is showing that she’s slowly seeing what it takes to get the job done but it terrifies her.  She was threatening to kill a baby, that shit would fuck up anybody.  The fear on her face was evident and then her face told everything when the guy would give up Taylor’s location.  She was so relived to not have to kill the baby, though it’s doubtful she would have gone through with it.

By the episode end, we saw the rescue as we thought we would.  Jack kicked ass with his handgun like he always done but not even his cool slide kill could save Henry Taylor from a bullet.  Will he survive?  I’m guessing so but what will President Taylor have to say about it.  Will she be regretting her trust in Jack?  She better not, without him he would definitely be dead.

The things that I could have done without in this episode was the stuff going on with Dubaku’s girlfriend and the affair going on between Sean and Erika.  It seems the way it’s going is that Dubaku’s girlfriend will be a way of finding him.  The Sean and Erika thing seems really pointless and one of those annoying 24 side stories that they always have.  Is Erika the leak in the FBI?  Maybe.  What else is the point of this story?

Geeky Thoughts:-

• I laughed when I first saw the Matobo lookalike.  Did they just search the White House for a black guy and then stick a moustache on him.  Poor bastard then got blown up by a rocket launcher for his lookalike duties.  I wonder what his actual job was.
• No Tony in this episode, what is he up too?
• This was the final episode made before the writers strike.  Will we see a rise in quality in the following episodes?  The quality is quite high right now, so we’ll have to see.
• Loved seeing Jack in the Oval Office for the first time in the show’s history.
• The theme of what is right and wrong cropped up again.  Larry is as straight laced as they come.  He is a man who sticks to the rules.  As Jack brilliantly mentioned, this day is when the rules don’t apply.

Favourite Scene: So many good scenes in this episode.  I would probably have to go with the White House scene at the start with Jack and President Taylor.

Quote of the episode: Jack “With all due respect Madame President, ask around.”