It looks like we’ll have to wait until next week to find out if Palmer is dead, or at least wounded enough to allow the VP to take over and enact all sorts of over the top security measures. Palmer was definitely unconscious, but Carson said the bomb only had a kill radius of ten feet (the conspirators were quite lucky that Palmer chose to stand at the front of the room while watching the rehearsal; if he’d sat in the back of the room, their efforts would have been for naught) and he wasn’t all that close to the bomb, so he’s quite possibly still alive, and may not even be seriously injured. With most shows, when they kill off a character, said death is made very explicit; 24, however, has a habit of killing characters in scenes that aren’t always all that definitive (Tony Almedia, anyone?) so who knows what will happen.
Even though Carson and Reed were possibly successful in their assassination attempt Palmer, their plan to frame Assad seems flimsy at best. Even if investigators assume Assad’s responsible, they’re certainly going to want to know how he was able to smuggle explosives into such a high security area with, at best, only a few hours to plan, prepare and then carry out the assassination. It would have been virtually impossible for Assad to smuggle in a bomb himself, so they’re going to be looking for co-conspirators anyway. And the fact Assad warned everyone about the bomb seconds before it went off certainly isn’t going to do the frame-up any favours either.
It seems likely that there’s more going on with the assassination plot than we’ve been privy to thus far. Either, contrary to Reed’s claim, the Vice-President actually was involved in the plot, and can cover up evidence to ensure the investigation concludes Assad was the one behind the attack or Reed (and possibly Carson) are considered expendable by the people behind the conspiracy. If the second option is the case, it seems quite likely that one or both of them will suffer an unfortunate accident or ‘suicide’ in the near future. Of course, even if the true motive behind the assassination comes out, it is unlikely to stop the new president from enacting the various security reforms that the more conservative minded individuals have been pushing.
Outside of the presidential assassination plot, there wasn’t a whole lot else happening this week (not that there’s anything wrong with devoting the majority of the episode to the attempted assassination of President Palmer). The only thing of note on the Logan/Jack front is that Logan’s (apparently) gone all born-again on us. Hopefully that’s just a cover on Logan’s part to help hide some machination, but it’ll probably be a while before we find out seeing as they’ve still got 30 minutes or so of 24 time before they can get to the Russian consulate. It’s odd how in the 24verse travel takes exactly as long as the plot demands of it. Usually Jack can get anywhere in or around LA in five minutes or less, but, when the plot demands it, he loses his power of off-screen teleportation and has to deal with longer commutes.
The Morris storyline continues to be the only real weak spot on a weekly basis. If I thought it would lead somewhere interesting I would be more tolerant of it, but pretty much the only possible outcomes are A) Morris gets back on the wagon and the post-torture plotline have been a complete waste of time or B) Morris f*cks up (again) and is relieved of duty. I know they want to give the CTU agents something to do other than just talk to Jack whenever he phones them, but I wish they’d do something a bit more interesting.
Still, even with the pain of the Morris story, I’m quite looking forward to seeing how things play out with Jack/Logan and the assassination attempt. Whether Palmer is dead or not, the aftermath is sure to be eventful.
