So he did it again. That’s right, once more, Jack Bauer has hung up on the President without saying “good bye.” Really, is it too hard to extend this very common courtesy to the President of the United States? Sheesh.
This week featured the return of one of my celebrity crushes, Elisha Cuthbert. This was an arguably risky decision, as Kim Bauer is easily one of the most chastised characters on television (which I think is a tad unfair. I mean, honestly, do people believe her to be worse than Lana Lang?) And after all she has been through with both of her parents, it’d take a special arc for the audience to believe that she’d reunite with her father. Jack Bauer might be Captain America, but Father of the Year he ain’t.
That being said, I thought it was handled marvelously. I enjoyed seeing a more adult, mature Kim. She wasn’t the least bit bitter and she didn’t carry a grudge. She actually seemed at peace. She accepted responsibility for pushing Jack away, and seemed to genuinely want to rectify that.
Of course, the episode’s “OMG” moment was Tony’s betrayal. While they do have a rough road ahead of them with explaining exactly why Tony spent the better part of the day trying to prevent these attacks, only to presumably threaten one of his own, I don’t believe that this turn of events was purely for shock value. As I’ve noted for the past couple of months, Tony has been a complete sketch artist. His perpetually shifty eyes have always left the door open to a betrayal.
That being said, they most certainly do have their work cut out for them as far as making sense of this. My guess is that we’ll that Tony never was in cahoots with Hodge, and that Tony genuinely was trying to prevent HIS attack, only so that he (meaning Tony) could stage one of his own. The guard that assisted him was his guy on the inside, ensuring that Tony was able to successfully infiltrate the base. Naturally, Tony’s motives would differ significantly from Starkwood’s (it doesn’t seem to me that Tony is interesting in obtaining power. He’s more about hurting the government). This would effectively explain why Tony exerted so much effort to prevent one threat, only to perpetrate another.
I have read some interesting theories that Tony called a last minute audible and merely smuggled the bio weapon so that he could find a cure for Jack. This DOES carry some weight, as Tony was repeatedly asking about Jack’s condition (which isn’t necessarily noteworthy, as they are friends), but I just don’t buy into that yet. Why the cloak and dagger routine, then? If Tony merely wants to use the weapon to manufacture an antidote, why wouldn’t he come forward and say such? It’s not like he’d have to hide that helpful nugget of information. And, most significantly, why kill Moss? What does Tony gain from his death? He’s clearly the one calling the shots, so it’s not as if he needs to gain the other guy’s trust.
On the topic of Moss’ death, I did not see that coming. Although, in hindsight, I probably should have. They set him up as the noble hero, which is usually an indicator that the end is near. Very near. The biggest hint should have been when he was finally open with Walker (well, more open, anyway) and she was receptive to him. I also love that, just before his death, he really did become the perfect combination of the bad ass renegade that does the right thing and the by the books, reliable, caring guy that she really wanted this whole time. I grew to like him, and I’m sad to see him go.
Matt Basilo has been writing for Inside Pulse since April 2005, providing his insight into popular television shows such as Lost, Heroes, Prison Break, and Smallville. You can visit his blog at A Case of the Blog.
