Remember last week when I mentioned the difference between a tragic death that significantly alters the story and a sad death that simply progresses the plot? Last week was the former. This week was the latter.
I don’t mean to make light of this most recent character demise, but it certainly lacked the feeling of there being grand repercussions, like when Hassan died. I will say this, though. Following Tony’s faux death, the whole meaning behind silent clock has changed. It was once a poignant, respectful way of expressing shock and sorrow. Ever since the powers that be used it as an excuse to explain that Tony wasn’t REALLY dead (which was a super lame justification), it’s just become a typical, somewhat emotionless conveyance to the audience that somebody has died. It’s now something that’s expected, completely devoid of the emotional, respectful symbolism it once expressed.
It’s a bit ironic that I made so many comparisons between Hassan’s death and Teri Bauer’s in season one, because I think that’s what the writers were going for here with Renee’s murder. There was the explicit reference to her character just before their sex scene, and there was the false hope that Jack could find a little genuine happiness with somebody before that possibility was swiped away from him due to a killer with a gun. But I think the inherent difference between these two deaths are that with Teri’s death, there was the feeling of utter failure and loss – as I noted with Hassan’s murder – and with Renee there was a feeling of “this is going to drive him over the deep end.” The former resulted in compassion, the latter with pity.
Having said all of that, I was moderately surprised that they killed off Renee. Part of me was expecting it to happen, and I’m not the only one. I typically watch with my parents, and in the midst of each mission, my mother would predict “she’s going to get killed.” Truth be told, there seems to be an explicit point of attempting to bring Jack to the edge. Renee’s death, just moments after they made love, might be what it takes to get that done. And while this show has featured countless sex scenes, it’s worth noting that this is the first one we’ve ever seen with Jack (unless I’m forgetting some romp in the hay with Audrey). Then again, with, what, seven or so episodes left before the end of the season, does anybody else find it odd that they’ve already more or less established that Jack won’t be finishing the season – or the series, for that matter – with a happy ending? If he truly does love Renee, how could he get over her death in a matter of hours?
But I have to ask: Did anybody else laugh when Jack oh-so-nonchalantly instructed, “keep everybody in the lobby. There’s a sniper outside”? But I do have to commend the writers for tying this Vlad detour into the main story.
Anyway, some other stuff happened too! While I have started to like Hastings since the attack on CTU, I was actually a bit glad to see him relieved of his duties. Quite frankly, characters on this show constantly do things that should get them fired or worse, yet they’re told they won’t be punished until the crisis is over. But by the time the crisis is over, the character is either a hero or dead, so we never see them pay the consequences of their actions. So yeah, in that sense, it was a bit of a relief to see somebody actually pay for the decisions they’ve made. But I was also glad he handled his dismissal so gracefully (it certainly shows how much his character has grown throughout the day), and Chloe as a fish out of water head of CTU has the potential for a lot of fun.
As I thought might happen, Hassan’s wife took his position as president, which I actually quite liked. I do have to wonder, though, why Russia would agree to sign this peace agreement if they truly didn’t want to. I understand that politics are involved, but still. If you’re willing to go so far as to assassinate a foreign president, maybe it’d b ea good idea to just bite the bullet and tell the U.S., “sorry, just not interested.”
As predicted, it was awesome seeing Charles Logan again. Man, could this guy be any more modeled after Nixon? While Nixon will primarily be remembered for the Watergate Scandal, following his pardon he actually became a highly respected foreign affairs consultant, advising both parties on such matters. That was somewhat echoed by former President Logan, who noted that certain foreign countries seem to regard him higher than his own country. And the interaction between Taylor and Logan was very well done, featuring the right combination of animosity, reluctance, slight respect, and metaphorical back scratching. And another thing I want to commend the writers for, which I first reference when President Taylor confronted Rob about his betrayal, but I think it’s great that they’ve allowed characters with opposing views and ideologies – usually with one character designated the “hero” and the other the antagonist – without solidly giving one the upper hand. When the barbs are being traded, it’s a pretty even playing field and you can see both characters’ perspectives. Admirably, the writers aren’t taking the easy route here.
Matt Basilo has been writing for Inside Pulse since April 2005, providing his insight into popular television shows such as Lost, 24, Heroes, and Smallville. Be sure to visit his blog at [a case of the blog] and follow him on Twitter.
