24 Episode 6.7, "12:00 P.M. - 1:00 P.M."
Airdate: Monday, February 4th, 2007

If someone were to put a gun to my head and say, "Tell me your favorite television scene of all time," I would probably just kick backward as hard as I could and hope to kick them in the crown jewels. Then they'd drop the gun, I'd pick it up, and I'd scream in their face, "Tell you WHAT now, bastard?!"

However, if you ask me POLITELY, I will happily tell you that my favorite television scene of all time is the big Tony/Carmela fight from The Sopranos episode "Whitecaps." They're in Tony's home theater and they're just tearing into each other, and at the climax of it all, Tony punches a hole into the wall next to Carmela's head, and she flinches, and DAMN.

It's intense, it's complex, and it's driven by a simple idea--family, and the tearing of one apart.

I got some similar feelings from the big torture scene in this week's episode of 24. Intense, complex, and all about family.

It was truly some squirm-worthy television. Every time Jack Bauer gets serious about interrogating someone, it's squirm-worthy, but there's usually something kinda bad-ass about it too. You're squirming, but deep down, you're thinking, "You GO Jack!"

Not this time. There was nothing cathartic or "fun" about this torture sequence. (Man, if I had a dime for every time I've typed THAT sentence...) This was all icky-bad, ugly nasty torture with an admittedly noble goal, but absolutely nothing but ten miles of bad road to get there.

Which isn't to say it wasn't compelling--it was very much so. It just wasn't fun, is all.

It will remain in my brain for a long time, however, that image of Jack pulling Graem's sweat-drenched head into his shoulder, almost consoling and comforting him even as he's raging and giving the order to administer more of the pain medicine. Powerful, powerful stuff, and a perfect encapsulation of what this series seems to be out to prove this season--that in spite of being best known for its nail-biter pacing and breakneck plotting, 24 is still very much capable of characterization with a measure of depth, and moments of brilliant madness amid the din of rushing to and fro in 24 hours.

In other news, we've got several new signposts in other plots percolating through the season--Morris is the engineer the terrorists want to help them build the detonators, which I kinda saw coming several weeks ago, and the President has taken a firm final stand against Tom Lennox's proposal to screw the Constitution and rip away civil rights in the service of "justice." Oh, and Powers Boothe is playing the vice president as a Dick Cheney caricature so broad that it might be more at home on Saturday Night Live.

So things pivot, but not in shocking ways. Just as last week's episode seemed to push Jack and the Bauers to the side to check in on a variety of other subplots, this week's episode pushes the Bauers back to the front and center of the show's storytelling. We dove straight into the heart of this very messed-up family, right down to the final revelation of the episode's last scene.

Speaking of which (SPOILERS AHEAD)...

I actually would have preferred Jack's dad to be a GOOD guy. Jack's dad as diabolical puppetmaster villain is a little too predictable for me, personally. I'd rather have actually seen them try to draw some true connection between Jack and his pop, some kind of island of emotional rescue inside all the craziness.

On the other hand, if there's any man born to play the devil masquerading as an angel, it's James Cromwell. His turn as Dudley Smith in L.A. Confidential is one of my favorite things about that movie, and I can only assume he'll bring a similar sinister vibe to the proceedings on 24.

Not that they need more sinister. But still.

iTunes Links

24 - Series
24 - Season 6
"12:00 P.M. - 1:00 P.M."