24: Live Another Day: Day 9: 9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
July 8, 2014 10:09 AM - Season 1, Episode 11 - Subscribe

In the penultimate episode of 24: Live Another Day, Jack and Kate are fending off a squad of Russians as old enemy Cheng tricks Chloe into helping him use the override device to launch an American submarine attack on a Chinese carrier, and Audrey tries to use a diplomatic back channel to prevent a full-on Sino-American war.

Cheng discovers the tracking device that has enabled Jack to close in on his location. Jack discovers Chief of Staff Mark Boudreau gave his tracking information to the Russians. The President's top generals discover their Commander has trouble with his medicine. And viewers discover Chloe is vicious with a lead pipe in enclosed spaces.

The President is unable to reassure the Chinese the carrier attack was a mistake, and want proof Cheng is alive. But in the meantime they take out an American tracking satellite in retaliation. After tricking their way into the Russian minister's residence, Jack and Kate take out the security staff while Mark and Stolnavich smash through a glass door while struggling over a gun.

Audrey meets with her Chinese friend to pass along information regarding the override device, but Cheng's snipers take out her security team and Chinese friend, leaving her again alone and under his power. As Jack and Kate search the Russian minister's computer for a lead on Cheng, Chloe regains consciousness alone in the woods.
posted by GhostintheMachine (9 comments total)
 
After the letdown of the previous episode (which didn't even merit a recap here...), this was much better. I was glad to see Chloe actually using her brains again, after the silly attempt to get the device from Cross previously. If you're going to make an escape, whack a bunch of your pursuers with a lead pipe first, it goes much better.

The Chinese not actually believing the Americans was good. Sure, they're willing to listen to the explanation, but they're not bothering to wait around for the US to produce the evidence before responding.

As much as I've enjoyed Kate, she still seems very under utilized, like she's just riding shotgun as Trainee Bauer. Last week's reveal regarding her role in her husband's death gets no mention here.

But then again, lasting repercussions of misdeeds isn't 24's forte. It seems the only punishments come to those who do good things. Not really sure what lesson the show is trying for here.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 12:55 PM on July 8, 2014


For a second I thought "wouldn't it be awesome if Audrey solved this explodey international crisis with the Chinese government through calmer diplomatic channels?" when she handed off the information to her friend. "What an amazing statement that would make."

Then the most innocent, powerless person in the scene was shot in the neck and I remembered what show I was watching.

Yet I still really enjoy the hour somehow. I was really hoping these threads would help me get to the bottom of that personal paradox but instead I'm just excited about the conclusion.

Also, when are people to learn that they shouldn't pull things that stab them in their neck out of their neck? It's like they don't sit around spending 25% of their lives watching television or something.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 12:59 PM on July 8, 2014


The Chinese not actually believing the Americans was good. Sure, they're willing to listen to the explanation, but they're not bothering to wait around for the US to produce the evidence before responding.

But isn't it odd that everyone has forgotten about the massive terrorist attacks that just happened in London with US drones? Hrmm... might that not be a smidgen of proof to the Chinese that the President was telling the truth?!

But that's classic 24, I guess.
posted by shivohum at 6:29 PM on July 8, 2014


Well, to be fair the drone strike on Wembley Stadium was over two hours ago... isn't that ancient history now?

The London setting had a ton of potential, and the Stephen Fry casting in particular, but it hardly seems to have been used. I was expecting a lot more difficulty for the CIA to operate on friendly foreign soil, jurisdiction issues etc., but aside from a minor blip with the Rask raid, there's been nothing.

I just can't imagine MI5 getting into a shooting match with, say, Iranians in Manhattan while a British drone blows up Yankee Stadium, and the US government not getting severely pissed about it.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 5:50 AM on July 9, 2014 [1 favorite]


So the preview at the end said the next episode is the finale... um, am I missing something? Because that would be the twelfth episode. Are we only doing 12 this season, and not 24? (If so, planned, or ratings crash?) Or will there be a 2nd half of the season, like so many other shows re pulling now? Seems like a lot to wrap up in the next hour.
posted by caution live frogs at 1:26 PM on July 10, 2014


I'm pretty sure it was planned to only have 12 episodes.
posted by Proginoskes at 6:35 PM on July 10, 2014


Yes it was planned for ony 12 episodes, but the whole thing will take place over 24 hours they've also said, so I'm assuming there's a time jump or something I the final episode.

(And, VERY SLIGHT SPECULATIVE SPOLINING AHEAD, the preview seemed to contain outdoor scenes that were both in the dark and in they daylight, so I'm presuming the last episode actually covers 13 hours not in real time.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 5:59 AM on July 11, 2014


That's... um... kind of against the entire premise of the show, isn't it? I guess I will find out on Monday.
posted by caution live frogs at 9:48 AM on July 11, 2014


I liked this episode. I liked the last episode too, they took the plot somewhere far more interesting than I feared. I think Cheng makes a great villain. The walrus Russian not so much, but then he's already out of the way.

They sure did waste the London setting, didn't they? I mean some nice exterior shots, but otherwise this show could have been set in pretty much any city with a river, a stadium, and some unlikely mixture of accents. It's particularly baffling that the London police, British military, British spies, etc are completely non-present other than that once unfortunate MI5 incident. I laughed out loud when the cavalry came to Jack and Kate's rescue shouting "freeze! federal agents!". Um, not in England you're not. Also hilarious, the British military troops stumbling across the Evil Chinese and just being like "change your tire for you mate? No? Ok, carry on."

Totally agree that Kate has been sidelined too much recently. There was a weird thing in the choreography in the Russian shootout where the camera is careful to show us it's mostly Jack murdering the Russians, not Kate. I'm not sure she murdered anyone in the embassy at all. I wonder if they're setting her up to be safe somehow, free of lawbreaking. Or maybe she's just a bad shot.

OTOH C̀hlo̢ë is awesome now, with her operational agency. I kind of liked the old nerdy Chloe better but I read her learning to handle firearms, murders, and iron pipes as a sort of feminist empowerment. And thank goodness she escaped, because otherwise the plot wasn't going to have one more rabbit to pull out of a hat for next hour's episode of Where's the MacGuffin?

Audrey, though, is just contemptible. I mean I guess it's good we have a normal character in the show, one who is actually shocked and upset by murders and double-crosses and torture and terrorism. But as MCMikeNamara notes above, Audrey doesn't do much murder herself so in the 24 universe she's a secondary player. I guess her job for the last hour is to be the Damsel in Distress.
posted by Nelson at 8:58 AM on July 12, 2014


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