Jason Pillar may be no match for the maneuverings of Jack Bauer, but at least he gave sound advice to President Logan. Distance yourself from the situation now. Is it really such a good idea to make direct phone calls to the Russian sniper who killed Jack’s girlfriend? A clue: No. A few weeks ago, I said I knew one thing for sure: that Russian sniper was in big trouble. Well, did you see the look on Jack’s face at the end of the hour? Chuck is dead meat (please, forgive the pun).
Tonight, Jack made it clear that he is on a vendetta. Exposing the Russians’ part in Hassan’s death is just another way to get back at them. His primary motivation is to “make them pay” for Renee’s death, and that means taking down each person involved.
We often talk (and joke) about Jack’s willingness to use torture to get information, but I don’t think we’ve ever seen him physically torture someone onscreen to the extent that he tortured Pavel in this episode. He twisted pieces off of him with pliers, beat the snot out of him, tickled him with a knife and poured “lemon juice” on the wounds, warmed him up with a blowtorch, and finally opened him up to retrieve the SIM card he swallowed.
Thankfully, at that point we cut to a scene of Jason Pillar acting bossy and important, because I didn’t really want to see Jack groping around Pavel’s innards. Gross.
A few additional comments:
Clacked by Ruby T.
on May 11, 2010 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
Greatly enjoying the ramp-up to the 24 conclusion.
Chloe’s plan was to try to save Jack’s life from those involved in the cover up, and to take Dana’s evidence and reveal the truth to the world themselves, if Jack is only interested in vengeance.
Meredith represents that singular human being with an actual conscience, rare though that may be in the world of 24. She’s there to remind us that Jack’s actions are actually bad, especially as there is no immediate threat the way there usually is when he improvises a torture method.
The Sprint product placement was particularly annoying because it obviated Chloe’s signature “open a socket” line, which, with the show ending in three hours, we will have precious few opportunities to hear spoken ever again.
I think Jack simply executing Logan after the interrogation as he did Dana would be unsatisfying for such a manxome foe. I can’t imagine a suitable end, though, not even the Russians turning on him. Perhaps if Taylor ordered Jack, point blank, to kill him via executive order?
I think you’re right about Meredith’s purpose in this scene (although I don’t think her conscience always works – I mean, sleeping with Dalia’s husband was not cool). Still, it felt forced – I just can’t imagine someone in that situation screaming, “Please don’t do this!” when 1) she doesn’t know too much about what’s going on, who Pavel is, what Jack is trying to do, etc. and 2) she’s doesn’t know whether her own life is in danger because, after all, she doesn’t know Jack except that he just shot a bunch of people in a mall. In that situation, a normal reaction might be to hold up your hands and say, “Okay, I’ll be quiet! Please don’t hurt me!”
I agree with you re Logan. His death will have to be something special. He’s such a twisty guy. But I wonder if they will keep him around for the movie.
Yeah, it’s easy for me to forget that Meredith hasn’t met Jack before this late in the season. In previous years, if a character didn’t know Jack Bauer by name, it was usually because they had been killed off in an earlier episode. That being said, she does know that the people Jack shot weren’t random bystanders, but armed assassins sent to silence both her and Jack. I think she understood correctly that Jack was also there to protect her as well as use her as bait, and that she was in no danger from him.
Logan being the final bad guy of the season, I don’t see any dramatically satisfying way they can keep him alive and at large for the climax (unless Jack dies). The only way I can see him being in the movie is in the Hannibal Lecter/Magneto advisor-in-a-cell mode.