24 Rewatch: Season 1, 5:00am-6:00am
Season 1, 5:00am-6:00am
Original Air Date: December 18, 2001
I do believe that Janet wins the award for worst day ever. Honestly, the poor girl did not get a break. First her arm was broken, then there was the heroin, the running, the getting hit by a car, the cardiac arrest. She could only be rebooted so many times. But to have her die at the hands of her fake father, while her real father ended up being the dead body in the car Jack found? Yeah, worst day ever. The writers were doing a genuinely good fake out with Alan York, making us empathize with the character, especially when he was so supportive to Teri. It wasn’t until last hour that I even suspected that he may not be Janet’s dad, with the early parts of this episode confirming it. Suddenly it made sense why he never went in to see Janet. Another shock? Having Teri realize by the end of the episode that she was in the car with ‘not Alan York.’ Now we get to see how smart Teri is, and if Jack has rubbed off on her at all.
I suspect he has, especially if their daughter Kim is any indication. After the death of the idiot blond kidnapper, Kim went into action with Rick. Putting it in his head that they had to escape, and making him open up about his mother. The kid has mommy issues, I assume much bigger ones than Kim. It was also refreshing to hear Kim finally admit that she’d been a little hard on her parents. She was a massive brat, and apparently it took a near death experience to make her realize.
It didn’t take Palmer long to realize he’d been duped about Keith. Apparently he was the only one in his family not in on the cover up. He was shocked to learn that Sherry orchestrated the entire thing, and even his daughter, the poor girl he perceived to be a victim knew about it. When he confronted Sherry, she started to babble about their family, and her ambitions, leading Palmer to respond with this doozy, “You keep your own council Sherry, you always have.” Anyone else feel like Sherry Palmer is a Lady MacBeth, championing her husband’s political potential for her own ambitions? Yeah, she scares me. That entire family is a little off. Palmer thankfully has a trusted adviser in Mike Novick(!), who was able to talk him through the crisis, and give him solutions so that it wouldn’t destroy his political career. Sherry will most certainly be happy.
Jack finally made it to Teri’s side where he showed a little vulnerability in admitting that he didn’t know what to do, but then he was a massive jackass to Alan. Even though he commandeered a a helicopter to get there, he didn’t last long at the hospital, having to bolt once he got a call from Gaines. Jack’s on his own now, especially after being able to talk to Kim for a brief moment. Odds are he’s going to do whatever Gaines wants, but you know it’ll come at a price for Gaines. When Jack yelled “If you hurt my daughter, I will kill you” I believed him. And I can’t wait for that battle later in the season.
My favourite part of the episode? Even though I was never a big fan of Milo, seeing him eat in the autopsy brought back some hysterical Dana Scully memories.
Tags: 24 Rewatch, 5am-6am, Season 1Related Stories
POSTED IN: 24 Characters, Jack Bauer, Kim Bauer, Rewatching 24, Season 1, Tony Ameida
1 opinion for 24 Rewatch: Season 1, 5:00am-6:00am
Joe
Mar 17, 2008 at 8:59 am
I must say the twist where Gaines called Jack and made him leave Teri’s side was my favourite part of the episode and perhaps one of my favourites for the season, among many others. It probably seems tame by today’s 24 standards, and it’s not new to see someone controlling another person over the phone but this was the first contact between the main villain (at least so far) and the protagonist. This could’ve been handled poorly but I think they pull it off. Seeing Jack walk away from his wife, an extraordinarily and understated(ly) difficult thing to do had me glued to the screen. When I watch season 1, I’m excited to see this moment every time. Especially as it begins the long pull back of the slingshot that is Gaines’ control of Jack for the next episode or two which we all know is exciting stuff. But I won’t spoil the next review.
Keep these coming, enjoying them a great deal.
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