720: '3am - 4am'
Teleplay: Alex Gansa & Chip Johannessen
Story: Juan Carlos Coto
Dr: Michael Klick
Synopsis: The nation remains vulnerable as Jonas Hodges' life lies in the balance, and his boss stands at the epicentre of the mounting terrorist threat. Meanwhile, Jack hurries to expose Tony Almeida's doublecross.
Review: Interestingly, while this is something of a transitional episode, beginning the process of setting things in motion for the events that will unfold in and around the - undoubtedly explosive - finale, it is also thoroughly engaging, which is something of a rarity among 24 episodes of its ilk. Usually, these hours contain a considerable amount of padding, trundling along at a fairly mediocre pace, and tend to be average at best. However, '3am - 4am' circumnavigates this problem through the implementation of a number of sophisticated techniques. First, there is its continuation of the narrative saturation that began last week, as minor clues as to the nature of the mysterious group that is pulling all the strings behind the scenes are peppered throughout the hour. We don't get wholly conclusive answers but certain elements are uncovered and we begin to understand Tony and the LAWYER FROM HELL's mutual motivations. I think, at this point, we have to give up on the notion that Almeida's betrayal will ever be anything other than a shocking plot twist, with the most surface-level of attempted explanations (the government failed him after Michelle's death and he wants revenge), but frankly, I'm okay with that. This is the Tony I wanted to see from the moment they introduced him as the potential bad guy in the first episode, even if the logistics of his apparent assistance of the FBI and Jack seem a little baffling and hell, at least they haven't made it 'all about the money', since HE is the one suggesting that they commit another atrocity within the next few hours. The strategy that is subsequently implemented is highly interesting and it's good to actually see it being orchestrated from the villain's perspective, rather than simply having the good guys react to intel or a series of events. It lends a certain eeriness to the proceedings, selling the threat to a greater extent. And how good is the scene in which EVIL LAWYER discusses the plan with the shady group members? Joseph Hodges deserves major credit for the considered use of technology in constructing dramatic ambiguity: the disguised conference call is thoroughly logical and brilliantly covert. Add to that Michael Klick's superb direction, using minimal lighting and filming from behind objects to make the group members barely visible, and you have a scene that forces the viewer to be active in their response, squinting to catch a glimpse of the individuals or trying to peer around the objects in a manipulation of visual dimensions. '3am - 4am' is also marked by several other excellent sets of scenes, not the least of which is Jack's confrontation with Hodges, in which Sutherland and Voight are absolutely pitch perfect in their delivery. It's also wonderfully shot, all grainy camcorder angles on Jonas and shadowy lighting on Bauer. Then there's President Taylor's dressing down of her daughter, which is a delight to see, Jack's excellent, excellent shouting down of the terminally irritating Janis (a nation high fives itself!) which is even supplemented with a gloriously harrowing descent into the effects of the virus, and Chloe's reaction to both Bill's death and Tony's turn, in which Rajskub is surprisingly and pleasingly subtle. The only mildly objectionable element to speak of is Olivia's determination to kill Hodges but even this is passable due to its believability, and I'm only really ranting because I loathe her character. Actually, within this, there's even something to praise: the man that Olivia contacts to recruit for the job is briefly seen in bed with another man. It's very much a 'blink and you'll miss it' moment, and it isn't referenced or acknowledged in the dialogue at all, which, frankly, is a huge step in the right direction in terms of televisual representation of non-hetero sexualities. It's a throwaway feature, entirely inconsequential... exactly as these things are in reality. 24, you just about made my day with that most minuscule of details. Now, if you can just remove the references to the FBI being 'CTU lite' (which we all already know), that'll be grand, thanks. Pretty excellent stuff. 9.0
No comments:
Post a Comment