Jack should know
what it feels like. But for Mummy this hour had to wind up in a pretty strange
place. Do you have a feel for a common refrain in this blog (other blogs, too?)
about Jack? He always gets what he wants. Just this episode, he got Chief of
Staff Mark to be nice to him, or at least to cooperate (yes, it helped that PH
told CoSM to cooperate), he got a helo, he got the secret service detail
details, he got Kate to bully the doctor into juicing up comatose Wifey even if
it kills her, he got Wifey to give up the goods to Kate even if it kills her.
Somehow, getting what he wants over and over again doesn’t make him any
happier. Is that what getting what you want feels like?
OK, he had to
do something he didn’t want to: take PH to Wembley. PH did decide to meet
Mummy’s demand/bargain/extortion.
(What’s wrong with extortion? Two legal activities exchanged for each other?
Mummy won’t blow up London—people do that every day! In exchange for PH going
to Wembley—people do that every day! In this exchange, has Mummy done anything
illegal till she blows something up? I wonder if the Social
Contract falls in this bucket: I’ll follow the rules if you’ll follow the
rules.) And lucky for PH, the only human in the world capable of getting him
there (i.e., sneaking him out past the secret service without anyone
else—except CoSM—knowing) just happened to have come out of deep cover that
day. And be PH’s bud. Like I said last week—you can’t have a story without
coincidence.
Jack didn’t
want to do that, thought it was a bad idea. Till PH told Jack that Jack would
do the same thing in PH’s shoes. That’s always the winner argument, the
argument that ends the argument. Except I’m left thinking, “Huh?” PH made the
obvious argument, including that he’s gonna die (or forget everything—what’s
the difference?) in a year anyway. Jack makes the obvious argument (mine!),
“You can’t trust her.” PH says he does, then throws in that if she welches, her
credibility for seeking justice is shot if she still holds London hostage,
still fires off missiles.
Some
arguments are just too stupid to argue with. PH’s mind is made up, and rather
than argue with a looney who’s losing his mind and won’t see reason, Jack
decides that’s more unnecessary suspense and drama than this show needs. Just
get on with it; 24 is on the clock.
CoSM gets
Jack what he needs, including a diversionary staff meeting. PH and Audrey have
a moment whose import Audrey doesn’t recognize that she fizzles by say, “Dad, I
have to get back to work,” (let that be a lesson to you about putting work
before family), Jack gets PH out of the building (albeit with one moment of
gratuitous suspense as a secret service agent stumbles on them, Jack conks him
on the head, PH says, “Aw, Jack, you didn’t hafta do that,”—look, we all know
what’s gonna happen here, why do we need that one head conk? I agree, PH, but blame
the writers, not Jack!). CoSM and Audrey have their moment later when Audrey
finds out what’s up and CoSM knew, was in on it, and didn’t tell her. She’s
furious, he’s “if that’s how you want it, so be it.” Till he nearly cries about
how much he loved PH. He didn’t even have to use the, “Stick with me or PH’s
death will be in vain” argument. Still too much easy resolution of issues in
this season—I’m not used to 24, let alone TV, minimizing opportunities for
drama!
With that out
of the way, night
falls like it does in the tropics (between 630 and 635 pm), and Jack gets
some more of what he wants. Kate gets Wifey to give up Mummy’s secret hideaway,
where she won’t be anymore, but also the disks MEH hid that “prove” Wifey’s
innocence. (Those two really were lovey-dovey.) OK, here’s a real opportunity
for suspense—will they find the disks in time? Ooooh, why did MEH hide them so
well? Do we really believe they would have found them under the floorboards if
they didn’t know to look? And once they get them, can Chloe figure out
something from them in time to save PH from Wembley?
I think we
all know the answer to that—this is 24, and it’s bound and determined to go
where no show has gone before—what President has given up her/his life in
response to terrorist demands? Let’s take pop culture to the next intellectual
level and explore just what that means.
So, Jack gets
PH to Wembley, all lit up with nobody home—is it always lit? PH walks to mid
field, looks up, Mummy takes the helm from Sonny, and lets ‘er rip. Big crater right
in the middle of the English pitch. Prescient of the English performance in the
2014 World Cup? Anybody remember PH’s last words? (I paid attention for them,
wound up thinking they were pretty lame, and forgot them!)
And now Mummy
finally gets to see what it feels like to get your heart’s desire.
While we get
to think back on when we’ve finally gotten what we’ve wanted for-ever.
I’ve followed, studied, cheered my favorite sports teams, mostly from afar
these days. I watch scores, read up on game results, follow games on the
internet. And once in a great long while I get the thrill of a championship (my
teams rarely reach the pinnacle, then again, many teams never reach the
pinnacle, and few do often). I find I’m left thinking, the same thing I do when
my teams don’t win the championship, “There’s always next year.” It becomes a
disappointment to finally get there. That’s over (even if “they can never take
that away from me.” Of course they can—remember Floyd Landis? Joe Paterno?). In
the past, and now, it’s time to start climbing the next hill. Like the physical pinnacle I
scaled with a guide, who when we got there, hurried us off. More than the
mountaintop experience, the journey itself is the reward. Win or lose.
What does
Mummy think about the journey that got her here? Did she have a plan to “win
the peace” after winning the war? Or is she left thinking, “Now what?”
But that’s
for next week because this week’s hour is done.
And we’re
left with the image of Mummy simply pulling the trigger from afar, watching her
TV feed from the drone for the result. Showing us that even TV-life is more and
more virtual. Was
it ever real?
Or was it a
trick (no wonder PH kept it secret) and PH survives? That sure blows a hole in
this whole blog entry. That’s too big for me to consider now!
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