The third hour of Day 4 is an improvement on the beginning of the season because it's more about the suspense and race-against-the-clock nature of the show than making us care about the new characters. Plus, it's an excellent showcase of how incredibly riveting Kiefer Sutherland's performance can get.
More than in previous seasons, Jack proves he can go all Dirty Harry when necessary, insisting that he needs to follow a suspect who might lead him to Andrew Paige, whereas Erin Driscoll prefers interrogating Secretary Heller's son (Logan Marshall-Green) and issues an order for Jack's arrest. His only ally is Chloe, who must come up with a scheme to help him without getting noticed, a task that proves less easy than expected when subordinates like Sarah Gavin (Lana Parilla) turn out to be a real pain in the ass. In addition, a new asset shows up at CTU: a certain Marianne (Aisha Tyler), who has a history with Curtis Manning (Roger Cross) and immediately raises the latter's suspicions.
In theory, one could accuse the writers of creative complacency, since a character like Marianne is bound to be untrustworthy, but given similar people in other seasons - most notably Gael Ortega in Day 3 - turned out to be the opposite of what the audience suspected, chances are something different is in store. The main center of interest, however is the already mentioned revival of a plot element that never becomes boring, namely Jack's justified tendency to go rogue. In particular, this episode's ending suggests that development will be more fun this time than it has ever been before.
More than in previous seasons, Jack proves he can go all Dirty Harry when necessary, insisting that he needs to follow a suspect who might lead him to Andrew Paige, whereas Erin Driscoll prefers interrogating Secretary Heller's son (Logan Marshall-Green) and issues an order for Jack's arrest. His only ally is Chloe, who must come up with a scheme to help him without getting noticed, a task that proves less easy than expected when subordinates like Sarah Gavin (Lana Parilla) turn out to be a real pain in the ass. In addition, a new asset shows up at CTU: a certain Marianne (Aisha Tyler), who has a history with Curtis Manning (Roger Cross) and immediately raises the latter's suspicions.
In theory, one could accuse the writers of creative complacency, since a character like Marianne is bound to be untrustworthy, but given similar people in other seasons - most notably Gael Ortega in Day 3 - turned out to be the opposite of what the audience suspected, chances are something different is in store. The main center of interest, however is the already mentioned revival of a plot element that never becomes boring, namely Jack's justified tendency to go rogue. In particular, this episode's ending suggests that development will be more fun this time than it has ever been before.
