What I’m Watching: 24

24: Season 8, Episode 5 “8:00PM-9:00PM” (C)

So much for a semi-strong start last week. Now that things have really gotten going, it’s not looking too good for this once-great show. The main problem is Renee. She was never a terribly well-written character, and Annie Wersching is not a great actress. Putting her front and center in what is pretty much the only major plotline of this episode is not a good idea, and Wersching is not up to the task. She can’t pull off that attitude she’s desperately trying to dish. “24” already pulled the crazy card in a big way twice, with Audrey going nuts and the unstable First Lady stabbing her former husband for what he did to her. Now Renee has gone off the deep end, and while this storyline is considerably more believable and works a lot better than both of those two, it’s still a crutch. Can’t an agent ever just be sub-par and not need to have some major mental problems as a qualification for going undercover? Apparently, serving time in prison and changing your name also means you have a leg up in the application process. The fact that Dana could even have gotten hired is a joke, and her ex-boyfriend’s bad timing in forcing her to steal thousands of dollars from the government is impeccable. As far as subplots go, it’s pretty poor, and completely uninteresting. I’m not sure whether that arc would be better if it went the preposterous route of having her seemingly aimless victimizer be part of the terrorist plot or just kept it as its current lame state. The next subplot isn’t great either, following two brothers with radically different accents as they force a doctor to help keep the sick one alive. Clearly they’re soon going to be apprehended by CTU, and they’re going to have to make a hard choice about whether to betray their family. It can’t really go in any other direction. In terms of casting, it is fun to see both David Anders, best known as Sark from “Alias,” and Callum Keith Rennie (“Battlestar Galactica,” “Californication”) as one of the brothers and the Russian head honcho, respectively. Too bad their roles aren’t that great, and the show isn’t up to using them in a worthwhile way.