What I’m Watching: 24

24: Season 9, Episode 4 “2:00pm-3:00pm” (C+)

It sure is easy to get the President on the line, especially considering the fact that the administration supposedly doesn’t negotiate with terrorists. It does make sense that both Heller and Audrey would want to give Jack the benefit of the doubt and hear his side of the story since they used to be close with him. That said, the main flaw of this show was always that things happening in real time meant that completely absurd moments would be created, like the President calling a man who had just taken hostages directly within fifteen minutes of the beginning of his siege. I’m glad to see that Kate finally realizes that maybe Jack is up to some good and that she’s ready to help him, but I suspect that it’s going to be difficult for her to stay in Navarro’s good graces long enough to help him prove what’s going on. The impending threat is particularly worrisome due to the extreme methods of Margot Al-Harazi, who was willing to have her henchman cut off her daughter’s fingers to make her husband comply with the plan for him to pilot the drones. That she earned that fate after going to her mother to confess about the secret plan is even more unfortunate. I’m not sure how far that family drama will go, and, as with past seasons, I’d like to see this threat wrapped up and move on to something wholly different in the second half of the season, which is upon us in just a few weeks given this reboot’s shortened length.