'Red Widow' Gets The Axe
Comedienne's Second TV Show Canceled This Year
24: 9:00PM - 10:00PM
(S07E14) "What we're doing is fundamentally and absolutely necessary." - Hodges
After all that, is it really that simple? Does it really just boil down to survival of the fittest? Fourteen hours into Jack Bauer's very bad seventh day and we finally found out the motivation behind the day's terrorist attacks. Like everyone else, I've been on the edge of my seat, but after that revelation... well, it's going to take another crazy twist for me to really care about Jonas Hodges.
I had the opportunity to sit in on a conference call with 24 EP Howard Gordon about a week ago and when asked about Hodges, he said, "Yes, I think you'll get a very full-bodied explanation of Jonas Hodges' [Jon Voight] motivations. He is in the tradition of all our best villains - complicated, megalomaniacal and in his view, well intentioned. You'll know in all its operatic glory why he's done what he's done."
Was this really all that "operatic?" In the same way that Sen. Blaine Mayer has dismantled CTU, it turns out that he had also been looking into Starkwood, an extremely powerful and persuasive government defense contractor. Hodges runs the outfit and doesn't want to shut it down. It's a story we've heard before: he plans on killing hundreds of thousands of innocent Americans to prove that terror exists and create a demand for his company's services. Simple enough but far from operatic.
Jack, still on the run since he's been framed for Burnett's murder by Starkwood employee Quinn, finds all of this out while digging through files in Mayer's home office. The two of them, finally seeing eye to eye, agree that coming clean is the best way for Jack to take down Starkwood. Juma gave Hodges weapons and they need to be stopped. Then Quinn shows up and it's the same story - Jack is framed.
One key scene though, right before Mayer bit on a bullet (did not see that coming), was the conversation he had with Jack about regret. Losing his family and having to kill innocents were near the top of the list, but did anyone else notice that Jack's motivations nearly mirrored those of Hodges? The difference? Hodges truly believes men like him are required for the world to operate safely and while Jack does agree with that, he still regrets that it's the case. If anything, it sets up an inevitable philosophical debate while bullets fly when Jack and Jonas finally meet.
A few more thoughts -
-
Olivia totally leaked that info to the press. Whoever is covering for her at the network must've owed her one - she was a consultant before this. And speaking of that, how much you want to bet that we'll find out one of her major consulting clients was Starkwood?
-
Larry's by-the-book mentality is really starting to get annoying and it's impeding the investigation. Grow a pair already man! I'm assuming this will change though - he can't keep Renee in custody for the rest of the day.
-
How come Chloe and Morris didn't mention Bill once? I would think they would have heard about that by now. I was just surprised that Morris didn't use the "people around him die" argument to try and convince Chloe that helping the FBI find Jack was the right thing to do.
Now the fun begins. The enemy is known. His plan is (somewhat) known. And Jack and Tony know where his weapons are going to be. Time to save the day (again).
21 Comments