I learned a lot about London from watching the third episode of 24: Live Another Day. I’m not a Londoner, although end up visiting the place fairly regularly, and there are some elements of London life I’ve clearly overlooked. Perhaps of more use is what 24: Live Another Day teaches us about the London transportation system. Foolishly, I’d assumed that the quickest way to get from one underground station to another was on an underground train. Turns out it’s not. Instead, the more logical thing to do is to jump in a car with Chloe With The Dragon Tattoo, who can traverse the London traffic by car in less time that it takes an underground train to get from station to station. Now granted, noting that 24 fights against the restraints of plausibility misses the point of the fun. But even so: the moment at the start where a captive – out in the open in London remember – says “I don’t know who you are, but I know you’re not the police, so piss off” to a bunch of Americans with guns suggests a mix up of priorities. The man in question would surely be safer if it were the police. If he’d watched a few episodes of Chuck, he’d also of course know that trouble and destruction tends to follow Yvonne Strahovski around. That noted, it would be fair to say that, at this stage, Strahovski’s character has yet to be established as a vital component of this show. This is all suitably entertaining in truth, and Bauer outdoors tends to be more fun than him growling around a posh office. But, once again, the machinations surrounding President Heller are far more interesting. By the end of the episode, Heller is addressing the British Parliament, which seems to have abandoned Westminster for the occasion and instead assembled in a big room. There, British manners go out of the window, as the US President is heckled before he can offer more than a word or two. We’re left to find out how that will develop next week. We also see that Mark Boudreau, harbouring fairly understandable rage against Bauer, has thrown Jack under a bus. His forging of an order that hands Bauer over to the Russians serves a political and revenge purpose, although faking the US president’s signature on a document is a thread that’s likely to come back too. That’s not likely to be too clever for his marriage either, which we get solid hints about the stability of anyway. Tate Donovan is doing fine, fine work with the character of Mark, we should note. Further threads: Simone’s husband is clearly going to be turned later in the series, and John Boyega’s innocent Chris Tanner has the clock ticking on him too. After all, President Heller is handing him over to the British, and we’ll no doubt give him a nice cup of tea, congratulate him on his Star Wars role, then lynch him via the medium of the tabloid press. That, or he’ll just be killed. It’s the usual 24 juggling act then, in truth. And whilst this special exclusive season event spectacular, or whatever they’re calling it this week, isn’t close to vintage 24, it’s comfortable entertainment. At some point, long term, a legitimate variation of the formula is still on the wish list to keep 24 feeling in any way fresh. But for now, this is daft, occasionally exciting, and really not bad. And the current cougar count? Zero. Read Simon’s review of episodes one and two, here. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
