Nice that Jack is unwilling to recant, I get the feeling that he’s also tired of being second-guessed after the fact. He’s been making things up as he went along to achieve goals that were set for him without the means being legally provided to meet those goals. I think he’s tired of carrying that burden himself and wants the conversation so he’s no longer by himself between the Scylla of morally-questionable events and the Charibdes of preventable deaths and his own failure. Give the man some lines, and if you draw them too narrowly accept the outcome.

Interesting as well that were are so often told that “torture doesn’t work”, yet so far the threat of torture has worked once for Jack, and pain followed by asphyxiation has worked for Renee Walker. Granted, the torture “has” to work in ’24′, and reality doesn’t have a plot that has to be followed on a given time line. For all the hand wringing of past seasons it appears that torture still works plenty well in the ’24′ milieu.

It only makes sense that the series would deal with shifting attitudes. I tend to agree the American people should know generally what is being done on their behalf and endorse it or suffer the consequences. Bauer’s responses to the senator-inquisitor were encouraging to me.

I feel I should warn you: Jack is quite dangerous armed just with a pen!

(See last night’s episode, where he threatens a strange character with a thick Irish brogue and Joker-like facial scars…)

Jamie Irons