No, I’m not talking about a real President. I’m talking about President Allison Taylor, who has taken an abrupt turn for the worse in the last few hours on 24.
First, she seems to be willing to risk just about everything for some kind of Mideast peace agreement, even though she knows that the Russkies are so opposed to it that they bankrolled a terrorist operation that successfully assassinated President Pompadour, the head of state of Whoswhatistan, the key party in the negotiations. Now, that’s sure to be a “lasting peace”! Apparently the Prez thinks that securing a Mideast peace agreement will cement her place in history among the great U.S. Presidents. President Taylor, please meet President Jimmy Carter . . . and feel free to ask him whether the Camp David Accords put him in the Top Ten of American Presidents, as opposed to sucking wind at the ass end of the list, down there with Nixon and Buchanan.
Second, President Taylor is mysteriously listening to scuzzball ex-Prez Charles Logan rather than the saintly Ethan Kanin, her upright Secretary of State — even though she knows that Logan is a traitorous, duplicitous sleaze who was drummed out of office after spearheading a conspiracy against his own government. So far, at Logan’s suggestion she has covered up the Russkies’ assassination plot and, most recently, has remanded a federal prisoner to a “private security firm” bent on torturing the prisoner into spilling her guts about the Russkies’ secret plan. Sure, President Taylor secured a meaningless promise from Logan that torture would be a “last option,” but we all knew it was a sham. This, from a President who formerly was so ethical she sent her own daughter off to the federal pen?
Third, President Taylor tried to lock down Jack Bauer. Who is she kidding? She knows Jack can’t be stopped, and she’s just made him into an enemy?!? I don’t care how often she looks pensive or concerned — she obviously is addled.
24 is a pretty PC show, so I don’t think this season can end with President Taylor, the first female President on 24, bringing up the rear in the lineup of 24 Chief Executives. That means one of the following plot twists must inevitably occur: (1) the President Taylor we have seen the past few hours is her evil twin or a “double,” (2) President Taylor has been drugged and manipulated by Logan and will soon come to her senses, (3) President Taylor is in fact under cover and in league with Jack Bauer and falsely cooperating with Logan to smoke out a deep-rooted conspiracy in her government, or (4) the President will quickly realize the gross error of her ways, repent and join Jack, and be killed in some heroic fashion that redeems her in the 24verse for all time.
Five hours to go.
Webner House 