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Thoughts on 10-11pm:
1.Okay, let's get this out of the way: SHIRTLESS JACK NEXT WEEK! (Laura, do you forgive the suits instead of kevlar if it means we also get shirtless Jack? Hmm....)
I really hope they aren't setting the stage to slowly kill him over the course of S8, but it definitely will be interesting if they force him to face his own mortality and make him realize that he still has things to live for/make peace with all his regrets. While I don't think they'll kill him off now, they may make Jack go through Mason's arc from S2, only stretch it over now and S8.
Selfishly, I hope they don't take that route though. I'm debating how much I'd like a "search for the cure/anitdote" arc for the rest of the season, because I'm weighing how much I'd like to see Jack kicking ass and taking names vs the emotional development he'd go through as he slowly deteriorates and is FORCED to trust and rely on everyone (in order to be saved in the end of the day of course). It's a hard choice, but either way, DAMN I cannot wait to see Chloe and Renee's reactions.
2. Olivia. Oh Livvie. I'm so disappointed in you. And yet totally not the least bit surprised because it's still pretty consistent. I think that after everything she has lost and almost lost today, Olivia can't bring herself to be angry with her mom anymore, but she still needs someone to blame for being on the outs because she's refuses to see what she did was wrong. So she has convinced herself that Ethan, and Ethan alone, is responsible for poisoning Allison's thoughts against her, even though, in all likelihood, her mother was the one who made the decision. Given the little backstory we just got, I think Olivia sees Ethan as the parent she never wanted and that makes him the perfect target for her anger. He can see right through her, but his approval and love isn't guarranteed the way her mother and her father's are, so when her parents disapprove of her, she can cut Ethan out because he's not family.
Despite all that, though, I still think that Olivia will be instrumental in getting the only hard evidence they have tying Hodges to the terrorist attacks. It's just that now that we've seen her morally grey sides, it's going to be bittersweet because Allison *will* find out about what she did and be very disapointed. Eventually we all pay the consequences of our actions, and this is totally going to bite Olivia in the butt.
3. Ethan and Allison. My love of their friendship knows no bounds. Maybe it's because I remember the words of Jed Barlett from West Wing: "Do you have a best friend? Is he smarter than you? That's your chief of staff." That scene pretty much broke me a little because you know that they've been through a lot, and that Allison is where she is today because of the support she got from both Henry and Ethan. Despite their differences, you know they were their own OT3. The things this show does to me when it comes to friendship and loyalty hurt so good.
4. On a similar note, I've never been happier to be wrong when it comes to Larry and Renee's friendship. It's taken a lot of hits and has been razed close to the ground, but damnit Larry's optimism/inability to stop believing in the best of people goes deeper than I thought. He's either a masochist or he really believes in Renee's goodness, because he keeps on reaching out to her and trying to give her the opportunity to get back on the straight and narrow. Whatever their history was and whatever their future may be, I still think that Renee needs Larry in her life because he is the type of friend you don't leave if you can help it, because his faith is so strong. For all intensive purposes, he should have written her off, but he hasn't yet, even to the point that he's extended that to Jack. He's very careful with his words- the evidence overwhelmingly points in this direction so that is the assumption we are working on until proven otherwise. This episode really cemented my love for this character because he was humble enough to realize he handled things badly, even though for the most part he's done all the right things conventional wisdom would dictate. He just had no way of knowing that today would be so fucked up. And his *face* when Jack says to send the CDC to him. Jeffry Nordling, you and your faces have made this season oh so enjoyable for me. Whether it was soft frowny face or when he finally snapped and yelled at Kanin then quizzically looked at his phone, thinking, "oh crap did Kanin just hang up on me?"- his faces alone make episodes worth watching. I don't know why I find him adorable but I do.
5. And finally we have Jack and Tony. Tony's survival instincts are now well honed, but I find it interesting that he refers to them as Jack's rules, not his own. Obi-wan has taught you well, but beware of the dark side. It's pretty clear to me that everything that Tony's become has been influenced by how he's seen Jack survive. Still, I love that despite the fact that he disagreed with Jack's decision, the fight or flight scenario still had him staying by Jack's side. Jack's all he has left in the world, the one person left who still believes in the good in him, still asking him, inviting him to fight by his side, so it makes sense.
Thoughts on rules, boundaries and the "Whatever it takes" debate.
Okay so basically Hodges' plan this season is Logan's plan from S5, right? Introduce a crisis that only you can fix so you wind up looking like the hero. Except for Hodges and Burnett, it's not for selfish glory but to "keep the US safe" by poking holes and exposing its weaknesses.
I suppose I can live with that, even though it's not terribly original. The main reason is because it serves as another reference point in the debate over when we can bend the rules and what rules we can't break. Everyone has their line. Larry's and Mayer's is endangerment of any kind, Renee's is physical endangerment of one innocent, Tony's line is endangering many innocents, and now we have Hodges who has no line. Thus our spectrum is complete. Just as Jack shows Larry that it's sometimes necessary to bend the rules, Hodges shows us that the validity of Larry and Mayer's argument that the rules still need to exist. No matter how much Hodges wants to rationalize it, the fact that he's using people who are disillusioned and resent the government to "protect" it should tell him how fucked up his logic is. It's so inherently wrong, but he refuses to see it because he no longer has perspective, no lines or boundaries, no rules to ground him. The "rules make us better" because they prevent us from becoming the monsters we seek to protect others from, which is exactly what has happened to Hodges.
And speaking of rules, how about Jack breaking his own rules to save Security Guard Carl's life? In many ways, S7 is a reversal of S1, because if S1 was all about how Jack became the man he is, with little left to lose and willing to do what it takes, S7 is quickly becoming how Jack is taking those pieces back and putting himself back together again. In S1 we see his walls crumbling down in the hospital, building to that point where he makes the decision to say goodbye to Teri to go on a suicide mission to save their daughter. In that moment, Jack became a man who had nothing to left to lose, and while losing Teri cemented that, even before she died, he had already committed to the "whatever it takes" mentality.
Now, 14 years later in S7, he's still standing, but he's moved so far to the extreme that there's no where else for him to go but back to the person he used to be, just ever so slightly. If he doesn't, he will wind up like Tony, or worse, Hodges, and the important thing to note is that Jack isn't there there- YET. He can still be saved, and it's at this moment that we begin to see the turn.
He may not have Teri or Audrey or Kim anymore, but the memory of them is still enough to keep him from becoming like Hodges. Just as Allison was able to get through to him by drawing parallels between Olivia and Kim, the memory of Teri and her pregnancy and their family that almost was is what saved Security Guard Carl's life. Is it just a coincidence that Carl talks about his pregnant wife and the trials they had to put a family together, when S1!Jack was in the process of putting his family back together with his own pregnant wife? I don't think so.
That, compounded with Marika's death and Carl using Renee's very words from 7x05, is enough that it makes him think twice about making Carl collateral damange. I'm sure that in his head, he sees Mayer telling him to trust the system, hears Renee's voice in his head telling him that maybe she doesn't want to learn how to live with it. Choosing to save Carl's life may not have been the smartest choice, but it's not necessarily the wrong choice either, at least not for Jack's soul. Tony pretty much called it out in his question about who he was saving Carl for, because at the end of the day, both Renee and Tony are really asking the same question: what is Jack willing to live with?
And S7, tinged with regrets and questions of the path not taken, offers Jack the opportunity to explore both avenues without offering solid answers. By showing us the costs of both ways, all that is clear that there is no clear-cut right or wrong way. If we go with the ruthless way, Marika dies; if we go on the side of compassion, Tony gets kidnapped and Jack might die. Either way you go, you still lose because someone has to pay the cost. Larry's rules make us better; Jack's rules keep us alive. They're both right, and they're both wrong. The only constant is that there is cost that someone (anyone) will have to pay. The rules you choose to follow simply determine what kind of life you decide to lead. Quality over quantity.
All in all, I have to once again give the writers snaps for actually scripting in these themes into the season. Normally we are happy to get some semblence of a coherent villain motivation. This year though, we get the "whatever it takes" debate on multiple levels (Olivia vs Ethan, Larry vs Jack, Jack vs Tony vs Hodges), the trust issues for old relationships (Jack/Tony, Renee/Larry, Ethan/Allison, Jack/Chloe, Jack/Bill) and new (Allison/Jack, Jack/Renee), and we get callbacks to past seasons. If they can remember to give Jack at least scabbed over scars from S6, this may surpass S2 and tie with S1 as my favorite season yet.
1.Okay, let's get this out of the way: SHIRTLESS JACK NEXT WEEK! (Laura, do you forgive the suits instead of kevlar if it means we also get shirtless Jack? Hmm....)
I really hope they aren't setting the stage to slowly kill him over the course of S8, but it definitely will be interesting if they force him to face his own mortality and make him realize that he still has things to live for/make peace with all his regrets. While I don't think they'll kill him off now, they may make Jack go through Mason's arc from S2, only stretch it over now and S8.
Selfishly, I hope they don't take that route though. I'm debating how much I'd like a "search for the cure/anitdote" arc for the rest of the season, because I'm weighing how much I'd like to see Jack kicking ass and taking names vs the emotional development he'd go through as he slowly deteriorates and is FORCED to trust and rely on everyone (in order to be saved in the end of the day of course). It's a hard choice, but either way, DAMN I cannot wait to see Chloe and Renee's reactions.
2. Olivia. Oh Livvie. I'm so disappointed in you. And yet totally not the least bit surprised because it's still pretty consistent. I think that after everything she has lost and almost lost today, Olivia can't bring herself to be angry with her mom anymore, but she still needs someone to blame for being on the outs because she's refuses to see what she did was wrong. So she has convinced herself that Ethan, and Ethan alone, is responsible for poisoning Allison's thoughts against her, even though, in all likelihood, her mother was the one who made the decision. Given the little backstory we just got, I think Olivia sees Ethan as the parent she never wanted and that makes him the perfect target for her anger. He can see right through her, but his approval and love isn't guarranteed the way her mother and her father's are, so when her parents disapprove of her, she can cut Ethan out because he's not family.
Despite all that, though, I still think that Olivia will be instrumental in getting the only hard evidence they have tying Hodges to the terrorist attacks. It's just that now that we've seen her morally grey sides, it's going to be bittersweet because Allison *will* find out about what she did and be very disapointed. Eventually we all pay the consequences of our actions, and this is totally going to bite Olivia in the butt.
3. Ethan and Allison. My love of their friendship knows no bounds. Maybe it's because I remember the words of Jed Barlett from West Wing: "Do you have a best friend? Is he smarter than you? That's your chief of staff." That scene pretty much broke me a little because you know that they've been through a lot, and that Allison is where she is today because of the support she got from both Henry and Ethan. Despite their differences, you know they were their own OT3. The things this show does to me when it comes to friendship and loyalty hurt so good.
4. On a similar note, I've never been happier to be wrong when it comes to Larry and Renee's friendship. It's taken a lot of hits and has been razed close to the ground, but damnit Larry's optimism/inability to stop believing in the best of people goes deeper than I thought. He's either a masochist or he really believes in Renee's goodness, because he keeps on reaching out to her and trying to give her the opportunity to get back on the straight and narrow. Whatever their history was and whatever their future may be, I still think that Renee needs Larry in her life because he is the type of friend you don't leave if you can help it, because his faith is so strong. For all intensive purposes, he should have written her off, but he hasn't yet, even to the point that he's extended that to Jack. He's very careful with his words- the evidence overwhelmingly points in this direction so that is the assumption we are working on until proven otherwise. This episode really cemented my love for this character because he was humble enough to realize he handled things badly, even though for the most part he's done all the right things conventional wisdom would dictate. He just had no way of knowing that today would be so fucked up. And his *face* when Jack says to send the CDC to him. Jeffry Nordling, you and your faces have made this season oh so enjoyable for me. Whether it was soft frowny face or when he finally snapped and yelled at Kanin then quizzically looked at his phone, thinking, "oh crap did Kanin just hang up on me?"- his faces alone make episodes worth watching. I don't know why I find him adorable but I do.
5. And finally we have Jack and Tony. Tony's survival instincts are now well honed, but I find it interesting that he refers to them as Jack's rules, not his own. Obi-wan has taught you well, but beware of the dark side. It's pretty clear to me that everything that Tony's become has been influenced by how he's seen Jack survive. Still, I love that despite the fact that he disagreed with Jack's decision, the fight or flight scenario still had him staying by Jack's side. Jack's all he has left in the world, the one person left who still believes in the good in him, still asking him, inviting him to fight by his side, so it makes sense.
Thoughts on rules, boundaries and the "Whatever it takes" debate.
Okay so basically Hodges' plan this season is Logan's plan from S5, right? Introduce a crisis that only you can fix so you wind up looking like the hero. Except for Hodges and Burnett, it's not for selfish glory but to "keep the US safe" by poking holes and exposing its weaknesses.
I suppose I can live with that, even though it's not terribly original. The main reason is because it serves as another reference point in the debate over when we can bend the rules and what rules we can't break. Everyone has their line. Larry's and Mayer's is endangerment of any kind, Renee's is physical endangerment of one innocent, Tony's line is endangering many innocents, and now we have Hodges who has no line. Thus our spectrum is complete. Just as Jack shows Larry that it's sometimes necessary to bend the rules, Hodges shows us that the validity of Larry and Mayer's argument that the rules still need to exist. No matter how much Hodges wants to rationalize it, the fact that he's using people who are disillusioned and resent the government to "protect" it should tell him how fucked up his logic is. It's so inherently wrong, but he refuses to see it because he no longer has perspective, no lines or boundaries, no rules to ground him. The "rules make us better" because they prevent us from becoming the monsters we seek to protect others from, which is exactly what has happened to Hodges.
And speaking of rules, how about Jack breaking his own rules to save Security Guard Carl's life? In many ways, S7 is a reversal of S1, because if S1 was all about how Jack became the man he is, with little left to lose and willing to do what it takes, S7 is quickly becoming how Jack is taking those pieces back and putting himself back together again. In S1 we see his walls crumbling down in the hospital, building to that point where he makes the decision to say goodbye to Teri to go on a suicide mission to save their daughter. In that moment, Jack became a man who had nothing to left to lose, and while losing Teri cemented that, even before she died, he had already committed to the "whatever it takes" mentality.
Now, 14 years later in S7, he's still standing, but he's moved so far to the extreme that there's no where else for him to go but back to the person he used to be, just ever so slightly. If he doesn't, he will wind up like Tony, or worse, Hodges, and the important thing to note is that Jack isn't there there- YET. He can still be saved, and it's at this moment that we begin to see the turn.
He may not have Teri or Audrey or Kim anymore, but the memory of them is still enough to keep him from becoming like Hodges. Just as Allison was able to get through to him by drawing parallels between Olivia and Kim, the memory of Teri and her pregnancy and their family that almost was is what saved Security Guard Carl's life. Is it just a coincidence that Carl talks about his pregnant wife and the trials they had to put a family together, when S1!Jack was in the process of putting his family back together with his own pregnant wife? I don't think so.
That, compounded with Marika's death and Carl using Renee's very words from 7x05, is enough that it makes him think twice about making Carl collateral damange. I'm sure that in his head, he sees Mayer telling him to trust the system, hears Renee's voice in his head telling him that maybe she doesn't want to learn how to live with it. Choosing to save Carl's life may not have been the smartest choice, but it's not necessarily the wrong choice either, at least not for Jack's soul. Tony pretty much called it out in his question about who he was saving Carl for, because at the end of the day, both Renee and Tony are really asking the same question: what is Jack willing to live with?
And S7, tinged with regrets and questions of the path not taken, offers Jack the opportunity to explore both avenues without offering solid answers. By showing us the costs of both ways, all that is clear that there is no clear-cut right or wrong way. If we go with the ruthless way, Marika dies; if we go on the side of compassion, Tony gets kidnapped and Jack might die. Either way you go, you still lose because someone has to pay the cost. Larry's rules make us better; Jack's rules keep us alive. They're both right, and they're both wrong. The only constant is that there is cost that someone (anyone) will have to pay. The rules you choose to follow simply determine what kind of life you decide to lead. Quality over quantity.
All in all, I have to once again give the writers snaps for actually scripting in these themes into the season. Normally we are happy to get some semblence of a coherent villain motivation. This year though, we get the "whatever it takes" debate on multiple levels (Olivia vs Ethan, Larry vs Jack, Jack vs Tony vs Hodges), the trust issues for old relationships (Jack/Tony, Renee/Larry, Ethan/Allison, Jack/Chloe, Jack/Bill) and new (Allison/Jack, Jack/Renee), and we get callbacks to past seasons. If they can remember to give Jack at least scabbed over scars from S6, this may surpass S2 and tie with S1 as my favorite season yet.
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