I’ll give 24: Live Another Day this much: rather than continue to debate the theoretical danger of the stolen drones to the people of London, events are constructed to demonstrate that danger directly.  Perhaps the most potent moments of the episode were the missile strikes designed to kill Simone and anyone around her, and if this is what Margot is willing to do in terms of “collateral damage” now, what would she be willing to do later?

And here I thought the drones would be a convenient and timely backdrop to the proceedings.  Instead, it’s part and parcel of the overriding question that 24, at its best, was willing to tackle: what cost security?  In the past, it was expressed in terms of torture or black ops handiwork; this time, it’s automation of warfare.  What happens if that weapon gets in the wrong hands?

In contrast, we have Jack employing a few torture methods himself on Simone, which is an odd combination, to say the least.  But it puts the question to the audience: is Jack’s choice justified, given the stakes that are abundantly given form in the rest of the episode?  Is torture ever justified in the name of security for the masses?  This episode doesn’t answer the question, it simply raises it, and does so effectively.

I must also give the writers credit for immediately addressing (and overcoming) my main criticism from the previous episode.  Yes, Navarro is a mole, but his activities aren’t disconnected to the rest of the plot progression after all.  It wasn’t Kate’s husband that was selling state secrets to the Chinese; it was Navarro, via Adrian Cross.  All of a sudden, Open Cell isn’t simply a faux-WikiLeaks with an indirect accountability for putting agents and their families in danger with indiscriminate disclosures.  Instead, it takes the Assange and Snowden philosophy to its logical, terroristic end.

It would appear that Navarro got in over his head, perhaps seeing himself as a good citizen of the world by selling secrets that he thought the world should know.  It’s unfortunate that he brokered that deal with Cross, who was more than happy to sell the information to China.  It’s not an act of altruism and “freedom of information”; it’s outright sedition.  Not only that, but the audience has been given reason to sympathize with Kate and how the accusations against her husband unfairly ended her career.  And now other agents, particularly Jordan, are being targeted to die for uncovering this “noble” enterprise.  It’s yet another aspect of a character doing what they think is right, only to discover that others with less than savory intentions will produce unexpected consequences.