Actually, I thought last night's episode sprung the various subplots back to life. Much needed given that the Bauer family subplot that has thus far carried much of Day Six is on hold.

I've been waiting for some intrigue at CTU, and though Nadia eventually getting implicated had been telegraphed from the first hour, it sets up a lot of angles by which the machinations at CTU can now link to whatever conspiracy is going through the White House.

Although I'll agree that the storyline with the warmongering VP is a bit over-the-top, his order for a unilateral nuke strike I don't think is that unrealistic given that 24 this season is taking place in an alternate reality where terrorist strikes on U.S. soil are practically a daily occurrence and crackdowns against mostly innocent American Muslims have already begun. In that kind of atmosphere where fear prevails, I can easily see a zealous Executive branch grabbing a lot of unilateral authority, all under the guise of national security.

While the dialog, as it has been all season long with the White House subplot, was wooden and contrived, I just think that with that subplot now revolving around the VP is a lot more interesting than with Wayne Palmer. Palmer just seems weak as a President and not nearly as complex and unpredictable, not to mention wonderfully diabolical, as Logan was. VP Daniels is every bit as one dimensional as Powers Boothe's acting (his portrayal of VP Daniels is practically a carbon copy of Jim Jones) , but he commands attention and keeps me planted in my seat when the White House story is on. Frankly, I don't want Palmer to wake up. The VP is so wonderfully perverted by power, I just want to see what he tries next.

With the other subplots kicking up a notch, Jack Bauer's storyline unfortunately took a step down in last night's episode. That whole deal with Audrey was really unconvincing. I mean, Jack slamming Chloe's phone down while she was dealing with an airborne nuke and then ordering her to retrieve a personnel file?! I just don't see Jack putting his personal agenda ahead of everything else while CTU is trying to locate a nuclear drone.

Clearly, the conditions surrounding Audrey's "death" set up a lot of interesting angles for later in the day or for Day Seven. I just think the writers could have come up with a better way of weaving it into the plot thread.

The other stuff at CTU will hopefully get better. This season has been woefully short of vintage Chloe moments, but last night's breathalyzer test with Morris was pretty good. Otherwise, that new director of field ops is just way over the top. At least VP Daniels' megalomania means something because he's got an itchy finger on the panic button. The field ops guy just seems way too cartoonish even by 24 standards. At some point, I think he will emerge as the CTU mole and he'll have to deal with Jack. Unfortunately, if that happens it will just further illustrate how predictable 24 has been this season.