When reviewing a previous episode of the third season, I mentioned the Drazen family from Season 1, contrasting their values with those of the Salazars. As it turns out, they have another connection to the events of Day 3, one few people would have been able to predict.
Two episodes ago, Michael Amador revealed that his client (Paul Blackthorne) knew Jack Bauer, although he refused to reveal his name. Now, thanks to Marcus Alvers, the man behind the attacks is identified as Szephen Saunders, a former British Intelligence agent who was presumed dead after participating in the Drazen mission in Kosovo with Jack (who was believed to be the sole survivor; Victor Drazen and his sons tried to claim revenge a few years later). Saunders' motives remain unclear (though it appears something damaged him psychologically after the botched mission), but his demands are very precise: he wants to control President Palmer's actions, and begins to do so by asking him to use the phrase "The sky is falling" during a press conference, otherwise the remaining eleven vials of the virus will be used in as many major cities.
Despite the fact that his name is out in the open, Saunders remains a very elusive and fascinating figure, his next action being hard to determine and his more profound reasons totally unknown. Blackthorne plays him with the trademark icy charm associated with British villains, but gets past ugly stereotyping with help from the bulletproof script and the fast pace, which gives little time to question his believability.
And thus begins the final third of Day 3, which carries on old shocks (the infected people at the hotel) and throws in new ones (Saunders' staggering request in the final scene), in conformity with the show's groundbreaking nature.
Two episodes ago, Michael Amador revealed that his client (Paul Blackthorne) knew Jack Bauer, although he refused to reveal his name. Now, thanks to Marcus Alvers, the man behind the attacks is identified as Szephen Saunders, a former British Intelligence agent who was presumed dead after participating in the Drazen mission in Kosovo with Jack (who was believed to be the sole survivor; Victor Drazen and his sons tried to claim revenge a few years later). Saunders' motives remain unclear (though it appears something damaged him psychologically after the botched mission), but his demands are very precise: he wants to control President Palmer's actions, and begins to do so by asking him to use the phrase "The sky is falling" during a press conference, otherwise the remaining eleven vials of the virus will be used in as many major cities.
Despite the fact that his name is out in the open, Saunders remains a very elusive and fascinating figure, his next action being hard to determine and his more profound reasons totally unknown. Blackthorne plays him with the trademark icy charm associated with British villains, but gets past ugly stereotyping with help from the bulletproof script and the fast pace, which gives little time to question his believability.
And thus begins the final third of Day 3, which carries on old shocks (the infected people at the hotel) and throws in new ones (Saunders' staggering request in the final scene), in conformity with the show's groundbreaking nature.