On last night's "24" Agent Walker (played by superb actress Annie Wersching) continued her very interesting and intense descent from a previously level-headed and reserved by-the-book FBI agent to a self-destructive break-the-rules-with-a-vengeance woman who (we now learn) may or may not have been sexually abused the first time she went undercover with the Russian mob.
While it's true that a LOT of off-screen things happened to Agent Walker between season 7 and 8 (the one currently airing on Fox Monday nights) it's still hard swallow such a swift change in character; with a less talented actress, it would be near impossible...in last night's episode we learned much more about why Walker had the nervous breakdown that was mentioned in the January 19th episode...and I still have a hard time believing that it's supposed to be connected solely to her interrogating a witness and not more related to the horrible things she experienced while undercover and probably will again now that's she been reassigned (unofficially) to infiltrate the mob.
I know it's just a tv show and Wersching (who I might have already mentioned is doing a superb job!) is just playing a fictional character. Still...it saddens and even unnerves me to see the difference between what the cost of recklessness is to a woman who is basically doing the same things (minus last week's saw incident) Jack is and paying a much higher price...that is if we're talking about all of this unwinding being a direct result of Walker's harshly interrogating her witness...I'm still not sure that's what this is all about...
Next week's preview looks even more disturbing as in it we see Wersching's character in a towel and fresh out of the shower being summoned by Vladimir, the man who physically abused her the first time she went undercover. Even in a brief glimpse of her face it's easy to tell that she does not want to respond. The whole situation (being undercover and having to put up with physical, and possibly sexual, assault or risk breaking her cover) is a very uneasy one and (if handled right) has the potential to pose one of the most thought-provoking questions "24" has ever raised...what exactly is a person capable of going through when committed to a job that involves national security but puts her in serious jeopardy, in both bodily and emotional harm.
Jack's drug addiction horrors (as a result of his undercover work during the third season) sort of pale next to this.
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