March 13, 2007 - As we hit the halfway point this season -- 12 hours after the beginning of Day 6 -- we're treated to this hit-and-miss episode with two very cool twists that ratchet up the overall quality of the episode immensely.

The introduction of Curtis's replacement, Mike Doyle (played by Rick Schroder), was rather overdone and at times a little cheesy. Did we really need the exposition about how annoying Doyle was in Denver? And Doyle's prodding and bickering with the analysts seemed completely unnecessary and forced. Perhaps Schroder will get a little more comfortable in the role as the season progresses (and will start looking a little less like Mark Hamill in Return of the Jedi). Right now we feel like we're being force-fed a persona, complete with Milo saying to Morris, "You thought I was a pain in the ass." Show us how good an agent Doyle is and why people should put up with him -- don't just tell us about it.

Jack was nearly nonexistent this episode, but his small bits were entertaining, as usual. The trick with the belt was very cool, feeling a little Indiana Jones-ish. There were enough strong storylines this episode that Jack's absence wasn't very noticeable. Since he seems to be a little injured, we expect his involvement will be a little lessened the next hour or two as well, so here's hoping the other storylines and characters continue to keep things going.

Powers Boothe gave a great performance this episode as his Vice President Daniels allowed his true colors to show. Pressuring Lennox to lie about Assad's involvement, threatening an Arab country with a full military attack, and sanctioning the use of force on the Russian consulate… Daniels has made more morally ambiguous decisions in just one hour than the two President Palmers could ever tolerate.

By far the best moments of the episode involved the return of former First Lady Martha Logan and our favorite Secret Service agent, Aaron Pierce. We've been wondering this season about what happened to Aaron, a character who has been protecting presidents since Day 1 and factored largely into the storyline last season. It's a truly great twist to see Pierce now together with Martha, building on the chemistry and relationship they started in Day 5.

Jean Smart turned in yet another bravura performance as the emotionally unstable Martha. It was fascinating watching her "get all stirred up" as Aaron put it, chopping up kiwi. We expected her to accidentally cut herself, have a breakdown, or just refuse to make the phone call to Anya Suvarov. But to have Martha stab Charles, and possibly kill him? That's just brilliant. Martha easily had the best line of the episode, as Aaron asked her if she was up for the phone call: "Of course I am. I'm not crazy," just minutes after stabbing a former president in a major artery.