Watching 24

If you’re keeping track at home, in the first 4 hours, Jack only managed to kill 2 people. Seems he’s off to a slow start.

I have a feeling he’ll get his legs back under him though. All you with high guesses, I wouldn’t start worrying yet. There’s still 20 more hours of “Bauer Power” left to be played.

Good luck!!!

Sorry this one is a bit short. Like I said in my review this episode was pretty much all leading up to the fourth one. So, most of the episode was Assad in the car with the other terrorist.

Tom Lennox (53)
-Despite all his shortcomings he didn’t want to give into Fayed. Way to go Tom you’re really moving up in the Countdown (+17)

Net Gain/Loss: +17
Current Total: 70

President Wayne Palmer (69)
-Didn’t tell Fayed where to shove his demands (-7)
-Actually, for some insane reason loaded a bunch of terrorist prisoners on buses to fly them out of the country for Fayed (-15)
-Because of his decision the World’s Largest Lower Lipped Nuclear Terrorist is now on the loose (-19)

Net Gain/Loss: -41
Current Total: 28 (OUCH!)

Karen Hayes (80)
-Also, didn’t think it wise to give into Fayed’s demands (+10)

Net Gain/Loss: +10
Current Total: 90

Bill Buchanan (108)
-Stopped the prisoner release before the plane took off (+7)

Net Gain/Loss: +7
Current Total: 115
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8:00a.m.—9:00a.m.
(S06 E03)

This episode was a little lower key, meaning that it was more of a lead-up to the grand fourth episode that we’ll get to in a minute.

In my first two reviews I never mentioned Ahmed and the nice American family that we kept getting short glimpses of. Ahmed (played by that Kumar kid Kal Penn) is pretending to be a normal everyday citizen that is being racially profiled. In the first episode we saw his Dad being carted away by the FBI, but later found out that it was actually Ahmed who is involved with the terrorists. Ahmed is having problems with the neighborhood hillbillie who ironically is right about Ahmed being a terrorist.

Episode 3 Stan (the hillbillie) breaks into Ahmed’s house while Ahmed is trying to retrieve a package to take to Fayed. Ahmed shoots him and then takes poor Scott hostage. All Scott wanted to do was to be friends with Ahmed, laugh, skip, play, and trade necklaces. But, now Ahmed has a gun in his face and forces him over to his house. Ahmed also had a nasty cut on his leg after Stan beat the crap out of him. So, he makes Scott’s Dad do his dirty work.

Jack and Assad make a great team don’t they? Assad doesn’t seem like the man he’s being portrayed as. Alexander Siddig does such a good job; you wouldn’t know that he’s actually been a ruthless terrorist.

The whole staging of the traffic wreck was brilliant. Did you see how Jack drove that Jeep? He still knows how to do what he does. Instinctively this job and him are connected. He can try to fool us all he wants but he is Jack Bauer and this is exactly what he’s meant to do. He hasn’t forgotten, but he may just not want to do it anymore. His morale is down and it shows.

This was the first episode where we really heard anything substantial from Curtis. We can all tell that Curtis isn’t happy at all with the arrangement with Assad. The man is a known terrorist; he’s killed hundreds, maybe thousands of innocent people over the past 20 years. I can understand Curtis’s feelings.

Fayed also demanded the release of over 100 prisoners from a military detention base within the hour or the bombings won’t stop. This is where Wayne really is starting to choke. He gives into Fayed’s demands without any thought. Even Lennox didn’t want to do it and I hate that guy.

Jack and Assad successfully follow one of Fayed’s men to a storage garage. But, fail to apprehend him because he blows himself up. Check out the picture of the guy afterward, he’s one crispy critter.

Scott’s Dad now has the component he needs to take to Fayed. He had to kill a man to get it. I just didn’t understand why he could take on a grown man with a gun. But, he didn’t have the guts to take on an injured, teenage Ahmed.

Jack finds a damaged computer, but in perfect 24 fashion they are able to recover just the bit of information they need. Within seconds they find out that Fayed has a nuclear device and that one of the men being freed from the prison knows how to program the nuke. What they had no idea about was that the man would be helped in escaping before the prisoners even got on the plane.
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FOX finished 2nd in the ratings last night with the 24 season premiere.

CBS beat out FOX because the NFL Playoff game they had ran over.

It’s still an overall good start for 24.

Here’s a quote from TVweek.com

“24″ premiere earned a 6.1 rating among adults 18 to 49, according to preliminary Nielsen Media Research figures. That’s higher than the show’s 2005 premiere, but down from its football-aided debut last year.

So it seems that the leaked episodes didn’t really have that much affect, if any on the show. It’s just that last year FOX had the NFL Playoffs, not CBS. And 24, was boosted by that being it’s lead-in.

Overall a great night for 24’s ratings.

7:00 a.m.—8:00 a.m.

Tom Lennox (63)
-Convinced President Wayne not to listen to Jack (-10)
Net Gain/Loss: -10
Current Total: 53

President Wayne Palmer (70)
-Didn’t believe Jack about Fayed (-10)
-Wanted, for a brief second, to change the air assault to a ground assault (+20)
-Didn’t do that either because he’s spineless (-21)
-Finally realizes Jack is always right (+10)
Net Gain/Loss: -1
Current Total: 69

Karen Hayes (113)
-Promoted the air strike against Assad (-8)
-After not believing Jack, she then attempted to give him a history lesson. (-10)
-Actually mentioned, and even fathomed, that Jack could be played (-15)
Net Gain/Loss: -33
Current Total: 80

Bill Buchanan (103)
-Didn’t trust Jack after telling him about Fayed. When will they learn? (-10)
-Didn’t turn Jack in after he found out, from Chloe, that Jack saved Assad (+15)
Net Gain/Loss: +5
Current Total: 108
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It sometimes is a bit hard to clarify what is a kill and what isn’t.

Obviously Jack biting the terrorist in the neck was a kill, (a fantastic one at that). But, the question comes about Jack kicking the guy off the train. Was that a kill?

For purposes of the contest we are ruling that it WASN’T a kill of Jack’s. The man took his own life, Jack only made sure that he didn’t kill anyone else along with it.

We here at Watching24.com feel that the beginning of 24 is a reason of celebration. That’s why yesterday we put up the 500$ Jack Bauer Kill Count Contest and that’s why today we’re giving away a FREE copy of 24 Season 5 on DVD.

Here’s the rules:

Somewhere in my past posts I have hidden a quote from a past season of 24. Find the quote is your first task. Once you find that quote, you need to tell me who said it and in what season.

I made the contest hard, but not TOO hard for you 24 nuts. You’ll pick up on the clues in the quotation.

Once you know it all post a comment telling me 1. What post contains the quotation. 2. What season the quotation was said in. 3. Who said it.

Give me all three of those and season 5 is yours.

EDIT: Rich Jordan of New Hampshire is now the proud new owner of season 5 on DVD. Please stay tuned for your chance to win 2 more season 5 DVD sets.

6:00 a.m.–7:00 a.m.

Tom Lennox (100)
-Reminding me of Dr. Janosz Poha from Ghostbusters 2 (+5)
-Wanting to detain all the Muslims in America and put them into detention facilities (-10)
-Acting like a complete weasel every time he’s asked about something (-3)
-He’s got shifty eyes, and we all know what that means (-7)
-Authorized detention facilities to be set up across the country (-10)
-Showed the first signs of working behind the President’s back for his own personal gain (-12)
Net Gain/Loss: -37
Current Total: 63

President Wayne Palmer (100)
-For actually hiring Tom Lennox (-15)
-Sporting a very un-Presidential goatee (-3)
-Negotiated release of Jack Bauer (+20)
-But, only did it in order to sacrifice him to the wrong guy (-25)
-Wondered if he should be the one leading the country (-5)
-Thought about calling off sacrificing Jack at the last moment (+8)
-Actually went through with it (-10)
Net Gain/Loss: -30
Current Total: 70

Karen Hayes (100)
-Marrying Bill (+5)
-Stood up to Tom Lennox (+8)
Net Gain/Loss: +13
Current Total: 113

Bill Buchanan (100)
-For being just about the only who really cares about Jack besides Chloe (+8)
-Marrying Karen (-5)
Net Gain/Loss: +3
Current Total: 103

Nadia Yassir (100)
-Being really, really good looking (+7)
Net Gain/Loss: +7
Current Total: 107

Jack Bauer (100)
-Grew a sweet Charles Manson beard while in China (+7)
-After almost 2 years of torture in China, not speaking a word (+20)
-Although his first words were Audrey (-7)
-Having the ‘cajones’ to tell Curtis to put his gun away because he’s not going to run (+10)
-Performed the most amazing shave job and haircut with only a steel bowl and water pitcher (+15)
-Not having any hesitation at all to sacrifice himself (+13)
-Gave a rather rousing speech about sacrifice and how he wanted to “die for something.� (+10)
-Memorized GPS coordinates after being tortured by Fayed (+8)
-Showed all of us that he hasn’t forgotten his Lost Boy roots, after biting a man to death (+20)
Net Gain/Loss: +96
Current Total: 196

Chloe O’Brian (100)
-Threatening the new girl, Nadia, that she’ll tattle on her (-7)
-Pulling the first Chloe scowl of the season (+10)
Net Gain/Loss: +3
Current Total: 103

Morris O’Brian (100)
-Reminding me of Simon Cowell (-5)
-Touched Chloe’s butt in the middle of CTU (+7)
-Touched Chloe’s butt (-7)
-For owning his own secret satellite (+14)
-Almost ruined the whole operation (-10)
-Smugness (-8)
Net Gain/Loss: -9
Current Total: 91

Milo (100)
-Being on a complete power trip even though he has no idea that he hasn’t been at CTU since season 1 (-7)
Net Gain/Loss: -7
Current Total: 93

Big Winner: Jack Bauer
Big Loser: Tom Lennox

UPDATE: IF YOU WERE LATE ENTERING THE KILL COUNT CONTEST AND DIDN’T GET THE NUMBER YOU WANTED HEAD ON OVER HERE FOR ANOTHER WATCHING24.COM CONTEST. WIN SEASON 5 ON DVD.

Since this was a 2 hour premiere I think I’ll still split up the reviews according to the actual episode. So, I’ll just put up both my reviews for both episodes, today and tomorrow. Then we’ll start having one review a week.

Also, after each episode I will also be posting the 24 Character Countdown, where I will award and deduct points based on character performances throughout the show.

6:00 a.m.-7:00 a.m.
(S06 E01)

Well, where do I start, it was an intense first hour to say the least. America is suffering from suicide bomb attacks, Peter MacNicols wants to intern all the people who pray towards Mecca, President Wayne Palmer seems a bit spineless, and Jack has grown a sweet Charles Manson-esque beard while on his vacation (imprisonment) in China.

We’re informed that Pres. Palmer has brokered a deal with the Chinese to get Jack back. The specifics of how they got Jack back were left out although the term “high price� was used a great deal. I think it was better that way, we know it took a lot to get Jack back, and we weren’t bothered with the details.

Well, the inter-office politics, backstabbing, and whining are back in full swing as Milo and Morris duke it out. Morris has that wonderful, and by wonderful I mean absolutely annoying, stinging British sarcasm a la Simon Cowell. Already after the first episode I’m a bit tired of hearing those two bicker like little school girls.

Chloe managed to pull off her first scowl of the season in about 3 seconds after she was shown on screen. Her and Morris also managed to almost completely botch the ongoing operation of getting Assad by using Morris’s personal satellite (I wish I had something like that).

I loved the first episode though. I thought it was well done, and everything we expect from 24. Seeing Jack again was like a breath of fresh air, even though he seems like he’s gone through quite a lot with all the scars on his back. Jack’s been brought back to the U.S. for one purpose, to die. A man inside Assad’s crew has offered to give up Assad in exchange that he gets to kill Bauer. Jack knows what is expected of him and he gives a stirring speech to Bill about how he can “die for something,� instead of “dying for nothing.�

Then the tables turned are once Fayed (the man who wants to kill Jack because Jack killed his brother) confesses to Jack that he is actually the one that’s behind the bombings, that Assad has come to the U.S. to stop him, and that CTU is actually going to end up killing the wrong man.

That’s the wrong thing to tell Jack right? Yup. Because when everyone leaves the room Jack makes his move, initiating his first kill of the season by biting a man’s neck (yes exactly like a vampire) and ripping out a huge chunk of flesh (it seems that Kiefer hasn’t forgotten his Lost Boy roots). Now Jack has escaped. Terrorists beware, Jack DOES bite!

Episode 2 after the jump…
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That’s right, we here at Watching24.com are giving away $500 dollars to the person that can guess the exact number of kills Jack Bauer will have this season.

You are guessing the exact number of how many kills Jack Bauer will have in season 6 of 24.

Rules:
(1) Prize of $500 will be given away to the person that either guesses the right number or comes the closest.
EDIT: Without Going Over.

Enter your guess in the comment thread.

Only one entry per person. Since we will notify you by email there can only be one entry for an individual email. Please remember to put your CORRECT email.

You have until February 1st to enter your guesses. Any guesses after that cannot be taken. Since this is a guess on number of kills the further the season goes on the better knowledge you’d likely have of guessing. So, February 1st will be the deadline.

The money will be paid through Paypal at the end of the season once the kills from Jack have been totaled.

Please only put guesses in the comments, and do not email them.

In the event of a tie (two people guessed the right number) we shall go back and see who was the first to submit that number and they will be the winner.

There you have it, $500 bucks up for grabs to the person that can guess the correct number of Jack’s kills for season 6.

Also, stay tuned for more contests! We have 3 copies of season 5 on DVD to give away, details coming soon!!!

UPDATE: IF YOU WERE LATE ENTERING THE KILL COUNT CONTEST AND DIDN’T GET THE NUMBER YOU WANTED HEAD ON OVER HERE FOR ANOTHER WATCHING24.COM CONTEST. WIN SEASON 5 ON DVD.

So, today’s the day all us 24 fans have been waiting for. Jack is back from the Chinese, and he’s sure to hit the ground running.

What are everyone’s predictions for the upcoming premiere? I’d like to hear them (just a side note, if you actually downloaded it off the internet or have seen it already, please refrain from introducing any big spoilers in the comments until after the episodes have aired).

It’s hard to say what’s going to happen. Jack is back from being held and tortured in a Chinese prison camp for the past 20 months. What’s his state of mind going to be like? After almost two solid years of being tortured, even Jack might not be up to the tasks that surely lay before him.

I’m sure that Jack will instinctively be able to do what he normally does, but if it comes to torturing someone, is he going to be up to it? Or is he going to go soft? I think that this season we’ll see the most character development out of Jack than we’ve seen in any other season.
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Just a reminder that the comment contest is still going.

Just by commenting here on Watching 24 you will be entered to win (1) 500$ and (5) 100$ prizes.

So, you’re a little behind on your TV watching, and you haven’t caught up with the whole serial TV phenomenon. All you’ve been hearing about at work is the aticipation for the 6th season of 24, but you have no idea what it is, or what it’s about.

Well, here’s a short and simple guide for you. A little who’s who, what’s what, and where’s where of the show. It’s all the basics with minimal spoilers from previous seasons. No big spoilers at all. The thing that’s great about 24 is that you don’t actually have to have viewed the previous seasons, it helps but it’s not needed.

I didn’t get into 24 until the 4th season, and I understood what was going on and was sucked in by the intesity of the show. Then I had to go out and buy the rest of the seasons. So give this little guide a quick look over and then sit down this Sunday and hang on for the ride of your life.

What’s What?

The plot of 24 is simple, yet it’s the reason why 24 is one of the highest rated dramas on TV.
You take one day, a full 24 hours (making time for commercials of course) and throw a terrorist attack in the mix. Now Jack Bauer and the rest of the CTU team has 24 hours, which are all filmed in ‘real-time’ (meaning a minute to us is a minute to them), to stop (or lessen) the attack.

The show gives us an hour a week to watch the insane day unfold. We watch in awe as Jack Bauer races around L.A. to find terrorists, torture and kill them, all without taking a bathroom break.

Who’s Who

Now entering the 6th season there isn’t many people left alive that were in the previous seasons. But, in case you are just getting into 24 for the first time here’s a quick rundown of the characters.

Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland)—No Doubt you’ve heard of him, even if you haven’t seen the show. He’s the Man! Jack Bauer started off as the director of CTU. His background is varied in Special Forces operations from around the globe.

Jack was married once, and has a daughter named Kim. He’s had girlfriends throughout the series’ run, but has never been able to settle down. Jack is the true definition of a “work-a-holic.� His work is his life. Everything he’s ever loved has been sacrificed for the good of the country.

Jack has lived through five excruciating days of terror-filled chaos. He’s an expert with weapons, interrogation and torture.

If the sixth season is the first season you will be seeing, you need to know that Jack is now returning from a 20-month stint in a Chinese prison camp.

Jack Bauer is 24, and 24 is Jack Bauer…’Nuff said.

Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert)—Daughter to Jack Bauer. She has appeared in most of the seasons. Seasons 1 through 3 she was a regular. Season 5 she appeared for a brief time. No word yet on if she’ll appear in season 6, but I’m sure she will.

Kim has also had her share of hard times. It seems that whenever her Dad (Jack) is saving the world, Kim is in dire need of saving herself. Constantly being kidnapped and held by terrorists, survivalists, and yes even a cougar Kim has had quite the wild ride.

She blames her Father for her rotten life, and wasn’t too fond of seeing him in season 5.

Kim also had a brief stint as a CTU computer tech, which wasn’t very believable.
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I’ve searched far and wide and have finally come up with the name of the person that plays Jack Bauer Jr. (not really that’s just my name for him) on the new internet show CTU The Rookie (I think it’s an internet show, I hope to everything that it isn’t an actual TV show because it won’t last 2 episodes).

The actor’s name is Jeremy Ray Valdez.

As I said before I’ll keep everyone up to date on the latest happenings of CTU The Rookie . I’m going to watch it so you don’t have to

Here they are, videos 1 thru 7. Yep it’s a 7 parter and you can find all of them here. Except for some reason 4 and 7 are missing, but watching just these will give you an idea of what went on.

Part 1:

Part 2:

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