Watching 24

Hey guys… I’ve got some breaking 24 related news I wanted to share with you real quick. I’ll get the countdown done as soon as possible. So here’s the deal…

Apparently, Kiefer is once again being investigated for an alcohol related incident. I’m sure y’all remember awhile back when he was busted for DUI. That plus the writer’s strike are, of course, the reason we had to wait for new episodes. Well, this time Kiefer was apparently at a party talking to Brooke Shields when a fashion designer accidently bumped into her. Kiefer demanded an apology out of him, which led to a fight that caused Kiefer to head butt the guy. According to all the reports, Kiefer had been drinking a lot and Brooke’s rep released a statement saying that she had seen no reason for Kiefer to take the action he did. We’l l see what ends up coming from this. Here’s hoping it all turns out well and that Kiefer gets some real help. He seems like a great guy, but he does have some issues that need dealing with. Good luck to him and to everyone else involved.

In some better news, I also found this interview with our very own Agent Pierce. Check it out, he’s cool. I also like how he ended up talking his character from the brink of death, which was supposed to happen the same year they killed Tony (or so we thought), Palmer and Michelle. Enjoy and I’ll get back with the countdown as fast as I can.

Hello again! So, I’m still kind of sorting out a few thoughts about last night’s episode… there was so much going on! It’s also really interesting because they really explored some character stuff with Jack last night. Anyway… let’s get to the recap/review huh?

CTU/FBI Hybrid (hey, why not? They’ve not only got CTU people there, they’re using the servers as well!)

Ya know the thing that really stuck out this week? Everyone’s treatment of Jack. Renee in particular, who seems to have a few doubts here and there about him being out in the field, but is letting him come anyway to humor him and avoid a time-wasting confrontation. I almost get the feeling that she feels like this is his one last chance to get the job done and maybe fix a tainted legacy so she doesn’t want to take that away from him. Janis on the other hand? Seems to think bitch crazy and there is no way she’s gonna say anything to set him off again and maybe experience the same wrath terror suspects have.

I’m not a huge fan of the whole ‘Jack gets infected’ story because it seems fairly obvious some magical mystery cure is gonna come out of thin air to save him and that weakens the whole story for me to know this (if the writers wanna prove me wrong, have at it!) Still it’s not a bad plot as it’s helped the writers explore the human side of this character some more and let Jack show an honesty only a dying man can have. The scene where the Imam is speaking to Jack about forgiveness and Jack admits he’s got regrets was wonderful.

Chloe was good as usual this week and clearly is as commanding as Jack since Janis and Renee obeyed her order to tell her what’s up with Jack now. Janis once again spent an episode being the PC one who objects to any remotely shady idea, but she seemed less annoying with it this week and a little more low key.

The White House

Olivia is so not getting out of this one unscathed. I like that she had her moment of conscience and decided against the hit, but she was too deep and she’s being too suspicious in front of Aaron so she’s got to face some consequences after Jonas’ death. I think, though, that someone else actually pulled off the job. What hit man is going to take out his target without getting the money first? Should be interesting to see where this goes.

It was also nice to get a chance to see Henry again this week. Also nice is the face they’re being somewhat realistic about his situation. It might be slightly iffy that he’s well enough to be moved after all he went through, but at least he’s not running around the White House like nothing ever happened.

The Bad Guys

So, now Tony has added another kidnaping, framing and preparing to detonate a bio weapon to his long list of crimes for the day. When the guy goes evil, he doesn’t mess around! And he has to be evil… if the writers try and sell a ‘but he was working to take down the group all along’ I’m gonna have a problem.

Speaking of the group… they may be good but they’re not good enough apparently, since Chloe noticed that all those transactions were done in the last half hour. I have to hand it to them, they were very efficient. How big is this group anyway? That must’ve taken a lot of manpower to pull off all that ‘evidence’.

And, of course, we have Jonas Hodges, who never actually got into the witness protection program. It seemed like they were going out of their way to make him as sympathetic as possible. Having him gaze sadly as his old license and picture of his wife and kid as he talks about losing his entire life. Extra points for having him sneak the picture back and stare at it sadly again before his car blows up. I’m actually gonna miss the character in a way. He was annoying at times, but entertaining. So there ya have it: 24’s latest episode. Did you love it? Hate it? Indifferent? Comment and let me know. Take care! I leave you with another preview thanks to Jonas Hodges. It looks like this episode’s gonna be a good one!

Hey, everyone! So, we’re getting down to the wire here. Tonight is going to be episode #21, which means only two more weeks after tonight of new episodes. Can you believe that much time has gone by already? I can’t. Usually, they have some kind of interview or article out with some info on what to expect from the new episode. Not the case this time. I haven’t found a thing! I’ve got something else, though, I’m sure you’ll enjoy. And the best part? It’s totally, 100% spoiler-free.

Kiefer did an interview the other day on the David Letterman show and I’ve found the clip, thanks to Phillyfinale. Check it out:

Can’t see it? That’s alright- I’ll give you a quick run down. So, basically, Kiefer again mentioned that they are doing Season 8. When David pointed out what that means for Kiefer’s character, Kiefer said that doesn’t necessarily mean he recovers. Other than that? There was no real 24 talk at all. He told some stories from when he was a kid (one being trying to hide a horrible bedazzeled bookbag from his mom) and said he’s still apologizing for some of the stuff he pulled. He also mentioned his twin sister, saying that when one of them was good the other would cause some trouble. He also talked a little about the day he got his star on the walk of fame and the whole cast and crew surprised him by showing up to watch. Well, that’s about it for now. Take care and I’ll see y’all tomorrow.

Good morning! Well, another week has come and gone… but before I sign off for the weekend, I wanna let you guys in on some more DVD news. Here is the official cover of the season 7 DVD set, thanks to the TV on DVD site (click on the link to see the Blu-Ray version and some more details). The site also has links to pre-order them through amazon.com and another link where you can see their previous post detailing what features you’ll get from the 6-disc set:

I gotta say I love this cover! If there’s one bad part about the DVDs to me, it’s the cover art. It’s always just Kiefer’s face taking up the entire space. Once, maybe twice? That’s kinda cool looking and interesting. Six seasons later? It felt kinda boring to me so it’s nice to see they’ve gone in a different direction with this release.

I don’t know about you guys, but I am way behind on the whole DVD thing. Finally just got a DVD player and my first DVD back in 2006 so I’m still building up a collection slow but sure (I just hope Blu Ray doesn’t take over everything soon!) If you’re in the same boat, I may have some good news. According to a fan on the TWoP message boards, the season 1-6 sets are on sale for only 16.99 each right now at Target. Call and confirm with your local store first to be on the safe side. So, are you excited for the DVD release? Do you like the cover art for the show’s sets? Let me know what you think!

So, I was getting ready to go to the day job (which was crazy busy yesterday) and find out my car isn’t running. By the time I got home it was too late to do much about anything, so I had to try and get it taken care of this morning. Many hours later, my car is now in a shop and I finally have the chance to get this post done. If only things worked as quickly in real life as they do on 24. Speaking of…. here are some of the lessons I learned this week. A couple of em are related to the whole speed issue. Enjoy and don’t forget to post your own. Can’t wait to read em!

You can recover enough from a serious seizure to be up and about in only minutes.

The FBI (and CTU) will never learn how to properly guard a perimeter.

The velvet apparently isn’t enough to convert Taylor completely. She still isn’t down with coercive tactics Jack likes using, no matter how much she trusts and likes him.

Olivia’s still a whining brat (I get where she’s coming from though and agree. Still- very whiny and petulant…)

It’s no big thing to create a long e-mail, phone, etc. trail implicating an innocent person for an attack that is going to happen in mere hours.

You can bring a bunch of servers out of storage that haven’t been used in years and have them all hooked up and ready to run in less than an hour.

Olivia is not all that bright. (If Jonas ends up dead after her rant about Jonas to Aaron and ‘joke’ about killing him, Aaron is so going to turn her in.)

Chloe will always come running when Jack calls.

Never complain about CTU being ‘big brother’ or be too liberal minded in front of Jack Bauer - he’ll let you have it.

No one respects Janis very much.

I leave you all with a 24 commercial, thanks to Jonas Hodges:

Hello, again! Y’all know the deal. I’m gonna grade everyone on how well they did this week. Let me know what you think and I’ll see y’all later. Thanks go to Aaron, as always.

Jack Bauer (611)

Working through the symptoms to let Renee know about Tony’s betryal +7
Getting the president to recommission the CTU servers +4
Calling in the clearly superior computer geek +4
Telling off Janis +8
Bluffing Hodges into telling what he knows +5

Gain/Loss: 28
New Score: 639

Renee Walker (604)

Running this interrogation by Jack much better than Larry did earlier in the season. +6
Being a much more commanding leader than I thought she would be at first +4
Blowing off Janis’ bitching at the meeting +5

Gain/Loss: 14
New Score: 619

Chloe O’Brian (240)

Finally coming back into the fold +7 (I missed her.)
Being able to put her feelings aside and treat Tony as the traitor he is. +7
Showing off her superior hacker skills to Janis +4

Gain/Loss: 18
New Score: 258

President Taylor (337)

Cutting the deal with Jonas for the good of the country +8
Shutting Olivia’s complaints down +5
Giving the go-ahead to get the CTU servers running again +3

Gain/Loss: 16
New Score: 353

Jonas Hodges (179)

Cooperating with the government. +3
Continuing to be a great scenery chewer. +4
Pointing out the similarities between his rationale and the things that Jack has done. +5

Gain/Loss: 12
New Score: 191

Tony Almeida (310)

Getting the weapon back from dead co-conspirator. +4
Getting fake!lawyer to talk the group into changing their plan +5
Helping the bad guys stay one step ahead of the good guys +4

Gain/Loss: 13
New Score: 323

Olivia Taylor (182)

Spending most of the episode being a whiner -7
Wanting to see true justice done.+4
Once again spilling confidential national security details -8
Not havng a good poker face (You know Aaron is supicious) -4

Gain/Loss: -15
New Score: 167

So, they promised last night was going to be a good one. I think they delivered on that. I think this is when I like 24 the best: when it’s simple and doesn’t rely on crazy out there coincidences to keep things going.

The FBI/Revived CTU

Jack manages to talk the President into letting him interview Hodges to see what info he can get out of him. It was a pretty good scene and I like how Hodges resisted telling Jack anything at first. I also find it funny that here is yet another person that saw Jack’s hearing on TV and thinks he’s being treated unfairly. Somehow, I don’t think it was as comforting to Jack this time, considering the source. Chloe’s back and ready to work the CTU servers that Jack convinced Taylor to bring back. Before heading in, she begged Morris to take the kid and get as far away as possible to protect him from the attack. Morris, of course, wasn’t so keen on this but she managed to talk him into it.

There’s one person who really doesn’t like the CTU servers being put back up: Chloe 2.0. She goes on a little rant about the law and big brother watching and all that stuff. This causes Jack to freak out and yell at her to ‘go whine somewhere else’ because if ‘President David Palmer’ said these servers should be up, them that should be good enough. Jack’s rant gives Chloe (who hasn’t been told about him illness) her first clue something is wrong. Who’s willing to bet she’s the one who talks Jack into doing the treatment?

The White House

President Taylor agrees to issue a not-dead Hodges a death certificate and put him in the witness protection program. If, that is, he actually gives them useful info about this other group he’s been working with. Olivia is furious, rightly so, that Hodges is going to get away with everything and go live on a nice ranch somewhere. Taylor understands her frustration, but insists this is the way things have to be and basically orders Olivia to help make it happen, as she is acting chief of staff. Olivia agrees, but she’s not happy about this. She’s so mad, she goes off on a rant about the whole thing to Aaron. As they’re talking, you can see the lightbulb go off as she realizes she can have him taken out. She calls some guy to meet her so she can ask him to do the dirty work. And I’m guessing the President may be down two kids after today….

The Bad Guys

Tony and Fake!Lawyer meet up and Tony convinces her that she needs to get the big bosses to launch another attack now, instead of 6 months from now as they had originally planned. He argues that everything is in chaos from the events of today and one more attack could completely push the government over the edge. After a lot of debate the shadowy evil guys decide to go along with that plan (thanks to a little prodding from fake!lawyer chick. They decide that they’re going to stage the attack and then frame a couple of young Muslim guys for the crime. And with that any of the old Tony that remains is definitely gone. So there ya have it- the latest episode. What did you think? What are you hoping will happen? Comment and let me know!

It’s hard to believe that there are so few episodes left in the season, but it’s true. Tonight’s episode brings us into the home stretch and sets up what Kiefer called some of the best episodes they’ve done yet. This article explains a little bit about what we can expect and mentions some previous reported details about Day 8 (which by the way will start filming on the 28th of May). If you want a quick breakdown of the article (and a few little spoilers and reactions to it all), continue on past the cut. If not, why not check out this blog and I’ll see ya tomorrow. Read the rest of this entry »

Hey, everyone!! While we wait for the episode to air, i thought I’d end the week with something a little fun. So here are my 24 Reasons to Watch 24. Feel free to write in and comment on them or add your own. I’d love to read them.

24: This show was practically made for drinking games.

23: Lots of eye-candy for all.

22: Mole hunting is a fun pastime.

21: There’s always a twist you probably didn’t see coming.

20: They have really memorable and entertaining villains.

19: The good guys always win in the end.

18: Finding the many plot holes can teach all the writers out there what not to do.

17: It’s fun to try and spot the recycled actors.

16: Speaking of actors: They get some mighty fine ones on this show.

15: The show is intense and fast paced.

14: If you don’t like a President, it’s cool because there’s always a new one anyway.

13: It inspires lots of great nicknames and parodies.

12: Sometimes, it can actually make you think.

11: It’s not afraid to take chances sometimes.

10: Chloe helps make computer nerds everywhere just a little cooler.

9: They remember and pay tribute to their history (Hi, Baby Teri…)

8: Jack’s a great (and very complicated) hero.

7: They’ve actually moved out of LA. (I always thought setting it in the same place every year was a bit of a weakness.)

6: It plays continuously, so you never have to worry about re-runs and forgetting where they left off.

5: There are some great one-liners on the show.

4: They always raise the stakes with threats and bad guys.

3: You get two more episodes than most shows every year.
2: The show has more unbelievable gadgets than a MacGuyver episode.

1: No matter how crappy your own day is, you can take comfort in knowing theirs was way worse…

Hey, everyone!! I got a little spoiler scoop for you guys today, but first I want to share a little casting news. We all know her by now as the first daughter and now acting Chief of Staff. Soon, we’re going to know Sprague Grayden as something else: a victim on the Law and Order franchise. She’ll be guest starring in the SVU series and is currently (or just finished) filming her part. The episode is supposed to air in May. I don’t have any other details about it right now, but I’ll share if I hear any. Apparently, it’s not her first time on the show either. I hear she had appeared on the series in season three as well. I don’t usually watch this show, but I might have to check out her episode. She’s a pretty good actress and I’d like to see how she does in a different role. So what do you guys think? Any other series you’d like to see her on? Are you hoping for a 24 return in Season 8? Hit up the comments and let me know. And now, here’s the spoiler scoop I promised. If you don’t wanna know, I’d head over here instead. Read the rest of this entry »

As promised, I’m here to give you guys an earlier character countdown. Thanks go to Aaron and, as always, I’m curious to see what you guys would have given them so feel free to post your thoughts/scores in the comments section.

Jack Bauer (595)

• Working through his symptoms to try and get his de-briefing done while he can remember things. +7
• Insisting on helping Renee and promising to step aside if his condition starts to get in the way. +5
• Trying to tell someone not to pretend they’re not feeling anything when he spends most of the series doing that. -4
• Figuring out the holes in Tony’s stories. +8

Gain/Loss: 16
New Score: 611

Renee Walker (590)

• Snapping out of her shock to run the FBI +7
• Wanting to be out in the field to help. +4
• Having the agents do what they need to get find the canister +7
• Walking into a trap -4

Gain/Loss: +14
New Score: 604

President Taylor (334)

• Considering cutting a deal with Jonas +3 (I’m giving this a kind of low one because I’m torn on this decision. On the one hand, I don’t like the idea of cutting any deals with guys like him. On the other, sometimes things that aren’t ideal need to be done to accomplish the goal)

Gain/Loss: 3
New Score: 337

Jonas Hodges (172)

• Taking the pill to protect his family and Starkwood +7

Gain/Loss: 7
New Score: 179

Tony Almeida (293)

• Fooling everyone for awhile with that shooting story +6
• Getting the suspect out of the perimeter +5
• Coming up with the plan to get the canister out. +7
• Playing it cool when Jack accuses him +5
• Revealing his true intentions to Jack -6

Gain/Loss: 17
New Score: 310

Olivia Taylor (169)
• Pointing out that Jonas is a sociopath and not likely to cooperate without getting a good deal. +3
• ‘In some countries, they’d have shot him by now.’ +10 (I love this line. I hate hearing clearly guilty people cry about their legal rights when they weren’t thinking about the rights of innocent people as they were committing a crime against them. Her delivery of the line was also great. She had this great dismissive tone in her voice.)

Gain/Loss: 13
New Score: 182

Hello, everyone!! Since I’ve read that some of you want the countdown earlier (and I do apologize that it’s been coming a little late recently), I’m going to post one later today. For now, let’s all take our seats and find out what important life lessons the people at 24 can teach us.

Jack Bauer always knows when you’re lying. Even when he’s suffering from a disease that affects your memory, reasoning and other mental abilities.

Tony Almeida is either stupid and/or insane. (Why else would he basically confess to Jack he’s evil? This is Jack we’re talking about. He’ll recover from that seizure in a few minutes and send everyone after him.)

Lawyers (especially fake ones) are evil.

Logic has no place in 24 world.

Blood on the face apparently makes people unrecognizable, even to highly trained government agents.

Kim’s clearly been replaced with a more likeable look-alike.

Even crazy sociopaths can be talked into harming themselves for someone else’s benefit.

The government apparently can’t keep prisoners from getting offed or trying to off themselves.

The ‘bigger cogs’ are kinder and gentler when dealing with problem people than Hodges and Starkwood.

Bad guys are especially moral this year (several of them have argued about doing what they’re asked).

So, those are some of the lessons I came away with after watching the latest episode. What about you guys? Be sure to share your thoughts and lessons below so we can chat about em. Take care and I’ll see you all later this afternoon.

There are some episodes I just have to re-watch and gather my thoughts on before I write anything about it and this was one of them. There was a lot going on this week and it seems like they’re really setting us up for a great ending here….

The FBI/CTU

I know there was some speculation out there among some fans that maybe Larry wasn’t dead after all and it was all some big set up, but this episode confirms that Larry was in fact killed by Tony. I have stop here for a second to give huge props to Annie this episode. Her reaction to Larry’s death and her handling of the field operations was some great acting. The early raves she was getting before the season really got going were well deserved.

Once again, an FBI operation manages to completely fail. I know it’s because of a certain newly evil character, but still. Get it together guys! I wonder, did they actually get all the bad guys who had infiltrated the Bureau? Cause the White House attack did happen just before the arrests were starting and it’s possible some people could’ve slipped through the cracks. What do you guys think?

Jack is back in the field and even with the bio agent working it’s magic, he’s still starting to see what’s going on. I just wonder what’s going to happen once Jack gets stabilized. Will he remember everything he had figured out and seen or will we get some convenient memory loss to make things a little more interesting? It appears from the promos that at least some of the information wasn’t lost.

The White House

So, I am starting to feel a little better about Olivia. Which means she’ll probably be meeting in secret with the people Jonas working for or Tony any minute now. I like how they seem to be setting up this big conflict between her and the President over what to do about Jonas. I agree, a special deal or extreme torture or probably the only two way they’re going to get anything out of this guy and I think Taylor knows it. Since the previews show Jack interviewing him, I’m guessing Taylor asked him to. Looks like Larry wasn’t the only one to change today.

The Bad Guys

After tonight, evil!Tony is making just a little more sense. Starkwood handled him the way they did because they didn’t know he’s working for people above them. I’m intrigued by these people and am curious to see how it all plays out. Especially given that interview with Carlos I mentioned before. We’ve already seen they’ll commit murder, fraud and blackmail a old man to give himself a heart attack to protect their interests. I’m almost scared to see what else they’ll do to accomplish their goal. And what on earth did they want a bio weapon developed for anyway? So, that’s about it for now. Any theories, thoughts on tonight? Share em and let’s chat about it! Before I go, I wanna share a link given 24’s new commitment to the environment and climate change. Check it out.

Good morning, everyone Hope y’all had a great weekend and you’re all ready for the new episode tonight. I’m know I’m looking forward to it. First, though, I’ve got a little new I wanted to share with you.

Remember when I posted about the SAG situation? It’s the actor’s union that has been really dragging their heels about reaching a contract deal with the Producer’s Union, even though every other union had already settled. It was mainly a few people at the top from what I’ve read, but they were trying to reach a better deal than any other union had gotten- especially when it came to new media like the internet and streaming shows.

Well, after a long and crazy negotiation process, reports on online news sources say they’ve finally reached a deal that the head honchos are going to recommend all the members vote on (something that is sure to happen, as many members weren’t happy with the long, drawn out battle). They’re getting a small increase in royalties and other stuff, while getting the same new media deal that other unions agreed to. What does it all mean? Well, the actors had been working without a contract and there was a possibility of striking. I’m sure we all remember what happens when they do that (writer’s strike, anyone?) So, bottom line is barring some more Kiefer craziness or other unforeseen issues, the 8th season should start airing sometime in early 2010 as it’s supposed to. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m glad that we’re not going to have another almost 2-year wait for new episodes.

So what do you think? Were you on SAG’s side? The Unions? Do you not care about any of em? Comment and let me know. Take care and see you next time.

Hello again! Let’s get right to the countdown, huh? Thanks go to Aaron and, as always, I’m curious to see what you guys would have given them.

Jack Bauer (579)

• Figuring out that Taylor must be lying to them +3
• Agreeing to meet with Kim +4
• Asking Taylor to take Tony’s actions into consideration +5 (Hey, he didn’t know the guy’s evil.)
• Actually becoming a little zen +4 (It’s nice to actually see him relaxed and nonchalant about stuff for once. Usually he’s only got a few settings: intense and focused, furious or breaking down)

Gain/Loss: 16
New Score: 595

Renee Walker (591)

• Standing up to Jack when he went all psycho on her +5
• Walking into an empty room with an angry and possibly hallucinating Jack -10 (I’m amazed she made it out of there actually…)
• Stepping pretty seamlessly into Larry’s shoes (Good thing she got the practice in…) +4

Gain/Loss: -1
New Score: 590

Larry Moss (231)

• Turning into a cool character +10
Being anxious to stick it to Starkwood +4
Telling Tony he doesn’t deserve to be treated like this after all he’s done to help today +5
Letting Tony out of the handcuffs -5
Handling the Jack role so well the past couple episodes +6

Gain/Loss: 20
Final Score: 251

President Taylor (334)

• Letting Jack and the others do what has to be done to stop Starkwood +6
• Getting into yet another debate with an advisor -3 (didn’t we already get past that part of the story?)
• Calling Hodges out on his crazy logic +4
• Clearly taking pleasure in Jonas’ take down +3 (I love her attitude and spunk!)

Gain/Loss: 10
New Score: 344

Jonas Hodges (186)

• Being crazy enough to think that the President would actually work with him at this point -6 • Pulling the but I’m a Patriot card -4
• Having really crappy security people on his base -4
• Trying to attack the President in front of SS agents +4 (Possibly the most insane and hilarious moments ever. I had to give credit for it)
• Being out of the loop -4 (How else can we explain the whole issue of Tony getting tortured and all when he was evil? He has to be working with a Starkwood enemy)

Gain/Loss: -14
New Score: 172

Tony Almeida (267)

• Helping prove the President was lying, leading to Plan B +5
• Taking out the missles +10
• Taking out a bunch of Starkwood guys on his own +6
• Killing Larry and revealing himself as evil -12 (Why do characters always get taken out right as they become likeable anyway? Curse you, 24 writers!)

Gain/Loss: 9
New Score: 276

Olivia Taylor (175)
• Being absent during a pretty big crisis -6 (How far away was that meeting place anyway? Shouldn’t she have been in the Oval Office with her mother during all this?)

Gain/Loss: -6
New Score: 169