Watching 24

Hello, out there! How’s everyone doing today? I know it’s a little late, but there’s a lot going on and I had to hold off until this afternoon to get this done. I actually re-watched the episode first and loved it. It’s full of the usual 24 plot holes, but hey- isn’t that why we love it? So, that all said- here are some of the lessons I came away with after watching it again…

Bad guys are children who need their carrots. (Is it just me, or are they going out of their way to give this guy the most out-there lines possible? Still- I’m kinda liking it)

You can be running through a hail of bullets and still never even get grazed by any of them.

Jack has been brainwashed by Renee.

Tony must’ve been thrown in the robot suit to make up for Jack.

Larry actually does know what he’s doing sometimes.

When keeping an agent in holding, it’s always a good idea to leave a phone in the room with them unsupervised.

The writers don’t do research.

Wanna make people care about some random guest character quickly? Add a wife expecting twins after many failed attempts at parenthood.

Bio weapons always get stored in easily breached containers.

Ethan’s incompetent, but apparently not evil.

Well, that’s what I learned this week- how about you guys? Be sure to post your own lessons in the comments so we can chat about it. See y’all again tomorrow. Take care!

Hey, everyone!! I’m working on the schoolhouse and the countdown. I’ll have those up for ya tomorrow. For now, though, I wanted to share an article with you all. It’s very mildly spoilery so I’m not gonna bother with a cut this time. It’s about Kiefer Sutherland and his future on 24.

Now, I admit I have been disappointed with the guy here and there. The DUI situation, in particular, bugged me big time, as DUI is a big peeve of mine. Especially for Hollywood celebrities who can afford to hire a driver. Still, there is one thing I have admired about the guy through the run of this series so far: his gratitude. In an article posted on the MSN site, he confirms that he will be back for an eighth season of the series. He basically says that the show has been so good to him and for his career, he wants to be good to it. If he can fit other project in, great, but his first priority is to the series. I like that he’s always been very up front about the show saving his career and how much he appreciates getting that chance. Couldn’t a lot of actors learn a little something from him on this? A few people (hi, Katherine!) come to mind. So what do you think? Do you admire his loyalty or do you think he needs to move on? What actors do you really admire and what ones could use this lesson too? Share your comments and let’s chat about it! Take care and I’ll see ya next time. By the way… here’s the link in case you want to read it all for yourself.

Good morning, everyone! So, who saw the latest episode of 24? It was a pretty crazy hour and here’s my take on the whole thing…

The FBI/Ex-CTU
So, Larry, as usual, spends a lot of the episode trying to find Jack and thinking he’s got something to do with the Senator’s murder. He tries to get Renee to tell him why Jack was heading for Mayer’s house, but she’s a little iffy on doing it. She finally relents and tells him about the Starkwood info and Larry has a bit of a turning point this week. He seems to soften a little after she tells him about that. Later on, Jack and Tony are working to intercept the delivery that’s being made. Unfortunately, Tony gets caught, but Jack manages to drive away with the truck. With the bad guys on his tail, Jack calls Larry to tell him what’s going on and about where he is now. Jack eventually has to stop the truck because he realizes there’s damage to it and some of the fumes are getting out. He stops the leak, but gets into a fight with the bad guys, who take the weapon after Jack retreats. As soon as they’re gone, Jack calls Larry again to tell him what happened. Larry wants proof of bio weapons and Jack tells him to send the CDC and he’ll have all the proof he needs because he was exposed. Now, Larry really seems to be softening up a bit. He assures Jack the CDC is on their way.

The White House

So, the big news (for me, anyway) is the first husband is expected to recover. He and the President talk on the phone and she lets him know that Olivia is working with her. He seems to like that and Alison is feeling pretty good herself. That is, until Ethan comes in and tells her about Mayer’s murder. He tells her he’s failed her and he has no choice but to resign. If the Bauer connection (and his part in that) gets out, it could be damaging to Taylor and her administration. He thinks it’s best to get out now and minimize the damage to her. She tries to talk him out of it, but there’s no convincing him. Later on, Olivia reveals her shark-like ways by showing up to apologize to Ethan. This is quickly followed by a call to a local reporter to completely sell him out for the 11:00 broadcast. She makes sure, though, to tell the reporter that her mother needs to be kept out of it. How nice of her…

The Bad Guys

Well, the shipment is here and they’ve got it: bio weapons. Nice, huh? They’ve also apparently found out they may need to accelerate their plan a bit since Jack’s on to them. I still can’t quite get a handle on these guys as far as what their ultimate game plan is, but I’m enjoying watching it all play out. Jon Voight is amusing as the evil CEO. I’m just slightly disappointed that they managed to get the weapons away from Jack. Our hero is slipping a bit here. Ah well. Let’s see how it all plays out next week.

I’ve got a little bit of spoilery scoop for y’all, but first there’s some DVD news. Just like with most shows DVDs now, FOX isn’t wasting any time at all. They’ve already announced the release of the season 7 DVDs. Not only that, there’s apparently a listing out there that tells all the commentary and actually lets out a few spoilery tidbits about the rest of the season. I haven’t really read that, so I can’t really share any of that info for you. The word is, the DVDs will come out on May 19th, the day after the last episode. Since regular filming has been done for quite awhile by now, I’d say that sounds pretty do-able. Are you going to buy the DVDs? Do you not care about owning shows? Sound off and let me know what you’re thinking on it! And keep going beyond the cut for a little bit of spoilery info about next season… Read the rest of this entry »

Hey again!! I’m in a hunting mood today, so who wants to join me on a mole hunt? Be sure to share your own guesses. I can’t wait to read other people’s theories (and why mine are crazy )

I’m zeroing in on my first target. He’s not new, but he’s just looking shadier and shadier as time goes on. He’s Ethan. Exhibit A: Olivia has pointed out that all the White House corruption happened under his watch. Doesn’t seem very becoming to a White House Chief of Staff, does it? Unless, of course, he recruited the bad guys himself. Exhibit B: His convenient absence during the White House Siege. Exhibit C: He was one of the only people that knew about Jack heading to the hospital to question Burnett. Exhibit D: He’s way too gung-ho about discrediting Olivia, as we saw last episode.

My next target is relatively new to the show: Olivia Taylor. She’s definitely got motive after being kicked off the campaign and she seems childish enough to want to get back at them for it. Exhibit A: Her insistence on President Taylor declaring victory in her speech, which seemed a bit much to me, especially after she already gave a speech like that earlier in the day that was quickly followed by an attack. Can’t imagine she’s got much credibility right now with the American people. Exhibit B: The leak (I don’t believe for one second she wasn’t in some way behind that) designed to make her mom’s chief advisor look bad and the way she seems to be trying to finger him for everything. Exhibit C: She practically jumped at the chance to be in her mom’s administration and seems a bit power-hungry.

I think Larry is another one who needs to be watched more carefully after this episode. Why? Well, besides doing nothing last week when it looked like there was something up with the audio/video feed (which either makes him evil or totally incompetent), this week another mission he’s in charge of failed. Could it be because he’s sabotaging them? I guess we’ll see. Another strike against him is his treatment of Renee. She’s been one of his only agents to get any results and suddenly he’s ready to put her in holding. Seems off to me… how about you?

Janis is on my radar again this week as well. She can help out Sean and risk a lot by sneaking into those files for a lame excuse, but she fights Renee on giving her info because she’s suspended? Nice that you start playing by the rules now. Also? She’s a bit too eager and helpful and we all know how that worked out with Nina back in the day.

Finally, I have to say that I see one more hint that Tony is possibly bad. Not only has his info not really helped all that much, he disappears a lot. Finally? He was sitting in a café and seemed to be relaxing a bit. Who else has been able to actually relax a little during the day’s events? That’s right… Hodges and a few of his people! Plus, I don’t remember any good guys really getting to do that before on this show unless they’re in intensive care or, well, dead.

Hello, again! It’s time to score em again for last week. As always, be sure to tell me what you would’ve given people. Thanks go out to Aaron.

Jack Bauer (404)
Being good enough at multi-tasking to operate a computer AND a car +25
Finding Burnett’s real killer +27
Admitting he regrets some of the things he’s had to do +30
Figuring out what Starkwood is probably up to +20
Stopping Quinn +20
Gain/Loss: +122
New Score: 526

Renee Walker (497)
IDing Quinn +30
Uncovering the Starkwood link +28
Doing what she feels has to be done +24
Getting caught by Larry and Janis -15
Gain/Loss: +67
New Score: 564

Larry Moss (137)
Being one step ahead of Jack and Co a couple of times +25
Ultimately getting in the way of saving the day -20
Trying to save the Senator +18
Admitting Jack is better than then at the job +20
Gain/Loss: +43
New Score: 180

President Taylor (286)
Questioning the leak +20
Possibly falling for the ‘you can call and ask them yourself’ routine -10
Giving a good speech +15
Gain/Loss: +25
New Score: 311

Ethan (100)
Believing that pretty obvious Bauer set up (-15)
Screwing up yet again -10
Standing up to Olivia +30
Gain/Loss: +5
New Score: 105

Olivia (130)
Convincing Taylor she’s innocent of leaking that info +30
Calling Ethan on his mistakes +23
Gain/Loss: +53
New Score: 183

Senator Mayer (aka: Senator Hardass) (50)
Having sympathy for Bauer and actually seeing his point +20
Stating his own case well +18
Helping Jack with the investigation +20
Almost getting Jack to trust his +30 (ya know this is a superhuman feat)
Not checking before he opened the door -10
Gain/Loss: +78
Final Score: 128

Hodges (100)
Having an actually organized and so far capable group of baddies +20
Having a conscience +10
Giving Jack an actual challange again +17
Gain/Loss: +47
New Score: 147

Hello, again. It’s time, once more, to take a look at all the great life lessons 24 can teach us. Didn’t see the episode yet? Check out my recap/thoughts here first.

Whether you’re working at CTU or the FBI, there is always going to be a stubborn, by-the-book person who ultimately ends up making it tougher to solve the case.

Immunity is handed out like candy on Halloween in 24-land.

The only thing more dangerous than being a believer in Jack from the beginning is being the person who was completely against him and ends up changing his or her mind.

Hotwiring a car is easy. Not only that, the car will have all the neat toys you need to get your job done.

Screw drivers make great weapons. They’re also great for hotwiring that car I mentioned…

Bad guys apparently have slumber parties.

You can get suspended for helping the wrong person in an investigation without losing your access to government files.

Janis isn’t much of a geek (What level is she anyway?)

When someone knocks at your door, you might wanna check to make sure who it is before you open it.

Jack’s master multi-tasker.

President Taylor is gullible. Why else would she fall for the old ‘you can call and ask them yourself’ line?

The death of a random congressional aide who was a traitor is apparently an important enough story to get space when you’ve just had a White House invasion and a couple of terrorist attacks happen the same day.

So, what have you learned this week? Comment and let me know. See ya next time.

Good morning, everyone! How about that episode? I kind of like it when an episode is a little more low key and not filled with explosions and a huge body count. Anyway… here’s a little run down and my thoughts on it all.

FBI/Former CTU

Well, Renee’s now truly become a part of the CTU bunch. Not only did she do a couple of things that she maybe shouldn’t have to help Jack, she also got suspended and taken into custody over it! You just aren’t a part of that group unless you’ve done all three. Speaking of people getting into trouble for Jack, it was pretty nice to get to see Chloe getting bailed out by Morris like that. I like her and I don’t wanna see the character get dragged down like that. I just wonder what effect Morris’ deal to get her off is going to have on them now. As for Jack… what can I say? He’s doing his annual ‘on the run because I’ve been framed/got in trouble and still have work to do’ thing. Pretty entertaining to watch though. Especially when Larry’s sitting there looking like his head’s about to explode. Can’t wait to see how he’s going to react when Jack saves them all and gets his inevitable free pass at the end of the season. Janis, meanwhile, continues to out geek someone on something only to be thwarted by something she can’t do. Nice to get a little Tony appearance as well.

The White House

I’m continuing to adore Olivia and think she’s obviously lying about that leak. She wants Ethan out and she’s gonna do it somehow. She really is like Sherry, huh? As for Ethan…. I love how he’s getting a hissy fit over being called out on his own crappy performance. He’s either the most incompetent CoS ever or he’s evil. How else has he missed all the stuff that happened at the White House under his nose? About time someone said so. As for the President… I’m continuing to like her much more than I did early on. Still, she needs to wise up because she’s getting played by someone, whether it’s Olivia or Ethan.

The Bad Guys

Hodges is getting pretty interesting, I think. He’s also a little more… crazy than most 24 villains, but it’s making him fun to watch. I mean, first a nice drink and now he’s kidding about pajama parties? I also love how they seem to be one step ahead of all the government people still. Wuinn killing Senator Hardass was also a big shocker. I didn’t think it would happen so quickly. So what did you all think? Post your thoughts below so we can chat about it. Take care and see ya tomorrow. I leave y’all with a preview for next week, thanks to the always awesome Jonas Hodges:

Before I get to the point of this post, I just wanted to thank everyone for their comments. I’m really enjoying reading them. I also wanna let you know (especially for anyone who might be asking questions in them) that I am adding my responses to you commets instead of making new ones. With the set up I am using, it’s much easier. Anyway… back to the post:

It looks like reviews weren’t the only ones talking about the torture issue on 24. You might remember a lot of stories early on about use of torture on the show and how it has been said to have influenced how terrorism is being dealt with for real. Well, I recently discovered that someone has written a whole book about the issue. It’s called The Tao of Jack Bauer and it explores all the moral issues involved in the show as well as in real life.

The book looks at the issue of civil liberties in today’s world as well as some of the technology that is currently used in the fight to stop terrorist attacks. Sounds like a pretty interesting read, although I haven’t been able to get a copy yet. All I have to go by is the description on Barnes and Noble’s website. As a fun bonus there’s one of those quizzes in the book that lets you see just how much like Jack Bauer you really are.

I also found out that this isn’t the writer’s first time looking at the world of 24 (and other shows). He has another book out called ‘The Simpsons, 24 and the Law: How Homer Simpson and Jack Bauer Inflence Congressional Lawmaking and Judicial Reasoning’. Pretty funny that he combines the two considering that Simpsons episode that spoofed the show. (Great episode, by the way! If you haven’t seen that, you really ought to) If you want to check the book out for yourself, here is the link to it. So what do you all think? Do you like looking at the deeper issues on the show or do you prefer to not think at all while watching it? Sound off and let’s chat about it. Take care and see you tomorrow with my reactions to the new episode. Take care!!

Hello!! Here’s a little run down on everyone we’ve lost in the past few episodes. I plan to tweak this a little and get it running weekly with this new episode. Enjoy and share your thoughts below!

Episode 8:

• Agent Vossler (Taken out with a knife by Jack)
• 2 random agents and 6 terror!minions (but who cares about them, right?)

Episode 9: NO ONE

Episode 10:

• Dubaku’s Minion
• Marika, killed in a car accident she created while they were being chased by the FBI.
• Erica, the dirty FBI agent. She was killed by Sean with a gun

Episode 11

• Dubaku, killed with an injection by another terror!minion.

Episode 12:

• Ranger Thompson, killed with a gun by Dubaku Jr. to stop him from alerting anyone to the White House attack Walker told him about.
• White House Janitor, taken out by a dirty white house janitor working with Juma.
• Dubaku, Jr. Take out by Larry and the FBI before he can kill Renee

Episode 13
• White House Staff member (gun)
• Jack- two terror minions (gun)
• Aaron Pierce- terror minion (gun)
• Quentin- Robert the heart patient (suffocation by pillow), Burnett (cutting his throat) and a bunch of other Juma minions taken out by FBI agents
• Bill Buchanan, killed by a natural gas explosion he caused to create a diversion and save the President.

Good morning, guys!! Before I get the kill count posted later on, I wanted to share some casting news I found with you. As always, if you’re spoiler-free, you might not want to go behind the cut and check out this site instead (the post is pretty funny). Read the rest of this entry »

Good morning, everyone!! It’s time for the countdown again and to see how everyone did in the latest episode. Don’t forget to let me know what you’d give out points/take away points for too! Thanks, as always, go to Aaron.

Jack Bauer (376)
*Coming up with a plan to save them from Juma +20
*Letting go of the robot facade for a minute to mourn Bill +20
*Not opening the door and alerting people the second that thing dropped to the ground -7
*Getting ready to make whoever did that pay +15
Gain/Loss +28
New Score: 404

Renee Walker (402)
*Helping with the FBI’s rescue plan +15
*Reminding the VP they actually have to, ya know, DO something? +15
*‘I’m not defending Jack, I’m defending a good idea!’ +20
*Being able to admit when Jack is right, even though she’s had issues with him, too +20
*Going behind Moss’ back to do what she felt was the right thing +25
Gain/Loss: +95
New Score: 497

Larry Moss (152)
*Ordering the raid against the VP’s wishes +25
*Firing Renee for the exact same thing he just did -30
*Commanding one of the worst FBI operations ever -30
*Actually seeming to believe Jack when he called and explained what happened in the hopstial +20
Gain/Loss: -15
New Score: 137

President Taylor (194)
*Telling off Juma for ‘releasing’ the hostage +25
*Reading the statement to try and buy everyone time +25
*Trying to patch things up with Olivia +15
*Hiring her back +17
*Apologizing to Ethan for what she said +10
Gain/Loss: +92
New Score: 286

Special Awards:

The tearjerker award goes to: Bill Buchanan for sacrificing himself for the country. He also gets the ‘bravest character’ award and 110 points. His final total is

The ‘Sherry Palmer’ award goes to: Olivia Taylor for that scene with Ethan. Don’t mess with the First Daughter! She’ll get added officially next week. I’ll give her 30 points to start her off, so her total is 130.

The ‘duh’ award goes to: Everyone in the FBI. It’s a wonder 24-world hasn’t already fallen to the terrorists.

Hello, boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen! Come on in to the 24 School House and take your seats. We’re about to take a look at some very valuable life lessons the show has taught us this week.

1- Jack does still have human emotions.

2- Never go behind Larry Moss’ back.

3- Just because you’re a terror!boss doesn’t mean you can’t be laid back once in awhile and offer your employees a nice drink to relax them after a hard day of evil doing.

4- Tony apparently has the ability to appear and disappear into thin air at will.

5- 24 writers are evil ::mourns Bill::

6- Never help get a first relative fired from their parent’s campaign. They will inevitably make it their mission to bring you down.

7- No matter how many bad guys you bring down, there is always one waiting in the wings to take over. And he/she is usually even more evil.

8- The FBI handles interrogations about as well as CTU did perimeters (No one in the room with Jack? Not even when the audio died? How exactly was he expecting to keep Jack from hurting the guy from quite a few feet away and separated by a door that can lock?)

9- FBI Agents are easily fooled by looping video (dang, that scene was really educational).

10- It’s ok for you to disobey a direct order from the Vice President because you feel it’s the right move to make. It’s not, however, ok for your subordinate to do the same to you.

So, that’s about it for this edition of 24 School House. What has this week taught you? Can’t wait to hear! Before I go, see what you can learn from next week’s promo:

In case you missed it, I’m here to fill you in on the latest episode and give my thoughts on it. If you are just waiting to see your DVR of it, you might wanna head on over here instead. If not, keep reading…. Read the rest of this entry »

Hey, everyone!! Sorry I’m late again today. I promise, I’m gonna have posts up in the mornings again! Anyway… I thought that since we have a new episode on later tonight, this would be a good time to take one last look at the last episode.

I found a couple of interviews from last week up online discussing the invasion episode. One was with Annie Wersching and the other is with Howard Gordon. Let’s talk Annie first. Her interview is about more than just the two-hour episode, although they do discuss it a bit. Annie talks again about being a fan of 24 before she got cast and just how last minute she was to the show. She also talks about the internal conflict Renee is going through, costumes and whether or not she’d like Renee to go bad. Here it is. I loved this interview… she seems pretty cool and she also gets to talk a little bit about possibly breaking a 24 record and her strange talents.

The next interview with Howard Gordon is pretty much all about the invasion episodes. It’s kind of interesting to see what his perspective on it all is considering the reaction a lot of us fans have had to it. He also admits to doing pretty much no research on the whole thing, either. Like that surprises any of us, right? Anyway… here’s the link to the interview. What do you all think? Post your comments below and let’s talk about it. See ya tomorrow morning with some thoughts on the new episode.

http://blogs.nypost.com/popwrap/archives/2009/03/24_rene_walker.html
http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2009/03/why-24-targeted-the-white-hous.html