the covert diaries of jackster

Feeling like crap today, but...

2010-01-05T10:37:00.003-05:00

The 24 premiere is just 12 days away!! Counting down the days as fast as possible. I will be reviewing the episodes as they air, so check back for those.

Also, starting my new job tomorrow :D

From Manhattan To Queens

2009-12-29T14:09:00.002-05:00

So, I was checking out a brief review of the first four hours of Day 8, and it says Jack travels from Manhattan to Queens in 10 minutes. Ignoring that absurdity, I have my answer that it won't just be in Manhattan, but can be in any of the 5 boroughs. Interesting...

Just 3 Weeks Left...

2009-12-27T21:50:00.001-05:00

Three weeks from tonight, a new day will be launched -- Season 8 of 24. And hopefully, it won't be the last.

Very Interesting...

2009-12-11T14:20:00.005-05:00

Coming into this season and knowing Renee Walker was returning, speculation started to form about her role could be. It doesn't take place in Washington, D.C. and doesn't involved the FBI. So those two Renee-connections are out. In previews, we see her on a NY rooftop with a gun to her head and she yelling "Do it." We have heard from the producers and writers that "she's a damaged person" in Day 8, and also "something from her past comes back to haunt her."

All nice little information ... until this week. Mike Ausiello over at Entertainment Weekly said there's a pretty big twist involving a NY CTU agent named "Jenny." He also said he couldn't say who was playing her because it would reveal too much. Hmmm. Undercover, anyone?

Also we got a glimpse from a trailer this week of Renee in a towel with wet hair in some apartment, with a guy behind her all clothed. Analysis by other 24 fans on the Internet confirm that the actor who's in that photo/trailer is playing Vladimir Laitanan, a Russian mobster in this upcoming season. Theories?

1. Renee is undercover for NY CTU (no idea how she started working for them? FBI released her after she tortured Alan Wilson?) with the Russian mob. CTU name could be "Jenny." But then again -- Chloe knows Renee and Chloe works in NY CTU. Also, in CTU there's scene of Jack and Renee embracing. So, who knows.

2. Renee is undercover for herself. Much like Tony Almeida was in Day 7. Maybe the Russian mob knows something about Wilson's location and she wants to avenge Larry Moss's death? Would be ironic turn if she turns into same thing Tony did, after she was disgusted by Tony last season -- hunting down Wilson undercover to kill him for someone he was responsible for ordering their murder.

3. Renee is doing something in NY, and is dating this Russian mobster. I highly doubt this one though.

The undercover stories work well for Renee and is a high way to incorporate her into this season. It will be interesting to see how she got hooked up with NY CTU, though. If Renee is undercover with CTU though, that's fine, just don't know why they would refer to her as "Jenny." Unless she lied to them and none of them (except Chloe) know her name is Renee Walker.

In any case, I'm very happy they decided to bring Renee back this season. She was a great character and there's more you can do with her. Plus, gotta have some old characters carry over. Arhm, Aaron Pierce, writer, arhm.... Adios.

Aaron Pierce

2009-12-09T09:51:00.004-05:00

Seeing how good of a job Agent Aaron Pierce did protecting her daughter, I think President Taylor should request Pierce to be on her security detail when she goes to NY to sign the peace treaty with President Hassan. I think that's the perfect way to incorporate Aaron into Day 8.

Plus, with Bill sacrificing his life last season and Tony in prison, Jack doesn't have many trustworthy friends around anymore. They need to include them in this season. Chloe and Renee will be around, but so should Agent Pierce.

New Season is Rapidly Approaching...

2009-12-09T09:22:00.002-05:00

Day 8 is coming up very quickly (premieres in the usual 4-hour, 2-night package on Jan. 17 and 18, 2010). FOX is running little promos on commercials, labeled the "24 reasons to celebrate this season."

#1 was Jack rolling over a table in a restaurant shooting at someone, and voiceover goes "The Grand Entrance." hmmmm

#14 was Renee and Jack smiling and hugging in CTU. Voiceover "Surprising an old friend." Well, come on Mr. Voiceover, they spent one day together. But then again, JB takes what he can get.

I'm very happy about the characters that are returning: Chloe, Kim, President Taylor, Ethan Kanin (now as Secretary of State), and surprisingly and very interestingly - former (and disgraced) President Charles Logan. Kim's husband and daughter return as well.

Since the President is now divorced, I doubt we'll see Henry, and also Olivia, since she's in prison. I really do hope they bring back Aaron Pierce, there's always ways to incorporate him into a season. And then there's ... Tony Almeida. Who yes, was arrested for his crimes last season (responsible for killing FBI Special Agent in Charge Larry Moss, 2 other federal agents, and instructed Galvez to set up the C4-rigged building that took out a couple-dozen agents as well). Even if it's for a three-episode arc, I think having Tony in some capacity would be great for the season. The old and often-played-out "I gotta go visit this guy in jail because he knows information on a guy I'm trying to catch" is annoying, but that's one way to work Tony in. Maybe with the reemergence with Logan, Tony gets wind of it and breaks out of prison? (Hey if Jack can, why not Tony?) But that would just be rehashing last year's Tony trying to kill Alan Wilson.

38 days left until the premiere. Can't freakin' wait. Adios.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

2009-08-13T10:51:00.002-04:00

This movie had everything a guy wants, needs, loves and craves. LOADS of action and violence. Two smoking hot chicks. Awesome ninja fights. Covert spy stuff. Cool underwater and on-ice battle scenes. Dennis Quaid. (Maybe that's just me, since he's pretty much the man).

My brother and I were never huge fans of the cartoon show growing up; we were into other stuff. But this movie held my interest from the first minute of the opening scene. The story was solid and had meaning, intertwined with great action scenes and fight sequences.

It just had a very sleek, modern, futuristic, cool feel to it. The names were awesome: General Hawk, Duke, Ripcord, Scarlett, Breaker, Heavy Duty, and Snake Eyes for Team G.I. Joe. The Doctor/Cobra Commander, Destro, Zartan, the Baroness and Storm Shadow for Team Cobra.

Telling the background stories were very well done and didn't take long, ex: Duke proposing to Ana, and the Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow backstory. I also liked how the G.I. Joe team was an international task force. Heavy Duty is British, Breaker is Moroccan. The rest are American. They protect the world.

With Zartan undergoing the transformation to look like the President and is now seated at the Oval Office, I'm highly anticipating the G.I. Joe sequel already. 2 Thumbs Way Up.

Lots of new 24 Intel

2009-07-28T11:47:00.003-04:00

Day 8 finally has some more tidbits, news, notes and info. It all came out in this year's Comic-Con in San Diego, CA. You can find all clips, interviews and audio all over the Internet, but here's the summary of the most important stuff:

1.) the new CTU in New York is the most state-of-the-art high-tech building we've seen on 24. The FBI building this year was just a bunch of desks, and the past CTUs were workstations, computers and monitors everywhere. LA CTU was a regular-looking building on the exterior, with a parking lot next to it. The NY CTU is hidden and covert and you need to drive through an underground tunnel to get to it. Sounds amazing to me. I like the whole idea of hiding it, especially due to the numerous infiltrations of the LA CTU branch during the past seasons. Mary Lynn Rajskub says the computer monitors are behind glass, that the office "kind of looks like a spaceship", and is very sleek, cool and high-tech. I'm liking all I'm hearing about the new CTU.

A clip of the new CTU debuted at Comic-Con, but I can't find it on the web. The other clip was between Jack and Victor Aruz, someone from his past. Aruz tells Jack that a shooter has gotten into this country with the sole purpose on assassinating Iranian President Omar Hassan (Anil Kapoor, Slumdog Millionaire). Sounds very Day 1-ish. Wonder how it'll all be connected to the main baddie for the season.

2.) CTU Head Analyst Dana Walsh and CTU Head of Field Ops Cole Ortiz are engaged. I just hope this isn't Milo/Doyle/Nadia again, but instead the new Tony/Michelle of Day 2 and 3.

3.) Chloe O'Brian is way behind with the high-tech stuff and new computer protocols. She's getting angry at her computer and smashing her keyboard (was seen in the CTU clip). Walsh goes over to her (she's Chloe's superior) and kind of pats her on the back saying, "don't worry, you'll get it." Can't wait to see pissed-off Chloe.

4.) Jack starts off Day 8 in a happy place (for once). Two times Jack was happy at the beginning of a day was Day 1 (Playing chess with Kim) and Day 4 (dating Audrey). Should be interesting. I'm betting the happiness has to do with great, new relationship with Kim and his granddaughter, Teri.

5.) I've heard one thing where Renee was fired from the FBI and is now working for CTU. Not sure if it's for CTU NY or if it'll be another office and then Jack contacts her and she meets him in NY or something. I'm assuming she got the axe from the FBI because of what she did to Alan Wilson when she entered his interrogation room and breaking the rules. Another report describes Renee as a "damaged person." So, it's safe to say Renee is not happily dating JB.

6.) Season 8 promo poster has Jack with the Statue of Liberty in the background.

So pumped Day 8 is gonna take place in my backyard. Shaping up to be very solid. And Tony Almeida alert: writer/producer David Fury says "there may be room for Tony in this season. he could be pivotal to the show." Hmmmm.

Pedro and Bonds

2009-07-08T10:07:00.003-04:00

Since this season is starting to spiral away very quickly, and it's not like these two moves would make them any worse, I say the Mets sign free agents Pedro Martinez and Barry Bonds to one-year deals. Hell, give the fans something to talk about; give Citi Field some buzz. Beltran, Reyes and Delgado are nowhere close to coming back, so they need offense. Perez is starting tomorrow night, but is Oliver Perez after all. Who knows when John Maine is returning, and in all honesty, no matter how old and fragile Pedro is, any fan would rather watch him pitch over Tim Redding or Fernando Nieve.

1. Castillo - 2B

2. Cora - SS

3. Wright - 3B

4. Bonds - LF

5. Sheffield - RF

6. Church - CF

7. Evans -1B (please NO more Tatis, and Murphy sucks)

8. Who cares who the hell the catcher is

It would be a fun line-up to watch. Just give the Mets something to watch for, especially with all these injuries.

1. Santana

2. Pelfrey

3. Pedro

4. Livan

5. Nieve (for now)

Omar should think of doing something drastic because obviously the Mets are failing. It's not Jerry Manuel's fault everyone is hurt. And if you're going to subject yourself to playing shit players like Tatis, Jeremy Reed, Murphy, Schneider and Santos why not give some hot-shot young guys a chance. Call up catching prospect Josh Thole. We've tried with F-Mart, but he clearly needs more time, so send him back down. Bring up RHP Jenry Mejia.

Just do SOMETHING that will make Mets fan wanna tune into SNY every night. Pedro and Bonds would do that. But again, this is all a pipe dream. Or pipe plea.

Getting into "Heroes"

2009-06-25T13:31:00.004-04:00

In this 24-offseason, I've decided to try another show - "Heroes." I've really enjoyed it; think it's got a great premise. Unlike other "mutant"-type stories, like X-Men, this show has people not as huge, biceps-busting crime-fighters. They're ordinary people. A nurse. A LAPD cop. A 16-year old cheerleader. A cubicle worker. A guy running for Congress. Interesting dynamic.

Have finished the first eighteen episodes of Season 1, just watched "Parasite." Claire has met her biological grandmother Angela Petrelli; Sylar has injured Mohinder and is about to kill Peter; Bennet has decided to turn on The Company but just got apprehended by Thompson and his goons; Parkman is still detained by The Company; Nathan is talking with Mr. Linderman; Hiro and Ando transported to the future on top of the Deveaux Building.

The show is like LOST in the sense of strangers all being connected by something. In LOST, it's the destiny of Oceanic Flight 815; on Heroes, it's these people's special abilities.

I've heard after the spectacular Season 1, that is goes downhill until mid-Season 3. I'll have to be the judge of that myself.

Ethan Kanin Returns

2009-06-24T11:18:00.002-04:00

I grew to like Ethan as Day 7 went along. He was only in two eps of Day 6 as Sec of Defense and barely saw him. He was front and center in the White House during Day 7 until nasty-little Olivia took over his job. But Mike Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly confirms Bob Gunton will return as Ethan Kanin on Day 8. Now since Taylor has a new Chief of Staff, what position will Ethan have? Many fans are speculating with the Ep. 24 difference between Allison and Hank that they're going to separate and divorce, paving the way for Ethan to become the new First Gentleman.

I find that to be a little weird, but who knows, these writers have done weirder (JB's own father a mass terrorist). I'm happy Ethan is returning, but not happy at the expense of Hank Taylor. I wanted to see a First Couple together for more than just one season (like Chuck and Martha only lasted Day 5). I guess it goes to show how much the job as POTUS hurts your life? Who knows. But I'm sure it'll make for an interesting dynamic in the Oval Office, although rumors are circulating that Taylor will be in NYC for that peacemaking signing with Middle Eastern President Omar Hassan (Anil Kapoor from "Slumdog Millionaire").

Favorite 3 Day 7 Characters That Made It Out Alive

2009-06-11T11:29:00.003-04:00

1. Renee Walker (played by Annie Wersching): it's going to be real fun seeing what they do with her character in year # 2. Renee is confirmed to be coming back for Day 8. She proved to be a formidable partner for Jack, and there's definitely room for some romance. Played brilliantly by Wersching, not since Michelle Dessler have we had a female agent that fans cared about. That all changed.

2. President Allison Taylor (played by Cherry Jones): no one is David Palmer, we all know that. But she's trying to get as close as possible. She's a strong-willed woman and follows her principles. She does a good job of listening to her advisers -- Ethan Kanin, Tim Woods, Admiral John Smith -- but balances it so they don't make the decisions for her. Very excited to have the same President for back-to-back seasons. Remarkable scene when she had her daughter arrested for her involvement in Jonas Hodges' murder, instead of trying to cover it up. Very tough choice, but she made the right one. You know Palmer would have done the same.

5. Henry Taylor (played by Colm Feore): who knows if we'll see him in Day 8, but his main storyline at the beginning of Day 7 was terrific. He found out his son did not commit suicide, but was murdered. I really hope he returns for Day 8, and since Allison will still be President, I see no reason why he doesn't. The thing is in the last hour of Day 7, he was completely against Allison's decision to have Olivia arrested instead of trying to protect her family. So, I wonder if by Day 8, Ally and Hank will be estranged.

Honorable mentions: Alan Wilson -- he didn't get to see much of him, but boy, he was as big of a steely d-bag as you'll find on "24." Great seeing Tony beat the crap out of him.

As always, I want to hear your guys' input. Who should've been on this list instead? (Remember this is for the living characters) Sean Hillinger? Janis Gold? Stokes? Greg Seaton?

To recap: here's my post on my top 3 new characters from Day 7 who died. Emerson, Dubaku and Larry Moss. This was posted before Jonas Hodges got iced, because he would definitely be on this list.

Day 8's Character Names Confirmed

2009-06-09T09:36:00.003-04:00

With an official FOX press release, we now have all the confirmed, concrete character names for Day 8's main cast. Joining the ranks of returnees Jack Bauer, Chloe O'Brian, President Allison Taylor, Renee Walker, Kim Bauer, and her husband Stephen (seen in a set photo), are newcomers: CTU Director Brian Hastings, CTU Head of Field Ops Cole Ortiz (previously Davis Cole), CTU data analyst Dana Walsh (previously Dayna Pakkala), CTU systems analyst Arlo Glass (previously Jonah Schwartz), Middle Eastern President Omar Hassan (previously Arman Hashemi), and journalist Meredith Reed.

That's a lot of name-changing. Some I like, some I don't. The character of Arlo Glass is supposed to be quirky and weird so that name fits him perfectly. I also like Dana Walsh, as it's a simple American name, which fit the actress cast as her. Not sure if they wanted some other ethnicity for a name like Pakkala and then re-named once the actress was cast.

The ones I don't like are Omar Hassan. Omar, to me, is a Spanish name, and Arman just sounds more Middle Eastern. Also, not sure if the 24 writers know, but Freddie Prinze Jr. doesn't really look Hispanic (at least to me, even though I just researched and his Dad was part Puerto Rican), so I don't know why they went with Ortiz. I thought the name Davis Cole was very cool.

Very excited for this new cast and to see how they rank with the previous season's CTU gangs.

First Pics from the 24-Day 8 Set!

2009-06-02T10:28:00.003-04:00

Not like it's earth-shattering news, but pics from the set of "24" have been circulating on the 'Net and they show Kiefer, Elisha Cuthbert (Kim Bauer), Paul Wesley (Kim's husband Stephen) and little Teri (who now is like 2 years old) filming. A couple of photos have Kiefer carrying Teri, so at least we know he actually meets his granddaughter which is great. Plus, Kim's husband returns, so that's cool, hopefully we'll get some more story on him. Plus, Kiefer is carrying a pretty sweet brown leather jacket. New York baby. Jack's got style this season.

Click Here For The Pics

EDIT # 3: Day 8 Casting List So Far

2009-06-01T10:57:00.000-04:00

So, here's the Day 8 actor/character rundown so far: (season 8 filming started this week!)

Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer

Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O'Brian

Cherry Jones as President Allison Taylor

Annie Wersching as Renee Walker

Elisha Cuthbert as Kim Bauer

Chris Diamantopoulos as Chief of Staff Rob Weiss

Mykelti Williamson as CTU Director Brian Hastings

Freddie Prinze Jr. as CTU Head of Field Ops Davis Cole

John Boyd as CTU Systems Analyst Arlo Glass (name changed from Jonah Schwartz)*

Anil Kapoor as Middle Eastern President Arman Hashemi

Nazneen Contractor as Arman's daughter Kayla Hashemi

Jennifer Westfeldt as TV Journalist Meredith Reed

Doug Hutchison as Davros, a dangerous European terrorist

Remaining characters that we know about who haven't been casted yet, or haven't been announced yet:

- Dayna Pakkala, CTU Analyst

- Farhad Hashemi, Arman's brother and his Secretary of State

- Sondra Hashemi, Arman's wife

- Kim's daughter Teri, who probably will be between 2-4 years old

Still waiting to find out if eventually these characters will return in some capacity: Ethan Kanin, Hank Taylor, Olivia Taylor, Tony Almeida, Morris O'Brian, Prescott O'Brian, Aaron Pierce, Stephen (Kim's husband), Tim Woods and John Smith. (Charles Logan, please?).

* according to a TV guide article. No reason given, but could be because Jonah is too close to Jonas (Hodges).

New Type of Villain for Day 8

2009-05-21T14:49:00.002-04:00

24 has used a plethora of different villains to try and take down Jack Bauer and the country. None have succeeded, but irregardless I want to see a new nationality of villain for Day 8. 24 has gone through 10 nationalities:

Serbian/Balkans: the Drazens

Middle Eastern: Syed Ali, Navi Araz, Abu Fayed

German: Max

Mexican: the Salazars

British: Stephen Saunders

Turkish: Habib Marwan

Chinese: Cheng Zhi

Russian: Vladimir Bierko, Dmitri Gredenko

African: Ike Dubaku, Benjamin Juma

and of course, American: Ira Gaines, Peter Kingsley, Alexander Trepkos, Nina Myers, Graem Bauer, Phillip Bauer, Christopher Henderson, Charles Logan, Jonas Hodges and Alan Wilson.

I liked in Day 7 (and Redemption) how they used Africans, a villain we've never seen before. But who's left? Italians? Greeks? Spaniards? Japanese? Korean? Irish? And I want the villain to have a real vested interest in assassinating Anil Kapoor's character who goes to the U.N. on a peacemaking mission with President Taylor. (Like Victor Drazen's reason to kill David Palmer).

Filming starts next week for 24, and I'm sure we'll hear about some villains through the pipeline. They may be secondary, minor ones, but I just hope they utilize a new nationality to add another fresh factor to the show.

Any ideas from you guys? What do you guys want to see for the threat for Day 8 and for the villains? Come on, this (sadly) could be the last season and the last villain we ever see!

Episode Review - 7.24

2009-05-19T11:47:00.013-04:00

EPISODE 7.24

The following takes place between 7:00 A.M. and 8:00 A.M.

Well, finally, ladies and gentleman we have reached the final hour of the hellacious "Day 7." The episode starts with Chloe at the Washington Field Office trying to get any information off of Bob's laptop so they can find Jack. Speaking of Jack, after escaping those doctors trying to extract the pathogen from his body, he heads to a nearby garage looking for a vehicle. He finds a taxi and breaks into the back window. However, Tony finds Jack and tries to get in. Jack shuts the garage door, but then Tony gets a forklift and tries to pry it open. Jack sees one of Tony's bullets hit the gas tank and fuel is leaking. Jack tries to ignite flares and blow the garage, but Tony kicks it away just in time. Tony knocks out Jack and drags him back to the staging area to prepare for Wilson's arrival.

Cara is off somewhere, but Tony is prepping Jack for his plan. Jack wakes up, handcuffed to a chain-link fence and tells him what he's going is wrong. He says that the government did wrong you, but this isn't the way to respond to it. Then Jack begs him to please let him die in peace and not be used to kills thousands of people. Here is where Tony turns around to Jack and tells him he has no plans of killing thousands of people. Tony then goes on to explain how he's been waiting three years to meet Alan Wilson, the big wig. He did everything he's done ever since being resurrected by David Emerson, all the horrible things, all the double-crossings and all the undercover work just for this moment ... to get a face-to-face with Wilson. Tony then goes on to say that Alan Wilson is the one behind Charles Logan -- he masterminded everything. From the Sentox nerve gas conspiracy, which took David Palmer and Michelle Dessler's lives, to the prion variant attacks today. He was above Logan, Graem Bauer, Philip Bauer, Christopher Henderson, James Nathanson and Walt Cummings.

Tony saw that nobody was going after the head guy who was behind everything. Logan was under house arrest, and the others were dead (because of Jack). Tony saw this in his mind as an opportunity. He wanted to bring down the person who was responsible for so many terrible things happening, including killing Tony's wife. But where as Jack would have found ways to do it without killing innocents, Tony didn't mind this because he was preventing an even worst disaster from happening. Tony did kill three innocent people -- those 2 FBI agents he stole the SUV from, and of course, Larry Moss -- but in his mind it was necessary to keep his cover and to keep working his way up to get close enough to Wilson to kill him. Jack is shocked that all the Tony has done today was for a personal revenge mission. Jack brings up that Tony was about to launch the pathogen on a subway that would have killed thousands. Tony then gets angry and goes on to say how that would have paled in comparison to what would have happened if Wilson was never stopped. Tony worked to find the CIP device and destroyed it. Tony tipped him off to the White House attack. Tony blew up the missiles armed with the pathogen at Starkwood that would have absolutely done more damage than just that one canister. Tony tells Jack that he's the one who saved his lives today, not Jack.

Jack doesn't care about his methods and says to Tony that he can believe whatever he wants, but he killed innocent people and put thousands more in harm's way. Jack also says that Michelle would have been disgusted is she knew what he was doing. Tony then tells Jack that he's not going to kill Wilson himself, but that Jack is. He straps a bomb vest to Jack and hides it under his jacket. Jack tells Tony to stop and not go through with it. He then ducktapes Jack's mouth as Cara meets back up with him. Cara doesn't know Tony's real plan. Cara also tells Tony to not tell Wilson that they're romantically involved together. Tony agrees, but he could care less about Cara.

Before I continue with the review, I want to map out Tony's plan to kill Wilson. Since he knows his guards won't let him get close to Wilson,

that's why he strapped a bomb to Jack's chest. Sure it's cruel and it's his former best friend, but Jack only had an hour or so to die anyways (Tony did ask the doctors this in Episode 23). So, when Wilson was going to go inspect Jack and get close to him, Tony would have remote detonated the bomb and kill Wilson in the process. By using a bomb, the temperatures would have incinerated Jack's body, and in turn, leave absolutely no trace of the pathogen so nobody would be able to reconstitute it. So, Tony was also making sure that bio-weapon threat would be 100% over with.

Wilson arrives in his limo, with a Hummer in front and in back of it. He had a dozen guards with him. This guy really is the highest villain we've seen in an American conspiracy. The head guard radios to Cara to come out. Cara and Tony exit the building, walk towards the guards and get frisked. Then Wilson exits his limo and Cara walks over to him, as the guard tells Tony

he's close enough -- Wilson doesn't know him and takes every safety precaution. Wilson asks for Jack's pathology report to see how much of the pathogen is use-able. Wilson sends two guards inside to bring Jack out. Wilson then speaks to Tony saying he's been waiting a while to meet him. Tony addresses him as sir, and says it's a pleasure to meet him as well. Tony then says how he thinks he can add something new to their organization. Tony's plan is going perfect, but then an FBI helicopter with Renee on it approaches, with more FBI agents on the ground. They found their location through Bob's laptop.

Wilson's guards start firing at all the agents as Renee tells the pilot to land the chopper and drop her off. The FBI takes out Wilson's guards, as Wilson, Cara and Tony escape into the building. Renee meets up with Jack who's leaning up against a crate completely drained of energy and near death. Renee disables the bomb on him and both of them go inside to find the bad people.

Wilson asks Cara how they found them and radios to one of his men to find him an extraction point. Then Tony emerges from the shadows and Cara goes over to him to embrace and tell him that they're going to get out of here. Tony very icily shoots Cara in the stomach. The pain and surprise on her face and in her eyes is very real, she never thought Tony would betray her. She collapses to the ground. Tony then runs up to Wilson and slams him up against a wall. The scene between Tony and Wilson is quite possibly Carlos Bernard's best acting ever on "24." Tony explains to Wilson how he's waited three years to get to meet him and exact revenge. Wilson has no idea what he's talking about. Tony smashes him in the face as Wilson falls to the ground. Tony then explains how Michelle and him had left this, had left a life of government work and was going to start a brand-new life together. He also told Wilson that not only did he take his wife from him, but also took his unborn son, too, as Michelle was pregnant. The way Carlos screamed that Wilson took "MY SON!! MY SON!" was amazing acting. It hit home for me and I definitely sympathized with Tony. He had everything right in his life... married to the love of his life, out of harm's way no longer working at CTU, started their own company, and had a baby boy on the way. And every single bit of that was taken by Alan Wilson. Tony puts his gun to Wilson's head and is about to kill him when Renee shoots him in the shoulder. Tony yells and goes down, but then tries reaching for his gun. Jack yells for him to stop, but he doesn't. Jack then shoots his wrist and the FBI agents move in and take Wilson and Tony into custody.

Sad end to Tony Almeida, as he is being taken away by the FBI agents he yells at Jack saying when the government took everything he loved, Jack ran away, but when they took everything from Tony, he fought back and tried to take down the people responsible. "What would Teri think about this, Jack!" Jack closes his eyes and is saddened for his former best friend.

That was obviously and clearly the best storyline of the finale episode. So much tension, so many answers revealed and yes, in my eyes, Tony Almeida did redeem himself. Sure he might have went about it the wrong way, but he did want to bring down the guy responsible for his wife's death, Palmer's death, and the other horrible things his organization has attempted to do. In some ways, Tony did more than Jack, in that Tony continued to hunt for the head honcho, when Jack and the rest of the government thought all responsible were either dead or incarcerated. I was very happy to hear that Tony wasn't doing this for money or to just slaughter Americans.

On to the rest of the episode. Olivia breaks the news to her mother and father that she's responsible for Hodges' death. Allison is shocked and grabs Olivia by the arms exclaiming, "What were you thinking!?" Then in a shock to Allison, Hank Taylor says to delete the recording and cover up this mess. Allison goes wide-eyed saying that's covering up a murder. Hank says that their family has suffered enough from his job as President. This hurts Allison, but

Hank doesn't care. He doesn't want to lose another child. Allison leaves the room and makes her decision.

After some moments, Taylor returns and tells Olivia how much she loves her, but must uphold the law. The Justice Department takes Olivia away to be charged with colluding in the murder of Jonas Hodges. Hank can't bear to look at Allison after she makes her decision. She leaves the room and sees Ethan in the hallway. Ethan tells her that Henry will come around. Allison is firmly convinced that he won't. With all this, I'm not sure we're going to see Hank around for Day 8 -- I wonder if a separation is in store for the Taylors. Sidenote: Ethan gets his job back as Chief of Staff as he takes back his resignation letter.

At the FBI office, Janis thanks Chloe for her help, and Chloe gives her a rare compliment. An awkward scene, but a good farewell between the two computer geeks. At the site where Wilson and Tony were arrested, Jack is laying in a stretcher as Renee approaches. She asks Jack what to do, she wants answers from Wilson but he's not talking. What road does she take, she asks Jack. Jack gives this whole long speech that he did whatever he thought was best at the time of saving the most amount of lives. He says to have to be able to live with the decisions you make. A sweet scene is shared when Jack gently touches her cheek -- an obvious prelude to romance between the two on Day 8. Jack is carted away and taken to the hospital for his last minutes alive. (So Renee does not know yet that Jack will survive).

Last scene at the FBI, is Wilson being put into a holding room. Janis starts telling something to Renee who isn't listening. She's staring very strongly through the glass at Wilson and then tells Janis to leave the room. Janis doesn't understand and rejects her offer. Renee then pulls a gun on her and tells her to handcuff herself to a pole and smashes the security lock on the door. She puts down her badge after looking at it for a few moments and prepares to enter the room to confront Wilson. Janis then says Larry wouldn't have wanted this, which makes Renee stop and glance at her. "Don't dishonor Larry's death by doing this, Renee," Janis says. Renee looks at her and enters the room with Wilson closing the door. So, we don't know what Renee is going to do. I have a feeling though, that she does in fact go Jack Bauer on his balding, smart-remarking ass.

Final scenes of Day 7 is Jack laying in the hospital bed in a blue hospital gown. He's talking with Dr. Sunny Macer about the pain to come, but he doesn't want anymore morphine. Then a visitor comes to see Jack and it's Muhtadi Gohar, Jibraan's imam from his mosque. Jack requested him to come by and in a very emotional scene Jack talks to a holy man and accepts what he has done in his past and is ready to die. He holds Jack's hand and prays a little. Gohar says he just sees a man in front of him, a regular man, signifying that Jack is still a good person no matter what he's done in the past. Jack thanks him for coming and Gohar leaves. On the way out, Gohar sees Kim and tells him that Jack has accepted his death and his last few minutes. Jack is now in an induced-coma to ease the final pain as he prepares to die. Kim walks in and asks Dr. Macer if there's still enough time to go ahead with the stem cell treatment. Macer says it's still risky and experimental. Kim says just do it. Macer prepares a surgical suite as Kim goes it to see Jack.

Kim sits on Jack's bed as she stares at his comatose body and gets teary-eyed. A very simple sentence that Kim says is a perfect ending for Day 7: "I'm sorry, daddy, but I'm not ready to let you go yet."

And with that, Day 7 concludes and a full WEEK of bad days for Jack Bauer is complete. This was one of the best episodes 24 has ever produced. So much emotion at the end, we finally get Tony's reasoning and motivation, just an overall amazing episode. I know some people aren't satisfied with Tony's storyline and how it ended (hoping he was working for some high-up good government guy), but I actually am pleased with how they finished his story. I would love for him to return in Day 8, but I don't know how they could accomplish that seeing that he'll be in jail for life or on Death Row.

I really did enjoy season 7. There was a lot of fun things in it and some fantastic new characters, two of which (Renee and Allison) we'll get to see developed further in Day 8. Thank you Jon Cassar (director), Joseph Hodges (production designer), James Morrison (actor-Bill Buchanan), Jeffrey Nordling (actor-Larry Moss), and Jon Voight (actor-Jonas Hodges), who all won't be back on "24" for season 8. You've all done wonderful and amazing work, especially the guys who have been around since the beginning.

Why isn't it January 17, 2010 already?

Episode Review - 7.23

2009-05-19T10:55:00.009-04:00

EPISODE 7.23

The following takes place between 6:00 A.M. and 7:00 A.M.

This was the ultimate set-up episode for the explosive final hour of "Day 7." Starts off with Olivia Taylor being questioned by the Department of Justice on who leaked Jonas Hodges' transfer times and itinerary (there was only 11 people who knew he was still alive). She answers the questions, tries to mask the fact that it was really her. Meanwhile, Secret Service agent extraordinaire Aaron Pierce welcomes Ethan Kanin back into the White House and tells him all about Olivia's suspicious activity. Ethan goes into the Chief of Staff's office, removes the tape where the room's conversations were recorded and puts it in his pocket. Olivia though, has finished up with the DOJ questioning and returns to her office to see Ethan there. She clearly hates him, and he makes up an excuse that he's picking up some old files. After he leaves, she realizes he took the tape and orders for him to be detained.

In a very smooth move, Ethan actually gave Aaron the real tape and the one the Secret Service agent found on him was a blank (little homage to Season 1). Olivia snaps the blank one in half, thinking all evidence against her is gone. Sorry lady, you're wrong.

Ethan goes and listens to it in his car and isn't all that shocked to hear that Olivia is responsible for Jonas Hodges' death.

In the FBI transport, Cara is telling Jack he must make his move soon to break Tony free. He pulls a weapon on Renee, they surrender their weapons and meet up with Cara's car. Jack and Tony get out, Tony handcuffs Jack. And Tony, Jack, and Cara get away in Cara's car as Renee is handcuffed inside the FBI transport. Right before he leaves, though, Jack whispers to Renee that they have Kim and to do everything in

her power to save her.

Cara is shocked why Tony hasn't killed Bauer yet, but he reveals to her that there's still a chance to launch the attack as the prion variant is still in Jack's blood and organs. The redhead bitch smiles at this and drives the three of them away to the complex. When they arrive, Jack is put on a medical table while doctors are around him preparing to extract spinal fluid that would have the bio-weapon in it. Jack screams and is sedated. Jack yells for Tony's help, but to no avail. The doctor tells Tony that the pathogen can be destroyed in a temperature over 500 degrees (remember that). Tony makes his move -- he tells Cara he wants a larger role in the organization; he wants a face-to-face with Alan Wilson, the head of this group of private military contractors. Cara says it doesn't work like that, it's by invitation only. Tony says without him, none of this would even be possible, all the prion variant would have been destroyed in the Starkwood explosion. Cara makes

the call.

Kim Bauer finally holds her own and finally becomes her father's daughter. She was awesome in this episode. She started acting suspicious of Bob the Assassin when his laptop was open and pointed at her. She also did a good job of talking to Renee on the phone and not showing any emotion. She grabbed a pen from the gate desk just in case. Bob calls Cara, tells her Bauer's daughter is getting suspicious. Bob realizes she knows they're bad people, and tells Sarah to take Kim. He fires shots into the air, and Sarah pulls a knife on Kim's neck. Great airport shootout, where not one security guard was good one to take down Bob the Long Haired Husband Assassin. Bob took down plenty though. Kim stabs Sarah in the thigh with the pen, gets away from the Wife Assassin, right before a security cop slugs two bullets into her chest. Sarah's dead. Bob escapes and Kim goes to follow, after Renee said he's the only lead in finding Jack.

Renee arrives at the airport and sees Sarah's dead. She also sees that Bob and Kim are gone. Kim follows Bob all the way through the underbelly of the airport out into a parking lot. Bob gets into a car and starts speeding off, but one of the security cops at the airport fires into the windshield, hitting Bob in the neck. The car flips over and catches fire. Kim remembers his laptop and knows it can be used to find Jack's location. She crawls into the car and grabs the laptop, but Bob grabs her arm. She fights away and her arm catches on fire. She ditches her coat that's ablaze and gets away with the laptop as Bob burns to death. Renee catches up to Kim and makes sure she's OK. Kim uses some crazy techno-lingo about how to track Jack via Bob's laptop and Renee is shocked. Kim was a CTU analyst Agent Walker.

President Taylor doesn't get much screen-time in Episode 23. She briefs the Joint Chiefs and the Cabinet that the last canister of the pathogen was contained and that threat was over. But the group behind that attack still remains at large, and she says that's the next thing they need to concentrate on -- finding them. She is still under the assumption that Tony is being transported back to the FBI in hopes that he'll tell them where to find the "group."

Ethan is escorted back into Olivia's office by Aaron and she is shocked and angered. Ethan plays the tape and says Olivia is done for. He says she's going to tell her mother herself and that the President will decide her fate.

Cara gets off the phone with Wilson and after some hesitation, Wilson agrees to meet with Tony - within the hour. Cara is surprised by this and is told by Wilson that if he doesn't like Tony, he's a dead man. Tony is pleased that he's finally going to meet Wilson. With Tony and Cara away from the medical table, Jack wakes up and takes out three of the doctors while sedated and hours from dying. Talk about being a Grade-A badass. Jack escapes.

Pretty good episode setting up things for the finale. They set up the Tony-Wilson meeting, they set up the Olivia-Allison meeting, and they set up the Kim-saving-Jack-for-once scenario. As I said Kim was terrific in this episode, such a good job by Elisha Cuthbert. Great airport shootout scene, good scenes with Tony convincing Cara it's time he meets Wilson. A great "teaser" episode.

Trying to Map out the Finale

2009-05-15T09:55:00.004-04:00

Well, their have been some spoilers leaked about the season finale of Day 7. With those in mind, the previews for the episodes and my own speculation, here's how I think the season finale will go down:

Here's the spoilers: (BEWARE DON'T READ ON FROM HERE IF YOU WANT TO BE UNSPOILED)

- Tony and Kim both survive Day 7

- Michelle was carrying her and Tony's child when she was hit with the car bomb on Day 5

Pretty big stuff right here.

EPISODE 23.

6:03 A.M.

Cara tells Jack via the earpiece that he's gotta make his move now. Jack pulls his gun and threatens the FBI agents in the van. Renee tells him to reconsider and to calm down. Jack fires a shot into the leg of one of the agents. Agent screams. Renee realizes he's serious. In order for nobody at FBI to know where Jack is going, he puts Renee in a sleeper hold. Knocks out the other agents, and tells the driver to pull over with gun at his head. Then knocks out driver and throws him out the door. Jack also, with Tony's help, throws Renee and other agents out of the back of the van. Jack jumps in driver's seat. Starts driving with Tony with a little smirk on his face.

"They got to you, huh Jack?"

"Shut the hell up, Tony, or I will kill you."

"No you won't, not unless you want to see Kim alive again."

"You sonuva bitch!" Jack slams on breaks, goes into back of van. Tony still in handcuffs, repeatedly beats him. "How could you do this to Kim! My daughter!!"

Cara tells Jack to cut it out and get on the road again.

6:10 A.M.

Kim is still sitting as the airport with Bob and Sarah the assassins. They make more friendly talk. Bob's phone rings.

Bob: "It's my brother. I really don't wanna talk to him."

Sarah: "Oh just answer it, it won't kill you."

Bob walks away from them.

Bob: "Yeah."

Cara: "Everything running smoothly with Bauer's daughter?"

Bob: "Yeah, she doesn't suspect anything. What are we supposed to do if the plane start boarding?"

Cara: "That cannot happen. Absolutely not. We need her as leverage. Bauer is now driving Tony over here now. You have to stay with his daughter. I'll get back to you when I know more."

Bob hangs up his phone.

6:19 A.M.

Hank Taylor is now out of the bed and fully-clothed is walking about gingerly in the White House halls. The President is holding his arm.

Allison: "Don't you think you should be resting more? You were shot in the stomach honey."

Hank: "I need to get out of that damn bed. I'm fine." he says softly.

They walk into the Oval Office and begin discussing various things that happened throughout the day. And releasing a statement saying the bio-weapon threat is over.

6:30 A.M.

Ethan Kanin arrives in the White House. Aaron Pierce has him come through the South Side entrance to buy some time until the President finds out Ethan's back. Aaron escorts Ethan into a room and closes the door.

"Thank you for coming, sir."

"Not a problem, Aaron. Now please tell me what the hell is going on."

"Well, sir, I have become suspicious of Olivia Taylor's activities recently. Without Secret Service protection she left the White House at 5:30 in the morning to run a personal errand. Then when she returned, I asked her about it, and she said she just needed time to herself and clear her mind. Something is at work here."

"A personal errand at 5:30 A.M. does sound odd. With her, there's always something at work."

"So I was thinking, sir, to enable that voice recording system in the Chief of Staff's office and maybe get a feel for what she's doing."

"You know, Aaron, recording her without Olivia knowing is not the most trustworthy thing to do."

"Mr. Kanin, over the last couple of ours, Ms. Taylor has been attacking a little different. Her leaving at such an odd hour in the morning just raises the eyebrows even more."

"OK. You need to get her out of her office, so I can go in there and put my thumbprint down. I'll turn on the recorder and explain to you how to use it."

"Alright. I'll have her go down to the Oval Office saying her mother needs her for something."

"And make it fast, Aaron. It won't be too long before people around here know I'm back."

"Yes, sir."

6:42 A.M.

Renee is on the phone clutching her neck.

Renee: "Janis, it's me. Jack ambushed all of us and took off in the van with Tony."

Janis: "So, wait a minute, Jack is really working with Tony?"

Chloe: "No, what are you thinking? Jack would never aid a terrorist, even if it is Tony."

Renee: "He obviously has a reason for it, we just need to find out what it is. He acted really quickly so it must be a recent development. Chloe I need you to get into Jack's cell and listen to his most recent calls. Within the past hour."

Chloe: "I'm on it."

Renee: "Janis, I need you to set up an APB on Tony Almeida. Put in the report, he escaped the FBI escort and hijacked a green Ford Taurus, with D.C. plates."

Janis: "... but that's not true..."

Renee: "Just do it, Janis. And do not mention Jack on the bulletin. He's doing this for a reason. An hour ago he was beating the life out of Tony after we apprehended him, he's not helping him escape. I want Jack to be able to do whatever he's planning on doing."

Janis eyebrows raise: "Are you blindly trusting him, Renee?"

Chloe looks at Janis.

Renee: "Yes, I am Janis. Just do that for me."

Janis: "OK, Renee, I get that you trust Jack, but don't you think the pathogen is affecting his train of thought?"

Renee: "Janis, I'm the agent in charge now, do as I say or I'll find someone else who can. That's an order."

Janis has an annoyed look on her face.

Chloe: "Agent Walker, it'll be a few minutes I have to sort through the calls."

Renee: "OK, get back to me when you have something."

6:48 A.M.

Cara: "OK, Bauer turn right on Denton. Then you're going to follow the road til the end where you'll see a warehouse truck gate. Pull up there and wait in the van."

Jack: "Are you going to let my daughter board her flight?"

Cara: "You need to stop asking questions. She will board if you cooperate. Now hurry up."

Jack drives to the warehouse and parks the car. Two armed men exit a door and come up to the van. One of them opens the driver's door and pulls Jack out. Then he knocks him out with the butt of his gun. The other opens the back of the van and helps Tony out.

Tony: "Is she inside?"

Goon: "Yes, she's been waiting."

The goon drags Jack inside while Tony gets his handcuffs unlocked. He walks inside to find a bunch of scientists and Cara Bowden.

Cara: "Glad to see you're back."

Tony: "So am I.... thanks."

Cara: "Thank you for giving us the tip on Bauer's daughter."

Tony has a sheepish look on his face after she says that.

Tony: "You talk to your group?"

Cara: "Yeah, everything is fine, I told them we had a way to break you out of FBI custody and a way to recover the pathogen."

Tony: "From Jack."

Cara: "Yes. These scientists are going to extract it from his body. Put Bauer on the table and strap him down."

Jack is still out of it. The goons lift him up and strap him down to the cold, metal table. The scientists get to work on him.

Cara leaves the room. Makes a call.

"We have Bauer and they're extracting now."

Alan Wilson: "Good. And Almeida?"

"He's back with us. No harm done."

AW: "Very good. Good work, Cara. Call me when the pathogen has been extracted and secured."

"Of course."

6:54 A.M.

Renee's phone rings. She's in a car that Janis sent to their location.

Chloe: "Agent Walker, I went through the phone records on Jack's cell. One of them was heavily encrypted but I was able to decode it. You have to hear this for yourself."

Cara's words to Jack play in Renee's earpiece.

Renee: "Oh God. They have Kim. Tony must've have tipped them off."

Chloe: "I can't believe he would do that. He's known Kim for such a long time."

Renee: "Chloe, were you able to trace this woman's location."

Chloe: "No, it was on a scrambled server."

Renee: "Dammit. OK, you need to get in touch with Kim and then patch her phone to my line. Do it now."

Chloe dials Kim's cell phone, which was dying of battery. There was a sliver of life left though.

Kim: "Hello?"

Renee: "Kim listens very carefully."

Kim: "Agent Walker is that you?"

Bob and Sarah perk up.

Renee: "Kim be quiet. Somewhere in the airport, there are two operatives monitor----"

Line dead. Kim's battery died.

Kim: "Agent Walker? Dammit."

Sarah: "Everything OK sweetie?"

Kim: "Yea, my phone just died. Could I maybe use yours?"

Sarah: "Sure" she says looking at Bob.

Sarah rummages through her purse extra long so Bob could text Cara: Listen to Sarah's phone call.

Sarah finds it, and gives it to Kim. She dials the FBI's number she had on a piece of paper.

Kim: "Yes, put me through to Agent Renee Walker please. It's Kim (Stephen's LastName), Jack Bauer's daughter. Thank you."

Split screen of Cara listening to call; Renee talking to Kim; Chloe and Janis at FBI; Jack on table.

Renee: "Kim listen. Somewhere near you in the airport are two people who aren't who they say they are. It's a long story, but they're monitoring you to use you as leverage."

Kim: "What are you talking about? Leverage for what?"

Renee: "For your father to break Tony Almeida out of FBI custody."

Kim laughed: "Wait a minute. Tony Almeida? He's been dead for several years. He died while I was locked down at CTU."

Renee: "Kim he's alive and is part of the organization who's been responsible for today's terrorist attacks."

Kim: "No, no way Tony would ever----"

Renee: "Kim! I don't have time to debate this. It's true. And your father is doing this for your safety. You need to not make a scene and get somewhere safe in the airport. Look around for any people watching you. Remember there's more than one of them."

Kim freezes and gets real nervous. "Where do you want me to go? Can't you send an agent down here?"

Renee: "I'm coming myself. But you need to wait somewhere safe in the meantime. Just get safe and call me back when you're alone."

Kim: "OK, OK I will."

Kim gives the phone back to Sarah.

Sarah: "Everything OK, you sounded flustered."

Kim: "No, it was nothing. Just someone who works with my father."

Sarah: "Well alright."

Bob receives text from Cara: FBI knows about you watching Bauer's daughter. Be prepared.

Kim suddenly gets up and Sarah speaks, "Where you going? The flight's boarding real soon."

Kim thinks quick: "Ya know, that cup of coffee does sound good right now."

Sarah: "Well you could've had a free cup before and my husband never offers anybody anything."

Bob: "Hey now."

Sarah: "I'll take a walk with you, my legs could use a stretching anyways."

Now Kim starts to suspect something weird. They're being too nice.

Kim: "No it's OK. I rather walk alone."

Bob realizes she knows. She opens his jacket slowly showing a gun. "Let my wife go with you, Bauer."

Kim's eyes open wide. Sarah grabs her arm and says, "Move." They walk towards the coffee shop at the other end of the airport.

Split-screen: Renee racing towards the airport calling Janis to send backup; glance of Tony watching the men work on Jack on the table; Sarah walking with Kim; Ethan in the White House.

Final scene for Episode 23:

Jack on table yelling, "What are you doing? Tony!?"

Tony responds, "Jack, I'm right here. We're extracting the bio-weapon from your body to manufacturer more of it."

Jack is shocked, "Wait, Tony... why, why are you----. Ahhhhh" Jack screams in pain.

Tony looks away, and at Cara.

Cara: "Is this too much to watch, Tony?" sarcastically.

Tony: "Let's just get it and get out of here."

Cara: "We will. And I spoke to the group. They want Bauer eliminated when this is over with. I want you to do it."

Tony looks at her and then at Jack, kind of sheepish.

6:59:57 6:59:58 6:59:59 7:00:00

EPISODE 24.

7:02 A.M.

Aaron is waiting outside the Oval Office's door as he just escorted Olivia inside a few minutes ago. He made up something about her mother wanting to discuss the alert level. Her mother is confused who told her this, but discusses it regardless.

Aaron phones Ethan, "How much longer, Mr. Kanin."

"The thumbprint is done. Now I activated the recording. All you have to do is go under the desk into a cut-out panel on the left side and take out the digital tape it records onto. She'll obviously have to be out of the office for this."

"I understand, and thank you, sir."

Aaron closes his phone.

7:10 A.M.

Renee arrives at the airport, as Bob was alerted to this by Cara due to her finding out using FBI bandwidth frequencies. Renee enters the airport with a detail of FBI agents. To cause chaos and distraction, Bob fires his gun in the air. People start screaming and running everywhere. Sarah drops down behind a booth and drags Kim down too.

"You try anything and I'll put a bullet in your brain."

Kim is terrified. People are running everywhere. Bob shoots down a couple of airport security guards. Renee and the FBI agents take cover as Bob sprints to where Sarah and Kim are. Bob grabs Kim violently and starts running with her, shooting backwards blindly. Sarah follows but gets shot down by Renee. Bob keeps going.

By threatening to kill Kim to the airport security guards, Bob gets to his car, throws Kim in back seat and drives away. He knocks her out, too. Renee runs to FBI car to follow Bob.

7:21 A.M.

Aaron gets into Olivia's office while she meets up with Secretary of Homeland Security Tim Woods in his office. Aaron quickly takes the tape out and closes the door to the Chief of Staff's office. He goes back to a room that has a tape player in it, where Ethan is waiting.

They play the tape and hear Olivia's phone conversation with Martin Collier discussing how she make the funds transfer for the hit on Jonas Hodges. Both are shocked.

"We have to tell the President, immediately." says Ethan.

"You're right. Follow me."

Aaron and Ethan walk down to the Oval Office, and find Allison and Hank talking.

"Agent Pierce, what---? Ethan?" says the President.

"Hello, Madam President. I'll explain. Agent Pierce called me back into the White House because of suspicious activity by your daughter."

"Olivia?" Hank said.

"Yes, Henry. And I think you should just listen to this yourself?"

"You recorded her!? That's a breach of privacy?" Allison exclaims.

"Ma'am, I apologize but there was no other way. She left the White House on a personal errand at 5:30 this morning, and she lied to me about it."

Ethan plays the tape, and Allison is shocked.

"So, Olivia ordered the hit on Hodges. Oh my God." Hank says.

"A government federal witness, dammit!" Allison says.

She presses the phone, "Get my daughter in here now."

7:30 A.M.

The pathogen was extracted from Jack and put in a vile. Tony tells Cara he's going to take Jack and kill him and dump the body somewhere, but she needs to bring the pathogen to the group. Cara phone Alan saying she has it. Tony drags Jack into the car and speeds away. Cara starts driving, too.

7:35 A.M.

Olivia walks in the door, "Mom, you needed----. What's Ethan doing here."

"Sit down Olivia." Allison says.

"Mom. Dad, what is she talking about, why..."

"Sit down, Livvy," Hank says.

Allison plays the recording and Olivia is mortified.

"Ethan did this?! This is a serious invasion of my privacy."

"That all doesn't matter now since you ordered a federal witness to be killed!" Allison barks.

"I was angry, he killed my only brother!" Olivia starts sobbing.

"This is treason, Olivia. This is jail for the rest of your life. And this WILL get back to me! I'm the President of the United States!"

"Ok, let's just think this through." Hank says.

"Henry, there's nothing to think through, if the public find out about the President's daughter ordering a contract on the head of Jonas Hodges, this whole administration will be brought down with great ease." Ethan says.

Olivia stares at the floor.

"Everyone get out, except Henry. I need to think," Allison says.

"But, Madam President," Ethan starts.

"Just go!" Allison yells

Olivia, Aaron and Ethan leave the room.

"Oh my Lord, Henry what am I going to do."

"Ally, just relax for a second... this is fixable."

"What do you mean?"

".... Delete the phone record before Olivia and Collier."

Allison's eyes open wide, "And cover up a murder!"

"Allison, this is not your black mark, you didn't do this."

"But my daughter and my Chief of Staff did!"

"They don't have to know that. It's a simple deleting. We have the resources to do it."

"The Justice department are inquiring the 11 people who knew Hodges was alive."

"Then Ally, we have to move quickly."

7:40 A.M.

Kim slowly wakes up to Bob driving. She slowly takes off one of her high-heeled shoes, and realized there's no other way. She bashes Bob in the head with it, instantly making him bleed. He loses control of the wheel and the car crashes in ditch off the highway. Cara was tracking his vehicle and once she sees the car stopped and Bob got responding to her call, she sends in more goons in SUVs.

Renee is close behind Bob's car. She sees a fire up ahead, it's Bob's car. She tells the backup teams to prepare to engage the hostiles. The FBI agents loads their machine guns. Cara's other goons come up to Bob's car to grab Kim. Renee leans out of the FBI vehicle and starts shooting at the goons. She takes down two. Bob gets up and has his gun pointed at Kim. Renee kills Bob. Kim runs away from the car as it explodes with fire after hitting the gas tank. The FBI agents finish off the other ones of Cara's henchmen. Renee successfully rescues Kim.

7:45 A.M.

Jack wakes up in the back of Tony's car.

"Where are we going?"

"Don't worry about that, Jack."

"Where is Kim?"

"Jack---"

"Dammit, Tony tell me where my daughter is you bastard!"

"She's fine, Jack. We have people watching her."

"We... look at yourself, teaming up with the people you swore to take down as a federal agent. You're a disgrace and a disgusting waste of life. I really wish you would have stayed dead."

"So do I." Tony says sadly.

"You have been sounding depressed at various points during the day. Why are you doing all of this, Tony. Help me understand."

Tony realizing one of them will die and it doesn't matter anymore, replies, "She was pregnant, Jack."

"What?" Jack says confused.

"Michelle," Tony says with tears welling up in his eyes, "Was pregnant with our son. And both of them were taken from me."

Jack is shocked, "Oh my God... but Tony, why turn to... this?!"

"I don't feel like explaining myself, Jack."

"I am... I was your friend. You owe me at least that."

"Fine. I woke up to Emerson. I had no idea what happened. Michelle and my unborn son was dead. You were abducted by the Chinese and I had no one to turn to. Why would I want to contact CTU for help after they couldn't even protect Michelle. And for the longest time all I wanted to do was kill Charles Logan so bad, since you took care of the other people responsible for it. But as time went on and Emerson showed faith in me, I realized who cares about fighting the good fight. It's not going to work, there will continuously be more attacks at this country."

"Tony, we have stopped so many attacks. You were a big reason for that."

"Doesn't matter anymore, Jack."

"Tony come on, let me help you."

"Jack shut up, just stop it. It's all over. The attack will go through and I'll get paid and will hide away on some island for the rest of my life.... sometimes I wish I could just put a bullet in my head. Would make me a lot happier."

Jack knew there was nothing else to tell him. Tony wasn't turning back. Jack knew he had to act to try and save himself.

"So what happens with me?"

"I'm supposed to kill you, but seeing that you're dying already, there's no reason for me to pull the trigger."

"Yeah, I'm dying and would like to do so in peace. Can you at least do me that, Tony?"

"I..." Tony's phone rings.

"Yeah. ..... OK, yeah I'm coming up on the site soon.... I'll call you when I'm done." Tony's side of the conversation went.

7:46 A.M.

Hank Taylor is standing over Ethan Kanin at Olivia's computer.

"You're sure the President is OK with this?" Ethan asks.

Hank replies, "Ethan just do it. This was my call. Allison didn't want to officially say it, but she wanted it done this way."

As Ethan is deleting the phone conversations between Olivia and Martin Collier, the computer freezes. The Justice Department flagged Olivia's computer and knows what they're trying to do.

"They know," Hank says.

"Henry you need to get out of here. I'm not a member of this administration anymore, they wouldn't be able to connect me to the President."

"Ethan, wait---"

"Go, Henry, now!"

Hank exits another door, just as Justice Department official Shane Sweeney enters the room with three Secret Service behind him.

"Arrest Mr. Kanin immediately."

Hank tells Allison everything that happened, and Allison is saddened.

"He made a great sacrifice to keep that attempt to delete the phone records away from me. It was a very brave thing to do."

"Yes it was Ally, but Olivia and Ethan will both be getting arrested."

"What do I do, Henry. It's our daughter for Christ's sake. How can I pardon her without people coming down on me with daggers and swords."

"Honey, that's not a discussion for right now. Just be happy you're not connected."

Secret Service arrest Olivia also and bring her and Ethan to separate holding rooms.

7:51 A.M.

Tony parks his car next to an abandoned building. He gets out and grabs Jack out of the car, too. He handcuffs him to a chain-link fence, while he looks around.

"Jack, I want to tell you something. You have a granddaughter. Teri."

Jack's face goes pale white.

"What?" he barely gets the word out.

Kim and her husband had a girl and named her Teri. I thought you should know.

Realizing he'd never get to meet his grandchild and angrily Jack replies, "What? Thought I should know before I die?" Jack starts coughing and squinting. "Please, Tony, as someone who was once your friend, let me die in peace."

Tony looks around and says, "You're not going to die, Jack."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Tony replies, "They never extracted the pathogen out of you. I ordered all those men to insert the cure into your body. My female friend thought they were extracting."

"No, there is no cure. No antidote."

"Of course there was. Why would I be dealing with all this stuff and not have a Plan B. Hodges had one manufactured for himself."

Jack is utterly shocked but relieved too. "But I'm still feeling the side effects."

"Those will go away 24 hours after the cure is inserted into your body. You're going to be fine, Jack."

"Why do all this Tony, for me? Why save my life?"

Tony looks down ashamed and says, "Because if I can't see my boy grow up, I want you to be able to watch your granddaughter grow up."

Regardless of what Tony had done in the day, Jack simply replies with, "Thank you."

"Yeah, well it doesn't all end happy for us. Now I have to disappear and have no contact with anyone ever again."

"Tony wait, turn yourself in. Man up to what you have done. That's what the old Tony -- that's what my friend would have done. Preserve some honor and integrity."

Tony smirks, "Jack, I have absolutely no honor left. I succumbed to everything. I turned to a life of evil. I'm not like you, Jack. Just not as good as you."

"Tony---"

"Save it, Jack."

Jack looks at his broken and beaten friend.

"Tony I will always love you like a brother. But what you did today, I could never forgive."

"I don't expect you to."

Tony sees Cara's car pull up. Jack looks to get a better picture.

"Look dead," Tony whispers.

Cara walks up to Tony and says, "Have a problem?"

"No. Did you bring the vile to your group?"

Cara turns her back on Tony, "Yeah, about that vile." Cara pulls a gun on Tony.

"You betrayed me, Tony. Why? Now the people I report to have a contract on my head."

Tony is silent. Jack slowly opens his eyes.

"Now you'll pay for screwing me over," Cara says as she cocks the gun.

Jack opens his eyes and sweep-kicks her leg. Tony pulls out his gun and fires two bullets into Cara's chest. Cara dies.

Tony undoes Jack's handcuffs and tells him to take Cara's car and drive away from here. Tony says he's going to disappear, just like Jack did at the end of Day 4.

Unfortunately for Tony, Chloe had finally broken through the call that Jack got from Cara and traced her cell phone. They tracked her all the way to where Jack and Tony where. Renee along with Kim and a dozen FBI agents storm out of FBI SUVs that pull up as Tony puts his hands behind his head.

Jack looks at Tony.

"Go, Jack." Jack runs over to Kim and embraces her very strongly.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that, sweetie."

"It's OK, Dad."

"Are you hurt?"

"No, no I'm fine."

"Kimberly, I would love to meet your daughter."

Kim's cheeks fluster and she says, "How did you... Dad I wanted to tell you, but..."

"Don't worry about it," Jack says as he pets her hair. It's all going to be fine." He says smiling as she watches Renee arrest Tony.

"I love you so much, Daddy."

"I love you two, sweetheart."

Next scene shows FBI arresting Alan Wilson, dragging him out of his limo. They traced his cell phone from Cara's cell phone. It's implied that through Alan Wilson's phone and computer records, the other Cabal members will be arrested also.

The season ends as arms around each other, Jack and Kim walk away from the scene of the crime. Renee, after putting Tony in the back of an FBI car, smiles at the sight of Jack and Kim reunited.

7:59:57 7:59:58 7:59:59 8:00:00

Now I know the timing is off a little and a lot of things aren't explained that well, but I tried my best. Writing this show is very, very difficult, obviously. Now I know this isn't the very emotional ending Kiefer discussed, and Aaron didn't die (which most spoilers say he will), but I tried to write these 2 episodes as I would like to see them. Some sort of redemption for Tony. A happy ending for Jack and Kim.

All thoughtsc/comments/criticism is greatly appreciated and wanted. Thanks for reading.

Who Else I Want to Return For Day 8

2009-05-14T09:26:00.005-04:00

Jack, Chloe, President Taylor, Renee and Kim are confirmed to return for Day 8 (I guess you can also put Baby Teri into that mix). 24 has had a history of sometimes keeping characters in their positions for a couple of seasons and sometimes just randomly replacing them. Like when Jenny Dodge, President Palmer's Press Secretary on Day 2, was replaced by Gerry Whitehorn on Day 3. Not sure what the reasoning was for that, but I do like to see some characters return especially if they're good at what they do.

First off, hopefully First Gent Hank Taylor returns. Allison is, so I don't see a reason why he wouldn't be back. In a very recent interview, Cherry Jones (Allison Taylor) says that the writers are looking how to include in either Hank or Olivia. This should go without saying, but I also want Agent Aaron Pierce to return (if he survives Day 7 obviously). After protecting Olivia on Day 7 and being reinstated, I see it as the perfect opportunity for Aaron to be the Head of Secret Service under President Allison Taylor. He already has a history with the Taylor family.

I'll make this one short and sweet: I want Tony to return, but I'm not sure how they could include him in Day 8, seeing how he's evil and all. And also we don't know if he survives Day 7.

I liked Ethan Kanin a lot, but he definitely won't return with Rob Weiss being Allison's new Chief of Staff. Ethan was the Secretary of Defense for Wayne Palmer, so maybe they could bring him back in that capacity but I doubt it.

Mitchell Hayworth, Tim Woods and John Smith should all return, as Vice President, Secretary of Homeland Security and Chief of Naval Operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We barely got to know Hayworth (only 2 episodes) and Woods did a pretty solid job as Sec of Homeland. No reason to replace Smith either. The real trick is finding a sideplot for the Vice President, which isn't always easy.

Now there's a whole slew of others I'm on the fence about a return. Morris will still be married to Chloe presumably, but with her working in New York at CTU, I don't know what that means in terms of them relocating. They'll have to explain that, why the O'Brians went from D.C. to New York. So I guess there's a chance Morris could appear briefly.

It would be nice to learn a little more about Kim's husband, Stephen. We've barely seen him on Day 7 and he seems like a good guy. I think Jack would like him, seeing it Kim's hubby, she's settled down and it's his granddaughter's father.

And there's this name that's always around: Charles Logan. I thought with him being the last person alive responsible for Michelle's death, Tony would hunt him down (also since Greg Itzin was at premiere parties with the 24 cast), but with him not appearing in Day 7, I don't know how they would incorporate him in Day 8. He's one of my favorites, so I would definitely welcome it.

In a post before Day 7 aired, I said I would like to see Mandy return. It's been a while, we haven't seen her since Day 4 after she got immunity for giving up the location of Habib Marwan. It would be cool to see her in Day 8 -- maybe as one of the assassins trying to kill Anil Kapoor's character, who's on a peacemaking mission in the U.S. (read about this possible storyline somewhere online today).

Let me make a clear list of who I DON'T want to see return to 24: Audrey Raines, James Heller, Mike Doyle, Nadia Yassir, Wayne Palmer, Sandra Palmer, Marilyn Bauer, Cheng Zhi, Karen Hayes and new addition Janis Gold. Some of these (Doyle, Nadia, Marilyn, Sandra, Cheng) was run their course on storylines, others (Audrey, Heller) since these 2 are grouped together I don't see a need to revisit this and hurt Jack even more - especially with romance with Renee in Day 8, and the last two (Wayne, Karen) pretty much doing everything you can with their characters. I guess you could bring back Karen in Taylor's administration, but they like new characters, and with Bill dead Karen is gonna be long gone. Wayne I actually have always liked. Sure he wasn't the best President but was awesome on Days 3 and 5. Just don't see a storyline that could include him (and this is assuming he didn't suffer brain damage after Day 6's assassination attempt.

I think Noah Daniels' best chance of returning was in Day 7, either being part of the conspiracy as in working with Alan Wilson's Cabal, or being the higher-up guy Tony was reporting to deep, deep undercover. No reason to bring him into the plot on Day 8.

Something interesting, if they wanna do a cousins thing, and have the good part of Jack's family involved is Josh Bauer. On Day 8, he will be about 23 years ago (15 on Day 6, 19 on Day 7). At that age, he could have beefed up and decides to follow his Uncle Jack's footsteps and work as a field agent for a government agency. That's about the age he'd be able to join and complete training. Most likely just a pipe dream. He didn't annoy me at all on Day 6, unlike his mother.

I know Day 7 still has 2 hours left (supposedly an awesome 2 hours), but in this long week coming up to the finale, I need to post something to keep my mind off waiting. We'll see how many of these characters actually do return for Day 8, and maybe I'll do some kind of scorecard.

What do you guys think? Agree with all/some/none of my picks? Who else do you want to return? Let's hear them, along with reasons.

Long Live Tony Almeida

2009-05-13T10:17:00.007-04:00

Tony Almeida is full-blown evil. We all know that now. No way he's deep undercover or whatever with just 2 episodes left. A lot of Jack's history with Tony will be brought up with these last 2 episodes I think. I really hope at one point Jack says something like this, "You're doing this because you're angry at what happened to Michelle? What would Michelle think of you if she knew what you were doing?" Try to strike him at his core.

While Tony isn't coming back from the dark side -- I mean the dude had Kim kidnapped for Pete's sake -- I do believe he cares about Jack to some extent. With the line in the preview of Jack saying, "As someone who was once your friend, please, let me die in peace" I think Tony is going to be the one who helps him get cured. Annie Wersching says by episode 24 we will feel sympathy for Tony. Saving Jack's life would certainly help that. She says we'll sympathize with what he's feeling. A poster on the 24 Insider board who has seen all 24 episodes, says that Michelle's death is not the only reason for Tony's motives. I can't think of what else there is. Money doesn't seem to concern Tony. There's no way they throw Logan into the finale, so he won't be hunting him down (which is sad, considering that would have been a great ending to the season -- Tony broken down facing Charles Logan and blowing him away. Oh well).

When Tony killed Larry and was revealed to be evil, obviously it was a humongous shocker and twist. That's what the writer's were trying to achieve -- like when Nina was revealed, or Logan was revealed. Those were perfect storylines though. They did the Tony evil thing to shock us, right? So they could accomplished that by making Aaron Pierce evil. Jack Bauer could turn evil, too. Of course, any of those would be shocks, but you shouldn't do it just for the shock of it.

Imagine all the stories they could do with Tony for next year, too. Let's say after Tony blows up the Starkwood missiles, he's brought in to be arrested by Larry. Jack needs help and convinces President Taylor to allow him to help out. Jack and Tony track down this Cabal group, side-by-side. With Jack affected with the pathogen, Tony would be looking out for him and caring for him. Tony survives this season, is exonerated by President Taylor and somehow is brought back into the fold for Day 8.

They even could have made Tony stay good, and sacrifice his life to save Kim's. I think this would've been the most emotional scene for Jack Bauer -- his best friend saving his only daughter's life.

Instead we get Evil Tony. Which I'm starting to accept because I want to enjoy the episodes and see things from Tony's perspective. He has proven to be a great villain and one of the best adversaries for Jack (even though Jack is not at 100% health). I love how whatever Tony does, Jack knows because it's what he would've done.

Jack Bauer is always said to be that tragic character, losing his wife and girlfriend, having his daughter estranged from him, losing CTU friends, dealing with traitors. Tony is very tragic as well. Except in the end, Jack still stays the course even after all he's dealt with, while Tony got fed up with everything, and turned into the very thing he swore to defend against while working at CTU. He loved Michelle so much, and she was taken from him. He was dead for 10 minutes and then saved by David Emerson. Brainwashed or not, he felt some sort of connection to him for saving his life. It's just full-circle-ish (if you want to look at it glass-half-full) when back on Day 3, Tony questions Nina saying, "How could you betray your colleagues and friends like that. How could you just have innocent people killed?" He was baffled at her, didn't know why she was doing it. And now he's the same thing she was. That's the difference between Jack and Tony. We all say Tony was like Jack, but he isn't. No one is like Jack. It makes us appreciate Jack so much more. Tony is very Harvey Dent-like. Watch "The Dark Knight" and you'll get where I'm coming from.

Sure, thinking back at all the scenes with "good" Tony on Day 7, it's disheartening to know he was playing them the whole time. After Jack brought him out of FBI, Tony had a little smile on his face after he apologized for saying that thing about Teri...Tony at the mini-CTU with Chloe and Bill and Jack explaining everything...undercover with Emerson kidnapping the Matobos...raiding Dubaku's hideout...Tony and Jack at the Port of Alexandria...just Jack wanting to believe his friend again. It's just all so tragic. Another dagger to the heart of Jack, yet this one is completely different and besides his wife's death, is probably the toughest one for him to endure. It adds to Jacks' toughness and to his body of work. It shows how Jack is an incredible man and is the ultimate patriot, continuously helping his country. Sure Jack has lost a lot because of the government also, but he didn't let it get the best of him. For as much as Tony wanted to be like Jack, he could only go so far.

Going to be epic battle between the two this coming Monday.

Ausiello Confirms 2 Characters for Day 8

2009-05-13T09:26:00.004-04:00

Mike Ausiello at his Twitter, confirms that Kim Bauer returns for an arc during Day 8 and that Janis Gold does not come back next season. So that means Kim won't die this year, so that spoiler about a person who's been around since Day 1 dying, is either going to be Tony or Aaron.

Kim returns next year along with the other confirmed: Jack, Chloe, President Taylor and Renee.

Episode Review - 7.22

2009-05-12T11:00:00.005-04:00

EPISODE 7.22

The following takes place between 5:00 A.M. and 6:00 A.M.

I definitely liked this episode better than Episode 7.21. It had a good amount of tension in it, saw the return of Ethan which I liked, and plus, ended the lone canister threat. I like how going into the last 2 hours of the season, the overall threat is done with, but there's still a dying Jack saving his only daughter, from the hands of his former best friend's "group."

First off, I enjoyed the scenes between Chloe and Janis. I didn't think they were over-the-top and laughed when Chloe said, "This is the last place you should look for validation." Then Janis did kind of shut her up by saying, "Well can you at least admit you were wrong?" C'mon, Goldie, it's Chloe O'Brian for Pete's sake.

I enjoyed the hurried, quick-motion scene of Chloe hacking into Jibraan's earpiece, Jack telling him his brother is safe, Jibraan finding the canister after all the people empty, of course the one business dude who thinks he's a terrorist and tells the police, Jibraan realizing he's gonna get caught so yells BOMB, runs outside, hands the canister off to Jack, Jack launching it into the back of the Hazmat truck and sealing it off. Threat eliminated. That's what Jack Bauer does. Thrilling sequence.

I also enjoyed the nice, little exchange and hug between Jack and Renee. There's great chemistry there, and it's something different - Jack has never been romantically involved with a fellow field agent. Should be an interesting dynamic for Day 8. And I do have confidence that the writers won't screw it up like the Milo/Nadia debacle.

Olivia meets with Martin Collier in the park and we do find out that he convinced the hitman that she was good for the money and to go ahead with the hit on Jonas Hodges. Olivia is shocked at this and Martin tells her she better transfer the funds because you don't want this guy mad at you. She does the transfer of the 250K. But all the while, Aaron Pierce is starting to piece some fishy things together. He knows Olivia lied to him and is up to something. So he phones Ethan Kanin (terrific way to bring him back into the plot). Aaron is going to utilize the listening device inside the Chief of Staff's office, but needs Ethan's thumbprint to unlock it. Ethan says he'll be at the White House in 30 minutes.

I didn't think Agent Franks could have been evil and working for Cara Bowden because he was just too out-in-the-open and giving her too obvious glances. I don't know why Jack just didn't have Agent Franks go up to Kim and tell her, "hey, your father wants me to stay with you until you board, just for your safety." Nothing alarming. Instead he's hiding around the terminal like a creeper. Enter lovely Husband and Wife. Kim befriends them and Mr. Husband ends up being a highly-skilled assassin killing Agent Franks while the dope takes a leak. (Sidenote: the actor who played Agent Franks has a super-cool name: F.J. Rio).

My favorite scenes though, of course, were between Jack and Tony. Jack absolutely beat in his face with those heavy head-on punches. He actually took a break and realized, hey this is still Tony, and asks why he betrayed him. I thought of this whole punching scene as Jack beating Tony senseless for the fans, as if to say, how could you disappoint your legion of fans by turning evil. With those heavy-hitting punches, I actually felt some anger wash away. Jack beat him up for the fans. Anyways, of course Tony doesn't say anything. So JB pulls the gun out and points it at his head, he wants to lay him down right there. Tony sympathetically says he has nothing left to lose, do it. But Jack doesn't. Maybe he's not the cold-blooded killer he used to be (See: Victor Drazen, Andre Drazen, Nina Myers, Christopher Henderson, Conrad Haas).

Of course, I actually did feel bad for a second for Tony when he said, "I have nothing else to lose." But then I thought, c'mon man, you had friends, reach out to them. So instead you've become the very thing you fought against while at CTU: a mass-murdering killer and a terrorist. I would have loved Tony and Jack fighting side-by-side this season, and we did get to see a little bit of that, but I'm starting to accept what the writers did. They always say Jack is the tragic character, and he is - losing his wife, girlfriend, among many friends (Bill, Michelle, originally-thought to be good Tony, Curtis, etc.). But Tony is just as tragic. In a different way. I know we're supposed to feel sorry for Tony because it's Tony and we all love him. But this just re-affirms our faith and trust in Jack Bauer, and all he represents.

Now, thinking about it, Tony had to obviously tip off Cara about Kim Bauer at the airport. Remember, he asked Larry back when the Starkwood missiles were just blown up, if he mentioned Kim Bauer. Larry said yea she's in D.C. trying to do a stem cell treatment to save Jack. Tony must have contacted Cara sometime off-camera telling her, send out a couple of goons to keep tabs on Kim (live feed of her sent to Jack's cell phone, pictured below), in case they needed to use her as leverage against Jack. And sure as hell, they needed to. It's one thing for Tony to be evil and want to kill innocent people. But now we're talking about putting his former best friend's only daughter in harm's way. Jack is gonna go even more postal on him once those 2 are alone.

So, onto the last 2 hours of Day 7. The finale has finally arrived. After a looong year-and-a-half of waiting, here we are. Jack's gotta break Tony out of FBI custody, which should be real fun. He's gotta save Kim's life, all the while dying. We're finally gonna see how Jack is cured of this pathogen (seeing how he's in Day 8). Cara said to break out Tony you may have to gun down FBI agents, one being Renee who's also in the FBI van with Jack and Tony. Tough spot for Jackie. We also should see Cara's death (who actually turned out to be a nice, little female villain) and hopefully, Alan Wilson being brought to justice.

I'm still most interested in hearing why Tony is doing all of this. People have said it's more than just Michelle's death. And I say forget money, Tony doesn't care about that. What else could it be? Annie Wersching says by episode 24, we'll sympathize with Tony. Can't wait for these last 2 hours. And to quote Kiefer himself, "I think it's the most powerful finale we've ever done."

180 Minutes Left...

2009-05-11T11:30:00.004-04:00

That's all that remains for Day 7.

180 minutes to apprehend and stop Tony.

180 minutes to figure out why Tony is doing what he's doing.

180 minutes to find the Cabal conspirators and bring them down.

180 minutes to secure the bio-weapon canister.

180 minutes to find a way to save Jack's life.

180 minutes to figure out who's responsible for blowing up Jonas Hodges's SUV transport.

180 minutes to see if Olivia will pay for all her hidden agendas.

180 minutes to see if Tony survives the day.

180 minutes to see if Aaron survives the day.

180 minutes to see if Kim survives the day.

180 minutes to see if Morris survives the day.

180 minutes to see if Hank Taylor survives the day.

180 minutes to see what Kiefer has said is the most powerful finale they've ever had.

So much to accomplish in just 3 hours. Those 180 remaining minutes begin tonight.

Follow tcdoj on Twitter

2009-05-07T16:31:00.001-04:00

For little 24 anecdotes, news or just what I'm thinking at any specific moment, check out tcdoj on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/tcdoj

Vegas Odds

2009-05-07T11:31:00.004-04:00

Here are the brand-new Vegas odds on which characters from Day 7 will survive these last 3 episodes (and by Vegas, I mean in my head):

(I'm using percentages, since it's easier to understand, to me at least)

-- Jack Bauer: 100% (confirmed)

-- Renee Walker: 100% (confirmed)

-- President Allison Taylor: 100% (confirmed)

-- Chloe O'Brian: 100% (confirmed)

-- First Gent Hank Taylor: 85%

-- Olivia Taylor: 75% (I think she'll just get arrested and won't be in Day 8)

-- Aaron Pierce: 100% (gotta keep the track record of appearing in every season, and I see the perfect opportunity to slide AP back into his natural role of Head Secret Service agent for the President)

-- Tony Almeida: 50% (can go either way really)

-- Kim Bauer: 70%

-- Janis Gold: 95% (but she won't be in Day 8)

-- Alan Wilson: 50% (this one's tricky as I could see him getting away, but with new news that Day 8 won't be weeks after Day 7, it seems JB will catch Wilson)

-- Cara Bowden: 10%

-- Tim Woods: 95%

Some of these are obvious and some of these characters will never be in harm's way to die (like Woods). The most intriguing are Tony and Kim, after the other 4 have been confirmed.

Season 8 Casting News

2009-05-06T12:55:00.003-04:00

These are the new proposed characters for Day 8's regular cast. As least the early-on version. In bold are the characters' names, in parenthesis is who I think they most closely are just replicating.

Dayna Pakkala, (Michelle Dessler) any ethnicity, 20s. Dayna is an intelligent and yet down-to-earth data analyst at the Counter Terrorism Agency. She is great at her position and is respected by her colleagues at the agency. Dayna is romantically seeing her fellow agent Davis Cole, who recently returned from serving in the military. This woman has a personal history that she keeps hidden from the people she knows. SERIES REGULAR.

Diane Reed, Caucasian, 30s - 40s. Diane is a well-educated, respected, pretty television journalist who is a regular contributor to a show similar to "60 Minutes." She has always been a very ambitious journalist. She comes from an upper-middle-class background and has a touch of arrogance about her. Diane is romantically seeing the President of a Middle Eastern country. SERIES REGULAR

Kayla Hashemi, Middle Eastern, 20s. Kayla is the humble and shy daughter of the President of a Middle Eastern country. She is close with her mother and wants to do anything she can to gain her mother's approval. Kayla is somewhat old-fashioned and traditional. She is also very defensive of her father and gets upset whenever anyone begins to critize him.

Sondra Hashemi, Middle Eastern, 40s - 50s. Sondra is the pretty and loyal wife of President Hashemi. At first she does not seem to be happy with her husband, but we eventually see that there is a very real bond and respect between them under the surface.

Jonah Schwartz, (Chloe O'Brian/Janis Gold), any ethnicity, 20s. Jonah is a quirky and brilliant Systems Analyst at the government's Counter Terrorism Unit. He looks more like a college grad student rather than a top secret undercover agent. He is somehow hip and geeky at the same time. Jonah is an expert at computer technology. SERIES REGULAR

Rob Weiss, any ethnicity, 30s. Weiss is the argumentative and tough Chief of Staff to President Allison Taylor. He speaks his mind and does not worry about being polite. Weiss is quick to strike back against the President's enemies. He is a bit high-strung at times, but he does a great job protecting the interests of the administration. SERIES REGULAR.

Davis Cole, (Chase Edmunds), any ethnicity, Mid 20s - 30s. Davis is a former military guy who is now in charge of the Counter Terrorism Unit's Field Operations. He has recently returned from time in the Marines in the Middle East, and he is now readjusting to civilian life. Davis aspires to eventually take a similar career path as Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland). He looks up to Bauer and admires him. Davis is also romantically seeing his colleague Dayna Pakkala. SERIES REGULAR

Brian Hastings, (Bill Buchanan), any ethnicity, 30s - 40s. Brian is a clean-cut and businesslike man who is in charge of the Counter Terrorism Unit's New York City office. He has a very keen and focused sense of intelligence about him. He chooses his words very carefully when he speaks and never overeacts to anything. He seems like someone who would be comfortable trading stocks or running a company, but instead he has chosen to help contribute to running the agency. SERIES REGULAR

Farhad Hashemi, Middle Eastern, 30s - 40s. Hashemi is the Secretary of State of a fictional Middle Eastern country, and his brother is the President. He does not completely trust the Americans, and he is reluctant to enter into a peace treaty with the United States.

So, yes while these characters seem like clones of previous CTU-ers, I'm hoping they give them new dynamics. The Davis Cole character seems like a badass, and in the mold of Jack, which was exactly what Chase was. Cool name nonetheless. Hastings sounds exactly like Bill and I hope he's not the same. Bill is amazing in his own right, and every character should have their own personality that sets them apart. Also, what will be intriguing is how they'll fit Chloe, Jack and Renee into this new CTU New York.

Last note on a character I'm psyched for is Rob Weiss, the new Chief of Staff. I wrote this in the comments section of TJ's latest blogspot at TONY ALMEIDA JUNKIE BLOG:

"Also very excited for Rob Weiss. Why I liked Ethan and I guess they can't bring him back after he resigned, Weiss sounds exactly like Rahm Emmanuel. I can't wait until Allison makes a decision and Weiss fights her on it. Every Chief of Staff in the past, barring Tom Lennox, always usually puts their tail between their legs and listens to the Prez. Olivia and Wayne don't count since they're family members and it's different. But Walt Cummings, Ethan Kanin and even the great Mike Novick all weren't bold talkers. Rob Weiss seems like one."

Episode Review - 7.21

2009-05-05T12:15:00.005-04:00

EPISODE 7.21

The following takes place between 4:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M.

This clearly wasn't one of the best episodes of the season, but it did some necessary transitioning for the last three-episode arc. Mainly it got Tony's crew to set up Jibraan on the video and showed Olivia's true hand.

First off, Tony and crew. Tony and Cara are setting up in the apartment, while Hamid is knocked out on a bed. Jibraan has no clue why these people are in his apartment, and Tony tells him he's going to make a speech and make himself look like a terrorist. Jibraan, naturally, declines this nice invitation. Tony then tells one of the operatives to kill Hamid. Jibraan yells and agrees to do it, before they get to Hamid. They drape a Muslim flag as the backdrop and give Jibraan a speech. Cara watches as the video records on her laptop. Tony watches Jibraan talk. Then Cara sees the cops arrive outside the apartment. Tony threatens to kill Jibraan unless he convinces the cops that everything is fine. Jibraan succeeds and gets back to his terrorist speech.

Olivia meets with Martin Collier about Jonas Hodges. She wants him dead, no matter what it does to the witness protection deal her mother requested. Martin tells Olivia this is too big for her and that she should back off, but she persists. Martin tells her a man (read: hitman/contract killer) will call her with the account number to transfer the money to. She gives him Hodges's itinerary.

She later receives a call from the hitman and he gives her the account number to deposit $250,000 dollars into. He hangs up abruptly and Olivia stares at the screen. She hovers the mouse over the bright green EXECUTE button, which I found ironic since executing this money transfer is executing Jonas Hodges's life. After second thought and hearing that her father is back in the White House and wants to see her, Olivia clicks the red CANCEL button and doesn't transfer the funds.

Olivia goes to see her dad, which of course I was pumped about because Hank Taylor is the man. Plain and simple. I really enjoy whenever he's on-screen. He greets "his little girl" and him and Olivia embrace. Allison is sitting on his bed, too. Olivia acknowledges that she thought about what she said about Hodges and now fully supports her mother's decision. Nice to see they're still including Hank in this season.

The Jack and Chloe scene was very well-done I thought. Chloe genuinely loves Jack as a friend, and cries after realizing he's dying. Jack says don't worry about it, he's accepted it. Yeah, right, just as soon as he catches Tony who he's just itching to beat. Jack tells Chloe he needs her to go back to work and can't catch Tony without her. Chloe finds a huge amount of money transferred into Jibraan Al-Zarian's bank account. As well as websites visited that point to him being a terrorist. Jack and Renee hit the field and go to Jibraan's mosque since his Imam was listed as a contact. Jack and Renee talk with the Imam, Muhtadi Gohar, and ask where Jibraan lives. He doesn't know and is appalled with the way they're calling Jibraan a terrorist.

Janis calls Renee saying two police officers said they went to Jibraan's apartment earlier due to a domestic disturbance call. Jack takes Gohar with them so he can't call Jibraan and warn him that they're coming. In the car, Chloe calls Jack and tells him that the website visits and the fund transfers were backdated, meaning they were made to look like they happened on those dates, but really occurred a mere 30 minutes ago. JB puts the pieces together and realize Tony's crew is setting up Jibraan to pin the prion variant release blame on the Muslims. He takes the handcuffs off Gohar and apologizes. Gohar does the same to Jack.

Jonas Hodges, whose new name in witness protection is Robert Tippet, is being briefed by U.S. Marshal Sullivan. Hodges can smell the attitude on him, that he resents Jonas being kept safe and given a brand new house and life. But Jonas says he's lost everything: his family, his company and more importantly his name. Sullivan wheels Hodges out to an FBI SUV, right after confiscating his wallet and family photo on his wife and daughter. Hodges gets in the backseat and pulls out a family photo he kept hidden from the Marshal. Sullivan goes to get the papers signed by an FBI agent, and just as Hodges is sad looking at the family photo, the SUV explodes from a car bomb inside. And that ladies and gentlemen, is the end of the great villain and mastermind, Jonas Hodges. Thank you Jon Voight for giving us such a terrific character.

But who killed him? Olivia didn't transfer the funds and called Martin telling him she doesn't want to go through with it. Did Martin do it anyways? I find that hard to believe. And hitmen don't accomplish their task unless they're paid, and this one wasn't. A car bomb also tells me that a hitman wouldn't have enough time to enter FBI grounds and rig the SUV with a bomb. As Tim Woods says it was an "inside job." Either someone in the White House or the FBI. The possible suspects: Janis Gold, Tim Woods, and dare we say it ... Aaron Pierce?! I just don't see Aaron doing something like that. He's an honorable man, and while he has seen "the guilty walk" he would never do something this drastic. I've heard theories that Janis is in cahoots with "The Group." She did have access to Hodges's itinerary and was at the FBI with him. Doubt she's dirty though. Tim Woods just seems like too cool a dude to do this, plus he seemed genuinely surprised when the call came in that Hodges was dead.

Olivia freaked and ran out of the room and spoke with Martin on the phone. It was too sensitive to speak about on the phone, so they agree to meet in a park. Meanwhile, Jack and Renee meet up with Tim Moran and the other FBI agents stationed outside of Jibraan's apartment. Agent Reed is running a fiber optic camera into the room and sees Harbinson watching over a duct-taped Hamid. Jack runs point, they blow the door with a battering ram and throw in a smoke grenade. In the commotion Hamid breaks a mirror, gets a sharp piece and stabs Harbinson with it. He's still alive, but Jack yells to Hamid to back away. Jack yells for a medic. Harbinson is their only way to get to Tony.

The episode ends with Tony in a van with Jibraan and one of Alan Wilson's goons. The goon is monitoring a bank of computer monitors and Tony asks if the train is on schedule. We then see the Washington D.C. Metro subway station on all the screens. It's their next target.

Again, not one of the best episodes, but moved things forward. I thought Hodges could have gotten a better death scene, but it was a little shocking when the SUV exploded out of nowhere. I forgot about it from the preview. Next week's looks crazy with Kim returning, Olivia trying to separate herself from Hodges's death, Aaron listening in on Olivia's phone call, AND last but not least, Jack catching up with Tony, who's bloodied, and with JB pointing a gun at him:

Jack: Tell me where that canister is or help me God I will lay you down right here, right now.

Tony: Do it.

Nuts. Cara Bowden puts on a wig and enters the subway system as does Jibraan. I'm assuming she has the canister and Jibraan is there to get all the blame. Jack tortures Harbinson to find out where the next attack will take place. Just 3 hours left! This coming week is the last single-episode Monday night, right before the usual back-to-back episodes 23 and 24 for the season finale. We'll have all of our answers soon!

I Miss the Multi-Season Character Developments

2009-05-04T11:49:00.003-04:00

Not the Mike Doyles, Nadia Yassirs and Tom Lennoxes of the 24-universe. Character development is one of my favorite (and one of the most important) things on 24. We need more of it and the only way to do it, besides the 24 episodes the character is in, is to prolong their tenure into the next season. I'm thrilled President Taylor and Renee Walker will be back for Day 8, since they're the two best new characters from this current season. But we need more. Look back at how the show used to do it:

Tony Almeida: Days 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Went from cocky, annoying CTU analyst to formidable Chief of Staff to fearless CTU leader to faithful and dependable partner for Jack in the field to the devastating, broken man who lost his wife to a car bomb.

David Palmer: Days 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Went from Senator trying to be President, dealt with his son killing his daughter's rapist, dealt with crazy ex-wife trying to sabotage him, dealt with his new Chief of Staff and younger brother's affair with Julia Milliken hurting him big-time. Helped President Charles Logan, and was the biggest premiere death ever, sparking the Day 5 storyline. Oh, and dealt with multiple assassination attempts, a nuclear bomb, a conspiracy to raise oil prices, and a deadly weaponized virus.

Michelle Dessler: Days 2, 3, 4 and 5

Went from CTU analyst and new-pal of Jack's to CTU Chief of Staff to CTU Director. Developed terrific relationship with Tony, got married, then separated, then realized they loved each other, left their government jobs to be happy together. Died tragically.

Chloe O'Brian: Days 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 (soon to be 8 as well)

Went from the most awkward CTU analyst to most reliable CTUer ever, Jack's go-to-girl, mowed down a guy with a machine gun, saved CTU countless times. Writers did a solid with Edgar Stiles relationship as well as hers to Bill Buchanan, Morris O'Brian and Jack. Now get to see her happily married with a son.

Bill Buchanan: Days 4, 5, 6 and 7

Went from Division chieftain to the longest-running and best CTU Director ever. Not only led CTU past the terrorist attacks but helped Jack off-book, intercepting the SUV he was being transported in, flew the chopper to rescue Josh, helped undercover Tony root out government conspiracy, sacrificed his life to save the President. Brilliant character. Developed pretty good relationship with Karen Hayes.

Charles Logan: Days 4, 5 and 6

Went from nervous, unsure-of-himself Vice President, to confident, yet hidden agenda President. Amazing dynamic working with the terrorists and Graem Bauer. Terrific relationship inside the White House with wife Martha.

Aaron Pierce: Days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 (must be in 8)

Amazing Secret Service agent, trusted immensely by David Palmer, total badass, saving the Motorcade on Day 5, and helping Jack and Bill in the White House siege on Day 7. Terrific character.

What I'm trying to get at is that we don't get these type of characters anymore that we grow close to. Sure we still have Jack, Chloe, Aaron and for whatever you want to call him, Tony. Bill died this season. Sure, every season will have its Adam Kaufmans and Sean Hillingers and Carrie Turners and Spenser Wolffs. But we need more multi-season characters.

So, while I'm happy to see Allison and Renee back next year, I also want to see Henry Taylor, Olivia Taylor and Ethan Kanin back. No reason the First Gentleman shouldn't be a part of the storyline, I'm sure they can find something for the President's daughter (although who knows what her fate is on Day 7), and Ethan should return as Chief of Staff. Why introduce a new CoS? I also think they should bring back Vice President Mitchell Hayworth. We barely got to know him this season, but they should give him a decent storyline next year, like he gets assassinated for an unknown reason. Something big-- and the killing of the sitting VP does that. Why not bring back Tim Woods, why introduce a new Homeland Security adviser? Unless they plan on having the character's background have an important part of the show. We all want to see more of the same characters. Of course, we love new ones, but we also want to build feelings for the old ones, that will make us care is they die or get wounded or are put in perilous situations.

Now as for CTU New York for Day 8. This new character Brian Hastings will be the Director. That's fine; with Bill and Larry Moss dead, they needed a new leader. Chloe will be one of the analysts at this new CTU. Great. Introduce 2 other characters for analysts, but give them meaning and good side storylines; not Nadia Yassir who was a waste. Create another Edgar Stiles; create another Gael Ortega. Now whether Jack and Renee will be working at this CTU will be intriguing.

Episode Review - 7.20

2009-04-28T09:54:00.004-04:00

EPISODE 7.20

The following takes place between 3:00 A.M. and 4:00 A.M.

I have always loved the really, really late-night episodes during a day in "24." It's fun to think about all this stuff going on where most of the city it takes place in is sound asleep.

Thus is not the case with Tony Almeida. The dude's wide awake, taking a shower, suffocating other dudes with shower curtains, gettin' a little something, and initiating a huge plan to continue attacking this country with a bio-weapon pathogen. All within one hour, of course.

Hour 20 starts off with Jack being treated once again by Dr. Sunny Macer after Tony stole his meds. His vocal cords were seizing as well, but he was able to force out the words to tell Renee that it was Tony all along. Renee looked devastated after Jack told her that Tony was the one who killed Larry (revenge kill, much for Renee?). Jack apologized because he did vouch for Tony to not only Renee, but also to the President.

Tony arrives as Galvez's hotel room and gives him a piece of paper where his money was wired to. After Galvez verifies the funds are there, he throws the bag holding the canister on the bed. Of course, he tries double-crossing Tony, because he wants to know who Tony is selling it to. It ends with Galvez being suffocated to death via a shower curtain. Tony finds the canister and waits for Miss Mysterious.

Cara Bowden arrives at the hotel room and talks everything over with him. Cara tells him that they plan on using the single canister to manufacture more of the pathogen and use it against the U.S. in six months. Tony says that's a mistake and that Jonas Hodges has given them an opportunity. With the government reeling and the FBI with dead agents all over the place, Tony says they should strike now. So, in an even-more ambiguous scene than when Graem (spelled then as "Graham") spoke with President Charles Logan on the phone, Cara sets up a secure, anonymous 12-person conference call over her laptop. All of the participants cannot see each other's faces, plus they don't know their names. The opposite of Graem Bauer and his cabal, all sitting in the room together and knowing each other's names.

Cara has a direct connection with Alan Wilson and tells him via Instant Message secretly to weigh in and to side with her. Wilson says his piece and all 12 members vote yes to go ahead with the attack in the next couple of hours. Cara tells Tony about this, which is followed by a sweet kiss from Almeida.

As for the White House storyline, we're introduced to another dimension of Olivia Taylor: emotional blindsidedness. She continues to tell her mother that Jonas Hodges is the man who's behind Roger's murder and that she's about to let him live in Witness Protection for the rest of his life on a huge farm. In an emotional mother-daughter scene, Allison tells Olivia that of course she thinks about Roger, it's her son. But she swore to protect this country and told her to call the AG and get the Witness Protection document ready for her signature. This doesn't sit well with Olivia. She places a phone call to a man sleeping by the name of Martin. He's in bed with another dude, but gets up to answer her call. He's some sort of campaign guy that helped quiet Vice President Mitchell Hayworth's prescription drug problem before the election came, implying any story can be kept quiet. So, I'm assuming Olivia wants to keep Hodges's death quiet ... hmm, she's playing in deep water with this one. Revenge killing at the expense of innocent American lives. She even accidentally spoke aloud and mentioned to Aaron killing Jonas Hodges who help her out. She then apologized and Aaron looked worried. (Next episode early prediction: Aaron realizes Olivia is going to do something to Hodges and notifies the President, or even takes matters into this own hands?? Woot woot Aaron in action).

Jack, after explaining that Hodges is their only lead to the President and tells her offering to keep him dead means his family is safe, goes into his medical room at the FBI building. Hodges is shocked to see him and explains that he doesn't know the names of the co-conspirators. But, he does know the mediator (Cara Bowden). They realize it's her instead of Hodges's lawyer who slipped him the suicide pill. Pretty good scene with Jack and Jonas, some great rants, and of course, signature JB moment where he leans in close and explains that they have NOTHING in common. Of course, as Jack leaves he has to throw out the line of Jonas being a traitor to his country. Nice, little jab to the gut of the self-proclaimed "patriot" Jonas Hodges.

Jack and Renee host the briefing meeting with the FBI agents telling them their 2 prime leads are now Tony Almeida and Cara Bowden (they don't know her name yet). Janis argues with Renee in the meeting in her typical annoying self, and we're introduced to Tim Moran, a field ops agent. Doubt he'll be a main guy, like when they introduced Mike Doyle, I think Moran will probably be more of a Lee Castle/Tom Baker-type field agent.

On the phone with President Taylor, Jack tells her that they need to devote all their resources to finding Tony and Bowden. She tells them they have the country's full resources at their disposal. Plus, she re-commissions the CTU servers (woohoo!).

In a scene along the lines of when Jack called Tony to save him and Audrey on Day 4, though not as thrilling, Jack calls Chloe knowing she's the only one who can boot up the CTU servers again. We finally get a reaction by someone about Bill's death, and Chloe gets teary-eyed. Chloe tells Morris that Jack and the FBI need her and she needs to go. Chloe tells Morris to take Prescott and leave the city because there may be another attack. Morris is worried and tells her to be careful.

We're also introduced to Jibraan Al-Zarian, an innocent construction worker living in D.C. with his younger brother Hamid. Jibraan (played the same actor who was one of the Middle Eastern brothers who owned the store that Jack and Paul Raines sought refuge at fleeing from McLennan-Forster) is making breakfast while watching the news about the trouble in D.C. He tells Hamid to come straight home from work today, weary of what people will do to Muslims.

Chloe arrives at the FBI and gives Jack a hug. With Bill dead now, and Tony the villain, Chloe (along with Kim) is really all Jack has in his life. He's always had a strong relationship with Chloe and it was great seeing her again. She's been around since Day 3, that's a long history with Jack. Jack explains how Tony's the one behind this all and Chloe is shocked. Jack has to make sure Chloe is OK with viewing Tony as an enemy-combatant. Chloe says she is. I love how whatever Jack is feeling, us fans are feeling too. He tells Chloe the "Tony you once knew, doesn't exist anymore." And it's true. We shouldn't view him as that great soldier and patriot of this country anymore. He's the enemy now and we should listen to Jack.

Terrific scene as Jack screams at the top of his lungs at Janis after she argues with Chloe about CTU being booted up again. He goes absolute nuts on her and mentions: "President David Palmer ordered these CTU servers to be re-commissioned." He mentions Palmer's name twice to a startled Chloe, who doesn't know yet that he's dying. (Sidenote: GREAT feeling seeing the yellow and black CTU logo pop up on a computer screen. Very nostalgic).

The episode ends with Tony and Cara getting out of their car outside of Jibraan's apartment as 2 other mercenaries arrive for backup (most likely sent by Alan Wilson). They cut the electricity off to the apartment and burst through the door. Hamid is taken down by one of the nameless goons, and Tony pins Jibraan against the wall holding his gun to his temple.

There was a whole lot going on in this episode. I was happy that they touched upon Bill's death (finally) and happy with how they're bringing Chloe back into the mix. Excited for more of her fighting scenes with Janis. I enjoyed the Jack and Jonas scene, but it's a shame that that's the first and last time they'll ever meet. And judging from the preview for the next episode, he throws the file folder, presumably holding his Witness Protection documents and is being wheeled out in a wheelchair. Is next episode the one we see the demise and death of Jonas Hodges? Could be, with this new shadow group being introduced.

Speaking of this new shadow group, it is very similar to Graem's cabal and even Max's little circle of Alexander Trepkos and Peter Kingsley. I know these last 4 episodes are going to have a boatload of new material and new answers, but I just hope it's not a repeat. Plus, I still don't get their plan. It's as simple as they're going to put the blame of a Muslim dude for releasing the pathogen. They'll do this and force the President to have their companies (presumably defense contractors) be awarded contracts to protect this country better than the military can? It's hazy now, but hopefully we'll get a clearer picture in the coming weeks. And Alan Wilson better not just fade into the distance like Trepkos did or any of Graem's cabal did. Wayne Palmer mentions in Day 3 that the men behind the biological attack of David's hand (Trepkos and Max) were either arrested or killed, but we want to see it on-screen. Wilson better not simply escape this season.

Also in the preview, the voiceover says they're twists coming. Could it involve Tony? Who knows. We, unfortunately, have to wait a week at a time to find out. At least it makes Monday nights fun.

Upcoming Powerful Jack and Jonas Scene

2009-04-24T11:06:00.009-04:00

The scene where Jack visits Jonas Hodges in the hospital scene, coming up in this Monday's episode, looks to be a very strong one. An interview with Jon Voight confirmed that he and Kiefer had just one scene together (meaning it's in Episode 20 - this Monday). So either Jonas dies in the hospital, thus why Jack never meets up with him again, or he gets out and someone else kills him (Tony? Alan Wilson's operatives?).

Table all that for a second. I think we have something big here at work in this scene. I've been reading some of the FOX forum messages and I'm happy that some of the posters are thinking along the same lines as I am. Here goes...

There's just five episodes left. Kim is on her way back to the airport. We all know she isn't flying back to L.A., at least not just yet. She'll probably be in all the remaining 5 episodes. I just don't think that's enough time to do the stem cell treatment. And since we know Jack will be in Day 8, he ain't dying. So somehow he gets cured. And I think Jonas Hodges is the key to it all.

Jonas isn't a dumb man obviously. Knowing how lethal this pathogen his company was developing was, don't you think he would have had a side project commissioned: create an antidote. If for nobody else, but himself, if for some reason, while down in the lab he got exposed. I think Hodges does have a cure, and it's hidden somewhere very secret and very secure -- obviously, not on the Starkwood compound. Maybe Jonas's house? Another office of his?

But in the upcoming preview, we hear JB say he's the only chance Jonas's wife and children have at living. So pretty much, since Jonas survived the cardiac arrest capsule, Alan Wilson (pictured left) is going to go after his family. Jack is going to reiterate this to him and say his family is innocent, they shouldn't have to suffer for the decisions you've made. So Jack will offer to protect his family, but he needs something in return. He's going to ask Jonas about an antidote. And the primary reason Jack wants to survive and not die (he's been OK with dying before, especially this time), is because he wants to hunt down Tony and figure out everything. Figure out why his best friend turned like this and make sure he, along with whomever else is involved, pays.

There's so many cool and fun things the writers could have done with this version of the remaining storyline. Since Jack isn't at full strength, and since there isn't much time to hunt down Tony, the finding the antidote thing could be done in one episode. So Jack could go to Renee with this information, knowing he can't be in the field again. Renee goes to this secure location, gets the antidote, but of course, runs into trouble. Any FBI field agents she's with get killed, by Wilson's men because Tony must have told Wilson about the antidote and that if Jack gets it, Jack of all people, will seriously impede their larger plan. Tony knows Jack, and relays all this info to Wilson/Cara Bowden.

While Renee's retrieving the antidote, Jack can get on the horn and speak to Chloe. She's returning in this episode and that's when Chloe is going to ask about Bill and why he isn't with Jack. Chloe doesn't know yet, and Jack breaks the news to her. She gets teary-eyed and opposed to the reaction she had with Edgar's death (pictured above), she's eager to help Jack because she wants to take down the highest member of Day 7's badguy food chain. Chloe will also want/need to help Jack seeing that Bill is dead, Renee is off in the field, Aaron is with Olivia, and Tony is the one they're tracking down. If Jack is going to track down Tony and stop this shadow organization, he's gonna need Chloe on the computer.

How great of a scene would it be, if by the end of Episode 20, or at sometime during Episode 21, Jack takes the antidote, starts to get better and nears full-strength (who knows how long the cure takes to kick in). Then he somehow gets a phone call with Tony and an episode ends with this type of dialogue:

Tony: Jack, I told you, don't get involved. You have no idea what you're up against.

Jack: I don't care what you have to say anymore, Tony. Knowing what you're involved with now, I would have killed you on that boat myself. But that doesn't matter anymore, because I'm going to find you and I'm going to make you pay for all the lives you're responsible for taking today. Including Bill's.

BOOM. In the typical, Jack-badass tone. So, then Tony knows Jack must have gotten the antidote and to slow him down and get him away from him/Wilson's plan, he organizes the kidnap of Kim and threatens her if Jack continues to hunt him.

Something like that. Thoughts my fellow 24 aficionados?

Analyzing New Day 7 Characters

2009-04-23T10:37:00.004-04:00

I know Day 7 isn't over yet, and with 5 episodes left, there's plenty of story left to tell. But I wanted to look back on which dead characters I thought really made a strong impact on the show. Every year, 24 is known to introduce a slew of new characters and Day 7 was right at the forefront of this philosophy. First, let's look at which characters I think were terrific additions:

1. David Emerson (played by Peter Wingfield): great villain. Smooth, calculating and always had everything under-control, that is until he found Jack and Tony burying Renee a little sketchy. He was a real fun character to watch, and while only in 5 episodes, he definitely made an impact on us fans. Being involved with Christopher Henderson and reviving Tony Almeida made him even cooler. A treat to watch. (Plus, he is only the second 'David' the show has ever seen. The first, of course, is President David Palmer himself. Good company to be in).

2. Larry Moss (played by Jeffrey Nordling): we were all supposed to not like him. He was in the mold of a Ryan Chappelle, but as the season went on, he started to grow on us. He was an honorable man, and just believed in following the rules of law enforcement. He had some really great scenes, like getting punched in the face by Jack while he broke Tony out of the FBI office, saving Renee's life by killing Laurent Dubaku, and of course, was the victim of that shocking twist as Tony suffocated him to death.

3. Ike Dubaku (played by Hakeem Kae-Kazim): he was the first villain of Day 7 and I loved him. I enjoyed watching him more than his boss, General Benjamin Juma. He was vile and cunning, and had men in all corners of their whole plot (Edward Vossler who delivered him the First Gentleman... Ryan Burnett, who had Sean Hillinger on the inside of the FBI). Embarrassing death with his girlfriend flipping the Jeep and then one of Juma's henchman killing him in a hospital bed, but nonetheless, he was a terrific villain.

So, while we'll never see these characters again, they made a big impact in the 24-universe and it was a lot of fun watching them. Who will join this list? Jonas Hodges? Henry Taylor? Olivia Taylor? 5 episodes left to see...

Episode Review - 7.19

2009-04-21T09:55:00.004-04:00

EPISODE 7.19

The following takes place between 2:00 A.M. and 3:00 A.M.

Well, I officially am going to say: I'm looking forward to when Jack Bauer kills Tony Almeida this season. Last night's episode showed me Tony isn't the old Tony and that he deserves nothing more than to die a slow, painful and agonizing death. The way he just stood there as Jack was having the seizure, almost smirking, holding the med pack in his hand (pictured below), was downright sickening. But as do all villains in 24, Tony will meet his death eventually.

As for the rest of the episode, I thought it was very good. There was tension throughout the whole hour, mostly due in part to knowing Tony was bad and having that in the back of your mind for every scene he was in talking with Jack and Renee. Speaking of Renee, Annie Wersching did a terrific job showing her emotions after Agent Park told her that Larry had been killed. We learn a little bit this episode, including that Larry has an ex-wife and the reason she is an "ex" is most likely due to Renee, as she tells Janis, "Someone should notify Larry's ex-wife and it probably shouldn't be me."

Jack's condition just gets worse and worse, and he's deteriorating in front of our eyes. It's going to be really interesting to see how he survives it. Obviously, all signs point to Kim doing the stem cell treatment, because my theory (the post below this one) about Tony working for a pharmaceutical company to develop an antidote to the pathogen, seems less and less likely. This isn't the Jack we're used to. He's vulnerable, he's almost defeated. Of course, he has to have a seizure right when he's about to arrest Tony. Ugh.

Nice little scene revealing Kim's husband Stephen and their daughter Teri. Fantastic touch by the writers naming her Teri and I really do hope Jack finds out that he has a granddaughter because it's only fair. He never knew that Teri was pregnant before Nina Myers killed her, and deserves to know he has a grandchild. Stephen seems like a good dude though, unlike Kim's other weird/creepy boyfriends: Vincent O'Brien (way back on Day 1) and Barry Landes (double-her-age-shrink on Day 5).

I love how the episode opened with Jonas Hodges's lawyer Patricia Eames getting gassed and knocked out (possibly dead) by two operatives. One of them, Cara Bowden, looks nearly-identical to Patricia, and she took her ring, glasses and fingerprint in order to impersonate her to get by the Secret Service check-in desk before seeing Jonas. Bowden was sent by her superior, Alan Wilson, who looks to be an intriguing character. He's apparently a co-conspirator of the prion variant pathogen and wants to silence Hodges. As Bowden explained the Jonas, Starkwood wasn't ordered to develop the bio-weapon for his own personal use (to threaten President Taylor so Starkwood could become relevant again). Because of his own selfish agenda, Wilson feels that Hodges has endangered their overall, larger operation. So Bowden slips him a cardiac arrest pill that will make it look like Jonas died of natural causes. They're forcing him to take the pill by threatening his family. That's another little tidbit that we learned, big ol' meanie Jonas Hodges was a wife and kids.

Good job by FBI agent Mizelli, the dude leading Jack's de-briefing of the day's events, by cross-checking the name Tony had given Jack -- the source he interrogated and allegedly killed to find out that there was going to an attack on the White House. Vincent Cardiff, who's photo was of director/executive producer Jon Cassar, was never killed and was trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border before being apprehended. Plus, he showed no signs of torture/interrogation. Jack found this out and realized Tony had been lying.

That along with other clues helped Jack piece it all together. He saw different bullet casings in the evidence bag from the shooter (Galvez). They were different than the ones that "hit" Tony. Jack knew Galvez couldn't change between a .45, a .90 and a shotgun all by himself within a couple of minutes in a firefight. As Jack said, "One man didn't do this alone, he had help." And, sadly, that help was Tony Almeida.

Not much on the White House front since this episode was so jam-packed, but I like how passionate Olivia is getting about her brother's death and not letting Hodges cut a deal -- which the President is leaning towards. Allison wants to find that last canister of the bio-weapon and is willing to do anything to ensure no more Americans die. (Early prediction -- Olivia sneaks into Jonas's hospital room next episode and kills him?)

Great, huge explosion this episode with Galvez rigging the building with C4 and leading the FBI into it. These Starkwood mercenaries are very resourceful (Galvez killed FBI Agent Stollar and used a knife to distort his voice over the radio while talking with Renee).

Setting up things for next episode: I really hope we learn some more about Alan Wilson. He intrigues me, and looks to be like a Peter Kingsley/Bluetooth-type player. We see Cara Bowden removes her blonde wig to show her dark hair, and is kissing Tony after he gets out of the shower. So much for mourning Michelle's death and wanting to avenge her, huh buddy? Interesting, we see Tony fighting with Galvez, hmm... something tells me there's no money for Galvez and he gets angry. And then to the mega-scene, Jack Bauer walking out of the shadows into Jonas Hodges's hospital room:

Jonas Hodges: Who's there?

Jack Bauer: My name is Jack Bauer, and I'm the only hope in keeping your wife and children alive.

Gonna be nuts. Just 5 more episodes left. Amazing to think how we were all agonizing about having to wait a whole year after the writer's strike messed things up. And now, we're entering Hour 20. Adios.

Trying to Debunk Tony's New Motives

2009-04-20T10:01:00.003-04:00

Before tonight's highly-anticipated episode, I thought I try to map out what Tony's new motives are, judging from the leaked scenes by FOX and throwing in a couple of my own theories and ideas...

Now one of the leaked scenes from FOX had this dialogue:

Galvez: I should have never let you talk me into helping you.

Tony: Trust me, that canister you stole for me, is worth a lot of money for the people I'm working for.

First off, I guess that debunks the theory of Tony is the ultimate Big Bad for Day 7. He is reporting to someone, we just don't know who.

I just can't believe Tony is doing all this for money. But I can believe that Galvez is.

What if, way back whenever, Tony had learned of Starkwood developing this bio-weapon. Either through Emerson who had discussions with Nichols, who met with Hodges in Redemption, or from another source. Tony know they were developing this bio-weapon in Sangala, so he contacted a pharmaceutical company to see if they can develop a cure/antidote. This company's CEO could be Alan Wilson, who we'll meet tonight. He's supposedly as powerful as Hodges; a Donald Trump-type of man (so that jives with being the CEO of a company that has the capabilities to develop an antidote for a pathogen like this).

So, for some reason, the development hit a snag, and the scientists or whomever need a sample of the bio-weapon to make the antidote work. So Wilson, or whomever Tony has been dealing with, calls Tony and tells him this. This is when he realizes he needs a canister of it. It sounds from the dialogue above, that he only recently convinced Galvez to steal the canister for him. And he tells Galvez that Wilson is willing to pay him a boatload of money for it.

Now why would Wilson want in on all of this? Working with fugitive-Tony and all that good stuff. Well, if he develops this antidote, he looks like a hero to any Americans who become exposed to it (one example, Mr. Jack Bauer). Why do you think Tony kept asking about Jack so much and his condition while at the Starkwood compound? To make sure he hadn't died yet, so maybe he is really getting the canister to give to the scientists to finalize the cure and in turn, save Jack's life.

Why would Wilson's people be working at 2 A.M., you ask? Well, Tony could have called them up, saying Hodges is readying the weapons now, we could have a huge crisis here, I need that antidote ASAP.

Now obviously, the killing of Larry Moss throws this whole theory out of whack, in terms of, he had to keep his cover, right? Because Galvez was right there. But it's not like Galvez is going to report in to anyone, especially with most of Starkwood arrested. Unless, Galvez would have called Seaton/Jonas and told them, don't believe anything Almeida tells you, he's still working with the FBI.

Sidenote: Interesting little sideplot, would be if this pharmaceutical company was the one Olivia was discussing with Arthur Carr, right before Aaron came in and told her her father had been shot.

Your thoughts people on all of this? Let me hear them!

More Day 8 News!

2009-04-16T12:40:00.003-04:00

Mike Ausiello over at ew.com spoke with showrunner Howard Gordon who has confirmed that President Allison Taylor will return for Day 8. I'm very excited over this news as I wanted the show to return to a multi-season President. Of course, she's not a David Palmer, but she's sort of in that mold and it'll be fun to see what dilemmas/crisises she has to deal with next year.

This news also may mean the return of First Gentleman Henry Taylor. I really loved that character and I know he had to pretty much be written out of the rest of Day 7 because he has to recover from a gunshot wound, but I hope to see Hank back in the White House come January 2010.

Who knows what this means for First Daughter/Provisional Chief of Staff Olivia Taylor? Will Ethan return for Day 8?

---

Another tidbit Ausiello had for us, was that Renee Walker's past plays a role in Day 8. Hmm, wonder what that means.... more Larry Mosses in her closet?

So far the official, confirmed characters for Day 8: Jack, Renee, Chloe, President Taylor, and Indian actor Anil Kapoor who's cast as a Middle Eastern leader on a peacemaking mission with the U.S.

www.tcdoj.com

2009-04-15T10:44:00.003-04:00

Not breaking news, but still exciting news, as I've purchased my first ever domain today. Felt like making tcdoj a little more official. So this blog is now officially at www.tcdoj.com. However, have no fear, because if you had it bookmarked as its old URL, it will automatically re-direct. In other words, please keep enjoying tcdoj for your 24 reading pleasure!

Breaking News: CTU in NYC for Day 8!

2009-04-15T09:54:00.003-04:00

Pretty exciting news as Mike Ausiello from ew.com reports here that Day 8 will take place in New York City (ehm, the best city in the world). Some other great tidbits about Day 8, from his article:

-- CTU will be reconstituted and the NYC office will feature a director by the name of Brian Hastings (an MBA, razor-intellect-type... hmm, a younger Bill Buchanan?)

-- under Hastings there will be two 20-something year old agents (one male, one female)

-- Chloe will be working in the NY CTU office

We know that Jack, Renee and Chloe are all confirmed for Day 8. Anil Kapoor from Slumdog Millionaire will be a regular also, playing a Middle Eastern leader.

Can't wait to see if CTU NY resembles the old LA CTU building, the new one, or an entirely different design.

I know we have to wait until Day 7 ends to see how this transition will take place, but if Day 8 takes place six weeks after Day 7, I wonder how they're going to connect the seasons (there was a rumor out there that Day 7 will continue into Day 8, such as Jonas Hodges got being captured and Jack hunting him down into Day 8).

So, in just 6 weeks President Taylor (I'm assuming she'll still be President) will reinstate CTU. Chloe moves to NY and joins that branch. I wonder if Jack and/or Renee will be working for CTU NY.

Will Tony be in Day 8? Obviously depends on if he survives this season. Kim Bauer? Morris? Janis Gold? Charles Logan?

But how amazing is JB running through Manhattan going to be? Woohoo!

All very intriguing questions, but we still have six episodes left in Day 7 to see how Day 8 might play out. Adios.

EXCLUSIVE Interview with Cameron Daddo

2009-04-14T13:54:00.004-04:00

Ladies and gents, I know that we didn't get to know the Vice President of this current season very well. It was only 2 episodes, but Cameron Daddo, who plays Vice President Cameron Daddo for Day 7, agreed to do an interview with tcdoj. And after how we replied to the first question, it makes you think if we'll see Hayworth again... but, then again the last question as hints that we have seen the last of the Veep.

THE COVERT DIARIES OF JACKSTER: First off, fans didn't get to know Vice President Mitchell Hayworth that well. You appeared so far in just 2 episodes and seemed like a great character to further explore. Will we be seeing you in any of the remaining episodes for this season?

CAMERON DADDO: Hayworth is great character to play... please understand that I am unable to say anything about upcoming episodes on 24.

TCDOJ: Who contacted you first about playing the Vice President? When the show contacts you, do they tell you how many episodes you're going to appear in?

CD: I found out about the role through my agent. I have auditioned a few times for 24, Jon Cassar, told me, he'd wanted to find a role that did not die on the first outing. I was not given a specified number of episodes... again Cassar said, this will be up to the story guys.

TCDOJ: When fans first heard about the casting call for the Vice President, the character's name was listed as Mitchell Hansen. Do you know why they changed the surname to Hayworth?

CD: This is not uncommon, it was "Hansen" when I read for it initially... changes happen for a number of reasons. Maybe they didn't want me to be confused with the pop band.

TCDOJ: Could we find Cameron Daddo sitting in front of the TV Monday nights watching this current season of 24?

CD: No where else to be man. It's a great drama, and we must support our one hour dramas!

TCDOJ: Before being contacted to play the Vice President this season, did you ever see an episode of 24?

CD: Yes, always a big fan of 24... last season was awesome.. and this one is fantastic.

TCDOJ: Kiefer Sutherland has been very outspoken about how much longer 24 can go on for. How long can you see the show going on for? There's one more confirmed season, and then Kiefer says it's up to the fans and the ratings to dictate if it should return. He says he'll do it for as long as the fans want him to. What are your thoughts about the end of 24?

CD: As long as there is government, perceived good and evil, and the need for heroes, 24 can continue. It's a great forum for writers, directors and for actors. It's a never ending drama... in so much as, this BIG stage that we all find our selves playing a role. The Jack Bauer character is as good as anything that has ever hit the big or small screen and Kiefer Sutherland does a wonderful job. He's very a very smart guy and simply by stating that he will play the role if the fans ask it, he understands and is grateful for "who butters his bread," sometimes this aspect gets lost with fame and fortune.

TCDOJ: Favorite actor/actress that you met on the set of 24?

CD: Jeff Nordling... a top bloke.

TCDOJ: How well known is 24 down in Australia? Did a lot of your friends and family (who didn't know about you being cast on 24) call/e-mail you the moment they saw you on TV?

CD: It airs over the next few weeks, I have 3 days of press to do starting today. It has a crappy time slot though, 11 P.M. Sundays... urgh... set the TiVo!

TCDOJ: Did you get to meet/speak with Kiefer at all? I know he's the big wig over there and he's an executive producer, but you don't have any scenes with him.

CD: No... but everyone to man/woman only has great things to say about him.

TCDOJ: Again, Cameron, thanks so much for this. You have no idea how much I appreciate this. Can't wait to hear your responses!

CD: Thanks for asking me... cheers to all the 24 fans. Have them write in how much they want to see the VP fulfill his potential!!! Cheers, CD.

Episode Review - 7.18

2009-04-14T09:50:00.003-04:00

EPISODE 7.18

The following takes place between 1:00 A.M. and 2:00 A.M.

WOW. And that just describes the first 50 minutes of this episode. I want to dissect everything before the humongo twist. And the episode was absolutely brilliant before the Tony thing happened. The Jonas Hodges scenes of strolling through the White House was awesome. He, as usual, seemed completely calm and not nervous at all that he's a traitor and a terrorist about to have a sit-down with the President. I also found it weird that Jonas had to address Greg Seaton's loyalty and double-crossing Tony/Jack/Taylor with leading them to the wrong warehouse, at that instant moment. "That's something I'll never forget."

The scenes inside the Oval Office were terrific. Interesting to hear that Jonas would come in every few months and have meetings with President Noah Daniels. So, he really had his ear. I guess that sort of explains how Hodges was so close to the inauguration podium. It also raises a half an eyebrow about if Daniels is involved in Day 7's plot at all. Hmm....

Hodges' requests in that Starkwood book were kind of comical. He wants Starkwood to be the fifth branch of the military, plus wants a clearance level that's higher than the Vice President. But I guess when you have 13 rocket-fueled missiles ready to launch with a bio-weapon attached to it, you demand anything. Fortunately, for Taylor, Tony was able to destroy the tanks using C-4. By the way, those were some great scenes. Sneaking up behind Stokes and making him open the door to the tank room. Tony was a complete badass blowing up those tanks, while beating up Stokes and another Starkwood commando.

The Jack and Kim scene I think was fantastic. She seems so much more mature, no longer blaming her father for things that happened to her (about time, Kimmy!). She's older and wiser, and realizes she wants her father in her life. I wasn't sure how they were going to get her in DC in a matter of an hour, but a good job by the writers making her appear at the Senate Subcommittee hearing earlier in the morning. JB was pretty pissed at Renee, but once she told him Kim was trying to find him all day long, he let up.

But, the emotions in the Jack-Kim scenes were good. She genuinely still cares about him and vice-versa. Always good to see a little Jack cry, after all the dude's human. But he doesn't want her to see him like this - to see him die. So he dismisses her and tells her to leave.

Now, onto dissecting and discussing the Tony Twist. So, Tony stops the threat and incinerates all the bio-weapon. Jack volleys for him with Taylor, saying consider his actions today before he's thrown in jail once again for what he did when he worked for David Emerson. Larry apologizes saying he has orders to take Tony in, and says he doesn't think he should be treated like this. Tony thanks Larry. Larry has the handcuffs taken off Tony. FBI agent Davis finds a Starkwood commando, Galvez, murder a fellow FBI agent. Davis pulls his gun on Galvez and calls into Larry. Galvez overpowers him, however, and kills him. Driving off with a canister of the bio-weapon. Moss jumps in the helicopter and coordinates with Renee and Janis to track Galvez.

They find Galvez and land the chopper. Moss engages in a gunfight with Galvez, who takes out a shotgun. He hits Moss twice in his Kevlar vest. Tony is unarmed. Galvez is approaching as Larry tries to warn Tony. Tony looks at Galvez and puts a hand up. Galvez lowers his weapon. Moss is confused/shocked. "I'm sorry, Larry," Tony says as he puts his hand over Larry's mouth and suffocates him to death. Or so we think? I do think Larry is dead (especially after seeing Renee all teary-eyed in the preview mourning him).

Tony tells Galvez to go hide while the FBI dissipates and he meets back up with the FBI. In the preview we see Tony shooting himself to make it look like he was hit, and of course, Jack using his smarts knows it wasn't the work of one man.

Now for some theories:

a) Tony is bad, like really, completely 100% bad. The things to support this theory: he just killed an FBI agent. Pretty bad. He now has a canister of the bio-weapon.

b) Tony is still good, but is deep-deep-undercover. Like as TJ says, with a very high-up government official. (Ethan Kanin? Noah Daniels? the Secretary of Defense? who knows). Now obviously killing a federal agent isn't something a "good" guy does, but sometimes when you're undercover you have to take extreme measures to keep your cover. I even thought of maybe Larry realized he had to keep his cover and pretended to be suffocated. Why wouldn't Tony just do it quickly and shoot him? Or have Galvez off him?

c) I've read on the message boards, that Tony's somewhere in between, that he thinks what he's doing is good. That jives with what Carlos has been saying all along. That Tony is part of a team of anti-terrorist hunters and getting this canister of the prion is to be used on the terrorists/badguys. Who really knows at this point. Way too early to say what Tony really is. All I know is that it was captivating TV, even if our beloved character is crumbling right in front of our eyes.

d) Doing all of this just for one reason --> Get to Charles Logan and kill him. It's a valid option, especially at this point.

But, how of how can Tony be bad after helping Bill and Chloe this whole time. Then teaming up with Jack and being ashamed of what he's done in Emerson's crew. And what about every time he was on the phone with either Renee or Larry and he asked about Jack's condition and how he was doing? Tony does play a good villain (that's more of a testament to Carlos Bernard's acting skills), but it's just sad to see JB's best friend turn out like this.

But then again, as I've said before, we can't pass judgement until we see ALL 24 episode. Only 6 left! This season has flown by so quickly. Next episode shows Taylor demanding that Jonas is transported to the FBI, and also Hodges's lawyer showing up and trying to get him out of jail. This might end up being the longest 6 days for the season, especially after the Tony Twist. But then again, the week leading up to the finale is usually the craziest. Carlos did say, the last six episodes are some of the best in the entire series. Those last six start Monday, 4/20. All leading up to what Carlos calls the best ending to a season ever. Awesome.

EXCLUSIVE Interview with Xander Berkeley

2009-04-13T15:37:00.017-04:00

Welcome, ladies and gents, to another exclusive interview courtesy of tcdoj. This time around we have the hilarious Xander Berkeley, who played the cynical and sarcastic George Mason during Days 1 and 2. Mason was one of the greatest characters on the show, presenting a personality that no other character (maybe besides Chloe) has emitted. Xander agreed to do this interview with me to help bring 24 fans closer to what it's like on-set, and also brings us back in time to the early days of "24."

Enjoy...

THE COVERT DIARIES OF JACKSTER: First off, I'm not sure if you know, since it's been awhile since you've been on the show, but George Mason is still one of the most beloved characters 24 has ever seen. His sarcastic remarks, terrible attitude towards Jack, and then eventually his amazing sacrifice with the nuclear bomb. Did the writers paint Mason out to you to be like this? Or did you kind of come up with Mason's personality on your own?

XANDER BERKELEY: I think I brought the sarcasm and attitude to the equation in the pilot and that was what drew them to the character and made them want to bring him back in the first place. It was a guest star role originally, which was offered to me and I hadn't really gotten clear which role I was playing until the day before. So it was a quick impulse to see how I could make the guy my own, as opposed to functioning as an arbitrary nemesis to the hero. I thought if he were the type to take a bribe on one hand, and still be sort protocol oriented on the other... he had to be getting a little jaded and cynical the way 'lifers' in many professions tend to get after a while. And a disconnect from conscience is often facilitated by or accompanied with a cryptic sense of humor. After the pilot aired I remember my sister saying, "Oh they'll have to bring you back, the show needs that gravitas and wry humor you bring". As it turns out she was right, but from then on the sarcasm and attitude was a really fun collaboration between the writers and myself. The death by plane crash-slash-nuclear fallout, was entirely theirs.

TCDOJ: At the end of Season 1, David Palmer told George Mason that he was probably going to become president and would give him a high role in DC, but in Season 2 Mason is still head of CTU, which seems like it was almost a demotion, because in the beginning of Season 1, Jack was in charge of CTU, and George was his boss from Division. Why did the writers ignore that promise from Palmer to Mason?

XB: I think because the writer/producers were giving me, Xander the promotion from recurring guest star to series regular... which constitutes a promotion of sorts... gee, I don't think I've ever been asked that one before. I have to give you credit Jack. I would imagine that in the face of escalating urgency concerning national security, if the key counter terror unit is awol, you would send someone in from above to man the command rather than promoting from below. (how's that for an on the spot slippery rationale?)

(NOTE: The credit shouldn't go to me, but to an "Anonymous" commenter who typed the question down in one of the comments section)

TCDOJ: How was your relationship with Kiefer? Mason and

Jack had some pretty classic arguments and tension-filled scenes. How was it working with Kiefer?

XB: Keifer and I got along, had a lot of mutual respect, but intense guys who are pitted against each other have a way of bringing their own natural friction into the scene I think.

TCDOJ: Could we find Xander Berkeley sitting in front of the TV Monday nights watching this current season of 24 (and what about the seasons after Mason was killed off?)

XB: You don't find Xander Berkeley in front of the TV period, except for Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Bill Mahr. The time economy of humor and news combined.

TCDOJ: When you were first given the script for the episode where Mason is going to pilot the bomb into the desert, what first ran through your head? It was your second year on 24 ... did you think it was too early to say goodbye to Mason? Did you try to talk the writers out of it?

XB: Being a film guy, I always entered into the television fray wary of becoming too identified with one character. I have enjoyed flying under the radar a bit over the years and having audiences think I'm the character when they watch me in things. So, again it was a kind of collaboration with the writers, 'how bout we bring Mason back as a series regular for the second season, but expose him to air born plutonium in the first episode which only gives him 24 hours to live?' I thought, perfect! Of course I did all kinds of research on the effects of said air born plutonium and what sorts of physical/mental detriment might result. Which (as a secret make up artist) I had plotted a whole progression of creative decay possibilities. So the only surprise was when I went in (at around episode 12) to ask when they were picturing finishing me off (thinking roughly ep 20-22), and Howard (Gordon) with a sudden look of concern flashing across his face said, "um, that would be a Joel (Surnow) question. I'll never forget walking in and Joel has his elbows high, hands behind his head, knowing what I'm coming to ask about, beating me to the punch with "Episode 15! But you're gonna love it!" And I did love it, but my first thought was 15! That's 3 episodes away, I have all these great gruesome special effects worked out... He explained that they wanted to keep me longer but the nuclear bomb storyline was wearing thin so it was two birds one stone in a good way. In the end, it couldn't have been planned better. I mean we didn't really need to see George walking into the distance with ears and the other odd appendage dropping off as he goes.

XB: No real thoughts to express since I don't follow the show. We were all amazed they were able to get more than one season out of it... but the concept along with the dedication to quality went a long way.

TCDOJ: Carlos Bernard is like a God amongst 24 fans. Can you tell us a funny/embarrassing/revealing story about something he did on the set or in general?

XB: There's a funny moment when the show got picked up and we all came back four months later to shoot the first episode following the pilot, and Carlos asked me, "what did you do over the summer?" and I hesitated for a second and said "I drove cross country and then I went to Portugal" and he said, "You went to Portugal? That's so weird, Sarah (aka Nina) went to Portugal and then she drove across country too!" And since we had opted to keep our romance and the instantaneousness of it, private for the time being... I was like "Really? You're kidding! Gosh, I'll have to talk with her about that." Which I then proceeded to do immediately. Later when we finally spilled the beans to him (he was among the first to know), he said, "Yeah, I thought that was a really strange coincidence... he's such a sweet guy, he was actually innocent enough to not be immediately suspicious. That or didn't imagine that we were BOTH duplicitous enough to go to the trouble of covering it up. It was good to have secrets from the character's points of view.

TCDOJ: You're married to Sarah Clarke, who played the villainous Nina Myers. Do you sleep with one eye open?

XB: Both. Just kidding. Sarah is a midwestern girl from solid, all American stock, what she pulled off on 24 was a testament to gifted acting, nothing innately questionable in her character. I mean, she can be a little scary when she's mad... but then, who isn't?

(NOTE: That question was submitted by Adam from The Jack Sack).

TCDOJ: Speaking of Nina, when did you first hear that she was going to be the big mole at the end of the first season? What was your reaction? And also, how was it working with your wife? Mason and Nina had a couple of good scenes together.

XB: 24 specialized in last minute surprises, because they never knew themselves where they were going more than a few episodes ahead. So it was long before the reveal that they told her. She had to retrofit her choices to have them make sense.

It was fun working together. The best was after our Honeymoon in the second season when we came back from Zihuataneo with tans to do the interrogation scene when Nina returns; I'd been exposed to radiation, she'd been working out in the prison yard, so it was only natural that we would both have a certain 'glow'.

TCDOJ: Your favorite scene in 24?

XB: Favorite scene was when I arrest my son and have him brought in so I can tell him I'm dying.

TCDOJ: Your favorite line of dialogue Mason has ever said?

XB: My favorite line in that scene was one after I offer him the money from the secret account (a nice reference to the pilot and the bribe). He says "I don't want your money" and I say "well then give it to your mother, I'm sure she'll want it." It's one of those throw-aways you come up with in the moment that reveals the history of a relationship (with the ex-wife) that you'll never see on-screen, but makes the reality of it come alive. So many producers won't let you put your own ideas in because of some territorial imperative about being 'the writers', but these guys were smart and different in that respect. To their credit, many of my best lines were theirs, of course. Like when I'm hiding out in the back of the plane with the bomb and surprise Jack... what did I say? "Man, they gotta do something these seats back here" I forget, but whatever it was I remember it was dry and real for a guy who had gallows humor and detachment BEFORE he knew he was about to die.

(NOTE: The line in the plane Mason said to Jack was: "Whoa! Jack, the service on this flight is bad enough, you don't have to shoot me!")

TCDOJ: And finally, what would you like to say to the many, many George Mason fans out there? They have missed you since Day 2 and miss your sarcasm. Even though we'll never see George again, they would like to hear anything come out of the hilarious mouth of the late, great George Mason.

XB: However, I suppose "No, stop it. You're too kind. Now get a life!" would then have to been the parting words, wouldn't they?

I thank Xander so much for doing this interview with me. He's a really funny dude and a sincere gentleman. He told me he finished work earlier than he thought in the day and took the time to answer my questions. XB, I appreciate you making room in your schedule for me. It was awesome to talk to one of the best characters the show has ever seen. Thank you Xander for bringing us one of the funniest/sarcastic characters in the 24-universe, as well as one of the best death scenes ever.

EXCLUSIVE Interview with James Morrison

2009-04-09T16:53:00.018-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, die-hard fans of "24," tcdoj brings you an exclusive interview with James Morrison, the actor behind bringing CTU Chieftain Bill Buchanan to life. Beginning on Day 4, fans of the show were introduced to a stoic, strong leader that would head the LA Counter Terrorist Unit for longer than any other director. He continued as CTU Special Agent in Charge during Days 5 and 6, and then teamed up with Tony Almeida and Chloe O'Brian to engage in an undercover operation to uncover the corporate conspiracy in the government. Unfortunately, Bill died during the course of Day 7, as he selflessly, bravely and heroically, sacrificed himself to save President Taylor, her daughter, Jack Bauer and the rest of the White House hostages. He was an ally and a great friend to Jack for four seasons.

And James is one of the most sincere gentlemen around and was an absolute pleasure to do this interview with. He was very accommodating, friendly and really wanted to give 24 fans a closer and more in-depth insight about different facets of our beloved show.

Enjoy...

The Cover Diaries of Jackster: So with bringing a character written on a sheet of paper to life comes a daunting task. When you were cast as Bill Buchanan during Day 4, this guy who comes in and is going to oversee everything going on at CTU, do the writers tell you we're looking for a strong-willed, calm-during-a-storm type personality, or do they let you do whatever you want with the character?

James Morrison: No, they didn't tell me anything. Which isn't really surprising. As it turns out, they didn't really know anything about Buchanan to tell me. I think they looked to me for definition because he was only there to serve the plot so much of the time. I sort of feel like they had a singer with a two octave range and they only gave me 4 notes to sing. But that was my job, sing those 4 notes, and I'm not really as ungrateful as I might sound. Those notes were challenging and I enjoyed the challenge. The brightest side of it is that I got to avoid all the soap and histrionics. I hate that stuff. As for doing whatever I wanted - I understand the question, and I guess I lead them in a certain direction by my demeanor under the pressure of "The Day" as Bill, as well as the way I handled being in a strange environment being treated like a stranger initially as an actor on the set by some involved. I could have chosen to address any one of the conflicts that came Bill's way in other ways but I chose the level headed, understanding and charitable approach where ever I could. It was, as it turns out, also a way to productively survive the often challenging experience of working with such a group of strong personalities as well as navigating through the uncertainty of where the character fit in and what was coming next.

TCDOJ: How far ahead do you get a script? When you begin filming an episode, do you get the script for the whole hour with all of Bill's dialogue and scenes? I'm assuming they don't give you the script for the next hour in case you were going to be killed off?

JM: 24 films two episodes simultaneously, often jumping even further back to do pick-ups of other episodes that have already been filmed. The advance time for each episode varied according to when they were ready to be distributed. Actors rarely see the first draft. I can count on one hand - not even - the times I read a first draft. Those are reserved for eyes of department heads - Director, 1st AD, costumes, set design, locations, etc. - so they can start to build the episode.

TCDOJ: Now I know on your website, you had posted a message saying you weren't returning for the seventh season of 24. I'm assuming the writers had thought of a season's plot that didn't include your character. But, obviously as we all know, Bill appears first during episode 3 of this season. How did that work out? Did one of the writers just give you a call saying we want to work you in, but need ideas? Did you shoot them any of your own ideas on how to return to the show?

JM: They bade me a fond farewell at the end of season 6, I said thanks for a good run after they told me they were tearing down CTU and taking the show in a new ( and at that point completely unknown) direction. Sometime about a month before shooting began for Day 7, we got a call saying they'd changed their minds and wanted to bring Bill in to help Jack and Chloe do a "renegade" thing. So I happily re-upped for the first half of the season. You remember the last exchange from Billy Wilder's DOUBLE INDEMNITY where Fred McMurray says something to Edward G. Robinson about not being able to figure out it was him because he was sitting across the desk from him? And Robinson says, "Closer than that." I think that's how it went. They realized Bill was a bigger part of the show at that point than they thought. And frankly, I think they made a big mistake killing him. This show, probably more than any other I can think of, needs all the characters you can relate to and care about that it can get.

To the second part of your question: At a certain point - most notably during conception - they don't care what the actors think and nor should they. I've heard stories about actors going upstairs to pitch ideas to the producer/writers and finding themselves killed in the next episode. My M.O. from the moment I arrived, and probably the reason I lasted as long as I did, was not to go anywhere near the writers and producers. I figured if they didn't know I was around, they wouldn't kill me off.

I vaguely remember overhearing Carlos talking to Cassar about story lines once - specifically Tony's death and the ways they could go. But remember that Carlos was part of the show from the beginning. He was an original member of the family. I never was. I was like Tom Hagen to the Corleones. There were a couple of guys who were pretty much like Sonny in that they never let me forget it. I'm thinking it was probably just their charmingly sociopathic way of telling me how much they loved me and my contribution. It doesn't matter. I had a good seat at the table for many fine dinners.

TCDOJ: It must've been a thrill for you to shoot your scenes actually holding a gun in your hand. We've always seen Bill in the office wearing a suit and delegating duties. Now, this season we see Bill in action-gear, hoisting a machine gun, raiding a villain's base with Jack and Tony. How exciting was that for you to film and also to add a new dimension to the character?

JM: It was fun to play. It's like when you're a kid, you know, playing cops and robbers. I'm adamantly against the use of guns but it was fun to pretend. During the photo shoot for season 7 they wanted to take some shots of me holding a gun. I just laughed at them. When they asked again, I stopped laughing and they stopped asking. I think PR shots of actors as their characters holding guns are silly, first, then obscene. They might as well be holding their cocks. And it's just as damaging to children who see the pictures as if they were holding their penises. The best part of it all was that my pal, Sterling Rush, the prop master, took me to the firing range. We had fun, actually. I love the preparation for some jobs more than the

actual job itself.

TCDOJ: Speaking of the new dimension to Bill this season, did you have any say on the "look" of your character? The wavy white hair, the facial stubble... definitely a far cry from Bill's clean-cut CTU look.

JM: Yes. I insisted on the change. Too much had happened between Day 6 and 7 to have it any other way.

TCDOJ: You appeared in a total of 64 episodes on "24," which is the 6th highest total for a character. That's pretty impressive for a show that kills character quite frequently. Did you think your episode count would ever get that high?

JM: No, I didn't. Truthfully, I stopped counting at a certain point. I pretty much took it two episodes at a time.

TCDOJ: I, along with most die-hard fans, want to know what exactly goes on on a set of a TV show. So when you're filming a scene, let's say a CTU scene. You're giving orders to the CTU analysts, all your scenes really dealt with being inside the CTU building. How many people are watching? Is it just the director, sound guy, a few other technicians? Do the writers ever come down and watch scenes being filmed? Does Kiefer come and watch scenes that he's not in?

JM: The first two seasons I was there, Kiefer always came in for his side of the phone call. I was impressed by that. We were all asked to show up for each other in that way - we'd come in to do dialog in phone calls we weren't in - unless we made arrangements with each other to miss it and that was fine. It helped the other actor and it helped us when we got to our side in terms of rehearsal. Then, at some point during Day 6 it started to relax. It was just easier for us all to do the scenes with Marci Michelle giving us lines off camera - I loved working with her.

As for people watching - on a show like this there are always guests wandering in. People who are fans, friends, family watching. If the writer/producers come down to watch it's because someone is going to be fired. They usually stay hidden in their lair, afraid of the sunlight, like the endearing arachnids they are.

TCDOJ: A major part of this current season was the resurrection of Tony Almeida. When did the writers first tell you that they were resurrecting Tony? What did you think of the idea at first? Your view on it had to be different from other actors since your character's return was directly related to what Tony was doing this season.

JM: I heard he was coming back and had no opinion except that it was a novel idea. I really didn't concern myself with story issues - except when I was saddled with too much clumsy exposition and then I'd think it was stupid. I expressed a need during season 6 to explore the relationship between Bill and Karen a little more and it helped a little. As I've said before elsewhere, I had no creative investment in 24 - I was never invited to have one and didn't lobby for one - and therefore didn't express an opinion. I tried to give Bill a sense of humor - at least a sense of irony - every now and again, it's important to me that people have that and it's one of my strengths, but the writers never took the bait. They saw Bill as the earnest father figure for the most part, sadly, even though I realize it how important it was that he be that. Master Expositionist, that's me!

TCDOJ: Have you ever been inside the famed writers' "cigar room"? Us fans would love to know what that room is all about. Is it just a few couches and tables where the writers shout out plot ideas and who's going to die or not? So many potential season plots must have been discussed inside those four walls.

JM: Sure, I had a few cigars with those guys. The cigar room was where we said our good-byes at the end of season 6. I've since quit smoking cigars but I enjoyed mixing it up and talking politics with Joel, Howard, Manny and the rest. They're all a bunch of lovable and cynical curmudgeons. Great guys. Joel's wingnut politics are the stuff of legend and it was fun to talk politics with him actually - he was a respectful listener and we disagreed pleasantly. I remember trying like hell to avoid meeting Rush Limbaugh when Joel brought him to the set during my first season. I'm not a big fan of his, to put it mildly. Finally, Joel cornered me and I decided it would be easier to shake his hand and have a picture taken than to be rude to my boss and blow his friend off. What would that prove? One time I smoked a cigar with Laura Ingram up there. She was fun and quite smart. She asked me about Bill's politics, after saying, "I know you're a yogi so you can't be a Republican." I told her Bill was a patriot.

As for the plotting that goes on in there, it never happened while I was there, of course. I made it a point to not talk about the show, even when they asked me, at what we thought was the end of my run as Bill, what I thought of certain people and how it went while I was there. Some things are better left unsaid.

TCDOJ: Kiefer has been very outspoken about how much longer 24 can go on for. I know that (unfortunately) your time has run out on the show. But how long can you see the show going on for? There's one more confirmed season, and then Kiefer says it's up to the fans and the ratings to dictate if it should return. He says he'll do it for as long as the fans want him to. What are your thoughts about the end of 24?

JM: I think it could run for a long time, with or without Kiefer. I've gone back and forth on this but it's unique television and solid story telling. It's thriving without Surnow and will survive without Cassar, both every bit as responsible for the tone and look as Sutherland. There is no one person who is solely responsible for 24 or its conscience or attitude or strengths. The character of Jack Bauer is, for instance, just as iconic as James Bond and that franchise survives quite well without one single actor as Bond. That being said, Kiefer's emotional and personal investment in the character and the franchise is clearly been allowed by The Powers to become deeper than, say, Sean Connery's or Pierce Brosnen's was, so that scenario doesn't seem likely.

TCDOJ: How big of a jokester is Carlos Bernard on the set? I've heard a couple of stories of him playing pranks on people. Has Carlos ever played a prank on you? If not, what was the best one you've seen him pull?

JM: I like Carlos a lot but I'm not a big fan of pranks or practical jokes. Especially on the set. I think they're another way to make something about you and there is too much of that on sets. I'd much rather see an actor's sense of humor used to relieve tension rather than create it. My sense of humor navigates the rapids of a different river. Carlos is actually quite a funny guy, much funnier than any prank he may have pulled.

TCDOJ: Is James Morrison sitting in front of the TV on Monday nights watching 24? Have you been watching after the episode Bill died?

JM: I've tried, but I learned a lot from watching Bill. It's just not the same.

TCDOJ: Your favorite scene in 24?

JM: The one that made me want to audition for it in the first place: the scene where Jack shoots Chappelle in the head.

TCDOJ: Your favorite line of dialogue Bill has said?

JM: I said a line in Mandarin Chinese to Cheng when I brought him back to CTU at the end of Season 6. It was an insult, something benign - even silly - in English but incredibly nasty in Mandarin. I asked Tzi Ma, the actor who portrayed Cheng, what would be the worst insult I could say to him. It was something like, "you're a nasty goose". I said it just before they took him away to the brig. Sadly, Howard Gordon didn't see fit to leave it in the episode. Along with deciding to kill Buchanan, that was the worst decision of his tenure as show runner.

TCDOJ: What do you think is the coolest thing Jack Bauer has ever done?

JM: Saving the kids in Africa.

TCDOJ: And finally, let this be the space where you talk directly to the die-hard fans who have watched you for 4 seasons and have developed a cult-following for Bill Buchanan. What do you have to say to all 24 fans, now that Bill has passed on?

JM: I know I run the risk of self-aggrandizement, but I tried to imbue the character with a thoughtfulness, a selflessness and compassion, and there are those who connected to that. I appreciate them. I was speaking to them and I thank them for listening and hearing what I was trying to say in the midst of everything else that show has to offer.

I, once again, emphatically thank James for taking time out of his day and schedule to do this interview with me. It was a thrill and will be something that, as a die-hard 24 fan, I remember forever. Thanks James for all you have done for our beloved show.

Interviewing VP Mitchell Hayworth also

2009-04-09T10:41:00.003-04:00

Hey tcdoj follows, I was just contacted back last night from Cameron Daddo, the actor who plays Vice President Mitchell Hayworth on this current season of 24. Again, if you guys have any questions for him, post them in the comments section. Thanks!

3 Awesome Interviews Coming Here!

2009-04-08T14:49:00.004-04:00

I have been in contact with three 24-alum actors who have agreed to do an interview with me for my blog. The three are James Morrison (Bill Buchanan), Jayne Atkinson (Karen Hayes) and Xander Berkeley (George Mason). I have already sent in my questions to James, but there's still time for you to send me a question for Jayne or XB. Post them in the comments section. And keep visiting tcdoj to see if one of the interviews has been posted! Thanks!

Episode Review - 7.17

2009-04-07T10:48:00.005-04:00

EPISODE 7.17

The following takes place between 12:00 A.M. and 1:00 A.M.

Excellent episode in tcdoj's estimation. Jack was not in it that much and surprisingly, I think the episode held up pretty well. Tony being the lead in the field was really cool to see, as usually he's following JB. Tony really can hold his own in the field, showing his ability to adapt, such as quietly taking out those two Starkwood goons, taking their vest and guns and posing as one of them on the elevator with Tom Chapman. Good job by Doug Knowles sacrif

icing his cover (and eventually his life) by distracting a security detail so Tony had enough time to get the door unlocked to get into the building where the bio-weapon was being worked on.

I can't remember an episode where Jack was completely doing work from the office. It was really interesting to see, as he found Knowles' name and that he was linked to Senator Mayer and cooperative with the investigation of Starkwood. Without Jack, the FBI would've left the compound and lost the bio-weapon forever most likely. Jack's great plan of having Tony hide while Larry created a distraction was brilliant. And awesome job by Larry, who's been much cooler of late. I loved that jaw-smashing punch he nailed Greg Seaton with. Stokes clobbered him back and when he said "Get out of here, Moss," I developed a new vileness for Stokes. That's such a disrespectful thing to say to the head of an FBI office, especially after punching the dude in the face. Regardless, it was enough for Tony to hide and meet up with Knowles.

Jonas Hodges was at the top of his performance last night. It seemed that he thrived off throwing Knowles over the railing and to his death (inset). Then in typical Jonas-fashion, he remarked to Seaton after seeing the blood on his shirt, "Too bad Mr. Knowles won't be joining us." Complete badass.

Olivia Taylor showed off even more of her dirty skill set this episode. First, it seemed she has had some kind of relationship with reporter Ken Dellao in the past. She slept with him so he would kill the story about the weapons of mass destruction on Starkwood's compound. Then Dellao got even slimier, as he said laying in bed, that he's gonna run the story because it'll put him over the top. Olivia is shocked and angered, as Kenny says that's how things work in Washington. Then Livvy pulls her own little stunt by video-taping some of the action in the bed. She's sure his wife wouldn't be pleased about that session, and also his bosses wouldn't appreciate the way he gets stories. Boom, attack the man's career and marriage. Looks like Kenny will keep quiet. (Side note: as usual, awesome to see Aaron, but I don't know how much protecting he can do in a sling. I hope the writers just don't have him toting around behind Olivia the whole day, and he still has a significant purpose... finding out Olivia's dirty deeds and reporting it, anyone ?)

Jack did not look good this episode. He's showing effects pretty strongly, from collapsing on the floor, eyes-wide open as Renee yelled for the medics to help out. Dr. Sunny Macer gave him some injections and the pain subsided for a little bit. But Sunny then did say that a university is doing research on a cure for this, and while it's a small chance, she thinks JB should definitely try it as he's going to die anyway. But they would need blood or an organ from a family member -- meaning Kimmy Bauer. Jack wants nothing to do with involving her, especially since they haven't spoken in years (since Day 5 in CTU when she was dating shrink Barry Landes (pictured here)). Going to be very interesting to see Jack and Kim reunite.

And finally, Jonas' phonecall to President Taylor. He sets up a secure, private line and tells her about the missiles armed with the bio-weapon. If she doesn't call up the F-18s aiming for Starkwood's compound, he will launch the missiles at three major cities on the East Coast. Plus, in thirty minutes he wants a sit-down with her -- alone in the Oval Office. She complies as she doesn't want any more dead Americans. She argues with Admiral Smith and has the airstrike called off.

As I said, they fit a lot into this episode, and I thought it was very well-paced. No new characters introduced and just one death, but that doesn't mean the episode wasn't good. Next week will be crazy, and remember these are the episodes that Carlos Bernard said are some of the best that 24's ever had. Preview shows ... Tony beating the hell out of Stokes on the ground ... missiles erupting ... trying to shut up the power for the missiles at Starkwood ... Seaton and Hodges casually walking into the White House. How nuts that the 2 biggest baddies of this season -- Juma and Hodges -- both will be in the White House in the same 24 hours. Insane. And, then of course, we'll have the Jack and Kim reuniting. Six days left!

Predictions for Tonight's Episode

2009-04-06T14:40:00.003-04:00

Lots seem to be happening in tonight's episode especially judging from the scenes FOX released on their website. Chairman of Starkwood's Board Doug Knowles confronts Jonas Hodges about why the FBI is on their property. This confirms his suspicions about Jonas. Jack and Renee working from the FBI office, telling Larry he's gotta create a diversion while Tony hides. Then the FBI and Navy SEALs leave and listen to Hodges's orders, leaving Tony on the compound to meet up with Knowles and find the bio-weapon. Olivia will be getting some in reporter Ken Dellao's hotel room as she needs to have a story buried. What else is new with this psycho.

I had this feeling even before reading speculation about it on the FOX 24 Message Board -- Larry Moss dies tonight. I just feel that with the absurdly-difficult task of getting out of Starkwood alive, especially if they're trying to hide Tony staying in there, someone's gotta bite the dust. I wouldn't be shocked if Stokes was the one to off him. It has huge effect on Renee losing her boss/whatever they used to be in the past romantically. With 7 hours left after that, she develops even more feelings for Jack.

But I could see them offing Larry. Renee in the field/Janis in the office could be the whole FBI storyline for the rest of the season. They even could pull a CTU-like fill-in, where an annoying guy comes in to fill in Larry's position (ala Ryan Chappelle, Brad Hammond, Alberta Green, etc.).

This could all be a hugely moot post if the writers decide they want Larry around for Day 8 (like they have for Renee). We'll see. I wonder if we'll see any new characters tonight? I know that episode 18 (next week) will introduce Alan Wilson (supposedly a guy as powerful as Hodges -- played by the white coach from "Remember the Titans"), Patricia Eames (no description on her yet), and of course, Miss Kimberly Bauer.

6 Hours, 8 Minutes until Hour 17 tonight!

Episode Review - 7.16

2009-03-31T10:13:00.005-04:00

EPISODE 7.16

The following takes place between 11 P.M. and 12:00 A.M.

Well, we're fully into the night now in lovely Washington, D.C. Very, very solid episode last night. I don't know about all 24 fans out there, but I got some answers to spoiler-ish questions I've come across in the past. Let me just jot those down so I don't forget.

1. The rumor of Tony being linked to Jonas Hodges. Well, that definitely seems to be false. There would be no reason why Hodges would've had him beat up by Stokes and then double-crossed by Seaton. For a second, I thought Tony and Seaton knew each other, the way Tony stared at him as he was taken off the chopper. But, yeah, Tony has no connection to Starkwood.

2. The rumor of Jonas Hodges being related to Allison Taylor or a high-up government official. Both these are false as well. First off, when Allison was told about Starkwood's involvement with Juma, she would've mentioned something. Some people thought Jonas was her brother (and that she was Allison Hodges before marrying Hank). But obviously once Starkwood was mentioned, I would think -- at least to Olivia -- she would have said something if he was her brother.

Also, I know Hodges was really close to Allison at her inauguration, but I don't see how the writers are going to explain that. He's not in the government, he's the founder of a private military company and a corporate businessman. So, we can drop all the Secretary of Defense or Speaker of the House talk.

OK, now onto the episode...

I thought the writers did a terrific job of balancing out all the mini-storylines and then gelling them beautifully. They had:

a) Jack with the CDC

b) Tony captured and tortured, then working with Greg Seaton

c) Jonas getting weapons ready for use

d) Allison and her Chief of Staff Olivia being briefed on Starkwood's involvement

e) the FBI prepping to attack the Starkwood compound

Lots going on. First off, welcome back Dr. Sunny Macer! Nice little character seeing her back. She was last seen (and to date, it was her only season) during Day 3 when she was the Technical Director of National Health Services. Now she's working the CDC and was in charge of scrubbing down Jack and testing him to see if he's been infected. The shocking news was JB in infected, but not contagious. This is the closest/most serious Jack has ever been to dying in the show's history. Jack can always get out of the way of bullets, he's held his breath going through CTU Sentox-contaminated crawlspaces, his heart has even stopped. But this is real and this is legit. He tested positive, so he's infected. And there's no cure for it. Usually people have a day or less until the bio-weapon kills its victim.

Now, we always say that Jack can't die, well at least until the last season (if they don't want to do movies). But Kiefer is signed on for Day 8, and that season has been confirmed. I know Renee will be in Day 8, but I have a hard time believing Jack will die by the end of Day 7. There are rumors floating around that Day 8 will start a few hours after Day 7 ends. That would jive with what's going on now. It could be very cool actually -- Jack and company defeat and bring down Starkwood and Jonas Hodges, but then the segway into Day 8 is finding the antidote and cure for Jack. I know they say there is none, but I'm sure Jonas had one made, just in case he got infected or something. But, nevertheless, last episode was scary for Jack. He even seemed defeated when he agreed with Larry that he wasn't fit to go into the field. "I know we'd eventually agree on something," JB says to Moss.

Tony is hauled out of Stokes's helicopter and held up against a fence as Stokes pounds into his stomach. Tony refuses to talk, even when Jonas speaks to him himself. Now, I'll honestly admit I never saw the Seaton double-cross happening, but thinking back on it, the writers left a couple of clues that it would happen. One was when Seaton asked to speak to Hodges in the middle of him grilling a bloodied and battered Tony (inset). Seaton, while he has looked spineless and always nervous, would have known to wait until Jonas was done with Tony until speaking with him. All a ruse by the mastermind Jonas Hodges.

Another hint the writers left was when Seaton was setting up the secure phoneline so Tony could call the FBI, Tony asked why Hodges is doing all this. Seaton calls him a patriot, and then says it's "complicated." If Seaton really was turning good, he would have no problem telling Tony Hodges's true agenda. Rory Cochrane has done an outstanding job playing the neurotic Greg Seaton.

And a third clue by the writers is when Stokes, after barely grilling Tony again in the holding room, pulls a gun to his head about to kill him. Then Seaton "kills" Stokes. There would be no reason to ice Tony that quickly. He was in a holding room and not going anyway. Jonas would want to keep him alive to see if they can still get some answers out of him. Killing him would accomplish nothing.

Terrific double-cross by Seaton and awesome ploy by Jonas. It bought them time knowing the FBI was coming. Speaking of the FBI, great little scene between Larry and Renee after he broke the news that JB was infected. She showed her emotions immediately and even had a tear stream down her cheek. Great job by Annie Wersching. Renee really does like and care about Jack. Sucks for Moss. By the way, I hope Agent Walker is back in the field in the next episode. She's awesome in action, and we need her back in the field with Jack.

Larry calls into the White House explaining Starkwood is behind it all and now has a bio-weapon in their possession on U.S. soil. They also have an immunity letter drafted up for her to sign for Greg Seaton and his "help" to find the warehouse that has the weapon. Allison signs it. Interesting to note: Olivia's facial expressions when Larry mentioned Starkwood was involved. I don't know if it means she's in cahoots with Jonas, or if Starkwood was one of her consulting firm's clients, but she just had a startled look on her face.

Allison meets with the Joint Chiefs and the Cabinet members and authorizes the full raid on the Starkwood compound. The FBI leads the raid with two choppers full of Navy SEALs behind them. Larry is running the raid operation in the field, while Renee runs point back at the FBI office (with an antsy Jack watching). Tony was Larry's man on the ground before they got there. Funny to see them meet up and work together, when just 13 hours ago Tony was being hunted as a domestic terrorist.

Larry and Tony lead the raid into the warehouse that Seaton said the weapon was in. They blow the door and find a completely empty warehouse. Seaton then says that Tony had him at gunpoint and forced him to say whatever he wanted to hear. Tony, obviously pissed that he's lying, grabs Seaton by the jacket and threatens him. Larry has them separated. Tony insists that Seaton had agreed to work with them and that this was the warehouse the weapon was in. Then we find out, with a little smirk from Jonas, that the weapon is on the complete other side of the compound.

As the FBI and Navy SEALs exit the warehouse, Larry begins to brief them that they have to search the entire compound point-by-point. Just then hummers start rolling with fully-armed soldiers hanging out the sides. One hummer pulls up front and out comes Stokes, who was thought to be dead after Seaton shot him right before he was going to kill Tony, but Stokes had a bulletproof vest on.

Stokes and Moss have a nice little standoff, with Larry barking that they're aiming at federal agents, while Stokes says this is their private property and they have a right to defend themselves. They complied with the FBI to search that warehouse and now that they found nothing, Starkwood wants them to leave. "If you try to proceed, you will be fired upon," says Mr. Stokes. BOOM, end of episode.

Very solid episode as I said. Goes to show how much I enjoy the show, that with no deaths in this episode, and really no action, it still was intriguing. 2/3rds of the season left, 8 hours remain. I doubt they'll be chasing the bio-weapon for 8 hours, especially since the FBI is already on the compound. So, we'll be finding out about something new I believe in the next couple of episodes. As we've come to learn, Jonas always has a plan. He is shaping up to be, maybe, the smartest villain the show has ever seen.

P.S. Side Note: very happy to see Glenn Morshower come on the screen at the beginning of the episode. I thought he was done for Day 7, especially with him recovering from the bullet wound. He appears in a sling, and Olivia asks him to be in charge of her security, as she's now the provisional Chief of Staff. He says he's retired, she says she'll have him re-instated. Very exciting to see what else Aaron is going to be involved in. Pumped for that.

Next episode looks to be a mini-war between the feds and Starkwood. Awesome. Plus, Jack collapses in the FBI office with Renee yelling for the medics. Jonas meets up with Larry Moss and Stokes and starts yelling "Do you see weapons of mass destruction anywhere? Do you see weapons here?" I love how this very rich and powerful man, the founder of the company, is down with the henchmen getting his hands dirty. Not just sitting from a throne chair, kind of like how Peter Kingsley and Max were doing in Day 2. Plus, Olivia getting what she wants from report Ken Dellao by hooking up with him. Yikes, this girl is getting heavily involved in everything. Why is Monday so far away?

What Sides are Tony and Larry Really On?

2009-03-26T10:55:00.000-04:00

This will all be complete speculation and opinion on my part, but I'm gonna dissect and discuss where Tony Almeida and Larry Moss stand and which side of the good-evil spectrum they're on.

LARRY MOSS

The Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Washington D.C. Field Office is a pretty straight-laced guy. He's 110% by-the-book and is the complete anti-Bauer. He is opposed to torture, he doesn't like how Jack does things, and doesn't like when his people (i.e. Renee) don't follow his orders. Many fans are speculating he's bad. Now, I'm not sure if that's because he's annoying and always going against Jack, but listen people. He's not Ryan Chappelle. Chappelle was so much worse and annoying and pretty much hated Jack. Moss may not like how Jack did something, but at times he's almost turned the corner and jumped on the Bauer-Walker bandwagon. I do see promise for him, but it isn't coming yet.

I just don't see how Larry is bad, or why for that matter. I do like the character of Larry Moss that these writers have created. After having the two-and-a-half seasons of the stoic Bill Buchanan as the head of the agency featured in the show (CTU, and now Larry at the FBI), the writers wanted to go in the other direction. Go back to the SAC who doesn't like/trust Jack. Bill may not have condoned torture, but he knew Jack was doing it and it did give his agency results. They went back to the days of Chappelle/Erin Driscoll/Alberta Green slowing Jack down. Jack and Larry have had some pretty good exchanges during Day 7. Including nailing Moss in the nose with his fist, and the good dialogue of:

Moss: "The rules are what make us better than them." (them being terrorists)

Bauer: "Not today."

I sincerely don't think Larry is bad. I can see a scenario where the writers do a Day 4/Paul Raines type thing. I assume we're supposed to think Renee has either had a relationship with Larry or there was always that tension. She likes Jack, too, though (like Audrey in Day 4 pulled between Jack and Paul). I can see Larry doing something near the end of the season, saving Jack (maybe too much like Paul taking a bullet for Jack) or something where Larry dies, and Renee is devastated. Who knows. But there has been confirmation that Renee will be around for Day 8. No type of confirmation for Larry... (Wouldn't it be funny, if they re-instate CTU, and now with Bill passed on, Larry is in charger, with Renee and Jack working there?). Doubtful, especially if Day 8 starts days or weeks after Day 7.

TONY ALMEIDA

Now Big T is a little bit trickier. Because of his CTU history, being Jack's best bud and his 3 years running David Emerson's crew, Tony's head is all messed up. Or so we're led to believe. It seemed he was after Emerson was laying on the couch dying. But, thankfully, he chose Jack's life over Emerson's. We all know Tony's emotions have always led him to some questionable decisions (i.e. letting Stephen Saunders escape during Day 3 because Michelle was kidnapped). He's never been all strong-willed as Jack, but he's the closest you'll find.

Now, what is Tony's agenda/end-game for Day 7? Well, we all know he was undercover in Emerson's crew (after actually working for Emerson). He stopped that once he found out innocent American lives were in danger. He then went to Bill and Chloe for support on the operation. He helped find the CIP device, which led to apprehending Colonel Ike Dubaku.

Now I know Tony has been missing for some episodes, but that's because he couldn't go into the White House and assist Jack and Bill. He's a felon and a fugitive. Once Jack was done icing Quinn, Tony was brought back into the picture. It seemed like the good old days of Day 4 with Tony and JB in the field together, covering each other and watching each other's backs. Tony did seem genuinely concerned to stop Stokes and his men, even willing to sacrifice Carl Gadsen's life (which Jack wasn't).

Now with Tony captured and being beaten by Jonas Hodges's men at the Starkwood compound, it begs the discussion of what's going to happen with Tony next. Hodges tells him he won't leave with a smile, but he'll leave alive, if he just tells him what the FBI knows. In what seems to be a Jack Bauer-type resistance to torture, Tony says, "I don't know anything...." then looks up in a mocking way and says, "... Mr. Hodges." Looks to be an awesome scene.

A quick little tidbit... Hodges calls him by his first name and knows his past. I'm assuming he just looked up old CTU records. That scene would seem to be the first time Hodges meets Tony. But then it may not be, because how else would Tony know to call him "Mr. Hodges"? Now remember, Stokes (who works for Hodges/Starkwood) said he recognized Tony as he was in Emerson's crew. If Stokes knows of Emerson's crew, does that mean Emerson worked for/had dealings with Starkwood? It could be, as Emerson did business with Nichols, who did business with Jonas Hodges in "Redemption."

But if all of that gels, and Tony knows of Hodges and what he is capable of doing, why wouldn't he have told Jack or Bill about him and Starkwood? I mean if Tony knew about what Dubaku/Juma was doing in the U.S., wouldn't he have known that Hodges was giving them all the weapons, and in turn, would know that Juma was allowing Starkwood to test the bio-weapon in Sangala. So, maybe after all, Tony doesn't know Hodges and all of his doings. I'm assuming there's a scene before that where Hodges introduces himself to Tony. Can't wait for next week's hour.

Now, I could see Tony ending up on both sides. On the one side, Tony could continue to help Jack and work on the side of good (we know Tony will get saved by either Jack or the FBI, as Jon Cassar has said Tony's story goes until the 24th episode, so he isn't dying next week). He could stay on the good course he's on right now, realize he was stupid doing those things for Emerson and is trying to redeem himself.

On the other hand, Tony could be playing everybody and is still really bad. During those episodes where he was missing he could've called Hodges or Stokes or whomever else he was in cahoots with, saying, "Look, Emerson and Litvak are dead. I had to kill them to keep my cover with Bauer." And continue to be their inside man, now with Jack and learning all about what the FBI was doing. I know that doesn't make sense, as he tried to kill Stokes's team while they were picking up the bio-weapon, but who knows. Wouldn't it be nuts, if Tony somehow gets mixed up and takes Kim captive or something, and Jack has to kill him to save his daughter/innocent people. I hope Tony doesn't turn out bad.

What I kind of am hoping for, is what I'm calling the "Dark Horse Side of Tony." What if (and a fellow 24 fan TJ has mentioned this quite a bit) Tony is working for a high-up government good guy all along. Whether or not Bill or Chloe knew, Tony would have to keep Jack in the dark about it for some reason. Like Ethan Kanin, or the Secretary of Defense, or another Cabinet member. That would be a shock I believe, and a great twist. Not sure where they could go with that, though.

Thinking back about the Tony holding Kim hostage for the bad side, what if Tony is really on the good side, and he ends up sacrificing himself to save Kim's life. If Tony would have to die again, that's the only way I would want him to go. It would even be better than saving Jack's life. The range of emotions across Jack's face as he holds Kim after she's been in danger and seeing Tony's dead body on the ground would be an emotional scene. But I doubt the writers are going to kill Big T again.

So, anyways, I want all and any feedback on anything I've said in this post. Whether it be Tony or Larry, good or bad, I want to hear what you guys think about these two characters and their true agendas. Let's discuss!

Episode Review - 7.15

2009-03-24T16:22:00.004-04:00

EPISODE 7.15

The following takes place between 10:00 P.M. and 11:00 P.M.

I thought episode 15 was a good transitional episode. I know the episode after the White House siege (last week's) is viewed more as the transition episode, but with Senator Mayer dead, whose Chief of Staff Ryan Burnett is also dead, who was connected to Benjamin Juma, who was connected to Ike Dubaku, who was connected to Edward Vossler, who was connected to Brian Gedge, so many of Day 7's badguys/subplots connected to badguys are dead. All that's left is Jonas Hodges. Or so we think.

Now with all the White House stuff over with, Tony is finally back in the fold. Jack's going to need Tony a lot, especially with Bill dead, Renee arrested, and Chloe hanging out in an FBI conference room with Morris. Jack and Tony arrive at the port a little before 10:15 P.M. They sneak in and meet the port authority supervisor Carl Gadsen. Of course, this dope has a wife with unborn twins and needs a little extra coin. So instead of working another job, or doing something honest, he agrees on letting in Mr. Stokes with some "electronics" from Korea.

Jack hears this story and believes Carl. He also takes this to heart and doesn't want to see the guy die. Doesn't want two babies to be fatherless. So while Jack and Tony are staking out Stokes and his crew, Jack blows their surprise entrance (much to Tony's chagrin) and kills Cooper, who was about to ice Carl. Carl runs home free.

Tony and Jack immediately get into badass mode and prepare for the 9-on-2 firefight. Stokes finds out Cooper is dead and calls a Code Red. Jack and Tony start mowing down a couple of Starkwood henchmen while Stokes runs for cover. They do a decent job and kill 5. Jack sees that they loaded the container with the bio-weapon onto an 18-wheeler and it starts to drive away. Jack gets onto some containers and jumps onto the moving 18-wheeler, while Tony covers him. Jack knocks the driver out of the cab and drives it away from the shipyard.

After some bullets dance around Tony's feet, Stokes along with the last 3 of men, move on Almeida. Stokes recognizes him from being in Emerson's crew. He wants to know where Bauer is. Tony says nothing and gets knocked out. They take Tony with them and head after JB and the bio-weapon.

Jack reports all this into Larry Moss who is maybe starting to believe him. Another dope. Larry sends a CDC team to Jack's location, as well as back-up. Unfortunately, Stokes gets to Jack before the FBI can lend a hand. Stokes stole a helicopter from the shipyard and while his men shoot at Jack, airlift the bio-weapon out of the container and fly away with it. He radios into Hodges who has men on the ground waiting. Before it was stolen back, Jack investigated the bio-weapon and became exposed to it. Who knows what that will mean for the next few episodes, but it can't be good.

Another good scene was Hodges speaking to Starkwood's board members. He says President Taylor should have used Starkwood's troops to help protect the White House and this country. The meeting concludes, with Greg Seaton fielding questions. Doug Knowles, the Chairman of the Board, speaks to Jonas outside the room. He wants to know if Starkwood had anything to do with Mayer's death. Terrific line from Hodges: "We're not in the business of political assassinations. But maybe we should, I hear it's a growth market." Great villain, and great job by Jon Voight.

Nice, little scene seeing Hank Taylor again. He survived the bullet-wound and the doctors said he will be able to make a full recovery. After speaking with him, the President talks to Ethan Kanin who resigns as her Chief of Staff. He has made too many errors in the day and cites Olivia as pointing out that he has failed Allison. They share a nice scene, but I have a feeling we'll still be hearing from Ethan. And, once again, Olivia is bitchy and continues to rub stuff in Ethan's face. Sherry Palmer Redux.

As I said I thought it was a really good episode. Had a little bit of everything ... well, lots of action ... good political scenes with Allison, Ethan and Olivia ... good job by the writers remembering this was the episode Hank Taylor was out of surgery ... and we learn a little more about Starkwood and its private army. Next episode has an incredible scene of Jonas talking to Tony, Allison giving full permission to Larry Moss to attack Starkwood's compound, and a George Mason-like naked-scrubbing of Jack as the CDC teams arrive to see if he's going to be alright or not. We all know Jack isn't going to die, but I do think this will have some sort of damaging physical effect on him that may rear its ugly head four or so episodes from now (maybe when Kim appears?). And PS, was that Dr. Sunny Chang in next week's episode? I hope they don't pull a Ted Hovis and rename the character. There's no reason why Sunny wouldn't still be working there after these years, just like Frank Simes. Gonna be a good one. Adios.

In other news, this is my 200th post on this blog. So, congrats to me.

Episode Review - 7.14

2009-03-23T12:56:00.003-04:00

EPISODE 7.14

The following takes place between 9:00 P.M. and 10:00 P.M.

I was away for a week in Florida, so that's the reason for the lack of posting. But I figured I better get this recap up before episode 15 airs tonight. So, Jack is able to get away from the hospital before Larry and the FBI catch him. Jack needs help IDing the killer by using his photo from the surveillance CD he took from the hospital. Obviously, he calls Renee. She pretty much loves him and JB's got her on his bandwagon.

Jack breaks into a car, finds a laptop and uploads the picture to Renee's e-mail. She IDs him as John Quinn, who is an ex-military operative working for Starkwood. Renee helps Jack and tells him that Senator Mayer would know a lot about Starkwood since he was in charge of investigating it before he started investigating Jack himself. Jack gets Mayer's home address and heads there.

Meanwhile at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Olivia is becoming more and more like a Sherry Palmer -- good or bad, we do not know yet. She's determined, steely-faced and all of a sudden loves her mother (could be a ploy?). One person she doesn't love is Ethan Kanin. He thinks Olivia leaked the story of him allowing Jack to visit Ryan Burnett as the hospital, since a reporter named Ken Dellao asks him if the story was true. Olivia and Ethan bark some nasty remarks at each other, which even leads to Ethan grabbing Olivia. Ethan is clearly getting nervous about his job security. In the end, the story leak came from the U.S. Marshal's office and Ethan apologizes to Olivia for misjudging her.

Senator Mayer arrives home and sees his computer turned on and asks who's there. JB appears with a knife from behind and tells Mayer to sit down. Terrific scenes with the dialogue between the two. Mayer actually wanted to understand Jack and where he was coming from, and saw that opportunity in a more relaxed environment obviously than the court room. Jack explains some stuff and then sees Quinn's face in a police officer's uniform at the scene of a car "accident." Jack sells it wasn't an accident and Quinn had the man killed. Mayer explains lots of

stuff about Starkwood, how they're defense contractors who also outsource ex-military guys, pretty much an independent army.

Mayer tells Jack he's onto something and to trust him as Metro Police starts banging on the door. Jack says trust isn't his greatest asset. He finally believes Mayer and allows him to open the front door. In a shocking scene, Quinn is waiting on his stoop with a huge gun. He blows away Mayer with several rounds to the chest. Jack screams and then runs out of the house, with Quinn in pursuit.

Larry is now even more pissed at Renee after finding out she helped Jack and gave him Mayer's address. He has her put in holding. He used Morris O'Brian to hack into Renee's e-mail and decrypt whatever she sent Jack (sorry, Janis, you're just not good enough). Morris, after refusing, obliges because he doesn't want his son to have a mother in prison. They see it's Mayer's address and Larry heads out with an FBI field team. Chloe is brought to the conference room with Morris and yells at him for giving up Jack. Morris says her family comes first, even before Jack Bauer.

Jack hides at a construction site while Quinn searches for him. Quinn enters a little trailer, which Jack proceeds to flip using a backhoe. A nice fight scene ensues, with Quinn being a decent challenge for JB. Jack gets thrown and sees a screwdriver on the ground (bless whichever worker forget to pick it up that day). He grabs it, turns around and fires it into Quinn's chest. It pierces Quinn's bullet-proof vest, and with Quinn taken aback for a second, Jack grabs a 2x4 and smashes his face with it. Quinn falls to the ground, pushing the screwdriver into his chest. Jack asks the dying Quinn about the weapons shipment. He says it's already in the country. Quinn dies. Jack finds his cellphone and sees the shipment is arriving at the Port of Alexandria at 10:15 P.M. Jack calls Tony (who is weirdly drinking coffee at an outdoor cafe -- really, T? That's the best thing you can do with your time?) and tells him to bring a weapons and surveillance package to the Port of Alexandria.

Fairly good episode. Good fight scene (with Quinn) and terrific surprise (Mayer getting killed). Once again, Jack is on the run, now with everyone thinking he murdered Senator Mayer. Next episode looks to have a ton of action, and looks like finally Tony is getting back into the bulk of an episode. With Bill dead and Renee arrested, Tony is the only one who can help Jack in the field. Can't believe 14 episodes have already finished. Crazy. Watch tonight as a new hitman/"deadly military operative" of Starkwood, named Stokes, enters the picture. I love these new foes who think they can keep up with JB. Adios.

How did Starkwood Know...

2009-03-11T14:11:00.003-04:00

Starkwood is the corporate organization apparently run/headed by Jonas Hodges. Greg Seaton is one of his employees. We don't know what Starkwood does yet, but we do know Hodges is waiting for a shipment of weapons.

Anyways, while at Starkwood, Hodges and Seaton got wind of Jack Bauer going to pay Ryan Burnett a visit in the hospital to try and extract more information about who Juma was talking to on the outside. Now, how did they know Jack was going there? They have some sort of insider in the government. But, what's more interesting is that there was just 3 people (besides JB) who knew Jack was going to Burnett's hospital room. Ethan Kanin, Larry Moss and Renee Walker. There was the doctor also, and some minor FBI agents monitoring the survelliance feeds, but the writers I don't think would make one of the background agents Starkwood's mole. It wouldn't be shocking.

So, assuming it's not the background agents or the random hospital doctor...that means either Ethan, Larry or Renee is a mole for Hodges. Or maybe more than one, or all three -- who knows. Even though Renee would be the most shocking and would be a Nina Myers-like revelation at the end of the season, I don't think it's her. Plus Howard Gordon has mentioned Jack and Renee will most likely have a romance for Day 8.

So that leaves Ethan and Larry. I think it's Ethan, President Taylor's Chief of Staff. First off, the writers are painting Larry out to be a jackass and make the viewers dislike him. But he's just Day 7's version of Ryan Chappelle. Ethan has many things working for him, that points to him being the mole for Jonas Hodges...

1.) He conveniently had a meeting at the Pentagon just as the White House was invaded by Juma and his men. Pentagon meetings are common for Chief of Staffs, but the timing of it was just too fishy.

2.) The above situation of Starkwood finding out about Jack going to Burnett's hospital room. Also, Ethan wanted to handle the Jack-going-to-Burnett's-hospital-room by himself and didn't want to bring it to the President. I understand he wanted to keep the President out of it in case Jack ended up torturing him again. It wouldn't look good to the public for Allison, and it wouldn't look good in the eyes of Senator Mayer. Something about the way Ethan went about it was just strange.

3.) His conversation with Olivia Taylor. She ripped him saying that a Chief of Staff should've known about all of the corruption in her mother's administration. One reason to explain why he didn't "know" about the corruption (or rather just not report it), was because he was one of the corrupted government officials.

The biggest thing I believe is how did Hodges know Jack was going to see Burnett. Not many people knew about that meeting. Interesting. Discuss/comment please.

Episode Review - 7.13

2009-03-10T10:37:00.004-04:00

EPISODE 7.13

The following takes place between 8:00 P.M. and 9:00 P.M.

Obviously the biggest thing in this episode was Bill's sacrifice (pictured above). He deservedly received the silent clock, and if you want to read my thoughts about the great man, read my previous post. I loved how quickly Jack and Aaron sprang into action after Bill set off the explosion. After they recovered and got their bearings back, Jack found a machine gun and started killing Juma's men, yelling to Aaron in the process. Aaron was a very important factor in saving the White House hostages. Jack took down Ngozi after Juma told him to execute all the hostages. Then there was the tense standoff between Jack and Juma. Jack told him to surrender, Juma reached for his gun, Jack pumped five bullets into his chest. If you want to include Redemption as an episode, Benjamin Juma appeared in a total of 4 episodes in his 24-career. That's definitely the shortest tenure of any main villain of any season. (He is considered a main villain since he was masterminding the whole plan that Dubaku carried out and also led the raid on the White House).

Interesting turn of events as Larry has had it with Renee and suspends her indefinitely after she goes to Ethan Kanin to have Jack speak with Ryan Burnett to find out who was helping Juma on the outside. Hmm, do I sense a Jack-Renee rogue off-book tag-team forming in the next episode? I think so.

Nice to see Olivia realize she was a jerk to her mother. We finally found out why she has been estranged, as during the presidential campaign she leaked damaging personal information about her mother to the Noah Daniels re-election team. Allison forgave her a while ago, and now wants to bring her on as a special advisor. There's been rumors that Olivia will develop into a Sherry Palmer-type character and that was evident last night as after Ethan said he can put the past behind him and wants to work amicably with Olivia, the First Daughter berates him for allowing her mother's Chief of Staff to not see all of this corruption forming. She vows to take down whoever was responsible for this.

Nice scene between her and Aaron, too. Aaron was being treated to the gunshot wound to his shoulder and she thanked him for taking a bullet for her. He said that it wasn't necessary. Aaron was always the modest one. The writers dropped in a Martha Logan reference as Olivia asked why he retired from the Secret Service, seeing that he's still capable of doing the work. He said he rather not talk about what happened to Martha. The writers didn't make it clear, but it's either (A) Martha died, (B) she was arrested for stabbing Charles, or (C) she was committed to some institution.

Pumped to see one of the hitman from "Redemption" was back for this episode. Edward Vossler dispatched Quinn, along with Halcott, to take care of Chris Whitley, the guy who found information about the Sangalan transactions and brought it to Roger Taylor. This time, Jonas Hodges' crony Greg Seaton sent Quinn to the hospital where Burnett was recovering at, so he could kill him before Jack interrogated him. Awesome scenes showing how good Quinn really is. Sneaking in as the orderly/nurse, killing the old dude (at least he picked the one with no family), downloading the hospital's schematics to his PDA, going through the vents, putting Larry's surveillance video on loop so the FBI didn't see him enter Burnett's room, and dropping a mini gas vile into Burnett's room knocking out Jack. Using broken glass, Quinn slit Burnett's throat and jabbed the piece into his heart. I never expected him to frame Jack for Burnett's murder, I thought he was going to try and kill him. Great line by Hodges: "Oh, Quinn, he's good. Bauer's good, too. Now we're having some fun." Such a creep. Awesome character so far. And we do see a sign at his office that reads 'Starkwood.' So that is the name of this supposed-private military firm.

No Chloe since she was arrested. She should be back next episode. Also no Tony again. Not a shock since most of the episode was in the White House. But with Jack now out in the field on his field, I see Episode 14 as the starting point where it's him and Tony the rest of the way. Next Episode: Jack contacts Renee for help in the field; she of course obliges. Larry, desperate to save his own ass, needs Janis' help to track down Jack. And yet another showdown between Jack and Senator Mayer. Should be good.

Goodbye, Dear Friend

2009-03-10T10:20:00.004-04:00

Last night was a hard loss. Bill Buchanan lost his life. But he did so ever so heroically, bravely and courageously. He was one of the biggest patriots this country had ever seen. He's been an integral part of the show all the way back from midway through Day 4. From becoming the Special Agent in Charge of CTU LA to assisting Jack in piloting the chopper to rescue Josh, to helping bring down the Juma regime and the government corruption, Bill has served his country honorably.

The way he sacrificed himself couldn't have been any better. George Mason sacrificed his life and saved LA from getting hit with a nuclear bomb, which was tremendously brave. This was right up there. Bill knowing that Jack is the only one that can stop the whole plan and find out who Juma was working with is why he had to sacrifice himself and allow Jack to survive and finish what they all started. It all happened so fast to the shock of Jack. Bill stood up, ran over to Abo, punched him, took his gun and fired into the room setting up the explosion of natural gas. It severely crippled Juma's team and allowed for Jack and Aaron to spring into action and take down Juma's other soldiers while the FBI stormed the White House.

Still, seeing Bill laying on the floor with all charred skin and hair, with the cloudiness over the whites of his eyes, it's very disturbing. He was one of Jack's friends. JB sat on the ground near Bill and tears welled up in his eyes. Jack did get to kill Juma, who was responsible for all of this and for Bill's death, but he knows it won't bring the former CTU chief back.

Sad day in the world of 24. Rest in peace, Bill. You'll be missed.

Episode Review - 7.12

2009-03-09T12:11:00.005-04:00

EPISODE 7.12

The following takes place between 7:00 P.M. and 8:00 P.M.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, we've reached the halfway point of the season. The 12th hour of the day is usually when Bauer and Co. find out about the guy who's really leading the terrorist attacks. They find out about Juma, but who they do not find out about is Mr. Jonas Hodges, who is still quite mysterious. Lots of new faces in this episode: Hodges, his crony Greg Seaton, VP Mitchell Hayworth and his Chief of Staff Derek Watts.

Let's start right off the bat with the AWESOME action in this episode. Juma and his men enter the White House, with help from their inside man Abo. They take off their scuba suits, all in black special ops gear, ready to take over the most important building in the United States of America. Larry finds out the WH is the target from Renee, calls Bill at the WH, who then orders for the President to be locked down. Bill has Jack released to him because he needs the help. (Forget to mention in the previous episode review...with Bill telling Jack he couldn't torture Burnett to get the information, it shows that Bill is like every other human being who probably couldn't do it. Not everyone is made like Jack, who was kind of shocked to hear Bill say he couldn't do it).

They are able to get the President into the saferoom with Jack. They couldn't wait for her daughter to get there. Thanks to Bill taking the tracking bracelet off Allison, she was able to get to the saferoom. Some real edge-of-your-seats scene in this one. One example is when they found Bill with the President's bracelet, nearly shooting him. But Benny Juma needed hostages. So Bill's thrown in the pile along with Senator Mayer.

Juma needs the saferoom door open but realizes that it's only opened from the inside. Jack starts thinking as usual. The President watches him, sorta in amazement. So Juma calls Jonas Hodges up who gave him a lot of the White House specs and information. Creepy first scene for a villain as Hodges is eating dinner while watching the news on TV. Behind him, an employee - Greg Seaton - answers the phone, telling Hodges it's Juma calling. Nobody I've spoken to can figure out who Hodges is. Some thought he's the Vice President. That didn't pan out. We all know he's very rich, he supplied weapons to Juma's men in Sangala. But we also know he has some sort of government connection or position. First off, he was a mere 10 feet from Allison Taylor while she was being sworn in at the Inauguration ceremony. And secondly, Hodges has the codes to open the saferoom door from the outside. And thirdly, he had access to the WH guest manifest and saw that the First Daughter was in the building. Whoever he is, he is mighty important.

Juma sends his men to go look for Olivia. Aaron Pierce is with her, but unfortunately even he can't protect her. They almost get the morse code out to the FBI on the ground, but she's captured by Juma's men. (Sidenote, props to Aaron who under duress, a limited timeframe, was able to write down a morse code signal on Olivia's hand after he was SHOT in the shoulder by one of Juma's men. Amazing man). Pierce and Olivia are brought to Juma. Pierce is thrown to the floor with the other hostages and Olivia is brought to Juma, who the President sees on the monitor and watches in horror. Jack argues with her, but she wants him to open the saferoom door. He does it, listening to her orders.

Juma, holding Olivia at knifepoint, sees Allison and Jack exit the room. JB is thrown next to Bill and Senator Mayer in the hostage pile, with a complete jackass line from the baldie "What have you done now, Bauer." Wanna slap that guy. The President says something to Juma, which leads to him slapping her across the face. Very powerful scene. The strong-willed woman she is, flips back her hair, with a bloody lip and stares down Juma. Episode ends with Juma saying, "You're going to give a statement to the American people. And it'll be the last one you ever give."

Also, forget to mention the scenes with Vice President Mitchell Hayworth. He finally meet the Veep, who is kind of weird. First he berates his Chief of Staff Derek Watts for agreeing with the FBI on their plan to invoke a rescue operation to save the President. Hayworth doesn't wanna launch this rescue plan because he believes it will lead to Juma killing the President. Tricky situation for Hayworth.

Next episode: First off, I hope we see Tony. I know he's not involved with this part of the plot because he can't be in the WH, but ever since the whole Emerson/Nichols story ended, we have rarely seen him. The powers that be have talked so much about Tony this season, him having great scenes, him talking about the past with Jack. I just hope once Jack gets out of the WH, he teams up with Tony again.

We see Larry Moss authorizes the rescue operation on the WH, without the Vice President's approval. Juma blows away a hostage at point-blank range, leading to yet another emotional line from President Taylor "You son-of-a-bitch." Jack speaking to Bill saying they have to make a move to save the President. Something tells me someone is dying this episode. Only way for somehow the President to get out of this alive. It's going to be an amazing episode, but sadly will probably also be a heart-breaking one, as at the end of the preview we see Jack sitting on the floor amidst debris with tears in his eyes.

Episode Review - 7.11

2009-03-09T11:47:00.003-04:00

EPISODE 7.11

The following takes place between 6:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M.

Well, the episode many fans have been waiting for for a long while -- the White House invasion. Lots happening in these two hours. Let's start with the first.

We finally meet General Benjamin Juma. Obviously, after just 2 episodes, the jury is still out on him. Because while he has been ruthless and conniving, I really want to see if he's badder than Ike Dubaku, who I really liked. Jack and Tony's conversation in the car outside the White House was nice, showing Jack's side of always trying to protect his friends. By not bringing Bill into his torture-Ryan-Burnett-in-the-White-House plan, he doesn't involve him and leaves him free from charges. Nice little touch by Tony saying he'll go in with Jack, but Jack reminds him he's a felon and can't be in the White House for obvious reasons.

Juma looking across the Potomac at the WH was a cool, yet eerie scene. Speaking to his man, Abo, inside the WH disguised as a utility worker -- Juma's plan goes into effect. Juma brought over his own little army. A Special Forces unit from Sangala, his top soldiers in the People's Freedom Army. Renee Walker followed the lead who killed Dubaku at the hospital to where Juma and his men were prepared. Jumping on the boat, but losing her gun and cellphone, she finds out the target is the White House. Nice little new character is Laurent Dubaku -- Colonel Ike's son. He apparently doesn't have the necessary training Juma wants for the mission, so he has to stay back on the boat to be the recon man. While on the boat he sees Renee looking over the drawings. They chase and finally a cool thing by Larry Moss, getting his first kill, icing Laurent and saving Renee's life.

As usual, Jack is stopped torturing someone just when he's about to extract the information. This time the victim is Ryan Burnett who says Juma is already in D.C. The President has the door blown off the room they're in and Jack is arrested. Senator Blaine Mayer, a different kind of adversary for Jack from any other season we've seen, looks down upon Jack. Great Jack line though: "You sir, are weak! And are unable to look evil in the eye." Nice touch, JB.

This episode will start Chloe's absence from the show since the actress was giving birth. Chloe was arrested for removing Burnett's name off the list, much to the joy of Janis Gold.

Burnett goes into the annoying douchebag mode and tells the President he wants his lawyer. The episode ends with Juma's men going underwater and using lasers to cut through subterranean rock under the White House.

Great episode, really set things up for the ridiculously action-packed 2nd hour of the night.

Episode Review - 7.10

2009-02-27T11:26:00.005-05:00

EPISODE 7.10

The following takes place between 5:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M.

Clearly one of the best episodes of the season. Not only some classic 24 action, but some really emotional scenes. We find out there's another mole working with Sean in the FBI, Marika takes matters into her own "hands," and we find out who Ryan Burnett really is.

First off, the action - awesome car chase by Jack and Renee. Once they're released from Metro Police, with help from Larry, they cut across a park to intercept Dubaku and Marika's car. Marika, however, doesn't feel like waiting for help. She puts her hands over the driver's eyes, causing his to lose control of the car and flip it a couple times. Jack gets stuck in a traffic jam so him and Renee just get out and run towards Dubaku's car. The driver, stupidly, tries to pull a gun on Jack but he shoots him dead. Jack pulls Dubaku out of the car who is badly injured. Renee is having a hard time getting Marika out, with the car nearly ready to explode. Jack says forget her, but Renee gets angry and pulls a car on JB. Jack helps and they both get Marika out before the car explodes. Sadly, Marika doesn't survive the crash and dies. This deeply affects Agent Walker.

EMTs arrive and Jack gets them to wake Dubaku up. Jack threatens he'll harm his son back in Sangala is he doesn't give him the list of the corrupt government officials. The Colonel pulls a Jonathan Wallace and stores the chip in this chest. Jack cuts it out and hands it off to a helicopter pilot who flies it to the FBI. Of course, Mr. Slimeball Hillinger hears this phone call and brings Erika, who we also find out is a mole, into the situation. She begins to freak out a little bit, but after Sean telling her he loves her and yadda yadda, convinces her she needs to crash the entire FBI system so the list (which includes their 2 names) gets erased.

The chip arrives and Larry gives it to Chloe. She uploads it and gets the list. Then the server crashes. Larry realizes it's his mole who's doing it. He enters the server room and sees Sean on the floor shot and Erika dead. He's confused, but believes Hillinger. Sean gets patched up and tries to flee the building after Chloe recovers the list after all. In a classic Jack move, Larry puts his hand around Sean's neck and slams him against the wall. Maybe Moss is coming around.

The hospital scenes were good ones. Jack and Renee go to the hospital to wait until Dubaku wakes up to see if they can get any more information. Renee is still upset over promising to protect Marika and now she's dead. Rosa comes to the hospital and berates Renee for not protecting her. It's too much for Walker to take. She clearly isn't as Jack-like as people thought. In a very bold scene, Walker brings up Teri and if that hurt Jack. If anything hurts Jack. She starts slapping his face, then embracing her. Jack says you learn to get over it quickly. Renee doesn't like this answer, Jack says then "quit." Renee says she planned on using her weapon on Jack before and this kind of shocks Jack.

Amazing end scene. Unlike one I've ever seen on 24. Jack in a peaceful, beautiful scene. He's sitting on the Capitol Building's steps looking at the sun set on the Washington Monument. A similar peaceful scene is when Jack walked off into the sunset in the Day 4 finale. Jack is enjoying what may be his last moments of freedom, knowing that tomorrow he has to return the grilling session of Senator Blaine Mayer. But, hold the phones, Tony -- who's been missing for 2 episodes -- sits down next to him. He says he used an old lead and found out another attack is coming, and with Dubaku out of the picture, it's his boss General Benjamin Juma that will be leading the party this time. The value is of high value and high impact. Jack doesn't have to help, hell, he's not sure if he even believes Tony. But then in a classic Jack/Tony moment, Tony places his hand on Jack's shoulder saying, "I need your help, Jack." Expect Mr. Bauer to meet Mr. Almeida at the corner of 1st and Constitution in the next hour.

One last little scene, we find out Ryan Burnett, previously viewed as just a mercenary working with Ike Dubaku, is actually Senator Blaine Mayer's Chief of Staff. And both are going to the White House for a meeting with the President regarding Jack Bauer's trial.

Preview for next week's TWO-HOUR 24 showing looked amazing. The target is the White House and Juma's men in full-out camo gear raid it. President Taylor's life will be in danger and it'll be up to Jack to save her. I know invading the WH, especially on a day where Dubaku crashed 2 planes in the sky above it, seems outlandish, but let's give the writers the benefit of the doubt and see how they have Juma and his men enter in. I'm assuming we'll also learn about the WH moles, maybe more Secret Service agents that help Juma in? Also, there's been rumors of a big death in this 2-hour event... obviously rule out Jack....Tony's story goes the whole season according to Jon Cassar....Chloe won't be at the WH where all the action is...and Renee will be around all 24 hours. So, that leaves Bill and Aaron. I don't even want to think about losing these two 24 legends. Until next week, Adios!

Episode Review - 7.09

2009-02-27T11:05:00.004-05:00

EPISODE 7.09

The following takes place between 4:00 P.M. and 5:00 P.M.

Very solid episode. We find out who the mole is - Sean Hillinger. We get the return of Morris O'Brian and Aaron Pierce. Rosa finds out "Samuel Aboah" is an illegal immigrant. We meet Olivia Taylor. Lots happening in this episode.

First off, the Almighty Aaron Pierce returns! Very excited about this, as obviously it continues his record of being the only character besides JB to appear in all 7 seasons. Loved how Bill knew he could trust Aaron to protect the First Daughter. Speaking of Olivia Taylor, I'm very interested as to why she resents her mother so much. Seems like she is close to her father, and immediately teared up when Aaron told her he'd been shot. I sense we're gonna get an Olivia/Allison love reunion after they survive Juma raiding the White House. Besides what brings family members closer than being held hostage and nearly be

ing executed, right?

Nice little Morris cameo as he's playing Daddy, dropping off C

hloe at the FBI. We'll see more of the scruffy, wise-cracking baldie a little later in the day. Funny seeing the O'Brians as a full-fledged, legit family. Just please no taking Prescott hostage and making Chloe make irrational decisions. Done that, writers.

So, yeah, Sean Hillinger is on Dubaku's payroll. This guy may actually be one of the slimiest characters ever to be seen on 24 First, he's cheating on his wife with the office blonde. Not only is he a womanizer, but he's aiding a known terrorist psychopath. Not living a very noble life. His contact is Ryan Burnett, a mercenary that Dubaku is using to get out of the country. A plan was in place to take out and kill the Colonel, but the smart man Dubaku is realized this and said if anything happens to him while trying to flee the country, his database with all the names with be released to the Justice Department.

The President is obviously affected by Henry being in surgery. Bill and Ethan are at the hospital with her, trying to provide some sort of solace and guidance. Great acting by Cherry Jones when speaking of the First Daughter, as she's obviously upset that her daughter and her don't have a good relationship.

And finally, Jack Bauer and Renee Walker. They storm Marika and Rosa's apartment demanding to know where Dubaku is. After seeing the photos on Renee's phone, Marika is visibly shaken and scared. She gets through the phone call with Dubaku and agrees to go to the airfield with him to fly to Belize.

Awesome, thrilling ending to this episode. First off, we may be thinking that Janis is the mole how she's spying on Chloe, then find out she's just afraid of losing her job to her. She removes a device from the server room, losing Chloe her feed. Larry gets angry. It comes back up momentarily, but Marika's car is further away from JB and Walker. Then Metro Police surround and apprehend Jack and Renee as they have warrants for their arrest. Warrants issued by Sean. This scene was just classic 24 as they always do...Jack is so close to catching the baddie but something always goes awry. Jack and Renee are on their stomachs on the street being handcuffed, Dubaku hears from Burnett that Marika was turned by the FBI, and the episode ends with the Colonel saying he'll "take care" of the girl.

New Macbook

2009-02-26T14:33:00.002-05:00

Great news for tcdoj followers! tcdoj now blogs from a brand-new Macbook!

Well I guess it's just good news for me, because I get to use it. It's awesome. Anyways, that's the reason I haven't been posting lately. My Dell crapped out and I tried to repair it, but now it just won't turn on at all. So I bought a Macbook.

Last 2 episode reviews of 24 has been missing, so I'll try to get those up before the TWO-HOUR BAUER POWER EXTRAVAGANZA hits the air this coming Monday. Stay tuned!

Day 7 Deaths

2009-02-12T12:43:00.003-05:00

Through the first 8 hours of Day 7, some of the major characters we had known about since 2007 (when they started casting/filming for Day 7) are already dead. Here's the list of the prominent ones:

1. Donnie Fox (Tony's bald-headed henchman) - shot by Renee
2. Masters (thought he was gonna play a bigger role) - shot by Jack and Renee
3. Michael Latham (thought he was definitely gonna be around a little longer) - bomb from Dubaku
4. Gabriel Schector - sniped by Alan Tanner
5. Nichols (thought he'd last to meet up with Hodges again) - shot by Renee
6. Emerson (such a cool character) - shot by Tony
7. Brian Gedge - flipped over a balcony and choked by Henry "The Badass" Taylor
8. Samantha Roth (she was destined to never last long on 24) - stabbed by Gedge
9. Edward Vossler (another character dating back to Redemption) - knifed by Jack

I like how they're using most of these characters to their highest potential and then getting rid of them. It just goes to show how at any moment anyone can be offed. I'm assuming Dubaku won't last another four hours, especially because Juma is entering the picture. Plus, we haven't seen Hodges yet. Who knows about others? Does Henry live to see another hour? Will his daughter, Olivia, be safe? Aaron? Bill? Chloe? The writers do like killing off major characters (See: Day 5).

Episode Review - 7.08

2009-02-10T14:40:00.002-05:00

EPISODE 7.08
The following takes place between 3:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M.

Incredible episode. Every character was worked into the plot cohesively (except for Chloe and Tony who didn't appear at all). Seeing Jack in the White House was a thrill for all 24 fans. Awesome seeing him in the Oval Office, and how President Taylor stopped walking once Ethan told her Jack Bauer came along with Prime Minister Ule Matobo. Amazing dialogue as well:

President Taylor: "What am I supposed to do, if I can't even trust my law enforcement."
Jack Bauer: "You can trust me."

President Taylor: "How am I supposed to know where your loyalties lie?"
Jack Bauer: "With all due respect, Madame President, ask around."

BOOM. Delivered perfectly by Kiefer. Allison didn't even bark at Jack to saying something like that to a President, just simply realized if I ever wanna see my hubby again, JB's the man to go to. And boy he was...he did it in 45 minutes.

Also, great dialogue was Henry speaking with his wife, then getting his finger sliced into. Dubaku is one of the better first-arc villains the series has seen. Awesome acting by Cherry Jones: teary-eyed to Jack, "Fight him, please."

Unfortunately, Renee had to contact Larry, because they needed him to track the corrupt Secret Service agent Edward Vossler. Awesome scene as Jack has to drive down a one-way street, while talking on the phone, driving with one hand and absolutely plowing into Vossler's car. Nice, little fight ensued. While Vossler was a despicable man and a disgrace to his country, you could see the terror in his eyes when Jack said, "Talk to your wife." And then hearing his baby son scream in the background.

Terrific job by Annie Wersching having Renee pretty much become the Jack Bauer of the FBI. She had to threaten Carol Vossler and her baby son, and then attempt to hurt the baby. Renee wasn't sure what she got herself into...but said she'll think about quitting it...tomorrow (this episode had lots of great dialogue).

Once Vossler is dead, JB heads to meet Renee at the Korean grocery store. He starts scoping out the men downstairs. Meanwhile, Dubaku's men realize Matobo isn't really in the car and proceed to blow it up with a rocket. Another character who deserves great mention in this episode is Bill. He pretty much commanded the whole operation from the Oval Office...he's right back in his most comfortable shoes -- leading a government agency operation and such.

Nice little exchange and good job by writers having Janis go back to her psychic ability and telling Sean she knows he's sleeping with Erika. Speaking of the FBI, terrific scene where Larry finds out Renee is alive. Chokes him up on the phone. Yeah, this guy would clearly win the award for showing his emotions on his sleeve. Dude doesn't know how to hide anything.

So, typical awesome Bauer shooting/rescue scene with Renee. They take down all but one of Dubaku's goons. Then the return of the JACK SLIDE! Love seeing that again. Going into the scene, I knew they weren't going to kill Henry off that early, so I knew he was going to survive, just how would Jack do it. So when I see Jack slide and shot the thug, I was relieved the First Gent was saved. DEFINITELY didn't expect the bastard to muster enough strength to pull the trigger and shoot Hank in the chest. Pure shock/fright sweeps over Jack's face. (Kiefer Sutherland IS Jack Bauer). Hope that ambulance gets there quickly.

Just a good episode all around, advanced the plot perfectly. Oh, and I forgot to mention if Rosa didn't call Dubaku, he wouldn't have left, and Jack/Renee would've most likely captured him. Or Dubaku would've killed Henry Taylor outright. Who knows. Damn the wheelchaired-woman.

NEXT: Crazy looking. So much stuff happening. Probably no Tony (which doesn't make me happy), but still a lot of new stuff. Chloe pays a visit to the FBI and Janis. Bill and Ethan accompany the President to the hospital to see Henry during his surgery (does this mean yet another invoking of the 25th Amendment...I hope not). Jack and Renee get to Marika and Rosa before Dubaku does. Episode 9 is also going to introduce the First Daughter Olivia Taylor (presumably, she's called after her dad is shot). And, it's rumored Episode 9 is Aaron Pierce's return! Also, the first episode after the writer's strike. PLUS, we're gonna find out who the FBI mole is. (Awesome line by Bill: "Someone in the Bureau is on Dubaku's payroll"). Also, another sweet line by Jack to Marika holding a phone with Dubaku's picture on it, "Do you even know what this man is." Lots happening!

Ever Wonder How Jack Plays Poker?

2009-02-09T10:19:00.001-05:00

Well, today's your lucky day. Jack, along with Tony, Bill, Chloe, Janis, Renee, Larry and Emerson, are all in The Jack Sack's new fanfic about all them playing a Texas Hold'em game. Absolutely hilarious and absolutely genius. A MUST READ for all 24 die-hards. You can read it here.

24 Best of #10: Best Main Villain

2009-02-06T10:51:00.008-05:00

In this post, tcdoj concludes its series of analysis called "24 Best of." It's been the best of something in the show. The tenth and final installment of the series is the best Main Villain the show has ever seen.

The "Main Villain", aka the guy who is behind the entire day's attacks, has been arguably almost as important to the storyline as Jack or the President has. They're huge. I will discuss and analyze why I think Abu Fayed is the best Main Villain. First, let's review the others: Victor Drazen, Peter Kingsley, Max, Alexander Trepkos, Stephen Saunders, Habib Marwan, Charles Logan, Graem Bauer, Cheng Zhi, and Phillip Bauer.

Since, Day 2's Main Villain was a trio, I judged them as one. The thing is Alexander Trepkos was in a couple of episodes, and Max was just in the last two. That's not to diminish his credibility. Being the mastermind behind the plot to detonate a nuke on U.S. soil to raise oil prices, and then having a Plan B (poisoning Palmer's hand in the finale) was quite impressive. But, the Main Villain seen the most was Peter Kingsley, and he just wasn't as good as other baddies the show has seen. He did have a creepy voice and all, but he was too fragile-looking. If Jack ever had gotten his hands on him, he would've broke him in half. But his voice sure was awesome, "You've caused me a lot of trouble today, Jack." So raspy, and so evil.

Stephen Saunders was a bit different than the other villains because he had worked with Jack and was in Operation: Nightfall with him. They trusted each other, and Jack thought he had died. Apparently, not. Since he was left behind, he wanted to show the government that it's unfair and should happen to no soldier. So, he buys this weaponized virus that kills a person in mere hours. Pretty good villain, just not good enough for this award. He also was probably the most "human" of the main badguys as he helped find the carriers to save his daughter's life.

Habib Marwan. He's the longest-running main villain, clocking in at a whopping 16 episodes. He's the Super-Terrorist as fans like to call him. He was responsible for a ridiculous amount of terror attacks, including train bombings, melting nuclear reactors, bombing Air Force One, abducting the Secretary of Defense, and stealing a nuclear warhead. Anyways, he was a solid villain; cold and calculating (my favorite aspect of a villain).

Now, onto Day 5 and 6's villains. These two seasons are tricky as there was more than one big baddie. Day 5 had both President Charles Logan and Graem Bauer (known then only as "Graham"). Graem was in a total of 8 episodes (over both Day 5 and 6). And while it was a great twist that he turned out to be JB's brother, he wasn't menacing enough to win this award. He was the one in control of everything on Day 5 and had some pretty cool scenes with his Bluetooth cabal.

Logan is interesting as he was once thought of to be a good character (spineless, yes, but good nonetheless). And while he didn't pull the trigger on the sniper rifle that killed David Palmer, he pretty much did the same by okaying it with Graem and Christopher Henderson. Logan was a terrific villain. Not the typical "I wanna slaughter innocent Americans and make my country the best in the world"-type villain, but instead a conflicted man, who just didn't use his head and fell into a bad scheme to increase American policing overseas and economic profits. Hands down, one of my favorite characters in the show's history.

Now, Cheng Zhi was actually a villain over 3 seasons (Days 4, 5 and 6). During Day 4, he was investigating how the Chinese Consul died after a mysterious, masked team raided it and kidnapped Lee Jong (who was aiding Habib Marwan). His persistent investigating and pressuring newly-sworn-in President Logan, forced his hand which led to the corrupt Secret Service agent Dale Spalding head to CTU to kill Jack. Spalding got his orders from Logan's Chief of Staff Walt Cummings, but Logan knew of this and looked the other way. Thanks to Mike Novick and David Palmer, Jack was given enough time to fake his death. Cheng appeared in the finale of Day 5, kidnapping Jack after finding out he was still alive. He was taken to China and tortured for nearly 2 years, but the hero that he is, didn't utter a single word. President Wayne Palmer made a very steep price to get Jack back on American soil. Cheng delivered him and Bill Buchanan and Curtis Manning picked him up. Cheng showed up later in the season, having Audrey Raines hostage, capturing her after she went through back-channels to try and find Jack. Then Cheng was in cahoots with Phillip Bauer. Overall, Cheng appeared in just 12 episodes over 3 seasons, but played a decently-prominent role during his time. I wish he had gotten iced in the Day 6 finale, but was instead arrested. Cheng could never have won this award because he never targeted innocent Americans like terrorists are supposed to do. He mainly targeted Jack and then later on Audrey. Sure he wanted the FB sub-circuit board, but that was for Russian technology. So, even though Cheng was a royal prick and damaged JB's life in many ways, he never really was a terrorist.

Phillip Bauer - Jack's daddy. Phillip was in just 8 episodes of his only season on 24, but he was the overall antagonist for Day 6. His company was the one that was supposed to decommission the suitcase nukes. They hired Darren McCarthy to do this, but he instead sold them to Abu Fayed for $3 million. Phillip, along with Graem, was trying to cover it up. Phillip was a good villain if only for the fact that he's Jack Bauer's father. Crazy turn of events how both his brother and father are evil, but that's for another discussion. Phillip was a selfish, bitter old man, who didn't want to see the legacy of his company, BXJ Technologies, get tarnished, so he wanted to take his grandson, Josh, and go live their lives in China. He couldn't win this award, either, because he never wanted to hurt American lives. He looked to cover up his company's bonehead botched decommissioning contract to McCarthy, and then exchanged the FB chip to Cheng in return for his grandson. He was nowhere near the best terrorist, and I understand this category is Best Main Villain, but there definitely were better choices than Daddy Bauer.

I left Victor Drazen to be the last one discussed before the winner because it was that close. Deciding between him and Abu Fayed was a tough choice. One reason I picked Fayed was that, while Drazen planned the whole day's attacks, the Palmer hit, the kidnapping of the Bauers, etc, it really was his son Andre overseeing everything. Victor was a terrific badguy, played great by Dennis Hopper (even though his accent was God-awful). The entire plan of Day 1 was terrific, looking to avenge his wife and daughter's deaths by doing an eye-for-an-eye strategy against Palmer and Jack. He appeared in just 5 episodes, but the twist of him being alive was awesome. Drazen was a ruthless and vile human being, and his rage for wanting Jack and Palmer dead felt genuine from Hopper. Drazen was a terrific villain, but I picked Fayed over him, mainly due to the fact that Fayed was acting masterminding everything himself and controlling it himself, while Victor was in a prison cell. Maybe that's more impressive on Victor's behalf? Who knows.

Abu Fayed is the most successful terrorist in the show's history as he was responsible for at least 13,000 innocent American deaths. No terrorist ever came close to that. He appeared in 15 episodes (tied for 2nd behind Marwan's 16; tied with Andre Drazen). Fayed was simply just an atrocious person at heart. He was evil to the max; black-hearted to the core. His voice, the way he said things, everything was just so mean and filled with so much hatred. He was the ultimate despicable person. What I love about the Fayed character was he had no family that could be used to make him stop the attacks (unlike Syed Ali, Stephen Saunders). I loved how he had a history with Jack, in that JB killed his brother and he was looking for revenge. He tortured Jack after he was returned from being tortured by the Chinese. The poor guy never gets a break. Like a moron though, Fayed tells Jack he's the mastermind behind the bombings, and not Hamri al-Assad. Of course, Fayed leaves one of his goons to watch over Jack, who proceeds to have his throat ripped out via JB's mouth. Awesome scene. When that mushroom cloud went off, killing those 12,000 people in Valencia, it was a shocking moment on 24. That's a disturbing amount of Americans dying in a matter of seconds. And Fayed still planned on using four more. But that's why Jack was born - to stop psychos like Fayed. Fayed's death scene was also one of the best on the show. An the icing on top of the amazing fight between Fayed and Jack, was when JB angrily says, "Say hello to your brother." BOOM. And that was the last of Fayed. Maybe an equally great line was when Mike Doyle shows up with the CTU backup, looks around at all of Fayed's dead men and Fayed himself hanging limp off a chain, and says, "Damn, Jack."

I know this category might have seemed like a bunch of ramblings, but the writers have always done such a great job creating the main baddie of the season, as does the casting director.

This ends the series of "24 Best of." Who knows if Jonas Hodges or Benjamin Juma would've won this award. I only judged from Days 1 to 6. We'll just have to wait and see how bad Mr. Hodges is. Stay tuned in the very near future, however, as tcdoj will be announcing a new series. Thanks for reading! Adios.

Trying To Map Out All the Mole Theories

2009-02-04T11:53:00.005-05:00

There's moles in 24, and that's never ever been truer than in Day 7. There are moles everywhere. We've already seen that one FBI mole named Lennert, who was a mole for Tony Almeida and helped Alan Tanner escape the Columbia Building. There's Secret Service moles Brian Gedge and Edward Vossler.

Now there still is another FBI mole, maybe more Secret Service moles and moles in the White House (in President Taylor's inner circle). First, the FBI leak:

Larry Moss: Might be too easy. The writers make him a Ryan Chappelle-like character, pits him against Jack, makes audiences not like him. He's also been whiny and an emotional bitch about losing Renee. Could the head of the whole FBI be a mole? We've seen crazier (See: Charles Logan, President, Day 5). I think the writers are just playing with our heads with Larry. I don't think he's the mole.

Janis Gold: How could the woman who just was devastated over talking John Brunner through the crisis at his Ohio chemical plant and hearing him die, possibly be a black-hearted mole? That's what moles do, they're devious and put on many hats (See: Nina Myers, helps Jack get his family back only to end up killing his wife, Day 1). She remains a decent shot to be the mole. I also think the Chloe comparisons are to throw the audience off also. How could Janis be the mole: the one with the always-nervous, weird, unsure-of-herself persona? It's all an act with these traitors.

Sean Hillinger: Possibly, considering he's a little slimy, cheating on his wife, and then worrying about her plane landing (which I hope they address, considering he committed a felony, impersonating FBI Director Larry Moss). He has that mysterious, dark element about him (much like Tony on Day 1). Tony was also suspected to be the mole that day; a vehicle to throw the viewers off from Nina's true colors. Day 1's suspected moles were: George Mason/Ryan Chappelle (like Larry Moss), Tony Almeida (like Sean Hillinger). Who knows.

Erika: Hillinger's side-squeeze. Could very well be sleeping with Seany to get information from him, as it seems he has higher clearance than she does. We've only seen Erika briefly, so there's the mysterious factor. Hopefully, they'll address her situation soon.

Renee Walker: Would be a Nina-like, huge twist. Especially, if Day 7 plays out like Day 1 does: Jack trusts Renee all day long, they become close, they both believe each other....exactly what happened between Jack and Nina on Day 1. It would be cool to see Renee on one or two more seasons of 24, but if she is the mole, it would be a huge shocker.

And, now the White House moles:

Ethan Kanin: Might be too easy. He opposes Taylor's views to stay in Sangala, even after Dubaku crashed the two planes. But I think he's the Larry Moss of the White House, meaning the writers are trying to throw off the audience. And I would think if he's a mole, Gedge would've told him the situation with the First Gentleman and he would've been privy to that. Unless there's two separate faction of moles... And I know people probably don't remember him from Day 6, but he was in 3 episodes, he was Secretary of Defense for Wayne Palmer/Noah Daniels' Cabinet. Would they make a character like that, a dirty mole? Maybe he had a change of heart? Eh, doubtful.

Tim Woods: the crew-cut, official from the Department of Homeland Security. Not sure if it would be a big enough shock, as the writers like, because casual viewers may not entirely know the character. Could happen though, anybody is game.

Joe Stevens: the Secretary of State that resigned a couple of episodes ago. I doubt it since I don't think we'll see him again.

Henry Taylor: Close to zero percent. I hope it's not him, that would be as much of a cop-out if the writers made the President the mole again. Having the President's spouse the mole would be just as bad. And unlike Navi Araz or Philip Bauer, fathers generally tend to not be okay with their sons dying. Henry is an honorable man, and I hope his character continues to have these interesting side storylines.

Someone we haven't met yet: Most likely. We haven't met Vice President Mitchell Hansen yet. Maybe it's the Secretary of Defense or the new Sec of State that comes in to replace Joe Stevens. Somehow this person will be linked with Jonas Hodges, who even him we don't know his whole deal. How did he get so close to Senator Taylor at her swearing-in ceremony at the inauguration? Many fans speculate he's her brother (meaning Allison's maiden name is Hodges). Jonas could be her Secretary of Defense, or could be a Congressman, or could be the Speaker of the House (as TonyJunkie over at her Tony Almeida Junkie Blog speculated). Remember, the Speaker of the House is the next in line to take over as President after the Vice President. It would be a crazy plot, if somehow Allison is removed from office (maybe due to her stubbornness with the Sangala issue), maybe they go back to invoking the 25th Amendment, although I hope not, it's been used too often. And then maybe the VP is killed, leading to the Speaker of the House, aka Hodges, becoming President of the United States. And he's the main villain. Would be nuts.

The Dubaku/Juma regime seem to have quite a few Secret Service on payroll, which is how they most likely infiltrate the White House. God, where are the days of noble SS agents such as Aaron Pierce! One thing is for certain, on Day 7, everyone is fair game to be a mole. Yes, even the great Tony Almeida, who could be playing Jack, Bill and Chloe. He has to go "check up on a lead from one of Emerson's men." Who knows. Gonna be a wild ride.

Thoughts on who you think the moles are? Post in comments please.

Episode Review - 7.07

2009-02-03T12:33:00.005-05:00

EPISODE 7.07
The following takes place between 2:00 P.M. and 3:00 P.M.

Solid episode all around. The JACK Team (much better than a TAC Team) infiltrating Dubaku's hideout in that office building was amazing. Seeing Jack, Tony and Bill all climbing up to the roof, wearing black gloves, holding weapons was something I've always hoped for. We saw Jack and Tony in the field together during Day 4. But this is a completely different animal. Bill knows how to shoot and is, simply, a badass. Congrats Mr. Buchanan on your first kill.

Good job by Renee, too, by getting past the front desk and letting the threesome in. Just awesome collaboration of Bill and Tony blazing their way through the front door of Dubaku's hideout, and Jack and Renee falling in from the ceiling. "2-pronged attack" as JB called it. We got some more deaths and some more big guys knocked off. So long to Michael Latham as Dubaku forcibly strapped a bomb to his body. And also, so long to Mr. Nichols. I liked his character. He was mysterious (I like when they don't give a character a first name sometimes) and he was pretty integral for the majority of the season. Also, he was important in Redemption. I thought one of his last scenes would be calling Jonas Hodges about something, but I guess there's bigger fish to fry. First Emerson, now Nichols.

Dubaku, of course, escapes and boards a bus, then revealing he's been in contact with Gedge and Vossler. Dubaku really is masterminding everything in the U.S. Going to be interesting once Juma arrives and starts bossing him around. I don't think Dubaku is going to appreciate that. (Early bet that Juma kills Ike? It happens a lot with second-in-commands). Quick little side not on Ike: he's getting a little something in the form of a diner waitress. Interesting to see how Marika's sister views him ("Samuel") and when she'll find out he's not a businessman, but a mass murderer and the "Butcher of Sangala."

So, the first major disaster of the day has bee averted -- the CIP module has been destroyed. But now Dubaku is using Henry Taylor as a hostage and going to play him against the President and her desire to continue to invade Sangala. Will she sacrifice her husband? I don't think so. Or it probably doesn't matter seeing that, Jack gets to Vossler in the preview and demands to know "Where's Henry Taylor!" And FINALLY, JB gets to go to the White House! It's been a long time coming, but he, along with Bill, will pay a visit to President Taylor next week.

Very interesting as Tony is staying behind because he has another lead from a guy who used to work for Emerson. Tony says he will turn himself in after the corruption is taken down and him and Bill's mission is over. Are we supposed to believe him? He just seems like a distant mind this season. He's not his usual self of constantly arguing and being in the middle of things (like in CTU). He's definitely a different Almeida compared to prior years. I just hope that they don't exclude him from any episodes. We'll see. Adios.

24 Insight: Carl Benton

2009-02-02T12:16:00.005-05:00

Redemption is a different type of Insight, as I didn't include any of the new characters that appear in Day 7. It's unfair to break it up like that since Redemption isn't an actual season and really just 2 stand-alone episodes. So, Allison Taylor, Henry Taylor, Samantha Roth, Ike Dubaku, Benjamin Juma, Jonas Hodges, Nichols and Edward Vossler will be included in Day 7's Insight.

Redemption's new and stand-alone faces were: Youssou Dubaku, Thomas, Willie, Charles Solenz, Roger Taylor and Chris Whitley. Obviously, this was the smallest pool of characters to choose from and it was quite easy. Even though Chris Whitley played a pretty significant part in establishing Jonas Hodges' evil ways in Redemption, and Willie was a tremendous new little African actor; and Roger Taylor's investigative inquiries ultimately led to him getting killed and plays a big part of Day 7's conspiracy, tcdoj gives the award to Carl Benton.

The writers did something different with Jack this time around, in Redemption, as they introduced a friend he had before he joined CTU. Sure, Tony, Michelle, Bill, Chloe have all been great friends to him. But those are ones he's met from working at/with CTU. Benton was a longtime friend he met back when he was a Special Forces soldier. The history between the two is deep and it shows, as Jack is stunned and emotionally-shocked as he hears the sound of the land mine going off - knowing Carl sacrificed himself for his kids.

Benton was a noble man. He served his country in the military and as a Special Forces officer, but as told from the story in one of the deleted scenes in Redemption, Benton had the wrong guy one time, an innocent guy. He tortured him extensively, before they found out he was the wrong person. This took a mental toll on Benton, causing him to leave the Special Forces, and continue his life helping children in the African nation of Sangala.

These Sangalan kids really had no chance before Benton arrived and started the Okavango school. Warlord, General, and future (current on Day 7) dictator Benjamin Juma sent out his minions to round out young Sangalan boys to become soldiers in his army in an effort to overtake Prime Minister Ule Matobo. Benton's school gave the kids a chance to learn and actually educate themselves. With Benton's wisdom and teaching, hopefully the children will grow up to positively contribute to Sangalan government and lead a respectable life. Unlike Juma and his second-in-command, Colonel Ike Dubaku.

Benton is just like Jack, in that he was a tragic hero. Benton saved Willie's life by throwing him away from the mine and stepping on it himself. He was ballsy and absolutely badass by taking gunshot after gunshot in his arms from Dubaku in an effort to lure him closer to the land mine. Benton did the best he could, as Dubaku was fairly close when he awesomely said, "Go to hell!" But Dubaku survived and decided to wreak havoc on the U.S. during Day 7.

Carl Benton is my favorite new character from Redemption. The next installment of 24 Insight won't be posted for a while, as it's Day 7's turn. Once that ends, I should post it relatively soon; so, expect it around June 2009. Adios.

The Carnival of Bauer

2009-01-29T10:25:00.003-05:00

The Carnival of Bauer, which is a gathering/collection/showcase of 24-centric blogs and articles, is being hosted by The Jack Sack this year. One of tcdoj's posts entered the Carnival and there are tons of other goodies there as well. The Jack Sack's usual hilarious posts are well worth the visit, and today you can get links to other posts, including a great countdown of Jack Bauer's top 24 most badass moments by the terrific AlmeidaIsGod.com. Check it out, Dammit!

Episode Review - 7.06

2009-01-27T14:53:00.004-05:00

EPISODE 7.06
The following takes place between 1:00 P.M. and 2:00 P.M.

The hour begins with Bill and Chloe arriving in the blue van at the construction site. They dig through the dirt, rip open the plastic, and see that Renee is not breathing. Bill asks for the epinephrine and plunges it into her chest. After a few scary moments she's revived and begins coughing and breathing heavily. She's shocked to see these 2 strange faces. Bill explains everything to her, about them 2 helping out Jack and Tony, who are both undercover with Emerson. Renee wants to contact Larry, but Bill forbids it. They have to keep her "dead" until the FBI leak is found and the CIP device recovered. Emerson sees Jack has a distant look on his face and asks him what's the matter. Jack asks how come he never told Tony how he got him out of CTU. Tony agrees and asks Emerson why he never told him. Emerson shockingly reveals that Christopher Henderson purposely didn't hit an artery when he stabbed Tony with the needle. Henderson was either working for or working with Emerson and seeing that Michelle was now dead, Tony fit the profile of the perfect recruit for Emerson's operation. Emerson also saw Tony as a way for Henderson to turn him on Jack further hindering Jack. That all failed when Jack killed Henderson, but nevertheless Tony still joined Emerson's crew. Tony looks ashamed and has a few tears well up in his eyes (kudos to Carlos Bernard's acting so far this season). Emerson then, when back in the front passenger seat, sees Tony and Jack talking.

After they arrive at the hangar, Emerson holds Jack at gunpoint. Tony swings around and kills Litvak who draws his gun, and then spins back around towards Emerson. Emerson wants to know what the hell is going on, and Tony said it wasn't about the diamonds, but that he couldn't allow innocent people to die. Jack yells at Tony to take the shot, Tony yells at Jack to be quiet, Emerson yells at Tony to put down his gun or he'll kill Jack. Tony shoots Emerson in the arm and then nails him in the neck. Emerson is shocked as Tony shot him. After putting him on the couch and trying to tend to Emerson's wounds, Tony tries to explain his side of it, but Emerson says he won't forgive him. Emerson dies. Tony is seriously depressed over this as Jack repeatedly tells him that they have to get out of there. This didn't bother me as much as when Tony was hesitant to shoot Emerson. Sure, Emerson revived you and was like a "brother" to you, but Jack Bauer is your best friend. You stick by him. C'mon, Tony, wake up a little bit. He definitely is a distant character, and "not the same Almeida we used to know" as the writers put it a while back.

Bill, Chloe and Renee arrive. Chloe put a tracker on Matobo's tooth as Jack explained to him they need to hand him and his wife to Dubaku. He promises he will do whatever it takes to protect them. Renee is pissed at Jack for burying her alive and not trusting her. They prepare as Nichols and his 3 men arrive. Tony says Emerson, Litvak and Jack are all dead. He didn't want to split the cut of the diamonds. Tony inspects the diamonds, then hands over the Matobos to Nichols. Nichols, under orders from Dubaku, nods to a henchman to kill Tony, but Jack is positioned perfectly near the ceiling of the hangar and kills the henchman behind Tony. Tony kills one of the other goons, and kicks another. Tony disarms Nichols and has a great line, "Now let's just put that behind us." Nichols, his driver and the Matobos get into his Escalade and they drive out of the hangar. Chloe tracks them on her computer.

Samantha Roth arrives at her apartment and gets stabbed viciously to death by Gedge. He takes Henry to the upper level of the loft and tries to hang him on a wire. Henry has regained some his feeling back as the paralysis wears off and fights with Gedge. Both men tumble off the balcony and crash through a table. Henry, fiercely and angrily chokes Gedge to death. With each episode Hank Taylor becomes more of a badass.

The President and Chief of Staff Ethan Kanin are told by Dubaku the deadline has passed to remove American troops from Sangala and to look out the window. Two passenger planes have just collided, killing at least 271 innocents Americans. President Taylor is shocked and calls for the Cabinet to convene. She says she's sticking to her plan and not removing her troops from Sangala. Secretary of State Joe Stevens passionately disagrees, and tries to convince the rest of the Cabinet that they need to pull out or more Americans will die. President Taylor says that's her decision, and if he doesn't like it, he should think about resigning. And Stevens does just that, he packs up his papers, and tells the rest of the Cabinet to reconsider what they're doing. But Taylor gives a nice little pep talk to try and hold their confidence in her decision. Dubaku says more Americans will die as he targets a chemical plant in Ohio next.

Episode Review - 7.05

2009-01-27T14:42:00.003-05:00

EPISODE 7.05
The following takes place between 12:00 P.M. and 1:00 P.M.

Jack thinks up a way to make poisonous gas and enters it into the ventilation system of the saferoom. Matobo says they cannot allow Dubaku to acquire the knowledge the former Prime Minister has, but his wife caves and opens the door to the saferoom. Just as they're about to leave with the Matobos, Litvak brings Renee to the truck. Jack looks shocked and stops Emerson from killing her right there. Jack plays off being the badguy so well, saying they need to know how much of their plan she learned from Tanner. Renee is loaded into the cage in back of the truck next to the Matobos. Classic Jack-type line from Renee to Ule Matobo, "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, sir." Sean Hillinger is revealed to have had an affair with FBI staffer Erika the blonde. Larry continues his meltdown freak-out as they are losing any chance they have to get Renee back. Clearly, Larry has feelings for Renee and it seems to start to be affecting him in the office. Gedge takes Henry Taylor to an apartment who the agent says is a trusted and good friend of his. Henry realizes that it's Samantha Roth's place, and then collapses to the ground after Gedge slips a paralyzing substance into his coffee. Gedge is a Secret Service mole. Gedge was the one that killed Roger Taylor. Even though he was paralyzed, the horror that crept across Henry's face when Gedge said his son's death was quick, was just terrific acting by Colm Feore. Gedge is working with another corrupt Secret Service agent Edward Vossler, who was first seen in Redemption - ordering the killing of Roger's friend Chris Whitley and discussing matters with Day 7's head baddie Jonas Hodges.

Crazy ending to the episode as Emerson tells Litvak to drive to abandoned construction site and to kill her. Jack tells her to trust him and he'll get her through this. She's disgusted with him. Jack kneels her down and shoots her, just barely grazing her neck. She collapses to the ground. Emerson views all of this from the truck. Jack returns and Emerson says now go bury her. Jack tries to help Renee and says they don't have a lot of time, but he and Tony go to bury her. Tony sees she's still alive and Renee starts putting some pieces together seeing that Jack didn't kill her and Tony isn't reporting her still being alive. A plastic tarp is put over her body and in one of the creepiest endings to a 24 episode ever, dirt is thrown over Renee's body and lastly her face as the 8th silent clock in history is heard, with the faint sound of her breathing in the background. Captivating.

Episode Review - 7.04

2009-01-27T14:41:00.001-05:00

EPISODE 7.04
The following takes place between 11:00 A.M. and 12:00 P.M.

The episode where Tony's coming-back-to-life and pretending-to-be-bad is explained. Take it for what you personally judge it to be, but in short: Emerson had a man inside CTU -- took Tony out of CTU where Emerson's men revived him (he was dead for 10 minutes) -- Tony had a huge hatred for the government for killing the only thing he loved in the world, his wife Michelle -- he joins Emerson's crew and actually does do bad things (much to the shock of Jack and the embarrassment of Tony) -- Tony realizes killing innocents is wrong -- contacts Bill and Chloe to help him go undercover with Emerson to stay with the CIP device to stop the government corruption. Phew. After all of that is taken care of, Tony calls Emerson and wants Jack to replace Alan Tanner. Emerson is hesitant, but tells Tony to bring Jack along. President Allison Taylor receives an audio recording from Colonel Ike Dubaku, who is General Benjamin Juma's second-in-command. Dubaku says unless Taylor removes U.S. troops from Sangala, there will be an attack on American soil, since he is now in control of the CIP module. Jack and Tony travel to Emerson's house/apartment and Jack is taken to the basement. Emerson discusses with Tony that Jack is a liability, and tells Tony he's gotta be killed. In the basement, Jack clearly knows that Morgan was charged to kill him. Jack takes out the other goon and holds Morgan at gunpoint. He convinces Emerson he wants to work for him and doesn't care about his country anymore. Emerson kills Morgan. Jack joins Emerson's crew. Tony plants listening/tracking device to either his or Jack's equipment/clothing. Then Emerson says they've received their next assignment from Mr. Nichols -- abduct former Sangalan Prime Minister Ule Matobo. Emerson, Tony, Jack and Litvak (an Emerson goon) raid Matobo's residence, killing some guards and just misses grabbing them as Matobo and his wife, Alama, enter an impenetrable saferoom. Episode ends with Tony telling Jack if they don't get Matobo, they'll lose the only chance they have at getting to Dubaku.

Episode Review - 7.03

2009-01-27T14:40:00.001-05:00

EPISODE 7.03
The following takes place between 10:00 A.M. and 11:00 A.M.

Gotta love the 2-night, 4-hour premiere FOX does. The now-infamous episode 3 was one of the best of the SERIES (not just the season) and personally, one of my favorites. I don't know how it cannot be a favorite for a die-hard 24 fan. Awesome interrogation scene between Jack and Tony, with Tony explaining why he's evil, hating the government, Charles Logan is a product of his environment, blah blah blah. Then, of course, Tony knowing what makes Jack go off, mentions Teri and Jack slams him against the wall, causing him to get closer to Tony. Then one of the coolest twists in the show occurs, when Tony whispers "Deep Sky" in Jack's ear. Larry Moss comes in and checks out Tony, while Jack goes into the hallway.

Awesome dialogue:
Deep, Mysterious Voice: Yes.
Jack: This is Jack Bauer. I was told to call this number.
Deep, Mysterious Voice: By whom?
Jack: Tony Almeida
(after a delay)
Jack: I was told to call this. Deep Sky. It's an old CTU passcode.
(a hand removes a voice mask from the phone, revealing Bill Buchanan)
Bill: Jack, it's Bill.

Such a fantastic scene. Nice to see Chloe and Bill back, with Chloe, of course, having some great lines ("I saw you on C-SPAN, Jack, you looked good"). Also amazing is seeing Bill so proactive. As soon as he hangs up with Jack, he grabs his coat and heads out the door. Hilarious scene as Jack punches Larry in the face and breaks Tony out of the holding room. Chloe starts walking Jack through the FBI building with Tony following, before a little nerd-vs-nerd faceoff occurs as Janis Gold blocks Chloe's system (another great line by Chloe - "Whoever is doing this is really starting to piss me off"). Just an overall amazing episode. Jack covers for Tony as he jumps from the 2nd floor of the parking garage onto a car, just as Bill skids his super-cool blue van next to Tony. Jack then hotwires a car (while getting repeatedly fired at by FBI agents; the guy is cool as a cucumber under pressure) and drives it off the second floor of the parking garage and crashes it into other cars down below (funny line by Jack - "This is gonna hurt"). Jack is obviously in pain, but manages to get out. Tony opens the back of the van and the two hop in, as Bill peels away. From FBI HEADQUARTERS. Ridiculous.

Episode Review - 7.02

2009-01-27T14:39:00.001-05:00

EPISODE 7.02
The following takes place between 9:00 A.M. and 10:00 A.M.

Jack, as usual, using his smarts and thinking outside of the box, sees Tanner has different shoes than the rest of the FBI agents and asks Renee to check the manifest. This is the episode we meet David Emerson, the chief of a homegrown mercenary group. Emerson, immediately is one of the best badguys the show has ever seen, and his relationship with Tony intensifies that dynamic. Henry Taylor, whose storyline of investigating his son's "suicide" is becoming a favorite of mine, pays a visit to his son Roger's ex-girlfriend Samantha Roth. She claims to know nothing and that the $400,000 deposited in her bank account was from an aunt. Hank doesn't believe her. Something's fishy with Secret Service agent Brian Gedge. Awesome shootout scene at Tony's boat headquarters, including a GREAT chase/fight between Jack and Tony. Night #1 of the premiere with Jack staring at Tony still shocked, asking "What the hell happened to you."

Episode Review - 7.01

2009-01-27T13:42:00.006-05:00

I read the 24 blogs that are out there, and visit the FOX 24 message boards. I see the disapproval people have with some things in Day 7, I see the clamoring for so many explanations. I, for one, am absolutely loving the seventh season of our beloved show. So many new elements have been touched upon, which has been awesome.

Whether you like Tony being back or whether you are satisfied with his resurrection storyline, every 24 fan has to admit it's amazing to see a covert, underground team of Jack, Tony, Bill and Chloe working together. Every season we've seen these characters work for CTU and (sometimes) abide by the government's rules. This crew does not. Sure, I did love CTU, but having a season where all 4 band together and take on a hugely-corrupted government is going to be one fun thrill ride.

I didn't do full reviews of Episodes 1 through 5, but I'll start briefly discussing here:

EPISODE 7.01
The following takes place between 8:00 A.M. and 9:00 A.M.
Events occur in real time.

Awesome start to the new season, after waiting nearly two years for Jack and Co. to return. Ad finally get to hear "Events occur in real time" again (besides Redemption, last time it was heard was premiere of Day 3). Everyone had memorized the first 17 minutes since the Redemption DVD hit stores, but afterward was a solid premiere. Seeing Tony act as evil as he could was fun; nice to see a different (and darker) side to a character that we have known for so long. Gabriel Schector was a nice little character, with a cool accent and badass scars. He even had a couple of funny lines ("Well, he's six feet under the ground I suppose" and "Alright! Alright! No reason to lose my good looks over this"). Renee was awesome taking down his humongous bodyguard. Great episode ending with Schector being killed by the sniper Alan Tanner, and then the phone call from Tony - "Stay away from this, Jack."

LOST and Knicks

2009-01-21T11:29:00.002-05:00

LOST returns tonight, which is good news. The show always makes you think. Hopefully, we'll get some more answers this season. I'll have to DVR it, though, since I'm covering the Knicks tonight as they take on the Phoenix Suns. I have begun beat reporting the Knicks for NYSportsDay.com. It's been great so far, being in the locker room, covering a game every other night. It kind of has re-invigorated my interest in basketball again.

---

Few more 24 posts are upcoming. I've been trying to finish all the old-seasons posts, to get them out of the way, before thinking about doing posts on Day 7. This season has been very solid so far, I'm definitely liking it.

Talk to you soon. Adios.