Not as much to say about this one. The hour ended about two minutes too late drama wise (and they probably should've have given up the resolution in the previews.)
The Jack/Tony interrogation scene was so good, I was kinda disappointed when it was revealed to be a ruse. Jack & Tony's make up almost made up for it.
I do like the structure of the season - that we've got the bad guys, the good guys, and Jack & Tony stuck in the middle and not getting unquestioned help from the good guys. It's a different feel.
When I'm able to ignore the obvious "how far we'll go when we MUST" theme, the Renee Walker character is all sorts of meta-interesting. They're not being the slightest bit subtle that she's going down the same road Jack is, and if she becomes the new Jack...could this show work with Bill, Chloe, Tony and Renee Walker? I dunno and they'd have to do a lot more work this day to make it bearable, but they're opening to my mind to the possibility Jack might not be able to make that Senate committee.
(That's gotta be how it ends, right back where it started. I just don't know who'll be there.)
Janeane Garofalo vs Chloe was so much better than it should be. And playing off the billion times someone's gone to a server room and never lived to tell the tale was cute.
The office for the exiled leader of the Fake African Nation's must be close to the White House.
The First Man? (Husband?)'s Secret Service guy has to be in on the conspiracy? There's a whole lot of iffy people around the administration and no giveaways yet.
I'm dying for a movie or two centering on Tonys time as a mercenary for hire. He's buffed up, he tougher, and he's kicking ass like Jack now. I want the story of how he's gotten where he is now. It's very interesting that they've made him a bad guy who is coming to his senses and want's to do the right thing now.
I was really surprised to see Bill. I wasn't expecting that reveal and it was a welcome swerve. Chloe looked beautiful as always, but I can't see her 'going rogue' like this. There's gotta be someone else higher who is pulling the strings and paying for all that equipment.
The side plot with the First Husband is interesting as well and with it tying into the whole story, I'm thinking that having that extra year off between seasons has really helped the writing team put together a long, cohesive storyline this year.
I started watching the first two hours, even though I'd been really disappointed with the last couple of seasons. I was liking it well enough, but I thought the show got dumb in a hurry with the episodes last night. So three guys in a room somewhere - I'm sorry, two guys in a room and a guy out in the field - are going to eliminate all the coruption from the highest levels of our government? By aiding and abetting terrorists and foreign nationals? I'm pretty sure that counts as treason, even if they are right about the corruption. I would have bought it if it turned out that CTU had just gone underground, or that Tony and crew were working for another agency. But just the three of them on their own? And Jack agrees to help them on the spot? Too much for me, I'm out.
I did wind up tuning out before I found out how Tony is still alive, though. Could somebody fill me in on that?
As soon as Tony was wheeled off camera, someone working for Emerson (Tony's current boss) injected Tony with a drug that neutralized the overdose. Tony was dead for 10 minutes but less so after that.
It only works if you don't think about it at all. There's actually a reason for Emerson's people to be there (they were looking to recruit Tony for anti-government black ops and eventually did), but being there with the right drug at the right time is stretching. Even more so when you remember Tony's death was preceded by the nerve gas attack, not an easy time to get around (or stay alive.)
Originally posted by Tenken347I did wind up tuning out before I found out how Tony is still alive, though. Could somebody fill me in on that?
The guy he was working for for three years had arranged for him to get a "hypothermic injection", which revived him. Considering the techno-babble explanation, I was surprised to discover that it didn't happen during the hour written by Brannon Braga and Manny Coto. (Whoops. Cubs beat me.)
I'm not out or anything, but any scene not involving Jack has been pretty insufferable. I don't care about the first husband at all.
Does anyone else think a "CIP device" doesn't hold the same kind of menace as "the nukes" or "the nerve gas"? Two years ago, hour 4 ended with Valencia going boom. Now, hour 4 ends with, "Hey that guy locked himself in a room! Darn!" If it's a weak start leading to a better middle and finish than I'm OK with it. Anything's better than Day 6's downward spiral.
(edited by SchippeWreck on 13.1.09 2236) "It's magic! We don't need to explain it!"
Before they ruined his character as the criminal mastermind he never should have been, Charles Logan was the most interesting President in the history of 24. Obviously, David Palmer was the best President, but Logan was something else, man. He was just fascinating to watch, especially when he was a quivering, spineless pussy hiding in the panic room of the Presidential ranch. Clearly, Logan is also a tough act to follow.
I didn't think a 24 President could get shittier than Wayne Palmer in Day 6 but Allison Taylor takes the cake. Horrible. Horrible Hillary Clinton-sort-of-lookalike casting. Like Wayne, she'd yet another President who in the real world could never be elected because she simply doesn't look or carry herself like a President. Nor does she have a character; she's just a routine collection of 24's blackmailed-by-terrorists Presidential cliches. Meanwhile her husband the Lord Marshal of the Necromongers is running around threatening young hotties in a subplot that makes me wish he was in the woods being stalked by a cougar. Funny thing is, Colm Feore would have made an interesting President himself. He was already quite an asshole President of the 12 Colonies.
Is there anything to anticipate in the potential interaction if and when Jack Bauer comes face to face with President Allison Taylor? Will anyone give a shit if they become allies, fast friends, or if he flips her the finger and puts two in her chest? Actually, I'd prefer that last one.
The casting of the supporting cast this season is pretty weak. Except for Special Agent Renee Walker, who's only interesting because she should be wearing a WWJBD bracelet, the non-ex-CTU characters are snoozers. I did really like when Jack flipped out in the interrogation room and almost broke Tony's neck, Walker wouldn't let Moss break it up. "Hold on, I want to see where Jack's going with this."
Who's the FBI mole? Who? Who could it be?
On the plus side, the Jack and Tony bromance is back on track. Bringing in Bill Buchanan and Chloe helps a lot. When they're on the screen, it feels like 24. Routine, redundant 24, but still 24.
The Sangala stuff is interesting and being held on the back burner. Tony Todd sitting in the wings as a villain has potential; though it would remain unfulfilled if Jack doesn't find a way to hop a plane back to Africa and torture the crap out of him.
I'd say it's been a rote 4 hours so far but there's still 20 more for Jack Bauer to turn the ship around. Plenty of time. Or else seven days will be all she wrote.
From back in whatever the hell season it was in 2005:
Tony should have had a van with some kind of desert landscape with a howling coyote on the sides. They could have painted it black and thrown on the red stripe to make it an A-Team van so later in the day they could pick up Chloe and Lukas Haas at the hospital and rolled around LA as an independent mobile ass-kicking unit to stop Imhotep from finding the Book of the Dead.
Oh, sure, some of the details are off, but I totally predicted the A-Team Scenario. I now retire from the internet.
I'm really looking forward to the moment Carlos Bernard decides to bust out an expression other than "brooding".
So far, it's OK. It still has the trying-to-do-too-much syndrome that has plauged 24 for a while, but I didn't hate it. What worries me is whether they've got things better planned out than they usually do. I mean, Tony's whole thing is to infiltrate a terrorist organization, but he can't work with any authorities because they think the whole government's been corrupted. So what happens when and if he is ready to expose the conspiracy? I'm afraid that no one has an exit strategy worked out, and it's going to end up muddled yet again. Also, it's nice to have Chloe and Bill back, but it also makes it seem less different from the other seasons.
The whole First Lady angle is a huge waste of time. Ditto John O that having Tony Todd as a villain on another continent could end up being a big waste of his considerable talents.
Originally posted by John OrquiolaI didn't think a 24 President could get shittier than Wayne Palmer in Day 6 but Allison Taylor takes the cake. Horrible. Horrible Hillary Clinton-sort-of-lookalike casting. Like Wayne, she's yet another President who in the real world could never be elected because she simply doesn't look or carry herself like a President.
Amen.
I figured Wayne could've conceivably gotten in because people voted for him out of sympathy/respect for his brother, but Taylor? Zero charisma and some downright freaky lookin' eyes to boot.
Who votes for this lady?
Who's the FBI mole? Who? Who could it be?
I figured Walker, but that might be too obvious. Her-boss-whose-name-I-forget would be the other obvious choice, so it'll probably be Garofalo for no good reason.
So far I'm mostly loving it. Less of the First Husband would be no bad thing, but other than that it's all good so far for me.
I hope that the FBI agent who moved his wife's plane up the que storyline gets dropped. 24 does not need another "this is the mole no I mean yes he is wait no he isn't PSYCHE he is" for the about twentieth time.
Marge I am just trying to get into heaven not run for Jesus.
To me, not only is Walker not an obvious choice at all, but it would be totally nonsensical. Why would she be torturing people for answers (with no else around, so it's not like she is putting on a show to maintain her cover) that she already knows? Why would she bring in Jack Bauer to track somebody that she actually doesn't want to be caught? Nothing in the story so far even remotely suggests that she may be working with the bad guys. Not to say that you will be wrong, but that would be an absolutely horrible choice as far as the storyline goes. 24 is enough of a stretch as it is in terms of suspension in belief without such a Russo-esque swerve.
The Bored are already here. Idle hands are the devil's workshop. And no... we won't kill dolphins. But koalas are fair game.
Originally posted by ges7184To me, not only is Walker not an obvious choice at all, but it would be totally nonsensical. Why would she be torturing people for answers (with no else around, so it's not like she is putting on a show to maintain her cover) that she already knows? Why would she bring in Jack Bauer to track somebody that she actually doesn't want to be caught? Nothing in the story so far even remotely suggests that she may be working with the bad guys. Not to say that you will be wrong, but that would be an absolutely horrible choice as far as the storyline goes. 24 is enough of a stretch as it is in terms of suspension in belief without such a Russo-esque swerve.
The funny part is this is exactly what happened in season 5 when Logan revealed himself to be the bad guy.
And I love 24 with all its flaws, but why must they go with the "super device that controls everything" angle again? Were supposed to believe that one engineer could build something in ten minutes(!)that can access and control the entire US infrastructure? Everything? The Air traffic control system down to to local water supplies? This little thing the size of a cell phone is so powerful and sophisticated that the government needs a week to come up with something that can counter it? A WEEK? Grrr. At least the thing that controlled every single nuclear power plants in season 4 was a laptop.
"I could be wrong, but I doubt it"---Charles Barkley
Originally posted by ges7184To me, not only is Walker not an obvious choice at all, but it would be totally nonsensical. Why would she be torturing people for answers (with no else around, so it's not like she is putting on a show to maintain her cover) that she already knows? Why would she bring in Jack Bauer to track somebody that she actually doesn't want to be caught?
I meant 'obvious' in the sense that it would be another high ranking female who gained Jack's confidence whilst working for the other side the whole time a la Nina. Beyond that? They've done a couple of things to actively put you off the idea she could possibly be the mole (having her be the person Jack trusts to talk about there being a mole being one), which in 24-land usually means she would be a decent suspect.
To answer your questions, I guess she could/would be high enough that she wouldn't really know the people she tortured (and they wouldn't know her) and she wanted to find out if they could be cracked and what they would give up. And at least one of the terrorists from Sangala has a personal issue with Jack, so keeping him out of the senate hearings so he could be gotten to would make some sort of sense for him.
I think they could pull it off with some good writing, but like yourself I'd rather they just not try.
Originally posted by rockdotcom_2.0Were supposed to believe that one engineer could build something in ten minutes(!)that can access and control the entire US infrastructure? Everything? The Air traffic control system down to to local water supplies? This little thing the size of a cell phone is so powerful and sophisticated that the government needs a week to come up with something that can counter it? A WEEK? Grrr. At least the thing that controlled every single nuclear power plants in season 4 was a laptop.
I thought the engineer was captured some time before the season starts so he had longer to work on it? And it would make sense that it would take less time to hack something than it would to rebuild that which had been hacked.
Of course none of this answers your larger question of "Why have one security system covering near everything?". At least the Override in 4 only controlled all nuclear plants (for the semi-reasonable purpose that one of them could fall under the control of evil-doers) and also required the terrorists to get their hands on the actual device AND find a way to get the world to flood the internet with traffic to be successful.
For now I'm happy to go with 'politicians are morons when it comes to implementation of technology' but ideally I'd like to see a bit more explanation of why it was so simple at some point down the line.
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