Monday, April 26, 2010

24 Season 8: 10AM-11AM Quick Review

Jack doesn't just want names, he wants proof! Jack doesn't just want revenge, he wants justice! Dammit!

And he does so by hijacking a helicopter. Interesting first move. I would have taken a NYC yellow cab, as CTU seems powerless against tracking one of those things.

Jack and The Jack Sack quickly land the "choppah!" and dissolve into the human masses of New York. Chloe, the sarge in charge of CTU, sets Chico, Jr. in motion to lead the hunt for the world's most dangerous man and manpurse. This ought to be interesting!

Meanwhile, President Taylor whines to Ethan Taylor about this stupid peace treaty and Kanin tells her "Youse got bigger problems! You're gonna gets impeached, boss!" or something along those lines. He gives her an out- come clean publicly about the Russians and save yourself, screw the damned fake treaty! Kanin speaks a whole ton of sense. If the name of this show was WHO'S THE BOSS? the answer would be Ethan Effin' Kanin! Thankfully, Taylor agrees (she doesn't want to share a cell with her daughter, right?).

When Taylor goes to tell Charles Logan that "your comeback tour is over, Chuck," Logan masterfully manipulates Taylor into keeping the lid on Walsh by denying her immunity. He offers a "private security group" take over the interrogation of Walsh sans immunity, an idea that is absolutely illegal, ridiculous and scandalous. So, maybe if the name of this show was CHARLES IN CHARGE, the answer to my earlier question would be... Charles? Well...

Jack acquires several new mobile devices in a ubiquitous electronics shop downtown, and tells the merchant "I don't need the chargers, I have The Jack Sack and it's a mythical accessory that keeps all cellphones powered in perpetuity." The store clerk just shrugs his shoulders and says "Okie dokie!" (in that Simpsons store clerk voice). Are you watching the same show I watch?

Back at CTU, Logan's hired gun, Winston Wolf arrives and offers to "clean up" the mess. Chloe masterfully halts the 'stache so she can hook up Jack with intel on where Walsh is being transferred "off-site." Alright, Chloe, way to help out Jack! And then the JULIUS CAESAR moment happens where Chloe calls Chico, Jr. and tells him "We're gonna trap Jack!" Even Chico, Jr. can't take this betrayal! But Chloe says something about a Presidential Order (like that ever mattered to her before?) and sets into motion Operation: Unbelievable Betrayal. Boooo! I kid, of course, Chloe is doing something mature here and she's not happy about it, I just like kicking up dust here. So, is Chloe the boss in charge? Is Gen. Al Haig in this episode? I digress...

But Jack isn't totally unprepared. He's friends with Mr. Blonde. And Mr. Blonde has guns, ammo, more guns, body armor, police-band radios, hair gel and enough Hawaiian shirts to keep Jack off the grid for 2 years solid. Virginia Madsen's brother is an awesome character actor and I am glad to see him join the 24-verse.

And speaking of awesome character actors, Bob Gunton's Ethan Kanin is truly magnificent. With a clear, earnest voice he gives Taylor one last plea to do the right thing. As Taylor counters with some seriously awful rationale for committing high crimes and misdemeanors, Kanin stands his ground and tenders his resignation. Taylor feels betrayed? Bah! Woman, you betrayed us!

Well, betrayal is the name of tonight's show- as Jack moves in with 300 lbs. of militia in his XL Jack Sack duffel bag, Chico, Jr. and his team are set to seize our man. But little do they know that Jack Bauer is the Stephen Hawking of not getting betrayed. He knew the play all along and turns the situation to his own advantage. Boy Scouts of America, take note! Jack Bauer is always prepared. And then Jack plays armchair psychiatrist and convinces Chico, Jr. to join the smallest CTU in the world- Jack's non-governmental outfit. Chico, Jr. doesn't disappoint- he signs up and I think he's just tickled that Jack would even bother to ask for his help! Awww, making friends is fun!

Towards the end of the episode, Ethan makes one last tough guy stand, facing off with Charles Logan (in a geriatrically thrilling scene!). So, who's the boss with Charles in charge? It looks like the good guys lost tonight, as Taylor reaffirms her devotion to a false peace. Ethan, now would be a good time to call up Aaron Pierce. This was en effective episode in setting up the end-game. Taylor is lost. Chloe is on the outs. Walsh is getting waterboarded. And Jack- well, he's just getting into his duffel bag of mayhem.

52 comments:

B said...

BAH HAH! I just love it. This was a good episode and a particularly good review, if I might say so. :)
That is all for now.

TheJackSack said...

Thank you Brittany! I look forward to your coming back once you've finished digesting tonight's episode.

J. Todd Hatcher said...

Random thought - it would be a little hilarious if this "private security firm" that Taylor is not utilizing was made up of former Starkwood employees.

J. Todd Hatcher said...

* make that IS utilizing.

At any rate, I definitely think Kanin is going to be in the business of helping Jack before this is all said and done. Which, as you said, gives an opening for Aaron Pierce to join the fray.

TheJackSack said...

@Hatch- one can only hope Agent Pierce is inexplicably in the NY metro area on this day.

And Kanin's departure from the Taylor Administration signifies that the president is definitely a lost cause to me. I still maintain that Taylor is going down via an assassination or something dramatic like that.

brandon curtis said...

I enjoyed Chloe's eye roll when she got the call from the president, the beauty of a pokerless face is a wonderful thing indeed. Yeah, el presidente is a bitch and with every passing minute I'm becoming inexplicably sympathetic to Dana.

I hope that Ethan gets to slug Logan before this thing ends, it'll be like when Bonnie Bedelia slugs William Atherton in "Die Hard."

Also, Jack is a smart guy, a dangerous guy but man does all credibility go out the window when he tries to say "nuclear," instead of saying it he should just do it. Always.

Sunny said...

The new Jack Sack is on steroids.

Anonymous said...

Since 24 is coming to an end (as a TV show) I think we all can nominate Ethan Hawk... I mean Kanin as the replacement. First season. He goes Rogue and hunts down Charles Logan. His motivation, Logan puts the president through a set of circumstances that eventually lead to the Russian government attempting to assassinate her. (she has to remain alive so she can come back later and suddenly go crazy and before they can declare her unfit for command she'll start ordering all sorts of missile bombings in the end of the world flash cartoon style later on).
Little do people know that Ethan was secretly Jack's apprentice... oh wait, it's even better, the twist is that Ethan was just saying he learned from Jack when he actually trained Jack in to be a bad ass that he is. The show then falls apart because it defies the laws of physics and suddenly a fake stephen hawkins over the radio starts explaining a bunch of BS about a paralell universe swallowing up another universes blackhole and projecting itself into the 7th dimension, making God very angry. This of course spins off into another movie with the same theme entitled "Day 7 The day of rest".
(more on this later)

Anonymous said...

Script for the 7th day
God (played by none other than Keifer Sutherland) still in his state of rest is soon going to come down for one final Judgement day... However, in the meantime, evil persists as God's fallen Angels all are seeking to do as much damage as they can while they still can.

While God rests, Lucifer (played by Vin Disel with "Chronicals of Ridick" eyes)is drawing up plans to overtake Archangel Michael... Satan's main terrorist Moloch (played by either the pope or that Hannibal Lechter guy) gets ahold of a WUD(weapon of universal destruction) and threatens to use this blackhole (played by the anus of Osama bin Ladin himself) to destroy archangel Michael. Meanwhile, Lucifer and Beelzebub (played by Heath Ledger) are forced to relocate and rebuild hell as God has clearly delivered a devastating blow as the old hell started freezing over when boston won the series in '04 but froze completely when the saints won the superbowl. However God's fallen angel Lucy Ferr, declared to the demons that this action would ensure that reform was in place so that this would never happen again. Of course, 20 sequels later this will prove to be a lie... and Lucifers son will make the same statement followed by another party repeating the statement and the mistakes (as they are all really controlled by their greed and enabled by Goldman Sachs). However, in the meantime this hell burns blue, and it burns with such intense heat, that all of those in the universe everywhere feels the heat so intense that all of life is destroyed and if it continues, it will take God at least a week to rebuild the universe, possibly half of eternity if it continues. Unfortuntly the movie takes a turn for the worse when Baal(played by Johnny Depp) and Nebiros (played by Marilyn Manson) discuss politics asking "how much torture can we afford to give", and "should pain be taxed" Lucifer dumbfounds humans forever as he introduces logic and science to blind their faith and keep them in a perpetuating sea of questions such as "Is God just?" and "if he's just why is there evil" while even the believers who say "God is like light, evil is darkness, God is good evil is where freewill has caused others to doubt God" are no longer believing due to faith but to stroke their own egos so they feel superior about knowledge. But then it gets better when Lucifer, disguised as God brings God's light, tainting the faith with logic on a white horse to the 6th planet of the 60th universe in the 600th galaxy, and this light is shined bringing life back to the beast. The beast teleports straight to earth, where God's favorite (Jack Bauer) is killed, enraging God (also played by Sutherland) to the point where he goes all "Jahova" (which actually before the tower of babel fell translated directly to "Jack Sack") on everyone.

Finally everyone is awakened, and the truth is revealed and there are previews about the sequel. The 8th day is next when God deals out his Judgement and decides who shalt receive a smackdown personally before going to heaven, and who should be tortured before being sent directly into the black hole of death.

Brian Pelts said...

Ah, this is more like it. Sides being taken, lines being drawn, and Jack outsmarting the entire tri-state area. When Cole asked him how he knew it was a trap (IT'S A TRAP!), he should have just looked at him and said "Because I'm JACK FUCKING BAUER, slapnuts."

The corruption of Alison Taylor still seems a little thrown-together, but they did a good job tonight of fleshing it out and giving it depth. Watching Logan play her like a fiddle, you can see just how hopelessly over her head she is. Don't blame me; I voted for Noah Daniels.

Anonymous said...

Not a bad episode tonight, I think after the last couple hours where we had some thrilling action, we needed this repast for character delineation.

The only thing I have a problem with is Jack asking for not 1 but 2 MP5's...and ends up with an MP7.

Mr Blonde was great, too bad he's not cutting off Dana's ears while doing the white man dance to stuck in the middle.

Kako said...

Chloe O'Brute!!! Argh

Granny Annie said...

I almost had laughter under control reading this review then you had to close with "his duffel bag of mayhem". F-U-N-N-Y!

The beginning of the show was hysterical when Jack walked under a tree and the helicopter immediately responded "we've lost him". On COPS the chopper usually sees the guy walk out from under the tree but CTU must not teach that tactic.

Dietcoke said...

Great review as always and I can't agree more.

TheJackSack said...

Hey gang,

Thanks for your comments- I'm running around like a mad man today, so I probably won't get to respond to you all until later tonight at the earliest. In the meantime, keep 'em coming!

luscious said...

Great review. I love the Jack Sack great site so thanks to all involved.

This was a good episode I thought Jack's comment that he knew Chloe was great because it shows that there was no bad feeling from him for her attempts to capture him - Go Jack Bauer -
Taylor better watch her back cause jack will be after her after he kills Logan - here hoping and good on Ethan always stand up for what you believe in.

Anonymous said...

Did anyone else notice Chico Jr's invisible bluetooth headset in this episode?

Cirroc said...

....Tonight on: 'AirWolf'...

....Stringfellow Bauer goes to NYC!

Cirroc said...

...Tonight on CTU:Voyager, Female President Captain Taylor is assimilated by the Logan-Borg.....

Cirroc said...

...Tonight on 'Twenty-Four Wars - The Bauer Strikes Back', Darth Bauer tells Luke Chico:

"..to defeat me, you must BECOME me!!!!'

Cirroc said...

....Tonight on the 'Blues CTU Brothers':

....Jake Bauer convinces Elwood Chico to join him in his jihad against Woman President Penguin....

Chuck Finley said...

..Tonight on 'Bauer, P.I.' we see Jack Sullivan Bauer steal T.C.'s Island Hopper chopper to go meet up with Orville Chico....

...Bauer, P.I. soon realizes that ex-President Higgins has unleashed the Starkwood special-ops 'Zeus-Apollo Team' to remove Bauer, P.I.'s wine cellar privileges....

...all while Woman President Agatha awaits ex-President Higgins next move in their fun UN Bridge game...

55 said...

Season 1: Jack says if you compromise once, it makes it easier to compromise the next time. See: Allison Taylor.

Season 2: Sherry Palmer tells Jack that he, like David, sees everything as black or white. Smart lady.

Cirroc said...

..Tonight on 'CTU Trek - The Wrath of Logan' :

...Commander Pavel Ethan finds a cargo canister left over from the Logan Administration's 'Botany Bauer' project...........

Charlie said...

You know, I thought this one was kind of lame. I'm over the laziness of the slaying of Renee, but I figured by this point they would have been done with the politicking and the slight down-time of preparing a set-up for the series finale -- Jack going all Super Kill-Zone mode.

Or maybe I'm just a simpleton and in the back of my head was just expecting Jack to start gunning down Russians GTA-style for 6 hours. Maybe it's a sign that the writing is improving a bit that they didn't just do that.

I will give a little nod to the writers. The irony is not lost on me that Jack Supersack and Chico, Jr. are now racing against the clock to get to the Evil Sidelong Glancer (not to be confused with Chloe the Good Sidelong Glancer) before Mr. Blonde inadvertently tortures her to death. Not exactly delicious, delicious irony, but they've written in a respectable little twist of fate.

Ah, well. At least Jack's got the super-duffel, now. That's the tell that the last few hours should be pure chaos, right?

I hope.

Charlie said...

Oops. That should've read "Mr. 'Stache."

Charlie said...

Sorry to triple-post, but here's as good a place to ask this as any.

Anybody know where I can get that kick-ass leather jacket Jack's rockin'?

B said...
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B said...
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TheJackSack said...

To paraphrase Lt. Aldo Raine from INGLORIOUS BASTERDS: You probably heard we ain't in the lonely fan blog business; we in the commentin' on The Jack Sack business. And cousin, business is a-boomin'!

I thank all of you for your single posts, double, triple, etc. posts... I love that you're talking to each other in addition to me- I'm completely 100% happy with how this site is operating now. I used to wonder if any of you were out there. And now, I know- and I sleep like a baby as a result!

Cirroc said...

...and I find I care more about James T. Kirk in 'The Search for Spock' than Jack T. Bauer in 'The End of 24'......

J. Todd Hatcher said...

As to the leather jacket (it's solved a few pages into the thread I believe): http://www.filmjackets.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1337&sid=cae7d0ef1ca3ea930452b1adc6a0500d

B said...

(@Adam)
GAH! Lt. Aldo Raine! (Btw, "GAH" is pretty much my happy noise.) I LOVE it. But don't you mean "bidness" is booming? ;)

(@Pelty)
When Cole asked him how he knew it was a trap, he should have just looked at him and said "Because I'm JACK FUCKING BAUER."
WORD. I mean, is any further explanation necessary? No. That says it all.

(@Granny Annie)
Word. That's all I'm gonna say, b/c I agree w/everything you said and to go through and elaborate upon that would be redundant. :)

(@Hatch & Adam)
Didn't someone (Alice or Annie?) say that the actor who plays Aaron Pierce was NOT going to come back this season? I think I'd almost prefer it if he didn't, as much as I love him, b/c I don't want yet another character to bite my nails over in fretful anticipation of their DOOM. The way I see it, off screen = safer from 24 doom and more likely to make it to the movie.

B said...

Boo. Regret, 2010: that I didn’t review/comment on Monday night when it was fresh in my mind, even though I was tired. Result: I lost clarity and now must resort to random blurbs again.

#1 – I don’t know how I’ve missed it all this time, but I suppose I should thank you boys for redirecting my attention toward fashion with all your chatter about Madame President’s dress last week. ;) (Ah, there are parts of that statement that just tickle me. :) ) And you know what I noticed? Shoulderpaderrific or not, her dress is PURPLE! And that’s just COOL!

#2 – Wow, could this be any more “angel on one shoulder, devil on the other”? I mean, for Pete’s sake. Talk about quintessential embodiment of the cartoon theme. Although I know it’s absurd, I half expect Ethan and Logan to suddenly shrink to the size of Barbie, don a white choir robe with gold trim or sprout red horns and a tail, and appear floating on either side of Taylor’s face by way of a magical “poof.”

Speaking of which, man - Logan (or Itzin, if you’d prefer) plays one hell of a devil. He legitimately gets me confused; after a mere minute and a half of listening to him suddenly I don’t even remember what I’m supposed to be rooting for anymore. Sly and sneaky, that one. He could seriously play Satan in a movie and I’d buy it.

But speaking of Taylor and her “moral dilemmas”…. Oof, this issue. I still don’t know if I’ve quite got my brain wrapped around it. I’m not sure whether to believe that she’s become just as schleppy a politician as all the other crooks you see running around in politics, or that she’s become severely overwhelmed and misguided.
The path that she’s been treading down these past two weeks: Is she doing it for her image? Her “legacy”? Her own salvation, to redeem the personal failures of her presidency through this one pinnacle achievement? (This “redemption” theme seems like a common thread in damaged 24 characters...) Is global peace truly her bottom line, or is that just her pretty front for some ugly cover-ups? Does she really have any idea what she’s doing???

Sigh. I don’t know. I feel like a political dolt for not understanding these situations better instinctively (without the 20+ ?s), but whatever. You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit. (Shrug.)

That is all for the moment. Maybe for the week, since I suspect I'm the only one who's still "out there" this week. Man, I guess "Monday" is it!

TheJackSack said...

I'm still here... just busy at the moment- but your words are not going unnoticed!

B said...

Hah - It's good to have a life to be busy with! Buena suerte con tuya. :)

Cirroc said...

....BREAKING NEWS:

....Early next year, '24' will return NOT as a movie, BUT as a Broadway play!!!!

....and as a Musical Comedy no less!!!!!

....writer Mel Brooks' working title is:

..."Springtime for Logan (and America)"

Dr. Alice said...

Brittany, here I am! I did say that I had heard Aaron wasn't coming back... but then I saw on the TWoP boards that maybe he is. So now I don't know what to think, but I love the idea of Aaron and Kanin working together.

This episode I didn't like as well as I liked last week's, but it had its moments. Most of it was just Jack running around pointlessly. Feh. But Logan corrupting President Taylor was good value, and the scene where Logan and Kanin faced off was fantastic. The end split screen where Taylor is declaring that it's worth doing anything to secure peace, overlapping with Dana being prepped for torture, gave me a genuine shudder.

I hope there's more in store for the last five episodes. I hate to think of the show in a holding pattern, but this week I did get that feeling.

brandon curtis said...

@Brittany

Well, if the president is looking for redemption she is shall we say...dead. It's like a cult and somebody poisoned the Redemption-Aid. Apologies for that, by the way. Not the poisoning the saying, but it's science, is all I'm saying. However, only Jack can tell us if it's "nuke-you-lure" physics.

Speaking of Satan, the devil himself (Ray Wise of the late, lamented "Reaper") played the VP during Logan's Run as the Prez on "24." Now that sentence was sexy, rife with wordplay and what not.

brandon curtis said...

If President Taylor is seeking redemption for her legacy she is, shall we say, dead. This season of "24" is like a cult meeting where somebody spiked the Redemption-Aid and everybody's been drinking it. It's simple science, really, even Jack doesn't have to tell it's not "nuke-you-lure" physics.

On the subject of Gregory Itzin/ Logan as the Devil, the Devil himself (Ray Wise of the late lamented "Reaper") played the VP during Logan's Run as the Prez on "24."

Are my fellow Sack-ers feeling this sexy ass wordplay or what?

TheJackSack said...

@brandon- very sexy, in a non-sexual way. Heh--- "Sack-ers"- that cracked me up. Sackniks? SackPack™? Sackians.... what do we call ourselves?

Brian Pelts said...

The First Reform Church Of The Bauer Power Hour? Maybe we can rent out the old Crystal Cathedral. (Bloody hell, I'm old.)

I'd love to see Aaron come off the bench in the battle against the twin forces of evil and shitty Presidents, but at this point having him simply pop up on a moment's notice would be stretching it quite a bit.

TheJackSack said...

Yeah, we can fantasize about Aaron coming back, but I think we all know that ain't happening. The writers are a stingy bunch of SOBs. We'll sooner get Jack eating a knish than see Agent Pierce pop up in Lower Manhattan randomly.

Pelty- The Hour of Power lives on!

Rickey said...

All that chopper scene was missing was Godzilla stomping about in Manhattan....

Amen for the Ethan praise. He's the moral rock of the show--just a terrific character.

Brian Pelts said...

You can always tell someone is the lone voice of reason on 24 when the writers have to concoct a way to remove him from the equation so other characters are free to fuck up.

Dr. Alice said...

There's an interview with Greg Itzin in the Wall Street Journal this week; he is now playing Kenneth Lay in a B'way production of "Enron." He talks a lot about being in 24 as well. He loved playing Logan.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704446704575206503300255806.html?KEYWORDS=itzin#articleTabs%3Darticle

B said...
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B said...

@Alice - Yay for genuine shudders. :\ Means the show must be doing something right...in a totally wrong and twisted way... But what are 24 fans if not game for wrong and twisted?

@brandon curtis - ...somebody spiked the Redemption Aid... I know, right?! It's borderline ridiculous. You're better off riding that downward spiral of self-destruction than trying to put your life back together, because the minute you glimpse success it's over! Bleh!

@Aaron speculators - I say, bring on the knish! For one, poor Jack never gets to eat; and for two, I'd much rather have my Agent Pierce safe and alive taking the grandkids to Disneyland or some other mundane event than coincidentally popping up in the Big Apple just long enough to get offed.

B said...

Oh whoops, P.S.

@Rickey - All that chopper scene was missing was Godzilla stomping about in Manhattan.... Hah! I didn't notice your comment until I had already babbled some nonsense about dinosaurs coming to 24... Although they're not quite the same, that makes me happy.

@Pelty - You can always tell someone is the lone voice of reason on 24 when the writers have to concoct a way to remove him from the equation so other characters are free to fuck up. Brilliant insight. Brilliant.

Alli said...

Am I the only one sensing something going on with Arlo? He seems to have a speaking line every episode, almost unnecessarily. It could be a part of his contract, but I keep expecting him to turn around and say, Ć  la Russian accent, "I am second plant, here to keep eye on first Russian plant." Hey, it would be good fridge logic as for why he was so creepily fascinated by her. He could use the whole sexual harassment thing as a ploy for paying close attention to her and everything she was doing.

John Michael Davis said...

I'm thinking something very scary could happen.. maybe president Taylor snaps on Russia and we get close to Nuclear confrontation very quickly through the next few hours if not actual strike.. when she reals herself back in there is no telling what she might to to correct her path and she could prove as enjoyable to watch as jack after she tells him that he was right...

B said...

@Alli - I meant to tell you earlier, it seems like you've got some really good insights about Arlo, whether or not they pan out. It didn't even occur to me to question his character or suspect ulterior motives (dur, what a moron for not suspecting ulterior motives on 24), but the possibilities that you've pointed out are pretty interesting, to say the least. I don't necessarily expect it to go down that path, but if it does you can proudly say, "I called that!" :)

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