Monday, April 05, 2010

24 Season 8: 6AM-8AM Quick Review! 2 Hours!

Jack Bauer for 2 hours? Let's do this thing!

6AM

Things kick off with President Taylor being lied to by Gen. Burr and Chief of Staff Skippy about the whereabouts of Ethan Kanin. Again, nobody uses my "(fill in the blank) is making a number two" excuse, but there are a few hrs left in the season and I refuse to accept that 24 exists in a universe where nobody has to poop.

Meanwhile, Jack, Renee and the Hassan family are on the run! But not for longer than one minute, because President Hassan's courageous coif demands that he not let innocent people die. He knocks out Jack with some random piece of rebar (this guy's a refrigerator salesman? Please!) and he gives himself up to the paramilitary dude, who's angling for "Rogue Employee of the Month" (a monthly award that comes with a preferred parking spot at an undisclosed location).

Hassan gets on the phone with Tony Al-Qaeda and they have what is effectively a very unproductive conversation about making sure NYC doesn't go "boom-boom" Is Tony Al-Qaeda going to nuke the city anyway? I mean, he should, right? If he hates America so much, and he knows that Hassan is in the city and the U.S. president (along with other world leaders) this would be a golden opportunity to change the landscape of geopolitics in one swift stroke. But... no! With a strange montage of people doing nothing for 30 seconds, Tony Al-Q decides to let it get down to 7 seconds before he calls off the bomb. Full disclosure, I wasn't worried about the bomb going off. Were you?

Jack promptly escapes from the locked room and gets patched through President Taylor and gives what is the most efficient update of the conspiracy imaginable. It was deft writing, and perfectly delivered by Kiefer Sutherland. And thumbs up to Cherry Jones for flashing several kinds of emotions while listening to this debrief, not betraying her advantage over General Burr or Chief of Staff Skippy. This is "24"- this is the show I love. The cat-and-mouse game, the double and triple crosses... oh yeah, there's some legitimate tension being built here!

And then an instant classic moment took place. Taylor and a small army of Secret Service and military dudes kick in the door to Ethan's office, take Gen. Burr and Skippy into custody, but before Taylor lets The Skipster leave, she lays down a Presidential Bitch Slap!  Bitch Slap One has taken flight! (h/t Jim of Blogs4Bauer).

Back at CTU, the lights come up and Chloe and Dana are assigned to track Hassan's whereabouts with the ubiquitous traffic cams that litter the island of Manhattan. Well, Dana wants nothing more than to make a call to the terrorists reroute some servers for improved processing speed, which Chloe recognizes as a totally dumb idea. Chloe orders Dana to get back to her chair and do her job. Yet again, the bathroom excuse would have come in handy, but Dana is too full of pride (and not prunes) to make an excuse that no person would argue with... people, just say "I gotta go poop"... geez.

Eventually, Dana does what she needs to, calling the terrorists and telling them of the ambush point in Harlem. Arlo almost ends up USB cabled to death, but a timely call from Chloe on his doofy Bluetooth headset saves his malnourished, pale-skinned life. Dammit! We were so close to losing an annoying character.

So, Jack makes quick decisions which foil the escape attempt but not before the SUV carrying Hassan goes off the parking garage roof! Holy cow! Hassan is dead! No! He's alive! He was swapped out while in the garage to two terrorists in waiting- one that looks remarkably like that girl from PRINCESS DIARIES- I call her Anne Jihadaway for nickname purposes. Nice disguise, Anne! Nobody will notice your olive complexion contrasting with that platinum blonde wig... yeah. Next time, go with the "Cat in the Hat" hat.

7AM

Dana makes her first attempt to leave CTU for the lovely Ozarks from which she came and is denied exit by a very underpaid but efficient young man working the security desk. Lock down, baby! It ain't just a term for prison life! Well, Dana makes a few quick moves to get herself cleared to leave the office, but not before Jack, Renee, Chloe, Hastings and everybody else in the entire freakin' government figures out Walsh is the mole. So, Dana exits by way of violence. But she makes it to the parking garage and is stopped by her raging paramour, Chico, Jr. And what does Dana do after being caught? She asks to speak only with Jack Bauer. Interesting!

Jack arrives minutes later, does the interrogation and gets a list of demands from Dana that includes immunity, cash, some stuffed teddy bears and a case of Johnny Walker Blue Label. Jack decides he may only get one chance to put his hand around her throat, takes advantage of that chance, and then says "Yeah, lemme call the President." Nice!

Meanwhile, Hassan's mussed up 'do arrives at the Tony Al-Q safehouse where they swap old stories from the homeland and try to sort out their differences. This fails. So, the idea is that Hassan "confesses" to being a traitor to his people, after which point he will be assassinated on a web cam show. Ehhhh, what's up with that? Why are terrorists so caught up in the confessional videos? Is this a product of watching too many THE REAL WORLD episodes? Does Hassan have to say "I apologize for eating all of my country's peanut butter"? Heh.

With Dana's help, Jack, Chico and a bunch of CTU peeps gather an operation to save Hassan from having to make this completely senseless web show. Tony Al-Q tries to torture Hassan but this doesn't result in any capitulation. So, they go ahead with the web cam event without Hassan's cooperation. What these foolish terrorists don't realize is that Chloe O'Brian is on the good guy's side- and she determines the location, height, temperature and everything else you could ask for from the crappy web feed. Jack gives CTU their orders, and makes Renee promise that she'll be awesome and deadly during the whole operation. Renee says "Yeah, sure." Jack says "No, you have to say 'I promise to be awesome and deadly.'" Renee frowns, and so does every American older than 6 years old- seriously, when was the last time you forced anyone to sincerely make a promise? For me it was the 1st grade, when I made my friend Tim promise to stop eating glue.  It was for his own good.

Well, the ending was thrilling- building up to Jack and Renee stopping the assassination within moments... but... wow. I was genuinely surprised by the ending- that the video was pre-recorded and that Jack arrived too late.  Hassan was already dead. It was a completely surprising and emotionally strong twist. Anil Kapoor did a magnificent job with this character- imbuing Hassan with nobility and genuine flaws. Great job, sir.

The show has reemerged from it's first-half of the season funk. I am writing this amazed at the excellence of these two hours of television. Finally, this show is legit again.

45 comments:

drsw36 said...

My that was quick! :)

Stefernie said...

Love the review! And a fitting photoshop I think.

You forgot to mention Chloe's facial expression when Jack stole the car. It was priceless!

TheJackSack said...

What, like Jack going from Harlem to Roosevelt Island in 5 minutes? I'm just trying to be like Bauer!

TheJackSack said...

@Stef- Thank you! Yes, that was a classic moment. And how about Hastings' reaction when Jack gets rough with Walsh? I love this show.

Sunny said...

Love the wrap-up. Thanks Adam.

BTW, you ARE fast.

TheJackSack said...

@Sunny, thank you! I know if I don't get these reviews out in time, some folks (ahem-Brittany) can get a little grumpy!

I like to jot down my reactions to things as the story unfolds. I had a whole bit about CTU conducting "Operation: Hairspray" written as Jack & Co. were closing in on Hassan which I deleted when he turned up dead. Phew, what a punch to the gut. I'm genuinely stunned and that's a good thing.

brandon curtis said...

I'm so glad "24" is back with a vengeance, that shot of dead Hassan left me feeling a little gutshot (nice eulogy, by the way, Adam).

Also, I liked Arlo's realization that because he is a pervert he failed to notice Dana's villainy. It was a great moment of self awareness and it seemed legit, I'm glad he finally got to do something that made him more than just a mouthpiece for techno jargon and a weirdness not seen since Shari Rothenberg graced the halls of CTU in season five.

All in all, utter solidness and I'll miss it when it's gone.

Anonymous said...

Wow, where to start with these 2 episodes. This is exactly what this season needed.

Great action with good twists and the deaths of some pretty major characters.

The last episode was just spectacular. When they found Hassan already dead that was just amazing considering they were building the suspense up in the search for him. Jack's face at the end was solid.

Dana Walsh still bothers me, she better meet a painful end or I'm going to be pissed.

These final hours look to be riveting, hopefully they will be and 24 will end it's series in heart pounding fashion.

the_fatman said...

.....pres Hassan was a great character on 24, i will miss Mr Kapoor's acting & that huge hair he had there.....that was some cool hair no?....damn, i wish i had hair like that...

Brian Pelts said...

First off, my kudos to Adam for not only getting this review done so quickly, but for playing along with my tape-delayed Tweeting and letting me get to the OH FUCK moment unspoiled. You win teh internets, my friend.

In memory of the sweetest hair in the show's history, there will be no snark or nitpicking tonight. Even if I were so inclined, these two hours didn't give me anything to bitch about anyways. You could make the point that every season of 24, to one extent or another, largely goes through the motions until it's time to kick into the finishing leg and then it's OMG BADASSERY. Every perceived flaw of the preceding hours suddenly paid off and became a part of an awesome whole. Arlo's daylong skeezing almost became how Dana got busted, the Dana/Cole subplot boiled over in some classic Jack/Nina rage (nice call, Adam), everything that made me roll my eyes turned into fried gold over the span of two hours. Cole cemented his place in my list of beloved 24 characters with his impressive display of a strong pimp hand in single-handedly thwarting Dana's escape, Hastings solidified his greatness by being the first CTU director in recent memory to not run in and undermine Jack the instant he throws somebody up against a wall by her windpipe and calls them a dumb bitch (although his exasperated reaction WAS classic, almost like the haggard police lieutenant in an 80's action movie that has to deal with the loose cannon detective), everything was just made of win and kick-ass.

And then we get to the end, and HOLY FUCK. Holy fucking fuck fuck. Discovering that Jack was too late and seeing Hassan's dead body was one of the biggest gut punches in recent 24 memory. I mean, sure, Jack always meets with little setbacks along the way, but when was the last time he didn't save the day for someone as important as Hassan? As the silent clock hit 8:00, my shock and grief gave way to one thought: Oh fuck, they done gone FUCKED UP NOW. Jack's urge to kill just went plaid.

All in all, two great hours. All at once, I'm energized about the rest of this season and mourning the loss of this show.

TheJackSack said...

@brandon: Good point about Arlo. I have to re-watch that scene.

@Anonymous: Agreed- if Walsh walks, that will be a major disappointment.

@the_fatman: I have that hair, it's an unruly burden, trust me!

@Pelty: Thanks, hombre! You nail a lot of good points- especially the '80s detective vibe with Hastings. Hastings is fantastic- it's such a friggin' relief to trust Jack's "boss" for a change. Think about how far that character has come over the entire season. It's one of the best writing jobs of any of the new people this season. He earned our respect the hard way. It worked.

And "Jack's urge to kill just went plaid" is an instant classic comment on this blog. Awesome, sir!

Brian Pelts said...

Oh, I'm not worried about Jen-nay walking. Remember, her deal was conditional based on the recovery of a living President Hassan. Now that he's dead, she's headed for federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison. You know, until she gives up who hired her. If I've learned anything from years of watching 24, it's to always have TWO pieces of valuable information to bargain with.

You're spot on about Hastings' arc, and I do need to give credit where credit is due. I've given the writers so much crap this season, but they've really done a bang-up job with Hastings. To me, the gold standard for character growth is Wesley Wyndham-Price from Buffy and Angel. Over the run of those shows, they took him from one-note buffoon and made him the most well-rounded, compelling character on either show. The 24 writing staff have done a similar thing with Hastings in a fraction of the time.

TheJackSack said...

Yeah, remember I posted some spoiler pics over a month ago that pretty much confirm Jenny/Dana is still a viable character.

It's going to come down to who hired her. Who wanted the peace process to die? Taylor told us who that may be when she met with the Russian. Logan + Russians + Larger Conspiracy = End Game.

Brian Pelts said...

Oh yeah, I missed those 'cause even when I thought the season was crap I still live spoiler-free. I don't even watch previews; I'm just weird like that.

I kind of hope it is Ruskies. Then it'll be like live-action Archer, only with competent agents.

Kako said...

I was hoping to catch a glimpse of President Logan from the Trailer. I wonder what he is up to now.

Hahaha everyone seems to cherish the little things like I do.
- The efficient Status Report by JB, Anyone get me a transcript
- Chloe's reaction to the stolen car
- Mother of all bitch slaps

Gonna be a great end to a great series!

Dr. Alice said...

Awesome! This show is so freaking awesome. I can't believe it's the last season. They did a hell of a job with these two episodes and I'm so sorry Hassan is dead.

In CTU, Hastings, Chloe, even Arlo: great. (I thought Arlo was dead for sure.) Watching FPJ go into a boiling rage and foil Dana's escape: also great. I was on the edge of my seat the last ten minutes and did NOT expect Hassan to be dead. And President Taylor had some more good scenes this week. Loved the bitchslap.

Your reviews are great! Keep it up! And I really can't wait for next week.

TheJackSack said...

@Daniel: Yeah, 24 is all about those little moments. It's the hot fudge on the sundae!

@Doc Alice: I held my breath during the whole last ten minutes too and the way it ended was absolutely chilling/crushing/unforgettable television. Thank you so much for your loyalty to my site, I'm deeply grateful!

Granny Annie said...

Would a decomposing body start to smell in the first 24 hours? I keep thinking they should find the probation officer's body but I guess it is actually irrelevant. Of course it would cause a little more truthfulness to surface from Chico Jr.

I don't know why, but the make up on President Taylor and the Russian President looked like it was applied by the same technician who really liked a lot of shadowing.

Anyone but me think the IRK is about to have it's first woman president -- another President Hassan? Could be mother or daughter.

JJT said...

Nice wrap-up, sir. I have to admit that these two hours--next to the first 4 that kicked off the series--have been the best moments of this last season.

The twist of Hassan's death as Jack and Renee made their way ever-so methodically and quickly was done quite well. The silent clock was a nice touch as well.

Now, if I can only see Jack go old school on Dana/Jenny/Starbuck, that would make my season.

TheJackSack said...

@Annie: I was thinking about that poor guy in the wall myself. I mean, yes, NYC smells sometimes, but we know when there's a dead body!

@JJT: Thanks, man- you know the entire 24-world will be waiting for Dana to get her comeuppance. And while Cole deserves to be the one to go "old school" as you say, I don't know if he's ready for that burden yet. Jack could snap her neck and not lose a wink over it. Cole is pure, like a bunny hopping along a stream on a Spring morning. With a rifle. Alright, maybe Cole could handle it...

Anonymous said...

I want to amend my above post by commenting on the acting this season.

When the season started and we were introduced to these CTU people, I was pretty much in the tank for the new characters. Ortiz, Dana, Arlo, Hastings, they all were pretty vanilla and honestly, I didnt think the acting compared to the CTU of old with Buchanan, Mason, Tony, et. al.

As this season has matured, I'm really beginning to appreciate them. They've all won me over, even Arlo who had that staredown with Dana. The staredown made me uncomfortable which to me means it was a good scene by both of them.

Hastings is definitely coming around and right now, I'm solidly in his corner.

Dana's character has won me over, her facial expressions and eyeballing are a nice turn from that deer in the headlights look she was giving us with the whole Kevin thing.

I've always been a closet Renee luster, and she delivered in these episodes. Her look to the Pres. after she was thanked was a good insight her character.

Finally, FPJr came into his own last night. His scenes were solid and while he's not Tony, he's better than Chase (did I really just remember him).

Evidently I'm too stupid to remember my Google name and p/w or I'd log in. I need to be tortured.

TheJackSack said...

@Anonymous- You're right, the "rookies" have come into their own. This touches on one thing that kind of annoys me about the 24-formula (or more accurately the writers' devotion to a formula that's not necessary all of the time): We don't need to hate a character to later learn to like him or her. Making Hastings a supreme asshole in the first few episodes was kind of a waste of storytelling. Yeah, he's got a story arc, but sometimes you don't need one so extreme.

I think Arlo's perv storyline was a bigger error. What's the deal? He's obsessed with Dana but what did that actually lead to? Jack and Chloe were the ones that discovered her identity in the end. Arlo's weirdness made for a good confrontation scene last night, but I'm still trying to figure out the point to his character. At least Edgar Stiles did some useful work at CTU. Arlo just says "I'm on it."

Chico, Jr. has a good story- it echoes Jack/Nina all the way. I like what they're putting his character through.

And Dana... ya know, she's a good villain but at this point they could have done better with her story. The Brothers Dim plot was poorly written. And Katee Sackhoff, a good actress, never seemed in her element on 24. Now, she just looks evil, but she looks like she's trying to look evil, if you know what I mean. I'm not a hater, but I'm not a fan of her role either.

Anonymous said...

Adam, I agree with your points regarding the love/hate formula as well as the Arlo perv aspect. Aside from his self actualization that he didnt look at her face, I'm not sure what this accomplished.

I'm unfamiliar with Katee Sackhoff and this is the only time I've seen her in a show. While, I didnt like the actual storyline of Kevin and his walking tumor, I think it was meant to show us a frightened and unsure Dana vs the cold hearted bitch we have now.

As far as Edgar, now that you bring him up, he really was a stud character. Whenever I see that actor in mob movies, I always think of Edgar. I think that actor did a bang up job.

B said...

Oh, no... President Hassan... I am so sad. I actually did not see that one coming. Perfect photoshop characterization of the fallen. Rest in peace, good sir. :*(

B said...

P.S. @Adam - okay, okay, I'm sorry! I was not *grumpy* last week when I said "hurry up" - I think I've just gotten spoiled by the almost-realtime nature of your recaps. And anyways, what I meant to indicate was enthusiasm and eagerness to partake of the humor and wit of your review, not surliness or irritability that it wasn't up yet. :( You could think of it as an honor that I was so impatient, because said impatience was born out of loyalty to your work. (Wink, elbow, elbow. I'm tryin real hard here to make amends - I'm good at offending people and bad at making up for it. And if you'll remember, I did add, "I take most of that back b/c I feel it was a little over the top.") Sad face.
Some things are not so easy to relay via text alone. :\ Shrug.

TheJackSack said...

@Brittany- I was just messin' with ya! I'm grateful for your loyalty and enthusiasm. You've livened up things here this season- and you've added an extra layer of fun to the proceedings.

B said...

Oh, whew!! Because I was honestly just about to say the following (I had it planned in my head):

"Upon actually reading the recap and reviewing everybody else's posts, I feel like a first-rate unsupportive beeyotch. So I just wanna take a moment to say: Adam, your site is brilliant; and everybody else who comments here, your posts are hilarious and clever; and this whole darned operation is just fantastic --- so phenomenal job, everyone!"

I guess I don't have to admit that whole thing now, but it seemed like a nice sentiment to share anyway, even if I haven't gone and offended anybody in the first place. ;) :)

John Michael Davis said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
John Michael Davis said...

I am really Getting a Kick out of these Reviews.. It is nice after watching to have a bit extra to look too.

It is cemented that Jack is now at least to this point the law of the land. Typically it would have been his task to do whatever he could against all authority to stop a nuclear threat that might possibly take 100,000's of civilians including himself and as say a good portion of perhaps the political assembly for peace. Yet when the rouge employee of the month say's with a sense of pride, dignity and to say "see jack yeah we did try to kill you as you took out all of our elite Kill Squad but Me - but we saved New York City." Jack say's to the point, "you betrayed your president and your country." He has a moment of thought at the end of the scene and I wonder what he is thinking in that moment of self reflection.. I waited for him to show some sign that he was happy that new york was for the moment saved but I don't think that thought gave through completely the scene would have failed without that small instant of abstraction for me..

They carried that to the bone with the Presidential Bitch slap and proclamation that President Taylor would pull the switch herself on the Treasonist Employees.

So to apply this to the future I feel these points are possibly significant for resolution to take place, I could be way off, but if we are correct here in an assumption that a past president will appear for some antagonism I am feeling that it may play somewhere in the vicinity of this reversal.

Meaning: Jack has when necessary "betrayed his President", This season may be working on making a clarity of this. I personally feel for benefit of story we let this slide for now.. but he is thinking about it.. the unraveling of this thread is going to need to confront the issue presented and is likely to do so head on. 7 hours left.

Will Jack be forced to make a choice that goes against president Taylor based on his deeper motivations? What are his motivations? Personal vs. Greater good and does he operate from a definable balance between the two? Will we be given a view of Jack that redetermines his true ideal? Is jack really recovered from the months of torture of his China Imprisonment? Is Jack the true force of truth for his country? Does Jack act from a core law that transcends yet forms the basis for freedom, peace and independence for the entirety of the world?

I believe these are a few of the questions that would need to be resolved in the following 7 hours of the show to be completely closed on a final note of authentic resolution to me.

Extra Credit:

End the series with the cover stories as they unfold in real time on the news with some footage of Jack saying some definitive statement that sum up his place in our world, perhaps it could be watched by his daughter from her television and have a triple layer of meaning for to her specifically and Renee optionally of his promise to be a grandfather, yet I want the world to know to some extent that they have been saved by this Man and to what degree perhaps a media frenzy of who he is could be the backdrop for the set and setting for the coming movie.

TheJackSack said...

@Ozogo Meticulate-- First, thank you for your thoughtful commentary, you've made some excellent points that are worth discussion.

The moral quandary that Taylor faced makes you wonder whether or not she made the correct choice. Certainly she should not hand over Hassan simply because the terrorists demand it, but a nuclear attack in NYC would not only kill her, millions of NYers but also various heads of state visiting the UN. This attack could decapitate the political leadership of the world's major powers.

Hassan understood this and made the morally correct choice. Taylor made a moral choice herself, but was it the right one? I have to say, I think Taylor, while showing strength, made a weakly-reasoned decision.

What should she have done? She should have spoken with Hassan and asked him if he would be willing to turn himself over to Samir. If Hassan refused, then she would be obligated to honor that decision, but at least there's more legitimacy to that process. Instead, Taylor chose for Hassan what to do.

No, it's not an easy question to consider. I feel like I can change direction on this question given a good counter argument. But my instinct is that Jack (deep down) disagreed with Taylor but out of his loyalty to her as a friend and as his president, he could not disobey her directions.

John Michael Davis said...

You know that makes me think about how well they did this. Because they did offer her the avenue of plausable denieablilty.. and it is amazing that they have the opposition players providing it, it makes you wonder if President Taylor's Obsession may turn her to a Villain in a sort of interesting way. Look what happens in her family, her daughter had to learn it from somewhere. She is highly motivated by her legacy and it might be in the way of the nations best interest for the circumstance of the moment. In the next few hours she is going to have to come to terms with that. Good point He had the right to make the choice to give himself in or not. They couldn't of held him against his own free will, "you mean he would have come freely".. Amazing, Taylor infringed on his rights as a Sovereignty by withholding that information from him. It puts into question the don't give into terrorist policy that we always cling too, so very good way to hide something plot wise because our knee jerk reaction is to side with that option every time. I think you have pointed out that this time it was the wrong choice. Question is: is it going to lead to anything dramatic for that character or is it just a unintentional lead consequence of good writing. It sure is to tightly drawn not to leave open the door of possible expectation in consideration of what may be next to happen right?

Thanks for your continuation to my comment - this is great fun!

B said...

*Respond por favor if you can*

Okay. Can I please just take a moment to be a girl and a wimp and a little kid all at the same time, to ask an unpleasant question that's suddenly making me feel scared? Adam, & all the rest of you guys, I know you're not psychic - but you also blow me away with your insights on a regular basis. And you know how it is when you're scared and you need answers - like a little kid, you assume everyone knows more than you and so you'll listen to anyone.

So what I'm asking is this: Is Renee going to die? Like, very very soon?

Two months ago I didn't care; but the d@mn show has gone and sucked me in and made me care. (What an idiot - 1st rule of 24: don't get attached to anyone because they will die. Just watch it for the explosions. I mean, that's so basic they don't even teach it in 24-101. They assume it goes without saying, unless you're a complete thick-skulled moron.) Point is, now that I care & all, I just want to get it over with. Like a bandaid. If very bad things are about to happen, please tell me now so I don't have to delay the inevitable. Gracias.

(Ef. You think this is bad, you should hear the way I talk about old people. Criminy, I'm a terrible person...I hope karma doesn't actually exist. Fingers crossed! :) )

Brian Pelts said...

@Brittany - I'm not gonna lie, I thought Renee was gonna get plugged by Inconspicuous Blond Wig Chick at the end of this week's episode. Like I said a couple of weeks ago, I've been trained by Joss Whedon to expect anyone to die at any given time, often in the most meaningless and pointless ways.

B said...

Sigh. So basically, it's time to toughen up and consider Renee a walking corpse. Because the poor thing's probably not going to make it past sundown. (Poor kid. Suicidal people shouldn't get killed the day after they finally decide they wanna live. I mean, the layers of irony in that. It should be a rule of the universe or something.)
Oh well....switch turned, I don't care anymore.
(And here I was operating under the naive delusion that they'd actually let Jack walk away happy at the end of it all. Rookie mistake.)

Thanks, Brian, for ripping off the bandaid.

Andre Davis said...

Since this is the last season we can expect this plot to unfold from Season 7 where we saw the shadowy figures that were working with Alan Wilson and Jonas Hodges. Don't be toooo surprised if that also translates to Tony Almeida making an appearance. Tony may have some valuable information that he isn't aware of. It is hard to believe that in the final season they wouldn't have Tony pop up somewhere. I mean let's be candid 24 could have easily been DEAD after a miserable season 6 but Tony almost single-handedly made it one of, if not the best season. He was incredible and R.I.P. Bill Buchanan what a leader. I wish he was a real person. He would make me feel safer. I hope we really have people in the government like him working for us.

Anonymous said...

Renee being killed could be used as a launch for the movie. I would be surprised if the end of this season does not act as a springboard for the movie.

I would not think they would kill Renee by some random bad person shooting her. I would imagine that it would involve some sort of sacrifice where she dies to save Jack or the President or someone important (maybe Chloe?).

There would need to be some redemption in her character and then she sacrifices herself. I would actually think that's a good way to go.

singingdoll said...

Great recap as usual, Adam (i talked to you on twitter about some of this).

I really thought Arlo was in for it. Kudos to the writers for not playing the obvious death sentence card!

Does The Jack Sack have a Facebook page??

Anonymous said...

From the spoilers out there it looks like Jack and Renee have sex and then she dies.

Two different men in one day. Renee gets around.

TheJackSack said...

@Ozogo- all of these issues would make for excellent storytelling. Unfortunately, even with 24 hours at their disposal, television requires a brief sort of treatment on the notions you've raised. I wish it were otherwise, some shows (THE WIRE, for one) know how to strike that balance well, but the general rule is that network TV seeks instant gratification.

@Brittany, Pelty, Andre, singingdoll, and Anonymous:

Will Renee die? I honestly do not know. I've read that Exec. Producer Howard Gordon promises a very dark ending to the series. Killing Renee would certainly set that off, but from a storytelling point-of-view, Renee has a lot more to offer the writers alive than dead. So, my prediction is that she lives, at least until the very end of the season.

Killing her off now could be deemed a stunt, depending on how it moves the story forward. I am very skeptical of that choice in general. In any case, I do expect something "huge" to happen, if not Renee being killed, than some other important character (how many are left now?!?!?).

And Anon- there's a difference between having sex and making love. Bauer gets the lovin' from Renee.

singingdoll said...

You never answered my question, Adam -- is The Jack Sack on Facebook? I want to become a fan of The Jack Sack :)

TheJackSack said...

Ack, I'm sorry, singingdoll! I knew there was something I forgot today!

Ummm, I am not on Facebook in any form. I have nothing against the site, I just never got into it. I can barely manage this blog and a twitter account as it is. I know there's some person out there who has taken on my blog's identity for Facebook purposes, but his unfunny ass couldn't be fooling anybody. :)

B said...

@Brian, Anonymous#1, Anonymous#2, & Adam (/anyone else I missed) -
I think I've decided how I feel about this whole "death" factor. (But the question is, can I put it down in coherent writing - f*ck, where are those d@mn ADD pills when I need them?)

Part of 24's draw has always been its deviation from the standard television mold. When it first hit the airwaves it was fresh, original, unlike anything else we'd ever seen. But over time it's gone and choked off its originality by adhering far too strictly to its own rules. Now that it's almost over I would sincerely hope that they don't let the audiences down by playing like a broken record for the last 8 hours. And how would the death(s) of Renee and/or other important characters play like a broken record? Well, let's take a look at the pattern:

Jack goes through hell to save the world, Jack's love interest (or another close relationship) is destroyed in the action, Jack blames himself and hates the world, Jack takes some time off to "be broken," Jack recovers enough to save the world yet again. Repeat.

You know what this pattern is starting to sound like to me? Boring. Been there, done that. Don't insult the loyal followers by going there again. Because at this point we can almost predict the results.
Scenario#1: Renee gets capped, Jack's all "Augh!!! It's all my fault, I'm so cursed, blah blah blah!" and then he slinks off into the darkness to brood and perhaps develop an addiction for a few years, until the country comes knocking again and shocker, he's able to shove all his personal demons under the rug for another 24 (or 2 big screen) hours of world-saving ass-kicking.
But you know what? We've seen that before.
Scenario#2: Renee doesn't die, and then to be honest I have no idea how Jack and his story progress (well, other than supposedly kicking some more world-saving ass in Europe).

24 aims to shock and awe. When the first round of "HOT DANG, did they just really go there?! Did they really kill off a major character as casually as some nameless redshirt???" hit, then yeah, it was shocking. But at this point, to kill any more major characters just for the hell of it - I feel - would be lazy, uncreative, and wussy writing. Don't get me wrong, the writers deserve major credit where credit is due. They've thrilled and impressed through many seasons of Bauer Power. But at this point I feel like I just wanna tell them to grow a pair and try something new.

The same goes for the potential deaths of Chloe, the president, Kim, or any other major characters. Unoriginal cop-out, in my opinion. (But God love 'em anyway...since I can't end on a note that bashes the writers, however hypothetically.)

Brian Pelts said...

I agree that killing established characters at this point has lost a lot of its power from overuse, but I can't help if wonder if they're thinking about trimming the roster (so to speak). As we've learned from this season, it's hard to juggle all these characters and their unique plotlines over a 24-episode season. A 2-hour movie? Forget about it. I stand by my belief that Renee is going to be the dead girlfriend that launches Jean-Claude Van Damme's kickboxing fury, so to speak. And again, I hope I'm wrong. PLEASE PROVE ME WRONG, WRITERS.

J. Todd Hatcher said...

Wow, 48 comments.

Yeah, as much as I REALLY wish they wouldn't cap off Renee, I'm pretty sure the cute freckles on her face were spelling out "DEAD MEAT LOL" last week. Especially during that scene with President Taylor.

On the upside, we'd get Jack in his most angsty, balls out, jugular chomping "I KEEL YOU" form for the remainder of the show.

But I'm with Pelts, I'd like to get proven wrong.

B said...
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