This week, on 24...
Ah, here's a new and novel way to handle exposition. Have the disembodied voice of the "hazard warning recording" explain that gas is loose and the "safe areas" are X and Y...
But my question is, did somebody actually stop in the middle of the crisis long enough to record this message? That seems unlikely. Was it some poor bastard's job to come in one day and read "hazard warning recordings" for every conceivable emergency? "Alright... take three was good. We've got all the sarin gas variations. Now lets move on to move onto syntox gas. Let's start with area 1 only locked down..." (That reminds me of the Saturday Night Live sketch where Dana Carvey plays Tom Brokaw trying to prepare for a vacation by pre-recording dozens of ways Gerald Ford could die while he's away.)
"This is all my fault," says Lynn. No name redshirt guy tears into him. We all agree with no name redshirt guy.
Tony pulls a Jack and knocks a "friendly" unconscious.
"My name is Tony Almeida. You killed my wife. Prepare to die."
Time to introduce a new paper-pushing, effectiveness-obstructing jerk of a boss into the mix. Welcome, Ms. Hayes... you are part of a proud tradition.
One of the most entertaining moments of any 24 episode is when some poor bastard tries to butt heads with Jack Bauer, having no idea what he/she is getting into. Congratulations, Barry Landes... you are part of a proud tradition.
Man, the people who planned the layout at CTU really blew it. No gas masks in the areas one is actually able to secure. No ability to recycle the air vents remotely from those areas either. Yup... it's a government operation.
The hoodie's up, and Ghetto Jack is in the hizz-ouse!
The whole "I'll hold my breath" thing might be more than a little hokey, but I swear this is the very best use of the "real time" schtick this show has had in years... maybe ever.
If it's any consolation to anyone, the person who (according to Chloe) improperly filed the security upgrade that was made to the vents system two years ago is quite possibly dead now.
No name redshirt guy now gets a name -- Harry Swinton. Just in time to die. Poor guy needed to watch more Star Trek. Or Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Either way, a wardrobe change probably could have saved his life.
Kim asks Chloe: "Did you have contact with my dad while he was gone?" She should watch the special features disc on the 24 Season Four DVD box set.
Kim then asks Chloe: "How are you doing?" Anytime someone asks Chloe that quesiton, you can guarantee hilarity will ensue.
Harry's on the phone with his daughter now. Poor guy. We hardly knew ya. We didn't know ya.
Lynn pulls a George Mason and sacrifices himself to save others. Congratulations, Mr. McGill... you are part of a proud tradition.
Okay, now I have to stop for a moment and confess that I've always liked Elisha Cuthbert on 24. On those rare occasions when they give her something good to play, she's perfect -- one of the best actors on the show. Unfortunately, the writers have done horrible damage to her character over the years, burdening her with laughably awful plot twists. I bring this up now because I think it's an incredible credit to her that I didn't immediately bust up laughing when she delivered the line: "I don't want to be around you. Every time I am, something horrible happens and people die." Okay, so I'm definitely laughing at it now, but in the moment, I was totally with her.
Ah, President Logan. You gonna cry? You gonna squirt some?
Oh, right! There are terrorists on this show! And they're calling some scantily clad woman making a hell of a first impression on the audience. Damn good thing these terrorists have made quality use of these last 55-or-so minutes of CTU being out of commission by uh... I guess, looking up this woman's phone number in their "Official Terrorist Agent Rolodex."
Strange Homeland Security Man man has managed to use his laptop in the back seat of an SUV to reformat CTU's main server already? So, you can rewrite their server from a moving car miles away, but you can't turn on the air conditioner from the situation room inside the building? Wow.
And Tony pulls another Jack and blindsides this Burke guy. You'd think he'd be more careful around Tony after he'd pointed a gun at him and everything. I guess that's why Burke is the "torture guy" and not a field agent.
Holy crap! Robocop's back up and at 'em!
Holy crap! This is not a good week to be a character on television named Tony! (Hey, see what I did there, Sopranos fans?)
Wow. As I feel obliged to point out every now and then, I kid because I love. I actually totally loved this episode. I thought it was the best of the season so far. And rather remarkable, that, considering there was almost no "action" in it. It reminded me a bit of the killer season two episode (probably the best one of the series) about the detonation of the nuke -- tons of emotional impact.
"Dammit!"
5 comments:
I liked the episode too. Although your "proud traditions" are well said, and that makes me think it was boring now, but it wasn't when I was watching it. I can't figure out why everybody that dies to this gas dies face down burbling on the floor. I laughed when Kim called herself a disaster rod. I can't believe somebody asked Chloe how she felt.
Yeah, I agree with you. I wondered as I was typing that "proud tradition" stuff... "hmm... maybe this episode wasn't so great, because they've played a lot of these beats before."
But ultimately, I decided to stick with the feelings I felt as I was watching the episode, which was that I really, really enjoyed it.
did you see the previews for the game?
Lynn didn't much deserve the hero's death, but at least he went out twitching painfully. (we didn't ask for this mr. frodo...) I won't question the science of the gas too deeply since it would ruin the "realism" of the show, but at least Jack mentioned it *could* seep through his skin after a while. I was trying to hold my breath along with Jack, but busted out laughing when Kim asked Chloe how she was doing.
it's funny how Kim almost broke the forth wall, and how Jack almost did it again at the end when he told Barry to get Kim outta town as fast a possible. can we say "martial law"? I'd be happy if she escaped, but I'm not too sure her day is over...
where did the gas go when they got rid of it? outside? oh right, I wasn't going to do that :-P
Robocop is a worthy opponent for Jack. that guy's unstoppable! from coma to escape in a few minutes. and we are sure Tony is gunna pull through since there were clock beeps at the end.
the mole
thegirard -- Seen the previews? I already BOUGHT the game. :-) I'm not very far into it yet, though.
the mole -- I had the same questions about whether Kim's long day was over already. I could see it go either way, but I guess I think I'm leaning toward her being done for the day. I don't recall there being any box near the end with her and the good doctor in their car driving away.
But as for Tony... well, I was a bit in denial at first myself, but when you go back and watch it a second time, Kiefer's reaction seems too big for it to be anything less than, "yup, a character who has been there literally from day one is now dead." Which makes sense... I don't think Tony's plan was to inject Henderson with still more torture juice... I think he'd prepped a syringe of something more fatal.
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