24: The President Smarm vortex

April 29th, 2010 | by | 24, fox, jack bauer, jericho, tv shows

Apr
29

So, I wasn’t gonna write about 24 this week. Not because of anything with the show, but because I have been cranky, distracted and have got a to-do list a mile long before I move next week. But you what? 24 is almost over, and how many chances will I get to write about one of my favorite all time shows? So here we go with hour 10am – 11am.

I hate to nitpick the show, but those helicopters got in the air and caught up to Jack pretty fast, eh? I do love how Jack steals a heli just to fly over the river and land on a building in Manhattan. Shortest.hijack.ever.

I was worried that Chloe being in charge would put a wedge between her and Jack, and I am fairly desperate to see that friendship continue, seeing that Jack has almost no one to trust anymore. I was sure, for drama’s sake, they would have Jack be betrayed by her. Thank goodness they played it like they did, with Jack being wise to the trap, and not blaming her for doing her job.

Chloe is doing her job well, even though she still used a little of her tech-fu to get the location of the actual safehouse off of DB Sweeney’s phone so Cole had the info for later. (Hi DB!! I see playing an evil head of a private security firm on Jericho has stuck with you, even though on 24 you had a mustache instead of a goatee).

So Jack does what he does best, takes down a bunch of highly trained agents, and easily convinces Cole to go with him to expose the Russians and get Dana and whatever. Good. I wanted this whole season to be Jack and Cole together, a la Jack and Chase in the virus season. I will take them together for the last few hours.

The most unusual thing for me this episode, is my interest in what was going on with the Presidents Taylor and Logan. For me, the White House portion of the show has always been the weakest and/or most annoying bits. But put together Cherry Jones and Greg Itzin, and we get TV gold. Logan is one of the best characters ever on this show, and to have him back to his evilly goodness, and bending and warping a President who has such strong convictions is great fun to watch. Totally tragic to see it happen to her, and it is gonna get messy, and we may have lost our lovely and awesome Ethan in the process, but I can’t wait to see what they do with all of it. Cherry is totally earning that Emmy she won last year.

Michael Madsen showed up this week, perfectly cast too, as a shady, old friend of Jack. I am guessing he won’t be the last of the fun guest casting for the last few episodes.

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24: Always been a fan of recycling

April 21st, 2010 | by | 24, fox, jack bauer, tv shows

Apr
21

Listen, I hear all of you, I do, retread, recycled, done to death, here we go again… but you know what, I still like it. I just can’t help myself. Jack goes off all cocksure and angry, it just gets me every.single.time.

So, along with the expected move of Jack stealing the helicopter (from his biggest fan, no less!), we got one of my favorite pairings in the history of 24. Cherry Jones and Gregory Itzin ruled every moment of their scenes together, and mad props to Bob Gunton for holding his own as the’ Good’ shoulder angel. It was interesting to see a character as idealistic as President Taylor be vulnerable to the brilliant smarmy-ness of President Logan. It was delicious to watch.

I know this may make me a bad person, but watching Jack smack Dana around was satisfying, as I wanted to do that to her for most of the season. Also, not only was she a bad spy, but she sucks at holding immunity too. Everyone gets immunity on this show! Poor, dumb, Dana.

While I was excited that Chloe was given temporary rein of CTU, I did wonder if her and her personality disorder could handle it. I thought she jumped right in and did great. I just hope it doesn’t end in another one of Jack’s BFFs having to break up with him.

All in all, even with a rickety Russian conspiracy plot bolstering the story, I am excited for the last few episodes… ever!

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24: Well, that sucks.

April 13th, 2010 | by | 24, jack bauer, tv shows

Apr
13

Yes, terrible, awful things happened tonight on 24. If you haven’t seen it yet, be advised that this post is FULL OF SPOILERS!! STOP NOW IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN IT YET!.

The Happily Ever After we all wanted...

Another heart-breaker people! I haven’t been that upset over someone’s death on 24 since Tony. But you know what? Thank god 24 has some balls once again. I was happy to have Tony back last season, for my own selfish hormonal reasons, but they just hacked at his character. The writers keep a beloved character around too long, and they degrade exponentially. The only exception being Jack and Chloe, in my opinion. Remember how awesome Nina Meyers was, until she wasn’t? Martha Logan was great, until she really, crazily wasn’t. I would rather Renee go out in a way that gives me the vengeful, driven Jack that I love.

Does Jack deserve that kind of heartache? No one does, really, but this show is based on despair. I spent season one hoping that Jack would prevail, only to be devastated by watching his wife, the mother of his child, die in his arms. Wouldn’t a happy ending be an affront to that premise? Besides, who says romantic love is the only happy ending? Jack finally has a good relationship with his daughter Kim, and an adorable grand daughter, Teri’s namesake, to bring him joy. Why isn’t that enough, at least for now?

I admit my gooey heart was rooting for a happy Jack and Renee ending, but I give the writers mad props for being brave again. Offing Hassan last week, and wrenching Jack’s heart this week, gives me some serious drama and revenge to look forward to, and that excites me.

Plus, the extra added bonus of Chloe finally, finally! getting to run CTU, as it should be.

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24: Jack has a moozure

May 1st, 2009 | by | 24

May
01

I don’t know why I’ve had a hard time this week writing about 24.

billboard

I think it’s a combination of factors:

Tony is so utterly bad (unless he’s not) – boo! Chloe’s back – yay! Jack’s dying – boo! Jack went off on Janis Gold (otherwise known as Grimace, in some circles) – yay! Larry’s still dead – sorry, best I can do is neutral on that one. I only liked him for about 5 minutes before he was killed.

I can’t believe that Jack is going to die, and I assume that Kim is giving blood or spinal fluid or stem cells or whatever it is that she needs to donate in order to save Daddy, despite what he said. At least she’s no longer with Pony Boy.

Jack cannot die from mad cow. There’s another season to go.

There’s still a chance Tony might still be good, but I doubt it.

Chloe is totally Chloe, which makes me happy. But I also hate Mary Lynn Rajskub for looking that good so soon after having a baby.

Janis must be stopped. I don’t think she’s the mole, though. Unfortunately. It would be really sweet if she were.

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