24 returned tonight with an epic two-hour double episode, full of
Bauer-enhanced action. I jotted down some thoughts as the episode went along. The following is what transpired.
1PM-2PM
- Having Powers Boothe involved in this season of 24 is a great thing. I hope they give him some good stuff to do.
- I thought Rocket Romano (or Graem Bauer, if you so prefer) was going to be in it for the long haul this season. I'm glad he isn't.
- Chloe is going to be freaking out this episode with Morris kidnapped.
- Chloe just had to relinquish her position to Milo. CTU without Chloe? It's just not the same.
- Morris mentally owns McCarthy and his way-too-hot-for-him wife. I think we're going to enjoy Morris's time being captured. Nothing like a good smartass to piss off some terrorists.
- Ah, the old “stop the car under the freeway underpass to switch cars and elude a helicopter” trick. If I had a nickel for every time I've had to do that...
- And yes, Jack Bauer did just land a helicopter on top of two semis. Bauer's badass-ity knows no bounds.
- Why are you yelling at Milo, Jack? He's done nothing wrong.
- I think Fayed is just going to shoot McCarthy. That'll both save him seven mill, and scare Morris.
- Or not. Well done, hot wife.
- Or not. She just wants the money.
- The Bad Guy from Ghostbusters 2 sucks. Why do all the Presidents on 24 hire weasels? How dare he question the wisdom of a Palmer?
- Oh, so Chad Lowe is a bad guy. Again, I don't understand how many shady characters infiltrate the White House's circle of trust.
- Nice detail on Morris's armpit stains.
- A weak attempt by Morris, claiming he' not the engineer. That charade stopped after a few punches in the head.
- Fayed's torture method (baseball bat to the abdomen) is not as high-tech as CTU's, but I'm guessing they're almost as effective.
- And Chloe's back. Good timeout, O'Brian.
- I have a feeling that Jack and CTU won't be apprehending Fayed at his apartment. Not yet.
- The acting difference between Assad and President Palmer is jarring. Nothing against DB Woodside, but he's got nothing on Assad.
- From baseball bats to dunking his head into water to....power drill through the shoulder. That really sucks, Morris. I hope that wasn't his throwing arm.
- Bad karma, hot wife.
- I'm guessing, right now, that Morris regrets coming back to CTU.
- The fake fire drill was pretty clever. I wouldn't have thought of it. That's why I'm not Jack Bauer.
- Where could Fayed have possibly gone?
- “CTU, this is Bauer. We have a problem.” The problem, you ask? Fayed left an armed nuke in the apartment.
- After the commercial, we learn that the nuke will be detonating in three minutes. Chloe has to verbally walk Jack through a manual disarming of the nuke. Uh, pretty tense stuff.
- Jack doesn't disarm and the nuke goes off, killing all the main characters.
- Not really, but that would have been pretty crazy, right?
- Morris made Fayed something that allows him to detonate any of his remaining nukes from anywhere.
- My friends think that Morris should've been willing to die for his country. I probably agree, but they think he wouldn't sacrifice himself because he's British (“Turncoat Morris”). First, I don't even think Morris is British, and I'm also not of the belief that English are any less willing to die for a good cause. Maybe they are. I'm no scientist.
This marks the end of the first hour of
24 tonight. That first hour was great. Really a classic, ridiculous, action-packed episode. Onward to 2:00 PM.
2PM-3PM
- I think this is our first encounter with Fayed's boss. He;s Russian, it seems. Grevedenko. That may not be the correct spelling.
- CTU finds a partial e-mail and now they know about Gredenko.
- Morris looks very angry with himself.
- Jack Bauer makes his first (and less than triumphant) return to CTU: Los Angeles.
- Season 10 Plot Idea: Terrorists try to ruin Jack and Chloe's wedding.
- Phillip Bauer has gone down to the morgue to, apparently, steal his dead son's wallet. Never underestimate a man's desire for petty cash.
- Phillip, don't try and guilt trip your son about your other son's death. Is Phillip going to end up being the alpha dog on the terrorist side this season? I'm guessing yes.
- How do you treat the common “hole in the shoulder” that Morris has contracted?
- Chloe, just a word: Trying to cheer up a man who got beaten with a baseball bat, had a hole drilled in his shoulder by a power drill and then made it possible for a crazy terrorist to kill thousands of people with a push of the button is a lost cause.
- Interesting: Gredenko and Phillip Bauer are enemies. Phillip wants him dead, and soon.
- Bill Buchanan tries to reprimand Jack for his conduct while interrogating his brother.
- Jack wants Buchanan to go ahead with the internal affairs investigation on Jack's killing of his brother. Even though he didn't kill him. By the end of the season, I'm sure the truth will come forward. It always does.
- Powers Boothe calls Palmer to try and convince him to reconsider the internment plan. Good luck.
- Chad Lowe and Peter MacNicol meet secretly in some underground lair (or a utility closet). They talk about taking definitive action. I still don't know what they're talking about.
- Are they talking about killing Palmer?
- Marilyn Bauer is pretty hot.
- Marilyn's got some info. She knows where some Russians live, which may lead them to Gredenko.
- Jack Bauer, a hypothetical for you. You have a choice between Chloe O'Brian, Audrey Raines, and Marilyn Bauer. Who do you choose?
- Phillip is stealing little Josh Bauer. I'm guessing he'll be used as bait.
- And it happens much faster than I thought it would've. Phillip actually calls Marilyn, tells her that he killed Graem and that if she doesn't go to a different house he will kill Josh. Phillip, you dog.
- C'mon, Marilyn. Tell Jack the truth. He can make everything better.
- Chloe's pep talk with Morris works; he's back out on the floor. There's more than enough time for you to be a hero tonight.
- Of course, there was a bomb in the house that Marilyn sent Jack to. It was like the scene in Speed where Jeff Daniels died, except Jack is a little more agile than Mr. Daniels.
- Milo escapes with Marilyn, strategically blowing up his van with a grenade. Well played, Milo.
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer