24 Season 5: Episode 10 Recap(Hour 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.)

WARNING: The following post may, and probably will, contain spoilers.

Well, I must say that tonight’s episode was probably the best of the season... and not a moment too soon. There is still a load of horse-pucky going on, but all in all, I was surprised with the outcome and appreciated the twists.

The Russian President’s Motorcade

• The Good: It’s about time we have a car ride in Los Angeles takes more than 10 minutes! Granted, it was just for the sake of a silly plot point, but a LOT more realistic than usual.
• The Bad: How can the press be surprised that the terrorists knew about the route of the motorcade? It was all over the news when it left! It probably wouldn’t take much for some very resourceful terrorists to figure something like that out.
• The Ugly: First off, it’s nearly rush hour... where’s the traffic? Secondly, it’s nearly rush hour, where are all of the people downtown? Third, would the Russian President really be taking a motorcade and not a helicopter? Because I’m pretty damn sure they arrived to the summit by helicopter.

CTU Isn’t Lynn’s Baby Anymore

• The Good: I liked the coup de tat, but I liked it better when I saw it on Crimson Tide.
• The Bad: The ol’ "secret computer in the back of CTU that isn’t traceable," trick. Right. Or how about Lynn not taking the advice of his advisors? Is he trying to take a page out of President Logan’s book? Oh, wait, Logan doesn’t have ANY advisors.
• The Ugly: Lynn flying off the handle and firing everyone in his path. Doesn’t he know that Edgar and Chloe are the only computer people he has? Also, the use of the word "real-time," again. We know... the show is in real-time!

President Logan and Mrs. Looney Tunes

• The Good: The absurdity of the whole idea that Logan and his wife are arguing about killing the Russian President.
• The Bad: Uhhh, what? Praying? Is it just me, or did this seem VERY out of context for any season of 24?
• The Ugly: The fact that they can’t get off of this weak President story-line.

Christopher Henderson, the Ex-Boss

• The Good: Did I hear Nina’s name??? And I was totally duped into thinking that he was really helping Jack. Nice.
• The Bad: Weird, a former director of CTU that lost his job? Never heard that one.
• The Ugly: How often do corporate Vice Presidents wait behind their door with a tazer-gun?

Coming up next week... two hours and the return of Kim Bauer and Tony!!! Ugh.

Where’s Kim and Tony? Plus other don’t-forget-these-story-lines!

WARNING: The following post may, and probably will, contain spoilers.

There’s nothing quite like being teased and prodded by the 24 plot-twisters over the course of a season. What’s worse is being teased and prodded for the first half. Tonight will be the tenth episode of the season and we’ve been dealing with the same story-lines for quite a while now, but it’s important to remember that we’re going to get a few more in the last 15 hours of the show.

The Return of Kim Bauer
In the most action that Kim has seen in almost two seasons, I think we’ve heard her name now approximately 13 times. We all knew the writers were just warming us up for her re-appearance. But how will she appear? Let’s see... how about she’s being held hostage by someone Jack is trying to kill. Maybe it’s the mountain lion that didn’t quite finish her off in season two.

Tony Finally Gets Out of Surgery, or Whatever
Waaaaaaaay back in episode one, Tony was taken to CTU’s medical wing (the one they have no reason to have except for plot twists). Since then, we’ve seen him in one episode – but he was still knocked out. You know he’s going to wake up soon, and give Jack a "key" bit of information. If so much trouble was went through to kill Palmer and Michelle, then why didn’t the assassin kill Tony when he had infiltrated CTU to kill Jack?

Diane and Derek, the Dynamic Duo
Well, these two just fell off the face of the Earth faster than anyone in 24 history. Which should send us a big signal. There was also a moment a few episodes back where CTU questioned how well Diane knew Jack (Frank). I think we’re being set up for yet another mole-story. Don’t count these two out just yet.

Who’s Afraid of the Spenser Wolff
In the tried-and-true mole-within-CTU storyline, Spenser actually came out sort of clean. Yes, he did bad things, but he thought he was being patriotic. Or was he? He’s still being held in CTU and not ushered of to some maximum security, so there must be some plot-twist that will involve him.

Chloe and Edger: The Odd Couple
How could we forget about the glaringly obvious love story that’s about to come to fruition? No, not Jack and Audrey (again). No, not Palmer and Sherry (reunited in the afterlife). We’re talkin’ Chloe and Edgar. Blech. My bet, one of them dies in the other’s arms by seasons end.

Can We Bring Back Nina, or Maybe Mandy
Two of 24’s best villains have been kept on the sideline so far this year. Here’s to hoping they’ll be brought back at some point.

24 Season 5: Episode 9 Recap(Hour 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.)

WARNING: The following post may, and probably will, contain spoilers.

Looks like more and more people are becoming aggravated that I take time to write this blog. Again, let me re-state why I do this... 24 was a good show... when it first started. Great concept. Great plot. But somewhere along the line, more and more people got turned onto 24 and that’s when the plots, writing, etc. started to slip. It’s still a fun show, don’t get me wrong, but for a show that’s supposed to be based in reality, it falls short in way too many areas to fulfill that goal. For example...

Who’s The Bad Guy Now?
In, yet again, another over-used story-line, we viewers are taken on a wild goose chase to really figure out who the bad guy is. Once again, the bad guy we’ve been following for the past four episodes (in the least), was killed and another took his place. This one talks directly to President Logan, though, so maybe he’s the top dog. But I doubt it. Any bets on how many more "bosses" we get through this season?

CTU Needs An Overhaul
This is the Counter Terrorism Unit everyone, the last line of defense between America and terrorists... that’s why there’s been five different directors of CTU in five different seasons. That’s why they’re in meetings all day long during a major crisis. That’s why there’s only five people working at computers. That’s why it only takes one person to put Jack into custody (yet another over-used story-line) and bring him in.

Can you see where I’m going with this? This is a government agency and it’s no where near proficient. Just 18 months ago, they fake an agent’s death. Now he’s back and is a rogue agent operating under his own terms. There’s a Department of Defense agent doing whatever she wants in CTU, i.e., breaking protocol. Other agents break protocol whenever and however they want. I think that’s called treason and probably wouldn’t work out so well in the real world.

Think about it, no government outfit would stay in operation if this happened in real life. Hell, the director of FEMA was fired because he was writing silly emails during the aftermath of Katrina.

One more thing, how in hell did Lynn get back into CTU when his key card was stolen by his sister’s duggie boyfriend? Nevermind, don’t question that, we’re not supposed to think.

In The News
First off, I find it very weird that the terrorists are always watching the national news. Secondly, on a day where not only one, but two, terrorist activities (the nerve gas mall incident and, remember, the hijacking of an airport) have taken place, the news figures they will cover the boring peace treaty signing. Riiiiight. In reality, we cover the VP shooting a friend rather than Bush pimping alternative energy. Let me ask you this, would there really be "live" footage of a foreign leader leaving a summit? Answer, no.

Impeach Him Already
I’m growing tired of ragging on the "weak" Presidential figure in the show. Yes, we get it, he’s not a strong President like Palmer was. In the real world, no one this weak would ever get elected. And if he did, somehow, get elected, then his wife would’ve been out the door a LONG time ago. She’s a nut job.

What’s worse, the President doesn’t use his cabinet or staff. I mean, how could he, they’re not even in California with him. He hasn’t contacted a single one in D.C. (if that’s where they are) and he seems pretty content to make US-threatening decisions with just his main advisor and the (crazy) First Lady. No way in hell this works, especially on a day where his Chief of Staff KILLS HIMSELF! There’d be some major investigations going on.

That’s just a small sampling of a much larger list of errors on the show. I won’t even get into the nitpicky stuff, like how cell phones don’t get stolen by bums from a pay phone on an old abandoned street. Or how the only people that die on the show are the ones with the most important information. Or why all terrorists have huge "databases" of information at their disposal. Or how Jack can shoot down a helicopter with a 9MM... see where I’m going?

24 could be so much better, but it has to be based more in reality – things that can really happen. Stop hanging things over our head like we’re too stupid to know what’s going on. Write a better plot, make things real.

Several people have written in and said "who cares if it’s believable?" Huh? Seriously? I wouldn’t, if Jack was supposed to be some super-hero that could fly. But that’s not the case here. This is supposed to be believable. That’s why ER (used to be) and Grey’s Anatomy are so popular, because they’re realistic. That’s why The West Wing is believable, because it’s realistic. That’s why no one cared if The X-Files was believable, because it didn’t have to be realistic. Would anybody be surprised if Jack saved someone by performing heart surgery with his tongue? No... because apparently it’s not supposed to be believable.

And for the record, I’m not jealous of the creators of this show. The creators are awesome and made a truly unique concept. If anything, I commend them for such a cool idea. I never said I could write better than them, nor do I think I could. I just want a better show, is that too much to ask for?

24 Season 5: Episode 8 Recap(Hour 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.)

WARNING: The following post may, and probably will, contain spoilers.

We’re now eight episodes into the season and nothing has really happened. Here are my thoughts for this week.

Fox Hopes...

• ... that no one remembers last week’s episode when the terrorists wanted Rossler to set the place for the meeting, not the other way around.
• ... that no one questions why this country is being ran by the President, his wife and the chief of staff... and no one else.
• ... no one, even the people in the show, notice Jack’s ear piece – which is amazingly gone in all shots until they “remind” us that it’s there.
• ... that it’s really THAT simple of a task for Chloe to type on her keyboard for a few seconds and then exclaim, “I just got into the mall’s video survelence server.”
• ... someone can actually fit a nerve gas canister into a toolbox.
• ... that no one notices that all it took to stop the nerve gas was to rip some wires.
• ... that no one questions why the wires were already ripped when the terrorist broke into that car.
• ... I’ll stop writing this blog.

Why...

• ... is Jack always right? Don’t you tire of his way being the only way?
• ... doesn’t CTU grab whatever satellite images they need to trace where the blue van came from? In the past, CTU tracks vehicles extensively, how is this any different?
• ... must Fox reuse the President Puppet storyline every week? WE GET IT ALREADY!
• ... can’t CTU finally get rid of their cliche black SUVs?
• ... can’t I get good cell phone reception like the guys on 24? I go to the back of target and I can barely talk to anyone.
• ... do terrorists insist on being next to people when shooting them? A shot from several feet away is just as effective as one a foot away.
• ... did Fox have to insinuate that only women go to the mall?
• ... do I watch this show?

How Can...

• ... Lynn just walk into CTU without anyone noticing his busted ass lip (in what is this year’s worst side storyline – are these limited to directors of CTU?)
• ... the timing on this show get any worse? It takes the First Lady over a half hour to write a press release, and only five minutes for Mike.
• ... the President NOT be reached on the phone for something as important as nerve gas being released in a public place?
• ... the one security guy watching surveillance NOT know that someone just walked in behind him?
• ... you not laugh when the terrorist said, “I’m going to put you on speakerphone?”
• ... I make it through another 16 episodes?

24 Season 5: Episode 7 Recap(Hour 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.)

WARNING: The following post may, and probably will, contain spoilers.

Coming Soon to a Best Buy Near You!
Each year, the list of innovative and impressive software at CTU grows. In just one episode, we get the wonderful workings of:

• Super Phone Trace 2.4: This software not only picks up and records any phone call CTU might want (because it’s easy to pinpoint almost any phone call), but then it does voice recognition, too. Question... if that software did that, why did Jack and Curtis have to infiltrate the building to catch that dude? Couldn’t they have just listened to all of the phone calls?
• Over-Used Technology Number One: Helicopter-proof cell phones.
• Over-Used Technology Number Two: LA-based teleportation
• Hacker Skills: It took Spencer two minutes, if that, to hack into the system. If you can’t remember who Spencer is, he’s the one that’s currently in trouble for being the CTU mole... but there was NO ONE else who could hack into this ultra mega secure system. If he’s so good, then why can he only knock cameras out for 60 seconds? Why not cut the power to the entire building?
• Candy People Tracking: We’ve seen this software already this year... but again I ask, how do you track a single person AND know who they are? Plus, why do they look like green skittles?

All (two of) the President’s Men
Ah, there’s nothing like trying to send your crazy wife to the nut-house that’ll bring your marriage back together. Not only that, but since you’re missing the Chief of Staff (because he killed himself, since this mega-treasonist person was left in a room by himself... but you know, they’re way understaffed... one more thing, would a sprinkler hold that weight?), why not make her your chief advisor over Mike? Done. Idiot viewer alert!!! “Mike, are you implying a cover-up?”

Trumped Tower
The super secure, proprietary software, tower that Spencer hacked into (in two minutes) was staffed with three guards. Three. And one of them gave us the best acting on 24 all season... too bad Jack had to give him a cheap shot in the elevator. In previous season’s, it took a pardon from the President. Now, it only takes one from the Attorney General, and again it takes a matter of two minutes to get one. Uh-huh.

The “15 year-old”
Jack’s motto for the past four seasons has been, “I don’t trust anyone.” Except this “15 year-old” gal that he found in the tower. In about four, or five, moments where I thought was going to kiss this girl, I figured something very important out... SHE HAS THE CHIP INSIDE HER!!! Or not. If you had been missing for 19 months, would you still be in the same area as the man who kidnapped you? And there’s no way the agents would “hold their fire,” if she was shooting a gun... she’d be dead, too.

The Chop Shoppe
What a find! Someone who can cut into the canisters for you (but not TOO far, or you’ll all die)! And he’s quick, too. Well, by quick I mean he takes 20 minutes cutting the first one open, but then finishes the other 20+ canisters in five minutes. Not too shabby. Plus he’s stupid, as if he’s going to live.

Kim Where Art Thou?
So are you still wondering if Kim is coming back or not? Her name was said like 14 times tonight. And now Audrey has to be the one who calls her. Just let Jack do it, because that’s what we need... another side story... like the evil druggie sister! Yeah, that’s a good one!

Next Week!
Jack catches a break and becomes a bad guy once again! Will he take up heroin again? Will the terrorist never learn who Jack is, even though he probably saw him at the airport? Will Kim run around in a tight shirt? Who cares!!!