For the past few seasons, Fox has been airing special two hour episodes (really two episodes smushed together) midway through the 24 run, and overall, they're always exciting installments. Last night's supersized edition was certainly no exception. In fact, it had me on the edge of my seat, squirming with excitement, staving off the urge to update my Twitter with inane comments like "AAHHHHHH!!!" or "I CAN'T DEAL!!!!" To be fair though, I did ultimately announce that I was shaking after the episode, and why not? It was fantastic — probably more thrilling than anything in season six. This is why we love this show — intense, adrenaline-pumping suspense and action. And best of all — all of our favorite characters survived... for now.
As awesome as last night's show was, however, I do have a few minor bones to pick. First of all — what's the deal with White House security? I mean, okay, I believed it when Juma and his men swam under the Potomac and drilled their way in and bypassed the lasers, but everything after that had me scratching my head a tad. Are there no security cameras? Did no one see the gaggle of armed men roaming through the hallways, killing guards, speech writers, and perhaps the errant cleaning lady? Heck, even before The Juma Posse broke in, that one fake utilities guy straight up murdered his co-worker right in plain sight. I'm no security expert, but I imagine there are cameras in every single room, yes? And how about those guards? Shouldn't they be trained to not face one direction all the time? It's not very effective patrolling if an entire militia of angry nationalists can sneak up behind all of you and kill you.
Later on, when Juma bluffed that he had the President as his hostage, the Secret Service immediately skedaddled out of the White House like a bunch of ballerinas exiting stage right. I understood their willingness to not take bets, but when an FBI gadget thing revealed that all the bodies were huddled in one specific section of the building, I couldn't help but wonder why no stealth operatives didn't just sneak on in, get a visual on Juma, and confirm whether or not he had the Prez in his hands.
Maybe this was an idea that occurred to Larry Moss, who was busy with his own BS all evening. First he had to deal with the Chloe situation (Janice ratted her out about deleting a name off the traitor list so that Jack could torture him via Taser without interruption), then he had to deal with a snippy VP (isn't that always the case?). Life has not been easy for Moss. Plus, he's starting to get crazy jealous about Jack's influence on Renee. Not only did Larry get all snippy about Renee's perfectly fine theory that someone had killed Dubaku, but later on, when Renee got the vapors over seeing Jack's name on the White House manifest, he then essentially did a quasi Moonstruck "Snap outta it!" — except with less Italian soul and more bureaucratic myopia. Poor Larry. Always on the losing end of the situation.
And by the way, let me get back to Juma for a moment. Tony Todd, the actor who plays the evil general, does a great job as a commanding and scary villain (hey, he's Candyman. How could he not?). His threat to carve out Olivia Taylor's eyes and mouth and ears and throat was genuinely creepy and unsettling. That being said, I couldn't help thinking about the glaring continuity flaw of having him cast as the baddy. After all, avid viewers of the show will remember that Tony Todd first appeared back in season three as a detective investigating Sherry Palmer and her role in the death of that guy in the wheelchair. Oops. Well, hey, maybe there's a link. Maybe he wasn't really a detective at all. Maybe he was Juma undercover, quietly gathering data for his future terrorist attack on this country via a thorough murder investigation in Los Angeles. It all makes sense now. Never mind!
Honestly, I would love to go on and on about this episode, but I'm still quite overwhelmed. It was just so exciting — the hostage crisis, the lockdown, the torture, the Agent Aaron Pierce adventure, the Renee-on-a-boat, the Renee-off-a-boat, the Renee-with-a-shovel. I was dying. Dying I tell you! I simply can't go on.
What did you think about the episode?
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So, I just wrote a long comment with some of the reasons why I hated last night's silly, silly episode. Of course, my insights were lost when I hit "submit" and got an error message. I don't have time to retype the whole thing. Oh well.
I thought this was 2 of the best hours EVER. I believed the lax security while watching, in reality they may not really be that on top of things inside the white house versus what's going on outside. And outside security was thwarted by the method in which Juma got in. However considering the days events and the knowledge that another attack was imminent (on something of high value), they really should have been more alert.
Are we supposed to know who Jon Voight's character is supposed to be yet?
I can't believe the president got slapped, the fact that all this is playing out on TV kind of surprises me. But it's way cool. They are going out of their way to make Senator Mayer feel like shit, which is awesome.
Probably the thing which didn't make much sense to me was General Juma and his men admiring the beauty of the city, and if I recall correctly, while dressed in full military garb. Conspicuous much?
And i'm really hating Larry Moss. Did he really have to tell Renee that the president is the priority and not Jack Bauer? He's such an asshole.
I'm just so happy that this show is back on top of it's game. I've missed it.
I found last night's episode thrilling, but couldn't get past some of the glaring factual gaps. I know I'm supposed to suspend disbelief, but 24 is making that hard.
1) Is there any support for this idea that canals/underground rivers run under Washington DC?
2) Why is Renee always wearing so much makeup, even after being buried alive and swimming through the Potomac?
3) Aren't there scads of underground bunkers in DC? If there had been a terrorist attack within view of the White House windows and they knew another attack was coming, why didn't the president move to a secure bunker?
4) Janeane Garafolo's garish red lipstick.
5) Why would Jack let the president out of the bunker? Granted, it would be boring tv if they two of them spent the next 4 hours playing tic tac toe while waiting on rescue (Truth or Dare, though, is another story) but he should have disobeyed her. He works for no one, and his loyalty is to the nation, not to her bratty daughter, who could stand to be taught a lesson by losing an eyeball or two.
6) Why did Jack have to knock Bill out? Why not just lie to him or tie him up?
7) How did the White House have time to draft and bind a 30-page brief to give to Senator Red Foreman in like 15 minutes? dsc805 suggested there was an all-night Kinko's nearby.
8) Why do all of the Asians on 24 die immediately? Renee is a black widow. Just ask Rosa.
9) Don't the terrorists watch 24? If they did, they would know that the way to get someone out of a panic room is to pipe in poison gas. Duh!
Glad to get that off my chest, and I know dsc805 shares many of my points. Next time he will learn to Ctrl+C before submitting anythign to B-Side Blog.
What I loved: Jack tasering phone while on call with president!!!!
Thanks, Jennifer. That is an excellent list of many of the irksome items. I would also add:
1) Renee outswimming a speed boat
2) They left the president alone in the the Oval Office when there was a credible threat of another terrorist threat in DC. If they aren't going to whisk her away in Marine One or put her in an underground bunker, at least make her get under the desk with a book on top of her head or something.
3) The panic room had no phone, internet, ham radio or other means of communication with the outside world, but did happen to have a conveniently located toolbox that could be used for shorting out the keypad.
4) Juma and his men killed some unarmed woman doing her filing but decided that Bill, who was armed and dangerous, would make an excellent prisoner.
5) Don't even get me started with that flashlight/Morse Code bullshit.
I too loved the tasering though. And Jack's line at the end, "But I'm not the President."
Ok, I feel better now.
Yes! Morse-fucking-code?!?!? Don't Aaron and pretentious first daughter have a cell phone? And why couldn't she just hide in a bureau or something? No! They just lurk about in the hallway. I think crazy Marnie has turned Aaron's brain to mush.
Just how exactly do you open an electronic door that you just shorted out? Just wondering....
Boy people, thanks...I feel much better. When you and Firecat are singing its praises, I figured I must've stroked out or something and missed everything entirely.
Hicks (who hasn't watch an ep since Kim and the cougar) fell into a chair in front of the TV and watched the last 45 minutes. Much like daytime soap operas, he was able to leave for a few years/days and immediately picked up the plot (glaring plot holes and all) as if he had been watching all along. At least the First Gentleman was still in surgery so we didn't have to watch him get mauled by a bear or anything.
jennifer30309! - make-up is one thing, but what about the fact that her hair will go from a reddish brown to a dark auburn during the same episode? I've been complaining about that since around episode 3. :-)
Oh well - I love this show, continuity gaps and all. Monday's episode was a THRILL!