Recently in 24 Category

Don't want to get ahead myself here, but this may be an early contender for the most shocking 24 scene of the season. At the very least, it's certainly the defining Renee Walker moment thus far. In other news, I think this passes as a casual fantasy Sly has about jash from time to time.

Parental discretion, etc.

And, you know, spoilers.

Click to see larger (spoilers from last night's ep!)

Exciting news, 24 fans! I found Renee Walker's Facebook page!! Click on the pic above to see a full-sized image of the page (or at least as much as I could grab with a screen shot). If you haven't seen last night's show, however, be warned that there ARE spoilers!!

P.S. -- I'm finally caught up on the season. A recap will be forthcoming...

I haven't written about 24 in a few weeks, but that's not to say my love for the show has been waning. This seventh season has been great, and in a lucky turn of events, I nabbed an invite to a special advanced screening of next week's season finale of the show. Out of respect to Fox and the viewers, I won't spill a single bean, but I will say that the finale is great, with the first hour being particularly exciting (the second hour is still strong, but it's more dramatic than intense — which is totally fine). And yes, several questions are answered.

Of course, one of the reasons why I may have thought the finale was so awesome was because I was in a theater filled with a thousand or so people. I've never watched 24 en masse before, but I can say without a doubt that it's a fantastic way to take in the show. Everyone there was a 24 fan, and as such, there was plenty of cheering and booing and laughing, which only served to elevate the experience. There's nothing like watching Jack Bauer viciously kill three people in a row while a teeming mob of viewers claps along. I really think Fox should organize special screenings of the show from time to time because it's really quite a noteworthy theatrical experience.

As if seeing the finale a week early wasn't awesome enough, there was another surprise in store for us (and no, it wasn't standing in line at the theater in front of John Tesh — although, that was preeettty awesome too). The shocking turn of events was that this screening wasn't just a screening. It was a full-on red carpet event. Who knew? Since I had a plus one, I brought fellow 24 enthusiast IndianJones along, and we were both surprised to see that this wouldn't be a mere case of us taking our seats and watching the big shew. No, there was press and media and — most importantly — hors d'oeuvres. If there's one thing that can trump celebrities and fanfare, it's free food. I kid you not, IndianJones and I basically zipped past JON VOIGHT in an effort to get our dirty little paws on some turkey wraps and pulled pork sandwiches (the latter was very tasty).

Yes, this event was significantly more high profile than we had expected (plus, there was a Q&A with the entire cast afterwards), but at the same time, it was exceedingly lax with security. No one checked our names, and there were no cell phone and camera policies. Literally every single screening or taping I've been to has been amazingly hostile about bringing in recording devices. When I saw Benjamin Button, guys with infrared goggles patrolled the audience. Well, since there was already such a huge line when IndianJones and I showed up, we decided we'd save some time and leave our cell phones in the car. Heck, I didn't even bring my camera to the event because I assumed security would be so tight (and I didn't know there'd be a red carpet either). WELL. No one cared, and as such, I missed a golden opportunity to take pictures of Kiefer, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Elisha Cuthbert, and pretty much everyone else. Plus, we wound up sitting next to President Logan (who was wearing a dumb fedora). SO MANY TWITTERING OPPORTUNITIES LOST!!! IndianJones took great joy in telling me the rest of the night that I was experiencing an "Epic blogging FAIL!" Alas.

So, instead of coming to you with pictures of Kiefer et al., after the jump please enjoy some shots of the annoying pigeons that are preparing to roost on my neighbor's balcony.

No time to write about 24 this week; so instead I'll provide you all with this clip, which shows Jack Bauer in classic BARK mode. He really needs a sedative sometimes.

Any thoughts on last night's episode? Are we all secretly hoping that dumb bitch Olivia gets her comeuppance? And what are the odds that her assassin works for the shadow conspiracy and just wanted the itinerary, and not the (surprisingly low) $250,000? That would explain why the hit occurred anyway.

I'm not gonna write much since I'm quite busy this morning, but let's discuss 24 for a moment, shall we? I'll start: WHAT the FUDGE?

If you haven't watched the episode, please note that spoilers ensue!!

There were three surprises on tonight's episode of 24. Two of them were actually surprising. The third was a bit predictable. So I guess that means there were really only two. The thing that was supposed to be the big twist — (SPOILER ALERT) that Jonas's sidekick had led the FBI to the wrong warehouse — was pretty obvious. I was calling that one as soon as we saw there was only one guard on patrol outside. (More surprising, however, was that Greg Seaton had used fake bullets to "kill" Tony's captor earlier in the episode. Sneaky!). I mean, really. It was all too convenient. As we very well know, if Greg were truly snitching on his boss, he would have been shot and killed by a sniper in his office the moment he signed the immunity deal with the Prez. Let's not Dubaku's dramatic moment earlier this season when he literally passed out mid-sentence while relaying super important info to Jack. The fact that Seaton was able to tell the authorities where the WMD was located without being unexpectedly snuffed out suggested that maybe he was a) still bad, and b) giving bad info. Sure enough, it was all a trap, and by the end of the hour, Larry Moss and his team wound up surrounded by all those soldiers from Starkwood (not to be confused with Starwood, whose specialty is hotels, not mercenary armies).

A moment of silence please for the passing of another 24 character. If you haven't seen last night's episode, then do yourself a favor and stop reading. One of this country's finest men gave his life, thus marking the first major slaying of the season (which in turn elicited the Silent Clock of Honor — reserved only for the deaths of such memorable heros as Edgar, Teri Bauer, and Ryan Chappelle). Yes, 24 fans lost a good man; a good man with a fluffy hairdo. I'm speaking, of course, of Bill Buchanan (and if you're mad that I spoiled this, then you're an idiot because I warned you like five sentences ago to turn away). Oh Billy Bill Bill. Your sacrificial ways are honorable — but couldn't you have enlisted the help of someone a bit more expendable? You know, like anyone else in the room? Poor Karen Hayes will be besides herself. Here she finally found a suitable life mate in middle-age, and now he's gone. Where the hell is Karen anyway? And while we're discussing forgotten characters, what about Erin Driscoll? I always liked her (can't say the same for her suicidal daughter though). Speaking of suicide, am I to believe the inference that Martha Logan may have bought the farm also? I'm hoping she's been merely sent back to "Vermont" because I don't think I could cope with the notion that she'll never be back. Anyway, the point is, Bill sacrificed his life to save this country, and I think we owe him a debt of gratitude.

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.

We must be around the mid-point of the 24 season because everything seemed to wrap up pretty nicely last night... that is until we learned — not unexpectedly — that the worst was yet to come. Yes, it's the classic mid-season story change up where we get a bigger, badder villain, and the vast, white collar conspiracy is revealed. This is really where the show earns its mettle. If not handled carefully, the second of the season can become quite ludicrous. I think we can all remember season four, which started off so brilliantly and then suddenly turned ridiculous as nuclear warheads, EMPs, atomic footballs, and pretty much everything else under the sun got out of hand (they should have never killed off Dina Araz. And by the way, where the HELL is Berooz these days?)

Ah, my favorite part of last night episode of 24. It's all pretty self-explanatory (and fear not — there are no spoilers).

I was so delighted with last night's episode of 24, if only for the curt, testy interchange between Janice and Billy Walsh. I believe it went something like this:

Billy: "You're such a little bitch."

Janice: "YOU'RE a little bitch!"

And scene.

This, people, is what we've been waiting for all these years. Sure, we've endured countless bouts of underling crabbiness, but never before has there been such a perfectly snippy bit of hostility. What a wonderful use of the "B" word. It made me almost almost forget the groan-inducing appearance of Morris, Chloe's unlikely husband who has somehow survived this show's notorious abattoir of characters. C'mon, 24. You took away Curtis, but you've spared Morris? It's just not fair.

Who else is completely digging this season of 24? I know a lot of people swore off the show after the substandard season 6, but if there's anything this series is capable of, it's reinvention. Let's not forget how shaky and uneven season three was, but thanks to some rejiggering, the producers rebounded the next year with a very good fourth day (which was followed by perhaps the best season of all: #5). Anyway, the point is that once again, the producers sat down, got focused, and came back with what has been shaping up to be a great round of action. I like and am intrigued by all the new faces, particularly redhead Renee, who does the whole steely-with-compassion thing quite well. If she turns out to be bad (or gets killed), I might be a little sad!

As for her good for nuthin' FBI bedtime liaison Larry Moss, all I can say is groan. Make that a DOUBLE groan. Don't get me wrong — I like the character — but he's one of those perennial government bureaucrats who screws up everything. You just want to shake him. But of course, without cogs like him, you lose a good amount of tension; so Larry — keep being a douche!