In which I get (un)expectedly Thirteened
This one was really not what I expected and also exactly what I expected and in the midst of it I got thoroughly Thirteened. And yes I realise I can't get Thirteened in Episode Five of a twelve-episode season BUT I JUST DID OK.
Looks like I needed that deep breath after all!
BEN!!!!!!!!
*cries*
I realised too late that this could only go one way but my heart is still ACHING because BEN!!!! And I was getting SO fond of him and even more fond of HIM AND ERIC and now he is DEAD and I CANNOT EVEN, OK. I CANNOT.
I'd better tackle that whole thing first because I don't think I can focus on the rest until I do. Let's just start by saying that my heart was racing like a freaking jackhammer when Eric and Ben made it to that warehouse (after Ben's Dramatic Car Shaving Sequence which, incidentally, just made it hurt MORE because underneath that hideous grief beard he was so CUTE and ARGH, and don't even get me STARTED on the whole part with the seeing the dead conversation). As you might have gathered from reading between the lines in last week's review, I was freaked by the mention of the then-unknown Gabriel and highly alarmed by the mention of the name Starkwood. (Even writing it hurts. Even now.) Knowing what I know - that my boy, my boy, is coming back at some point - I was understandably TERRIFIED that this might be him. Because it was so obviously not going to go well. And when they walked into that warehouse that screamed VILLAIN WAREHOUSE from the get-go, with its big ominous coils of pipe and imminent swarm of gunminions, I could hardly BREATHE. And then Beardy Minion did his little speech and they were off to meet Gabriel and THIS WAS SO NOT GOING TO GO WELL.
And it wasn't him. And the one second of sadness was quite quickly followed by UTTER RELIEF, on account of the aforementioned sense of certainty regarding the imminent NOT GOING WELL of things.
(He's still out there. And I'm still waiting. And this candle in the window won't burn down any time soon.)
Got to say, I instantly loved and hated Gabriel in equal measure, with his big dramatic scar and his HISTORY with BEN and also the fact that his minions made Eric and Ben do the KNEELING thing and... AND. And then Gabriel did the kill-your-friend loyalty test and I just LOVE that Eric flat-out refused to do it. Like, didn't even put the gun to Ben's head. BECAUSE THEY SERVED TOGETHER AND WERE SPIRIT-BROTHERS. And after YEARS of people getting my approval by passing the Jack Bauer Loyalty Test, Eric just flat-out passed his OWN straight away. And thus he got TEN MILLION POINTS, and Ben did WOOBIE FACE, and did I mention that I am not OK? Because then Gabriel SHOT BEN IN THE HEAD and I just gasped out loud and then stopped breathing for a moment because even though it was NOT GOING TO END WELL, the thought of losing Ben this early was just ARGH ARGH ARGH MY HEART.
But Eric got his revenge, of course. Oh hell, yes. Though... we'll get to that.
Oh, Ben. You poor, broken, foolish boy.
There was no silent clock, so let's have one, for the latest and brightest of Eric Carter's ghosts.
*silent clock*
...Possibly I should do the bullet-points now.
- Finally got the spelling of Emo Terrorist's first name right (thank you, name popups!) It's JADALLA. Though I will keep calling him Emo Terrorist, because he is.
- Also got the spelling of Amira's brother's first name, too. KHASAN. Which is a lovely name. Whether or not Khasan is going to get included as one of the WORST TERRORISTS EVER remains to be seen, but I can't help thinking he might. More later.
- Randomly, right at the start when Keith was talking to Rebecca and Andy about Eric escaping with the missile schematic, and Rebecca and Andy did a special look (because they so get it) and that look just screamed #TOTALLYNOTINONIT. If CTU had a Twitter feed, ninety percent of the posts would be tagged #totallynotinonit. Also, I still love those two desperately and will be distraught if Andy is the mole because NO. Furthermore, the speed with which Rebecca made Keith (and thereby the whole tac-team!) help out was HIGHLY impressive. Seriously. I love this woman. She is amazing. She needs to take back CTU because she is actually competent enough to run it!
- Aaaaand then Daddy Dudayev showed up and that was ALSO not going to end well and so far it really ISN'T. I don't fancy his chances. Heck, the fact he survived the episode was a surprise. But I think if he dies - likely Khasan's doing - it will drive a wedge between the WORST TERRORISTS EVER. Not that they're going to need any more unsettling, given that Dodgy Teacher is apparently on his way over with the explosives he MADE IN HIS CLASSROOM. SERIOUSLY, GUYS, I LOVE YOU, BUT THIS IS TURNING INTO A SIT-COM. ABOUT TERRORISTS. RUBBISH TERRORISTS.
- The whole thing with Nicole and Isaac is becoming problematic. He is going psycho and she needs to LEAVE, although A MILLION POINTS for telling him off despite him being all in her face and staring at her lips again, STOP IT ISAAC. I sort of want her to save him but at the same time I can't help thinking she needs to just LEAVE before this entire situation turns into a ginormous MESS. Furthermore, no one seems concerned about the fact that both Aisha and Jerome GOT AWAY and are likely going to COME BACK. With GUNS.
- Growly Tom! Growly Tom gets his own bullet point even though he was only in this ep for a few minutes because he is AWESOME and GROWLY and I need more of him please. Preferably with Andy. Also he got over that gunshot wound remarkably fast. I mean, I know he was just winged and in 24 you can apparently recover from being stabbed in the stomach with nothing more than a few Elastoplasts, but, seriously, wow. Maybe his suppressed and burning love for ANDY healed him. MAYBE THEY SHOULD HAVE MORE SCENES NOW, PLS & THX.
- Still not OK about Ben. STILL NOT OK.
- Stepping sideways for a moment, the sequence where Henry Donovan got arrested and brought into CTU was excellent, especially Rebecca going in to interrogate him and then John bursting in afterwards and seriously, they NEED to Good Cop/Bad Cop more because HELP. Though Henry is clearly going to play the Innocent Card to great effect. The crucial question now is, who has a secret recording that will prove it all? In addition, where is Short Uncle and what is he up to? DO NOT FORGET SHORT UNCLE. I did like the blurring of the lines between the politics side and the CTU side here, especially with Rebecca and John, for a moment, switching to each other's sides. And GOD but I love those two. I would be SO VERY HAPPY if they come up with a clever scheme to get Henry to confess on tape or something. Oh yes. That. Please.
- And then Bald Terrorist went behind Emo Terrorist's back because the Flash Drive of Doom is broken and sent the ACTIVATION CODE, leading to that quietly impressive showdown. I love how calmly Emo Terrorist dealt with it, especially considering the "you've never killed anyone before" thing. He hasn't? He seems to be very good at it. He certainly shot a lot of people in Episode Three, during the Subway Station Incident. And thus Bald Terrorist became the second person to get shot in the head this week. Apparently it's a thing.
- And THEN the finale. HOLY GOD THE FINALE. Eric getting Gabriel and Beardy Minion at gunpoint (also, randomly, Eric is a lefty!) and calling in CTU, and then suddenly HELICOPTERS (mmmmmmmm) and Gabriel set off his secret alarm, which meant much SHOOTING and drama and I really did love that bit where the choppers were trying to land in a hail of gunfire. And CTU stormed the Villain Warehouse (led by Growly Tom, hurrah!) whilst Eric was trying to keep Gabriel at gunpoint, only the bastard CUT HIS OWN THROAT and wow but I expected him to last longer than half an episode, especially with his Big Dramatic Scar and suchlike. But OH when the laptop files started to delete and everyone was all OMG and then Eric was all STAND ASIDE BITCHES and he just dragged it over to Gabriel's CORPSE and pressed his thumb to the scanner. Possibly he should cut that off and take it with him, in case it opens other important things.
- STILL NOT OK ABOUT BEN.
Midpoint next week. I'm expecting a suitably shocking development. Which, considering this week, is probably going to take things stratospheric!
Looks like I needed that deep breath after all!
BEN!!!!!!!!
*cries*
I realised too late that this could only go one way but my heart is still ACHING because BEN!!!! And I was getting SO fond of him and even more fond of HIM AND ERIC and now he is DEAD and I CANNOT EVEN, OK. I CANNOT.
I'd better tackle that whole thing first because I don't think I can focus on the rest until I do. Let's just start by saying that my heart was racing like a freaking jackhammer when Eric and Ben made it to that warehouse (after Ben's Dramatic Car Shaving Sequence which, incidentally, just made it hurt MORE because underneath that hideous grief beard he was so CUTE and ARGH, and don't even get me STARTED on the whole part with the seeing the dead conversation). As you might have gathered from reading between the lines in last week's review, I was freaked by the mention of the then-unknown Gabriel and highly alarmed by the mention of the name Starkwood. (Even writing it hurts. Even now.) Knowing what I know - that my boy, my boy, is coming back at some point - I was understandably TERRIFIED that this might be him. Because it was so obviously not going to go well. And when they walked into that warehouse that screamed VILLAIN WAREHOUSE from the get-go, with its big ominous coils of pipe and imminent swarm of gunminions, I could hardly BREATHE. And then Beardy Minion did his little speech and they were off to meet Gabriel and THIS WAS SO NOT GOING TO GO WELL.
And it wasn't him. And the one second of sadness was quite quickly followed by UTTER RELIEF, on account of the aforementioned sense of certainty regarding the imminent NOT GOING WELL of things.
(He's still out there. And I'm still waiting. And this candle in the window won't burn down any time soon.)
Got to say, I instantly loved and hated Gabriel in equal measure, with his big dramatic scar and his HISTORY with BEN and also the fact that his minions made Eric and Ben do the KNEELING thing and... AND. And then Gabriel did the kill-your-friend loyalty test and I just LOVE that Eric flat-out refused to do it. Like, didn't even put the gun to Ben's head. BECAUSE THEY SERVED TOGETHER AND WERE SPIRIT-BROTHERS. And after YEARS of people getting my approval by passing the Jack Bauer Loyalty Test, Eric just flat-out passed his OWN straight away. And thus he got TEN MILLION POINTS, and Ben did WOOBIE FACE, and did I mention that I am not OK? Because then Gabriel SHOT BEN IN THE HEAD and I just gasped out loud and then stopped breathing for a moment because even though it was NOT GOING TO END WELL, the thought of losing Ben this early was just ARGH ARGH ARGH MY HEART.
But Eric got his revenge, of course. Oh hell, yes. Though... we'll get to that.
Oh, Ben. You poor, broken, foolish boy.
There was no silent clock, so let's have one, for the latest and brightest of Eric Carter's ghosts.
*silent clock*
...Possibly I should do the bullet-points now.
- Finally got the spelling of Emo Terrorist's first name right (thank you, name popups!) It's JADALLA. Though I will keep calling him Emo Terrorist, because he is.
- Also got the spelling of Amira's brother's first name, too. KHASAN. Which is a lovely name. Whether or not Khasan is going to get included as one of the WORST TERRORISTS EVER remains to be seen, but I can't help thinking he might. More later.
- Randomly, right at the start when Keith was talking to Rebecca and Andy about Eric escaping with the missile schematic, and Rebecca and Andy did a special look (because they so get it) and that look just screamed #TOTALLYNOTINONIT. If CTU had a Twitter feed, ninety percent of the posts would be tagged #totallynotinonit. Also, I still love those two desperately and will be distraught if Andy is the mole because NO. Furthermore, the speed with which Rebecca made Keith (and thereby the whole tac-team!) help out was HIGHLY impressive. Seriously. I love this woman. She is amazing. She needs to take back CTU because she is actually competent enough to run it!
- Aaaaand then Daddy Dudayev showed up and that was ALSO not going to end well and so far it really ISN'T. I don't fancy his chances. Heck, the fact he survived the episode was a surprise. But I think if he dies - likely Khasan's doing - it will drive a wedge between the WORST TERRORISTS EVER. Not that they're going to need any more unsettling, given that Dodgy Teacher is apparently on his way over with the explosives he MADE IN HIS CLASSROOM. SERIOUSLY, GUYS, I LOVE YOU, BUT THIS IS TURNING INTO A SIT-COM. ABOUT TERRORISTS. RUBBISH TERRORISTS.
- The whole thing with Nicole and Isaac is becoming problematic. He is going psycho and she needs to LEAVE, although A MILLION POINTS for telling him off despite him being all in her face and staring at her lips again, STOP IT ISAAC. I sort of want her to save him but at the same time I can't help thinking she needs to just LEAVE before this entire situation turns into a ginormous MESS. Furthermore, no one seems concerned about the fact that both Aisha and Jerome GOT AWAY and are likely going to COME BACK. With GUNS.
- Growly Tom! Growly Tom gets his own bullet point even though he was only in this ep for a few minutes because he is AWESOME and GROWLY and I need more of him please. Preferably with Andy. Also he got over that gunshot wound remarkably fast. I mean, I know he was just winged and in 24 you can apparently recover from being stabbed in the stomach with nothing more than a few Elastoplasts, but, seriously, wow. Maybe his suppressed and burning love for ANDY healed him. MAYBE THEY SHOULD HAVE MORE SCENES NOW, PLS & THX.
- Still not OK about Ben. STILL NOT OK.
- Stepping sideways for a moment, the sequence where Henry Donovan got arrested and brought into CTU was excellent, especially Rebecca going in to interrogate him and then John bursting in afterwards and seriously, they NEED to Good Cop/Bad Cop more because HELP. Though Henry is clearly going to play the Innocent Card to great effect. The crucial question now is, who has a secret recording that will prove it all? In addition, where is Short Uncle and what is he up to? DO NOT FORGET SHORT UNCLE. I did like the blurring of the lines between the politics side and the CTU side here, especially with Rebecca and John, for a moment, switching to each other's sides. And GOD but I love those two. I would be SO VERY HAPPY if they come up with a clever scheme to get Henry to confess on tape or something. Oh yes. That. Please.
- And then Bald Terrorist went behind Emo Terrorist's back because the Flash Drive of Doom is broken and sent the ACTIVATION CODE, leading to that quietly impressive showdown. I love how calmly Emo Terrorist dealt with it, especially considering the "you've never killed anyone before" thing. He hasn't? He seems to be very good at it. He certainly shot a lot of people in Episode Three, during the Subway Station Incident. And thus Bald Terrorist became the second person to get shot in the head this week. Apparently it's a thing.
- And THEN the finale. HOLY GOD THE FINALE. Eric getting Gabriel and Beardy Minion at gunpoint (also, randomly, Eric is a lefty!) and calling in CTU, and then suddenly HELICOPTERS (mmmmmmmm) and Gabriel set off his secret alarm, which meant much SHOOTING and drama and I really did love that bit where the choppers were trying to land in a hail of gunfire. And CTU stormed the Villain Warehouse (led by Growly Tom, hurrah!) whilst Eric was trying to keep Gabriel at gunpoint, only the bastard CUT HIS OWN THROAT and wow but I expected him to last longer than half an episode, especially with his Big Dramatic Scar and suchlike. But OH when the laptop files started to delete and everyone was all OMG and then Eric was all STAND ASIDE BITCHES and he just dragged it over to Gabriel's CORPSE and pressed his thumb to the scanner. Possibly he should cut that off and take it with him, in case it opens other important things.
- STILL NOT OK ABOUT BEN.
Midpoint next week. I'm expecting a suitably shocking development. Which, considering this week, is probably going to take things stratospheric!