Thoughts on Monday's "24: Live Another Day" (Day 9, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.)

[ken_of_ghastria]

Best episode of the season, for reasons that I’m gleefully unashamed of. Big surprises, excellent deaths, and Jack with a joystick. And can you believe that this is already Hour 9 of a 12-hour event? Crazy! Fortunately, there’s still plenty of time for Jack and She-Jack to mess with the space-time continuum and wreck nations.

As always, SPOILERS ABOUND:

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• Welcome to Wembley Crater, where BBC crews manage to be on the scene just seconds after the explosion!
• PM Stephen Fry tells Audrey, “Your father’s sacrifice will never be forgotten by the British people.”. His aide wonders whether that'll hold true if Mummy doesn't honor her pledge to destroy the drones. “Well,” he says, “in that case, Heller will be as forgotten as Chumbawamba!”
• Mummy actually honors her pledge, and the drones start dropping faster than last fall’s NBC sitcoms.
• Surprise #1: Ian doesn't betray Mummy!
• Surprise #2: Heller’s not dead?!? Whoaaa! Good one! Completely fooled. Wow, great work by Jack & Chloe in hacking the drone’s video feed and setting up the loop in just 5 seconds!
• Jack tells Convenient Serbian Dude to keep Prez Heller safe. Heller then tries to browbeat his new chauffeur by giving him an “order” as President of the United States. The terrific reply: “I am Convenient Serbian Dude. I’m not an American citizen, and this is not America.” Thank you for pointing that out, CSD. Heller seems to forget that. To be fair, he forgets lots of things....
• On the conference call, Audrey says, “Jack...? Thank you. I’m staring lustily at the phone right now.” Commence Furious Blinking! “You’re welcome.” Chief of Staff Mark Angryglare shoots an angry glare!
• With Chloe’s help - and Adrian’s - they're able to find Mummy’s new base of operations in the London DoubleTree. Mummy likes DoubleTree because they give you warm cookies when you check in.
• Kate and Eric, driving through the panic-stricken and oddly deserted streets of London, manage to arrive at the location before Jack, even though he had a head start and is in a freakin’ helicopter.
• Did Jack decide to drop by Stonehenge or something?
• Though Ian doesn't betray Mummy, she does pull a gun on him when he tries to leave -- and then they have this icky, pseudo-incestuous moment. Ew.
• Yes, we all go “Ew” at that, and we all laugh maniacally when Jack yanks Ian through the window and watches him hit the ground like a strawberry pancake. Or maybe that’s just me? Moving on....
• Jack sends the last missile into the Thames and handcuffs Mummy. Crisis #1 averted! Mummy spits, “All the deaths tonight are on your head!” Jack growls, “The only death on my head tonight is YOURS.” Whoosh! Out the window! Awesome!
• Yep, best episode of the season.
• But now it’s time for Crisis #2 - and Jordan is found dead. Awww! Weasel Boy Navarro immediately goes into panic mode when he realizes that the second dead guy will be linked to him. Jack wants Chloe to look up Dead Guy’s fingerprints, but she reluctantly says, “It’s not my problem anymore. It was good to see you, Jack. Now I have to go touch up my indestructible, self-repairing Goth makeup and run off with the treacherous Adrian Cross. Smoochies!”
• Jack tells Kate, “I'll have my old CIA pal do it. I’ve never mentioned him before, but I'm sure he'll help out an international fugitive like me.”
• Weasel Boy Navarro does the Sleeper Hold on a tech schmuck and runs off with the override device just as Jack learns the truth. The chase is on through the still oddly deserted streets of London!
• Hey, remember back in Week 1 when I said that Adrian is “played by Michael Wincott, who was the top evil henchman in EVERY SINGLE ‘90s ACTION FILM”? Oh my god, he’s still playing the top evil henchman! I should have guessed. DAMMIT!