Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas.
Now that the four-hour smack-you-on-the-head 24athon is over and I've recovered my senses I can comment somewhat coherently.
I knew it. I fucking KNEW they were gonna kill Curtis. He's escaped death against all logic (being a Handsome Black Agent, who are always the first ones to get shot) for however many seasons he's been on and the MOMENT he was all weird about Dr. Bashir I knew it deep in my soul that he'd go buggo and have to be put down like a rabid dog. And I pretty much knew Jack would end up being the trigger man. Still, the twist felt contrived to me, and it felt like inconsistent characterization. Curtis was perfectly able to put aside his personal feelings when he was allowing Jack, his friend, to be sacrificed, but he couldn't put them aside to work with Assad? I guess a big part of his equitability about Jack's almost-death at Fayed's hands was because he thought it would help them capture Assad. I suppose I can buy that. Still, it didn't jibe with the level-headed Curtis we've come to know and love.
I didn't expect that it'd be so wrenching. I cried, I seriously did. Curtis! NOOOOO!!! Alas, yes. Dead, dead, dead. He joins Tony and Edgar and Michelle and the eight gojillion others who've given their fictional lives in the 24verse.
Poor Jack. I hope he gets to get back with Audrey in the end. Hey, Kim Raver doesn't have anything better to do anymore.
1. Knew the kid's dad was toast. And hey, that's the kid from Sky High! Can't he use his superpowers? And it looks like Kumar will not be going back to White Castle anytime soon, unless they have White Castle in the afterlife.
2. Wayne Palmer is the President? Seriously? Is anyone else having trouble buying this?
3. Regina King! Yay! How odd that...we've never seen hide nor hair of this third Palmer sibling in the five previous seasons of 24, all of which have featured the Palmer family in fairly orgasmic detail.
4. It's a bit odd that while characters keep TALKING about how Americans shouldn't turn against each other, and we shouldn't racially profile our Middle Eastern citizens, and how "containment facilities" are teh evil...the show keeps demonstrating how useful such things are and how they're really totally right. The racist white neighbor turns out to be right...the Arab next door IS a terrorist (totally putting aside the fact that Kal Penn is not remotely Middle Eastern but Indian)! And there WERE terrorists in that containment center! I guess they're busy contrasting them with non-terrorists like Waleed with his puzzling non-comprehension of Arabic (what's his accent, then? I guess he could be Egyptian, or some other nationality with a heavy Islamic population). Also, the actor playing Waleed looks totally familiar. How do I know him? Wait, I'll go look him up. *pause* Okay, I'm back. I can't find the actor's name in the "24" IMDB listings. Or on the Fox 24 page. This is going to bother me. One of you will know, I'm sure.
5. Fayed looks like he's trying really, really hard to make his skull pop out of his skin and he's gotten pretty damned close to succeeding.
6. Chloe's wearing a skirt. Does not compute.
7. So...Kiefer is right back into fighting form despite having been tortured (both continuously by the Chinese and very recently by Fayed), sensory-deprived and probably malnourished for the last twenty months, yet he still inexplicably looks pretty buff and his brain hasn't turned to mush. And he's probably wicked jetlagged, too. But hey...it's Kiefer. Where most of us would curl up into a ball in a corner and cry for our mommies, he's ready to kick ass and take names. Again. Some more. Still, they did manage to get in some good character beats for him. He seems to have lost his taste for torturing suspects, which makes sense given he's been on the other end of it for awhile, and he's just got this haunted thousand-yard stare going, and I must say Kiefer is rocking out in communicating Jack's mental state nonverbally. Killing Curtis really gutted the guy (and me, let me reiterate). If Dr. Bashir turns out to be behind some of this crap (as I'm about half expecting at this point) he's really going to lose his shit.
8. Bill Buchanan is awesome. And kinda sexy. Is it wrong for me to want him and Karen Hayes to give us some handsomely-middle-aged neckin in the CTU corridors? She still looks like she's competing in a Helen Mirren lookalike contest, though.
9. So...wait. Is Fayed DEAD? He must have left before they detonated the suitcase nuke. Was he there? I don't remember. Wait, no he WAS there. Somebody yelled "Fayed! I think I see somebody" right before the team stormed the castle. So...he's dead. Great. Back to square one, and now they need another name to bandy about so people can say "But he/it/she is our only link to [BLANK]!" and justify all the derring-do. And if they killed their nuclear-arms-expert dude, how are they going to arm and detonate the other four bombs? I'm sure this will all be explained in a clear and not-at-all-convoluted fashion. Oh, wait. This is 24. But that's why we love it.
Let's lay odds on whether Behrooz Aziz, aka TerrorTeen from Season 4, who disappeared into thin air never to be seen or mentioned again, makes a surprise appearance. I bet he does. That would rule. You heard it here first. We already know (from the promos) that Dr. Romano is back next week...if you recall last year he was one of the Mysterious White Guy Consortium of Bluetooth Earpieces that were masterminding all of President Logan's machinations. I have a deep and abiding love for Paul McCrane so I'll be glad to see him. We also know that Jack's father is going to be making an appearance this season...the fact that they did not get Donald to play him is criminal, although you can bet your ass that they tried. I believe I heard that it's James Cromwell playing Bauer, Sr.
Also...we still have no idea what President Wayne (no, seriously...really?) traded to the Chinese for Jack's release. Whatcha bet THAT comes back to bite us all in the ass at some point, too?
You know who I REALLY want to see? Secret Service Agent Aaron! Yay!!!
I knew it. I fucking KNEW they were gonna kill Curtis. He's escaped death against all logic (being a Handsome Black Agent, who are always the first ones to get shot) for however many seasons he's been on and the MOMENT he was all weird about Dr. Bashir I knew it deep in my soul that he'd go buggo and have to be put down like a rabid dog. And I pretty much knew Jack would end up being the trigger man. Still, the twist felt contrived to me, and it felt like inconsistent characterization. Curtis was perfectly able to put aside his personal feelings when he was allowing Jack, his friend, to be sacrificed, but he couldn't put them aside to work with Assad? I guess a big part of his equitability about Jack's almost-death at Fayed's hands was because he thought it would help them capture Assad. I suppose I can buy that. Still, it didn't jibe with the level-headed Curtis we've come to know and love.
I didn't expect that it'd be so wrenching. I cried, I seriously did. Curtis! NOOOOO!!! Alas, yes. Dead, dead, dead. He joins Tony and Edgar and Michelle and the eight gojillion others who've given their fictional lives in the 24verse.
Poor Jack. I hope he gets to get back with Audrey in the end. Hey, Kim Raver doesn't have anything better to do anymore.
1. Knew the kid's dad was toast. And hey, that's the kid from Sky High! Can't he use his superpowers? And it looks like Kumar will not be going back to White Castle anytime soon, unless they have White Castle in the afterlife.
2. Wayne Palmer is the President? Seriously? Is anyone else having trouble buying this?
3. Regina King! Yay! How odd that...we've never seen hide nor hair of this third Palmer sibling in the five previous seasons of 24, all of which have featured the Palmer family in fairly orgasmic detail.
4. It's a bit odd that while characters keep TALKING about how Americans shouldn't turn against each other, and we shouldn't racially profile our Middle Eastern citizens, and how "containment facilities" are teh evil...the show keeps demonstrating how useful such things are and how they're really totally right. The racist white neighbor turns out to be right...the Arab next door IS a terrorist (totally putting aside the fact that Kal Penn is not remotely Middle Eastern but Indian)! And there WERE terrorists in that containment center! I guess they're busy contrasting them with non-terrorists like Waleed with his puzzling non-comprehension of Arabic (what's his accent, then? I guess he could be Egyptian, or some other nationality with a heavy Islamic population). Also, the actor playing Waleed looks totally familiar. How do I know him? Wait, I'll go look him up. *pause* Okay, I'm back. I can't find the actor's name in the "24" IMDB listings. Or on the Fox 24 page. This is going to bother me. One of you will know, I'm sure.
5. Fayed looks like he's trying really, really hard to make his skull pop out of his skin and he's gotten pretty damned close to succeeding.
6. Chloe's wearing a skirt. Does not compute.
7. So...Kiefer is right back into fighting form despite having been tortured (both continuously by the Chinese and very recently by Fayed), sensory-deprived and probably malnourished for the last twenty months, yet he still inexplicably looks pretty buff and his brain hasn't turned to mush. And he's probably wicked jetlagged, too. But hey...it's Kiefer. Where most of us would curl up into a ball in a corner and cry for our mommies, he's ready to kick ass and take names. Again. Some more. Still, they did manage to get in some good character beats for him. He seems to have lost his taste for torturing suspects, which makes sense given he's been on the other end of it for awhile, and he's just got this haunted thousand-yard stare going, and I must say Kiefer is rocking out in communicating Jack's mental state nonverbally. Killing Curtis really gutted the guy (and me, let me reiterate). If Dr. Bashir turns out to be behind some of this crap (as I'm about half expecting at this point) he's really going to lose his shit.
8. Bill Buchanan is awesome. And kinda sexy. Is it wrong for me to want him and Karen Hayes to give us some handsomely-middle-aged neckin in the CTU corridors? She still looks like she's competing in a Helen Mirren lookalike contest, though.
9. So...wait. Is Fayed DEAD? He must have left before they detonated the suitcase nuke. Was he there? I don't remember. Wait, no he WAS there. Somebody yelled "Fayed! I think I see somebody" right before the team stormed the castle. So...he's dead. Great. Back to square one, and now they need another name to bandy about so people can say "But he/it/she is our only link to [BLANK]!" and justify all the derring-do. And if they killed their nuclear-arms-expert dude, how are they going to arm and detonate the other four bombs? I'm sure this will all be explained in a clear and not-at-all-convoluted fashion. Oh, wait. This is 24. But that's why we love it.
Let's lay odds on whether Behrooz Aziz, aka TerrorTeen from Season 4, who disappeared into thin air never to be seen or mentioned again, makes a surprise appearance. I bet he does. That would rule. You heard it here first. We already know (from the promos) that Dr. Romano is back next week...if you recall last year he was one of the Mysterious White Guy Consortium of Bluetooth Earpieces that were masterminding all of President Logan's machinations. I have a deep and abiding love for Paul McCrane so I'll be glad to see him. We also know that Jack's father is going to be making an appearance this season...the fact that they did not get Donald to play him is criminal, although you can bet your ass that they tried. I believe I heard that it's James Cromwell playing Bauer, Sr.
Also...we still have no idea what President Wayne (no, seriously...really?) traded to the Chinese for Jack's release. Whatcha bet THAT comes back to bite us all in the ass at some point, too?
You know who I REALLY want to see? Secret Service Agent Aaron! Yay!!!