“24″ Blog : Season 7 : Episode 16 “11:00pm – 12:00am”

All apologies for missing last week’s 24 on here.That will happen from time-to-time. But here’s what I missed in a nutshell:

Jack and Tony invaded enemy territory. Tony got caught, Jack hijacked a semi with a weapon containing a terrible virus that will kill millions.

This is the weapon.

Jack noticed the weapon was leaking and had to seal it off, therefore infecting himself. He may or may not be screwed.

And now back to the show:

As much as we’d all like to kick as much terrorist/bad guy ass as Jack Bauer, this season has proved there’s no way we’d actually want to be him. What separates Bauer from say, a Walker Texas Ranger, is that he’s not just hero that shows up to clean up the baddies and secure the world – he’s got to deal with all the repercussions. He’s lost his family, friends, and basically anyone that’s come in contact with him. Not only that, he’s had to deal with a week’s worth of the world’s worst situations for a days on-end. How does this man sleep?

In this episode, its revealed, with subtlety, that he may be getting the big sleep soon as he’s tested positive with a virus that has apparently caused many a people to go crazy and then die (Doesn’t exactly sound like a hero’s ending for Jack). That not only takes our man out of commission, but leaves Gil Hodges (Jon Voight) with an increasingly dangerous Blackwater-like militia group to have free-reign on the U.S.

The Tony Almeida Show, well he’s trapped, so no help from a trusted sidekick.

Even worse, as Tony’s potential killer is about to off him, he finds out his life was also a bet for Redskins tickets. Not even a decent team is worth a bet over his life!

Leave it to somehow an even sleazier character, Hodges’ lackey, Snivels McSmirk, promises Tony the world, as well as the location of the weapon on Blackwa…I mean, Starkwood’s land. This is, as all enemy’s request on 24, in return for his immunity.

The president has no choice – Tony’s vouching for this guy, she can’t see he’s as slimy as they come. Immunity is handed out like ice cream cones! It should also be noted that bad guys usually get immunity if Tony is involved, you may recall Season 5 when Mandy got it after almost assassinating the president and blowing up an airplane.

The FBI decides to follow these coordinates, meanwhile Jack is left to deal with his problems, mainly his impending doom. In a telling moment, Jack confronts Poor Man’s Aaron Eckhart, saying he’s taken one for the team and deserves to beat some baddies. After being told he can’t as he’s infected and therefore a liability. And for once, Jack concedes and does not go into battle.

It may be all for the better, McSmirk has pulled a fast one on Tony – he has his immunity, he bought time for Starkwood and the FBI without the weapon. A surprising twist in a series where the enemies usually do end up giving up the goods when in dire straits.

But that’s not all, the FBI apparently underestimated how many people it would take to bring down a shady organization (You mean it takes more than just a handful!?) and is trapped by a ton of well-armed, heavily-guarded individuals.

And unfortunately for Tony, Redskins ticket guy is actually alive. It was all a ruse between him and McSmirk. So the FBI is trapped, Jack is powerless and the president doesn’t have a clue what’s going on.

This episode had to have had the lowest body count of a mid-season 24 episode ever: 0. But that’s not to say it wasn’t effective. For all we know, our hero may not make it out of these next few hours alive. The FBI constantly finds themselves in a bigger hole, none more huge than where they are now and there is no one to save them.

That leaves the question of Starkwood which, if like Blackwater, is apparently hundreds of defected U.S. soldiers who believe the U.S. government is a monster that needs to be taken down. Yes, this is many years in the future, but they must have down some terrible stuff to have a ton of patriots turn on them. Then again, this is 24. The season is still solid, as was this episode.

Grade: B+

Other Notes:

Kind of a long-reaching callback, but 24 brought back HASMAT leader Sunny Macer, the lady who told Michelle Dessler about her chemical infection in Season 3.

I still don’t really care for President Woman and her daughter’s storyline, which is why it goes unmentioned here. But they look to be keeping Aaron around – which is fantastic.

Just to add sex appeal, here’s Agent Hotness.

Next week, on 24:

“24″ Blog: Season 7, Episode 14: 9 P.M. – 10 P.M.

Since seasons 2 or 3 (I’d have to go back to look),24 has been a constant balancing act between being trying to be a nuanced show about fighting terrorism and The Jack Bauer Show, where more people get lit up by our hero than the entire Matrix trilogy.

We’ve seen where it works (Season Three – Where Jack has to go to insane lengths to stop it, even if it means potentially killing his boss) and where it doesn’t (Season Six – Where Jack was either killing people or dragging the story to the finish). Because, as much as 24 fans want to see people get killed, it’s nothing without a good story.

As much as we know Jack’s the hero, the characters in the show (Besides Agent Hotness), see it the exact opposite. It probably doesn’t help that in the show last episode, he was framed for killing the only man with any information about the plot to takeover the White House.

Despite being the hero in our hearts, but bad guy to everyone else, the show explored what has really been the theme (and grace) of this season – For all the dirt Jack has had to slog through, is there any soul left afterwards?

In short, no. A telling, and one of the show’s best, conversation between Senator Red and Jack has Bauer spilling his guts (while holding Red hostage, mind you) about how after seeing his family and friends killed, he worries for all who passes that they may die next either because of him or at his hand. As always, it’s elevated by Keifer’s gruff acting and emotionless look while Red teeter-totters between wanting to imprison the guy or just give him a hug.

But nothing Red can stay.

As Gordon Ramsey, pretending to be a policeman, puts an end to what would have been one of Jack’s few allies.

And, yes, he’s dead. There’s no Tony Almeida-like comeback for him.

And yes, there’s a subplot involving the president and her daughter I’m not getting at right now because it hasn’t really developed. But it reeks of Sherry Palmer-like, two-faced business that was the B or C stories in seasons one and two.

It basically comes down to this. Poor Man’s Aaron Eckhart all but has his pitchforks and torches out for Jack.

Using Chloe, he got Morris to decrypt Agent Hotness’ e-mail and found out he’s going to Red’s place.

After seeing Red with a few bullet holes in him, he automatically assumes it was Jack’s handy work.

Little does he know, Jack’s work is far more intricate and, in this case, involves trapping his nemesis, Gordon Ramsey, in a trailer and flipping it with a frickin’ Frontloader.

Not only that, he kills his foe with a screwdriver then….

Takes out said screwdriver from his victim…

To steal a truck…

…And drive through a fence! Ah, the only way it could have been more bad-ass is if there explosions in the background and the American flag were to somehow be waving behind said explosions to “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns ‘N’ Roses.

A solid episode that allowed viewers to catch their breath from all the hysterics of the White House takeover and Jack’s framing last week. A well-written episode that proved you can have character along with bad-assery.

Grade: A-

Other Thoughts:

At the beginning of the episode, Jack had one of the most convenient and expensive finds to date. While on the run and hiding from the cops…

He finds a newish MacBook in the car he’s decided to steal. I guarantee even if he had somehow stumbled upon a car with a laptop, it, at the most, would have a slow Dell that would be sans Wi-Fi,

Agent Hotness was looking extra hot in this episode.

At one point, PMAE looked directly in the camera as the scene cut to the clock. I laughed because I either expected him to Airplane! it and say “What a pisser” or ask the director “That Good? We get that sce…”TICK TICK TICK.

Lastly, I know PMAE wants Jack’s head on a stick because Bauer’s the cool guy who smokes and has a motorcycle to PMAE’s do-good, by-the-book manner and stole his chick away from him. But to say Bauer killed Senator Red then jumped out a back window does seem a bit far-fetched for even Jack’s manic style. This is 24, sir, not Looney Tunes.

Next week, on 24:

Looking into the Future: The New Movie Trailers of 2009 Pt. II

Within a week, a huge batch of trailers have been released. So here’s a couple more note-worthy ones.

Star Trek
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Eric Bana, Simon Pegg

If you are a Trekkie (I admittedly, am not), then you were most likely up in arms at the first full trailer for the film released late last year. It had in-fighting, sex and, most of all, excitement. Three things Star Trek fans aren’t used to (kidding on the last one).

Similar to the new Wolverine trailer (see below), this one subdues itself to show that it is an actual movie and not just a special effects showcase. There’s epic chanting, hint of a storyline and Simon Pegg smiling. Though I’m still not completely sold by the trailer, I am by the cast. Never being a Star Trek follower, this piques my interest and that’s definitely not a bad thing for the folks at Bad Robot to do.

Wolverine

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Liev Shreiber, Ryan Reynolds

Somehow the creators of this trailer were able to take the film’s in-your-face action of the first trailer down a notch while adding more scenes with something, or many things, exploding at one time.

Similar to Star Trek, this is the more sophisticated trailer, and by that I mean it shows a semblance of a story with Gregorian chants as its music. I will say it shows a lot more promise than X3 and almost looks to harken back to Bryan Singer’s interpretation of the comics. Of course, that will truly be the deciding factor concerning the movie’s quality. We saw enough special effects in the last film, please give us some story.

Public Enemies

Starring: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Giovanni Ribisi

I’m sold on the concept (The story of John Dillinger), the cast (see above) and the director (Michael Mann, Collateral, Heat).

Yet, I’m not sold on the trailer. I don’t know if maybe it’s not revealing enough, or the techno music over robbing banks is too late-’90s. But if this had a lesser cast or director, I would not be interested. Regardless, I’m hoping this will be the movie to beat this summer. Mann has proven to make reliable summer films for those tired of the juvenile, special effects fare (Miami Vice, not included).

Up!
Starring: Christopher Plummer, John Ratzenberger

After Wall-E, Pixar can do no wrong. Though I don’t predict that this will be as quite as harrowing as Wall-E or even Ratatouille, I think the director of Monsters Inc. will pull off the same magic that he did with his last said film – a brilliant children’s story that adults can fall in love with, as well.