(S05E21) Shock and Awe was a marketing slogan that our American military had come up with to describe a bombing salvo that would be unleashed in Iraq a few years ago. As it turns out, it could have been a descriptor for what would go down during the 3am-4am hour on this week's 24.In a season that's been well-known for killing off longtime characters on the show, with Edgar, Tony, Michelle, President Palmer, Secretary Heller, oh, wait, we got an update there. As many readers and commenters here have stated, there was definitely the chance that Heller survived his car's plummeting off a cliff, something I wasn't so sure could have happened. Turns out, I either overestimated the abilities of terrorists in a chase helicopter with night vision goggles, or underestimated the smarts of Heller to either dive from the vehicle as it dropped, or his ability to survive once it crashed into the waters below. Well, at least we *think* he's still alive, as no one has officially talked to him yet, we've just heard he was okay. No one's that underhanded to pull a stunt like that, right?
FOX's promos for 24 have begun to get a bit Soprano-like of late, with what you see in the dramatic scenes becoming not quite what they seem, but that's all right. After I was chided in last week's writeup for not thinking the plane Jack had taken control of could pull itself out of a controlled dive and stay together, it turned out that things weren't so impossible, and we never did get to see missiles take Jack out of the sky. But hey, landing on a freeway and managing to avoid two battalions who are setting up a perimeter around a jetliner adds enough drama for me.
Bauer's escape (again) led to what might be the longest amount of facetime for President Logan in one stretch that we've seen since he became part of the show. We get to see him reflect on what he has done, watch him seem to try and apologize to his wife for his actions and how he has lied to her -- only to be completely rebuffed -- and do a little foreshadowing (maybe it was hoping?) of our own when he speaks with his partners about making sure that they are not implicated in the crimes committed on this very long day. Which, before we get to what Logan looks to do, is important to bring up. Do we think that these men, Bluetooth headsets and all, have something else up their collective sleeve, or are they just hiding out to make sure that nothing else happens. And better yet, is Miles somehow involved?
Back to Logan, though. The moment he picked up the box off the shelf, I'm sure we all had the same feeling about what would come next. Of course, we all have now seen what would come of this, but seeing a box with a handgun, locked and loaded, created a feeling of finality for the viewer, probably as much so as what Logan was thinking, but without us having to have a last drink. When his phone rang and Miles was on the other end, promising that he could help the President out, it was amazing that a grin didn't escape the facial muscles of Logan, because he had to realize that his life had, for all intents and purposes, been saved by this man he had never spoken with before. Of course, as long as we're going to follow the "good guys always win" formula, it can't work out well for Logan and Miles, but they'll be lucky to be able to take their own lives.
If we're supposed to believe what has been said about Kim Raver, the actress who plays Audrey Raines, she's probably not going to leave with the most positive of circumstances, since she is expected to be a major part of a show on another network for the upcoming season. Jack has apparently returned to her as far as the woman in his life goes, if this week was any example, which means he'll be a wreck yet again and probably end up bearded and hiding out on top of a mountain somewhere. Logan isn't going to survive as President, at least not if 24 is going to have Jack Bauer -- or anyone else currently living and on the good side -- alive going forward, so we know something big will happen there, and if Logan lives, then will he rat out the men behind what's been going on for at least this whole season, and probably from when Logan took office in the first place?
Love it or hate it, there's no way that you can say what's been going on the last month with 24 has been the least bit boring, and it's only going to get more tense as the morning approaches.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-09-2006 @ 3:38AM
Mick Cody said...
The writing on 24 has gone down consistently from DAY 2. And I lament it.
While the occasional plot point & pace is still well done, the acting, dialogue & character motivation is strictly the level of daytime ' drama. ' Exposition is endlessly repetitive & show stretching is laugh out loud obvious. Nothing typifies it more than the relationship between this reptilian, lame President & his pop-eyed, melodramatic wife. It's like a none too bright, 10 year old, re-imagining Macbeth, In reverse. . ..
They better get a real writer for the projected theatrical feature. Or 24 will signify what it does now: a score of 24 out of 100.
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5-09-2006 @ 6:31AM
Jason P. said...
Ouch, Mick C. In my opinion, I've found this season to be one of the best they've made. Every episode has had moments of tense drama, intriguing plot developments, and believable acting. So what if there's some "show stretching"? That's why we watch TV: to find some enjoyment in our idle hours. The more stretching, the better, I say, as long as it's interesting. What is TV besides an experiment in "life-stretching," giving us reasons to enjoy life during our hours of boredom?
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5-09-2006 @ 7:10AM
Jeff said...
this hot potato audio file is on a USB compatible MP3 device, yet Jack nor Chloe bothered to copy/email the file. This despite Chloe being the biggest TV character geek and Jack having the skills to reprogram a SIMM card to self-destruct earlier this season. Are they playing us for fools?
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5-09-2006 @ 7:22AM
Georgia said...
Maybe they're just human after all!! You know.... when you have those times of "I canNOT believe I was sooooo stupid." Reckon they'll have one of those conversations??
I was really surprised that Chloe was not locked off/hidden somewhere secure ... not in a room where anyone could wander in and out.
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5-09-2006 @ 8:16AM
Mark said...
Gosh- I thought it was a cigar box and half expected Monica Lewinski to make a cameo. Also, with the way Miles was talking to the President, I was getting a creepy Smithers/Mr. Burns vibe. More than anything, I want to know just who the evil Dr. Romano is supposed to be.
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5-09-2006 @ 8:51AM
Tammy said...
My husband was laughing at me because everytime they showed Miles I kept saying "he's slime, don't tell him what's going on." I thought the President was going to shoot his wife and then himself because she knew too much. I'm worse than the actual show writers I guess.
Anyway, this season they said they were going for more action in every episode because that's what their fans like. I joked that Jack may not go to the bathroom but he can take a few minutes to be with the woman he loves... awwwww!
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5-09-2006 @ 10:59AM
Chris said...
I somehow think Audrey is involved in what's happening..
Her reaction upon finding out that her father was alive was weird.
I would have expected her to be more happy...
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5-09-2006 @ 12:53PM
Destin said...
Forget copying--I don't understand why Jack didn't just play the recording over the PHONE to the Homeland boss-lady. It's short, he had time in the cockpit and in the SUV, and it would've ensured she was completely on his side.
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5-09-2006 @ 1:51PM
Gordy said...
Well, in next week's previews we see Jack interrogating Henderson, so, he's not in hot water I guess.
Methinks that Chloe did just that, copied the darned thing. Or, Heller/Audrey/Wayne Palmer corroborated Jack's story.
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5-09-2006 @ 5:42PM
rick said...
The handling of this tape has been very mysterious and please correct me if I am wrong, but Jack never played the tape after he got it from the co-pilot. One also should question why Evelyn would have given the original tape to Henderson at the beginning. She worked with the Secret Service, she should have been smart enough to know that Henderson did not know what the original looked like so she could have given him a copy and then when she had her child, she could have promised to release the original. In any case, I guess Jack assumed Evelyn and her child were dead, but not to even mention that someone should check in on them in that hotel room where he left them seems a bit odd. She was already shot and bleeding and it has been hours. Still 24 is a piece of art, but as with most art, standing back a reasonable distance to appreciated the true beauty is needed. Stare at it too close and things become muddled
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5-09-2006 @ 5:46PM
jimmyb said...
yeah, gotta agree with you jeff.......this is done just to streatch out the plot...its soo "un"24 and real obvious.
and chris....thats just the way audrey "acts" she seems to have the same subdued emotions no matter whats going on.....
mark...i love the smithers/burns thing...you nailed it.
lol
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5-09-2006 @ 8:50PM
Phil W said...
Dumb Me. I recorded 24 on my DVD Monday and then deleted the show just as I was going to watch it. My wife felt sick at this as we are big fans. Well i guess from reading the blogs, I found out the results of the show. Even called our local FOX channel for a copy but no luck.
Agree with the playing of the file over the phone plus why not make a copy. Very un-24 like.
anyone have more info on last show please write.
PjW
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5-10-2006 @ 7:06AM
Renee said...
MAN! I'm SOOOO disappointed that Logan is still alive. I hate him! I couldn't wait to hear that pop of the gun, good riddance! Good Lord, this show brings out the worst in me! LOL!
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5-10-2006 @ 7:03PM
kenivc said...
all will end well...as always 24 ends and wraps it all up LOST is open ended and can go on and on
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5-12-2006 @ 8:38AM
hawkc said...
Jack's best bet would have been to play it over the cockpit radio to ATC... thus recorded digitally on every FAA tower within 200 miles. And again with the USB voice recorder, Chloe's too smart to work on the ORIGINAL on the DEVICE! First thing she would have done would be copy it over to her snifty CTU portable commodore 64 and edit it there!
- C
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5-12-2006 @ 10:11AM
scott mclendon said...
They're saving Logan so that Jack can stomp his ass in the finale.Wouldn't that be cool.
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5-12-2006 @ 3:38PM
Draugnar said...
This season has had big impossibility after big impossibility and should not even be where it is at if logic played into it at all. For example: Samwise Gamgi (Sean Astin, I forget his character's name on 24) has his ID stolen outside of CTU, but manages to get back into CTU without it. Yet it is the one thing the bad guys need to get into CTU and release the gas that kills Edgar. This is a a serious conundrum. Either you have to have the ID or you don't. The writer's can't have it both ways.
Next, the badge is altered electronically to make the name and everything pop-up on the screen when the terrorist goes into CTU. The problem is, that information would be kept on the security system, not the badge itself. All the badge has is an electronically coded key to the security record, so unless a hacker had added the record to the system, altering the badge could only invalidate it. And if a hacker could do that to the system, then they could have used any badge and modified it. So, I guess the writer's aren't IT Security experts, but then most people know that the electronic strip on their credit cards and the bar code on their driver's license doesn't relay any more information that what could be seen on the card itself. To get the rest, the scanner/terminal has to TALK to some other system somewhere. Any security system that encodes everything on the badge and doesn't do a cross-reference check against a security computer is seriously flawed and totally unsecure. Are we to believe that CTU is THAT incompetent to have an easily fooled security system that any card encoder could override?
Geez. I love "24", but it has gotten to be a bit too unbelievable this season.
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5-14-2006 @ 1:29PM
Charlie on the PA Turnpike said...
I have but two questions:
#1 After Jack exposed Walt Commings for what he was, why did President Logan encourage him (Jack) to stay on the case? This was a crucial mistake.
#2 What did Jack whisper into Nina's ear in Day 2?
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