TVSquad

*Warning, spoilers from the last two hours of Jack Bauer's sixth bad day.*

(S06E23/S06E24) In honor of the two-hour, 24 season finale, we're going to do things a little differently. We're going to have a live chat during the show so you can post your snarky comments and reactions in real time. The full double-episode review will be posted in this space later.

Will we get the answers to our burning questions? Will there be a Star Wars-like father-son showdown between Jack and Phillip Bauer? We'll soon find out.

Click here to join the chat. Read the episode review below.

(S06E22) *Warning, spoilers ahead from latest episode.*

If you're a fan of gunfire, dim lighting and foot chases through tunnels and dank warehouses, the latest installment of 24 was right up your alley. Sure, there were still campy moments. Like Jack Bauer's sister-in-law Marilyn sobbing and losing her composure, and Jack's "nephew" Josh being squinty and whiny. Again.

However the name of the game in hour 22 was action, shoehorned into nearly every tick of the 24 clock. And if there's one thing for which I was grateful, it was that there were no scenes with Chloe and Morris "Drill-Bit" O'Brian saying insipid things to one another.

(S06E21) *Warning, spoilers ahead from the new episode ahead.*

In order to enjoy the 21st hour of Jack Bauer's sixth bad day, I had to suspend reality and stop myself from wondering:

a) How in the world CTU could possibly be so vulnerable, b) Why a presidential chief of staff would be hanging out in a surveillance van, c) How a confused looking teen with a mop of blond hair could suddenly take on such importance, and, d) Why on God's green earth should I care about the romantic bickerings of a divorced couple with no chemistry?

But, once I decided to stop asking the why's and the how's I was able to enjoy this hour for what it was: An odd 60 minutes with surprising moments and real, actual dramatic tension.

(S06E20) *Warning, spoilers from the latest episode ahead.*

There were a number of unhinged people populating 24 in the 20th hour. There were tears. There was betrayal. Sex. Intrigue. An evil doctor. And, oh yeah, a potential U.S.-Russian military skirmish after CTU accidentally botched a plan to recover a Russian defense component from the Chinese that Jack Bauer had handed over.

Just your average day in 24-land.

Thankfully, there was a heck of a lot more of Jack in this episode as well as some action, albeit low-keyed action that was confined to darkened CTU corridors, though there was enough story during this hour to keep me entertained.

(S06E19) *Warning, spoilers from the latest episode ahead.*

A dirty old man. A trigger-happy agent. A politically cut-throat spouse. Wildly inappropriate personal bickering in the workplace. Special guest star Jack Bauer.

What do those five things have in common? The 19th hour of 24.

Maybe I'm just growing more cynical, but this episode bummed me out on many fronts. Overall, it felt like filler to just inch the story forward to the final episodes. All I know is that throughout the hour, I wanted to see more Jack, much less of Chloe and Morris "Drill-Bit" O'Brian and felt nauseated by that scene with Acting President Noah Daniels. You know the one.

(S06E18) *Warning, spoilers from the latest episode ahead.*

Who among us did not see this turn of events coming?

I mean, come on, when has life ever been easy for a Palmer politician? And who didn't expect another Jack-Bauer's-gone-rogue story line to surface, particularly when the love of his life's safety hangs in the balance?

Not that seeing these predictable plot twists play out lessened my enjoyment of this 24 episode, but I found the White House and CTU politics a bit too abrupt for a single episode.

(S06E10) *Warning, spoilers ahead*

A President's Day gift awaited viewers at the end of the tenth hour of 24.

In fact the extremely brief scene involving a famously evil 24 president -- who is now sporting a beard that rivals Jack Bauer's when he was released from Chinese custody some 10 hours ago -- was my favorite part of the latest episode of 24.

That, and the scene where the chief of staff was lying on the dingy floor of another, non-descript boiler room with duct tape over his mouth. Those two scenes made up for the others, like Milo bein' a hero, Morris spitting out the drink and inappropriate flirting in a stairwell.