And finally into the land of action... yes, below the fold. The invincible Jack was back... for one night only, Jack killed everyone in his way and managed to find the missing nukes. (so how does this bode for the rest of the season? not well, but more on that later) We love the 007 Jack - the man who takes a beating, never ever loses, and always gets his man.

But first we have to start with the White House shenanigans. *sigh* They get sillier every week. When last we left the Prez... he had launched a nuke at "the country of Fayed" (henceforth to be known as TCOF - we could say Syria... but we'll refrain). Turns out it was all a bluff and Palmer wanted to scare TCOF into helping him find the suitcase nukes in the US since Fayed isn't talking. Apparently Fayed has a contact back home... who knew...

Most idiotic part of this - of the many idiotic parts... Palmer doesn't trust his own staff to stand behind him while he negotiates. Hayes and Lennox argue with him over his negotiating tactics in front of the opponent. Karen Hayes (how the hell did she get to be National Security Advisor!) tries to get her husband to lie to the Prez about Fayed. Geeze! How a man like Bill Buchanan can be married to such a half-wit is astounding. How she came to be a high ranking security person is scary as hell.

Okay the most idiotic thing - they pull off their bluff then dump the "nuke" in the Mediterranean Sea. When Lennox says he'll call the recovery team and tell them to get the missile back - the Prez tells Lennox it wasn't a "real" warhead so there's no need to bother about it. What?

Now you know what this means... TCOF thinks they were going to be nuked. When they find out that the US isn't even recovering the missile... all hell will break loose. I can hear it now, "OMG we were duped by the infidel United States!" They will spread the news all over the world.

Palmer will never again be able to "bluff" another country. TCOF knows the US would recover any nuke it lost at Sea, they'd know they were had, you don't think they'll let every other government know about this? Palmer has now lost any leverage with any other country. Period. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Never let them know you bluffed. They can suspect - but never let them "know for sure."

Okay that's enough -we could completely tear it apart... things like - when did Palmer have the time to consult the Joint Chiefs in private? He hasn't been alone long enough to even pee, much less hold a private meeting! But let's move on to other stuff.

Jack and Doyle are trying to make Fayed talk. Beloved husband caught this bit which I am sorry to say I missed. Doyle is trying to intimidate Fayed. He tells him that Fayed will never get all the glory of the kill, his number 2 guy will be "the Martyr". Now get this... Fayed says, “I serve the will of God.” Umm.... Excuse Me... GOD? I don't think so! How about ALLAH you jackass writers!!! Don't try to make him sound Christian or like "one of us". Don't try to equate him with some off the wall Christian militant. Fayed would never say "God" he would only say "Allah". Quit trying to water it down!

Next we have the purely predictable escape scene. Jack and Doyle are taking Fayed back to CTU when they are cut off by a truck and "bad guys" start shooting. As soon as I saw both Jack and Doyle take hits - I knew the entire thing was faked. Ho-hum... predictable. With predictable results - eventually Fayed realizes he's been tricked - he kills the CTU team and gets away. We'll skip the obligatory icky CTU scene with Milo and Nadia - it's just too nauseating.

Luckily Jack finds Fayed stealing a garbage truck. Being Jack he naturally crawls under and holds on for a ride out to where the nukes are. I'm really pissed that Chloe has hardly been in this episode except for the teeny clips of her looking at a monitor or checking Morris for booze. She should be in the thick of it all talking to Jack!

Best part of the night - Fayed arrives at the warehouse. His men and the nukes are there. Jack enters the building and starts taking out Fayed's guys. Much gun play. Big fight at the end - with Jack killing off Fayed by hanging him from a chain. Lovely! Doyle is suitably impressed with Jack's body count. They have the nukes and Jack's phone rings...

It's Audrey. Damn I was so hoping she wasn't going to show up this season. I really thought they'd save her return for next year. Now I have to watch her sit around being the victim of the mean old Chinese guys. Gag me. The question continues to be

How Bad Will It Get?

Tune in next week. I think the writers have exhausted themselves with this show. It's almost as if they don't know how to write action anymore. One can always hope that's not the case though.

Posted by: Teresa in Television at 04:12 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 898 words, total size 5 kb.

1 You'd expect to see more of Chloe since she has second billing on the show.

Posted by: Denny at April 10, 2007 05:23 PM (5F1ho)

2 I totally agree; I was shocked when Fayed said 'God'!!! and hubby and I both wondered just where the heck Chloe has been hiding!!!! AND when Audrey surfaced I actually groaned...!

Has 24 jumped the shark?

Like it or loathe it, I'm so glad to see you posted your take.

Posted by: pam at April 11, 2007 04:04 AM (l6NIn)

Hide Comments | Add Comment