Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episodes 23-24: 2:00 pm-4:00 pm

Nine years ago I sat down alone in my bedroom with the lights off, and turned the TV on. I was about to watch the pilot of a show that I thought had an interesting gimmick, and one I figured would probably entertain me. No one I knew watched 24 at the beginning, and it was almost better for it. Each week I would go into my room, sit there alone with only the glow of the television, and get engulfed in a frenetic thrill-ride with so many twists, turns, and cliffhangers I could sometimes barely hang on. Each week I would rush out of my room afterwards to freak out to my mother about whatever big twist or reveal had occurred that week, even though she couldn't possibly have cared (in my defense, I was in middle school at the time. In hers, she became a fan starting with Season Two and has been a die-hard defender of the show in even its darkest hours ever since). What drew me to the show initially, and what received a great callback tonight for the first time perhaps since as far back as that first season were five simple words: "Events occur in real time."

You'll excuse me if this review is only partially about those events that unfolded in real time over the two hours that ended the show, and is also partially about what the show has meant to me, and to television over the past almost decade. To say that 24 is a landmark show that changed television might sound like an overstatement, but I believe it is the absolute truth. That isn't to say that 24 wasn't a flawed show (in fact, it was often a deeply flawed show), but it redefined the action genre and changed the way we think about suspense and pacing in ways that will long outlive its run time. Its legacy also far surpasses the gimmick that had me worried the show could never last past the first season. Sure it became increasingly unrealistic that one man would be thrown into that many horrible events that would each take exactly 24 hours to resolve, but let's get honest here: we never watched 24 for the realism.

We watched it for the chance to follow along with everything that occurred, to see actions, yes, but also to examine their consequences. I have been mocked for trying to read too much into 24 before, and I may be guilty of that again in this review; if that is the case, I ask you to humor me for this one last examination. This show wasn't about terrorism, nor was it about the national security state (though the pilot's preemption because of September 11th did give it the opportunity to become a show of its times). At the end of the day, 24 was never about an us versus them mentality. It was never really about the good guys triumphing over the bad guys, nor was it about America kicking the rest of the world's ass (Though the good guys did invariably triumph, and America pretty consistently showed the world who was boss). The show was really about good people trying to do good things, being forced to sacrifice for their convictions, and ultimately being morally compromised by their dedication.

In that light, these last two hours were a fitting end to the show. Jack Bauer has lost literally everything in his drive to stand by his convictions: he sacrificed his wife, his relationship with his daughter, two girlfriends, his health (he became a drug addict and got radiation poisoning), his freedom, his life (even if it was a faked death) and, briefly here at the end, his sanity. The series began with Jack being forced to aim a sniper rifle at a world leader, and ended with him choosing to point the gun himself. I do think I am reading too much into that comparison and giving the writers and directors a bit too much credit in their attempts to wrap the show up. But it also struck me that the way that Jack forced Jason to his knees and regretfully aimed the gun at his head echoed the execution of Ryan Chapelle those many years and many bodies ago. This time, though, Jack refused to compromise. This time he did not kill to fulfill his convictions but placed his final faith in a system that, while broken, was the only thing he hadn't lost by tonight.

I don't think the last half hour of the show really worked dramatically. Taylor's going so far but then no further to protect her peace agreement, and Jack's coming so close to pulling the trigger on a world leader only to back off seemed like they were done more for convenience sake than because they truly made story sense. And Jack being saved by a call from the president in the nick of time also didn't really feel true to me. It was a literal deus ex machina as the drone from above saved Jack from certain destruction, and honestly, though this show hasn't been above that in seasons, I hoped it would be tonight. All that being said, I never really thought Jack would pull that trigger, and I knew that Taylor would get her comeuppance before the end, so the show satisfying those expectations isn't that shocking. What did work about the ending was Jack's speech to Chloe, which was incredibly moving and allowed him the chance to thank her for years of having his back. Just like him, I never though the mouthy computer geek from Season 3 would end up being Jack's longest running ally, but I am glad that after sacrificing that bond for story's sake in the last few weeks the show paid homage to it in its last moments, and I am glad for that in the end. I also appreciated the heartbreaking and insightful message Jack recorded before steeling himself for an assassination. What he said can easily be read as a message from the show's creators to its audience, a final statement of sorts. "Lasting peace cannot simply be political," Jack told us. It must be built on truth, on honesty, and on real intentions of all involved parties to move forward.

Throughout its run, 24 has often been co-opted by the conservative movement as evidence of the efficacy of torture and as an example of how bad things could get without improved national security. It is fitting, then, that its final season developed such subversive politics. Think, for a moment, and realize that the bad guys of this season were Americans as well as Russians and Middle Easterners. At the last, the most prevalent threats came from within, as factions within the government fought against truth and justice for personal gain and political points. I'm not saying that this season of 24 should be read as an indictment of American politics, or as a criticism of American foreign policy. This show is nothing if not fiercely patriotic to its last. The point I am making is that at the end of it all, 24's villains weren't just two dimensional bad guys or terrorist stereotypes like the show was often lambasted for. Its bad guys were villainized because they were flawed. They were morally compromised, forced into impossible positions, and lead to act in ways that promoted evil over good. In short, the show's bad guys were just people.

This has never been a show I expected to come together as one narrative, and I wasn't looking for some big closure tonight that would tie everything together (especially since this was written as a season, not a series, finale). 24 was at its heart an action show that aimed to thrill and entertain. That it was also during its run an exploration of personal ethics, an in-depth character study, a moral compass that revealed by its existence that sometimes compasses cannot point north, and yes, a vehicle for political messages on both sides of the aisle is a testament to its efficacy and its enduring legacy. It transcended the strictures of its procedural conceit (even if it was a high-concept show from the get go) and became something much more. It was never a perfect show, and it was far from it in its last few seasons, but I loved it anyway. I loved the action, I loved the suspense, I loved the ethical quandaries, and I loved Jack Bauer. He gave everything he had for his country, and I appreciate his (admittedly fictional) sacrifice. I can't say I wish the show wasn't ending, because I recognize its time has come, but I am still sad to see it go. The preceding took place between the day of the California Presidential Primary, and the day of an aborted peace treaty with the Middle East. The preceding took place in a decade rife with security risks, moral compromises, and political strife. The preceding took place in a quintessential American time, and told a very American story. Let's send it off with a silent clock.

Episode Grade: B+ (great first 3/4, pretty standard endingthat left a little to be decided)

Series Grade: A- (flawed, but bold, original, and for far longer than it should have been, very successful)

Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episode 22: 1:00 pm-2:00 pm

Yet again this week, President Taylor was the biggest problem with 24. Her character is unquestionably acting as an agent of evil at this point, but she isn't fun to watch like Charles Logan (Itzin bobs his head like a snake tonight while he tempts her to censor the press, just begging for all sorts of slimy comparisons). She isn't threatening like so many 24 villains before her, and she isn't tragic evil, which would require us to sympathize with her increasingly irrational and immoral actions. She may not be any type of evil that is enjoyable to watch, but nevertheless she is a despicable force, trying to blame Logan for any of her unconscionable acts, then immediately proceeding to censor the press, and arrest a reporter who might have some damning evidence against her. And most infuriatingly, she continues to insinuate that she never had any choice in any of this, which shows cowardice of a much less enjoyable sort than Charles Logan (who was never more of a coward than when he was whimpering, "That's Jack Bauer! He's coming for me!" in that underpass).

All this is by way of saying that President Taylor's scenes are by far the weakest part of this episode, but fortunately they are pretty brief. In contrast to that, Jack Bauer, always the strongest link in the 24 chain by a mile, is providing for some stunningly compelling television, as he operates against the wishes of his president, law enforcement officials, and even against rationality. Jack is flat out terrifying tonight, and when he dons his black hockey mask he pretty much becomes the vigilante superhero his the show has always wished he was. For seasons now Jack has been as unkillable as any masked hero of comic lore, and tonight he actually donned a mask and reigned brutal vengeance down on those who he believes have wronged him.

Sure, it would be easy to point out that we could have used this level of intensity earlier this season. It would also be within reason to point out that whiel Renee's death would have come as a shock to Jack, its hardly the most traumatizing thing he has gone through, and it seems unlikely to cause him to transform into the angel of chaos he has become since she died. But this is 24's swan song, and for better or worse I'm going to cut the show some slack, sit back, and enjoy the mayhem Jack is causing.

And my god was there some great mayhem to relish in. Perhaps the best moment was Jack's attack of Logan's motorcade, if only for the aforementioned girlish terror Logan exhibited at the sight of him. As soon as he got the chance, Logan spilled everything he knew to Jack (no surprises there), but watching Jack swoop in like a mythological embodiment of righteous fury was a sight to see. He may not have been eviscerating anyone this week, but he coldy, calculatedly terrorized a tunnel full of innocent bystanders to kidnap a former President and extort information out of him.

The other parts of the plotline were comparatively weak and boring, but then anything would be boring in contrast to Jack's rampage. Meredith the reporter got arrested, which would have mattered more if there was enough season left to make a story out of her censorship. And Chloe is still trying to bring her friend back from the edge, recruiting Cole and Arlo to help her out. This is all standard fare, but got me thinking: Can Jack Bauer be saved at this point? And should he be?

The reveal of the room filled with Russian bodies was less out of an action film and more a scene of pure horror. Jack seems to have become a combination of Harvey Dent and Beatrix Kiddo, with all the darkness, emotional baggage, lack of mercy, and awesomeness that entails. Just seeing the trail of bodies he left in his wake, and the way he snarled at Logan tonight made me wonder if there is any coming back from what he's done. It took them almost an entire season to get here, but I am on the edge of my seat with anticipation for next week's two hour finale. For once this season I don't know what's going to happen next, and even more importantly, for once I care.

Grade: A-

Notes:

-"There is nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal."

-Earlier this year I read an interview with Sutherland where he said that if this ended up being the last season, there was some powerful stuff to end with. I didn't believe him for most of this season, but now I see he was right on the money.

-Jack bugging Logan's lapel was the first legitimate twist this whole season. And my God was it a satisfying one.

Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episode 21: 12:00 pm-1:00 pm

One thing 24 always does well is follow Jack bauer down a very dark, desperate path. Last week set that up, and I lacked faith that this week's would follow through. But the (not at all surprising) revelation that Jack is only out for bloody vengeance at least spiced up this episode a bit. Jack doesn't care about justice at this point. He doesn't care about truth. All that matters to him now is finding the people who killed the woman he (apparently) loved. And that's at least a little exciting.

With all of this season's villains in plain sight, and none of them particularly threatening, the only thing the show could really do at this point is show Jack Bauer as a threat, and rachet up tension as two forces equally willing to do evil go up against each other in the last hours of the show. The Russians are flat out boring, President Taylor is pretty much useless, and Charles Logan is as much of a snake as ever, but doesn't seem all that threatening since Jack has already bested him once. I'll say again that Gregory Itzin is great in his role, and at the show's worst, Keifer Sutherland is spellbinding. Adding tension through Michael Madsen's return to back Jack up was a nice touch too, and when the guns are blazing, the show still does some great work. As the episode ended tonight, Jack was entirely over the edge, and its hard to say how much further he will go. If nothing else, that's something to watch the end for.

Sure its pretty lazy to have Pavel, Renee's killer, fall right into Jack's hands immediately this hour, but it wasn't the worst thing this show has done by a long shot. Chloe's position is interesting-ish, even though I still feel its a very cheap attempt to stir up drama at the expense of years of story development. Cole's disillusionment could be great, if we had any background information on Cole or if Freddie Prinze Jr. wasn't such a terrible actor, but I give the show credit for trying.

The show has a troubled past with torture, but in the last two seasons, it seems to have come out firmly against it, as no torture session has ended with "actionable intelligence" and all of them have been carried out by people who are deeply morally compromised, so at least the show has figured out what it wants to say about national security in its final hours. The torture scene was flat out brutal, and having the episode end with Jack's revelation that Charles Logan was involved amounts to the biggest cliff hanger the show has done in months (if not years). The season is still deeply flawed, but the viciousness our protagonist showed tonight amounts to some of the most interesting television 24 has produced in quite a while. Jack is entirely over the edge, and I care about where he goes from here. That, at least, is worth it.

Grade: B

Notes:

-The preview for next week was WAY too spoiler-y for my taste.

Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episode 20: 11:00 am-12:00pm

One thing is for certain on 24: the more desperate the writers get to add tension, the more likely you are to see someone tortured. After numerous compliants during the middle seasons about the ridiculous amount of torture used, and after the show's writers realized their clearly ridiculous situations were being touted by a certain political party to justify torture, the show has leaned toward less torture in the last few seasons. This actually worked out well, considering that what had started as a means to show just how desperate Jack Bauer was and just how dire a situation he was in had become stock in trade for the show, and also didn't carry the emotional punch a torture scene during the first few seasons did. Tonight, and in the previews for next week, its clear that we have returned to an era when the show uses torture as its most interesting filler tactic. And god knows it needs some filler, because its more than out of story.

President Taylor continued to climb the list of the least realistic characters this show has ever produced as she somehow still tried to walk the line between committing treason and admitting what she's doing is evil. Also, she pretty much just made Charles Logan president again, which is fucking insane, but sure, why not, thet'll fill an hour or two. On the total-bullshit-failed-Macguffin front that is the treaty, Dahlia Hassan claims to have the full-throated support of her Fundamentalist Islamic country (remember that she's a woman), and somehow the President still hasn't realized that if one or more of the signatories on a peace treaty have tried to attack another in the 24 hours before it was signed, it probably won't effectively promote peace.

At CTU the show is continuing its season-long slap in the face to long time fans by having Chloe continue to lead the search for Jack without any plausible reason to. This show has gotten by on two standards for the past four seasons or so: 1. Jack is always right, and 2. Chloe will always believe him. The show has sacrificed by far its strongest and most meaningful relationship for minor drama that isn't good anyway. Renee's death proved that this show just didn't care about story or consistency and were just looking to stretch out their shocking lack of story for the rest of the season.

That being said, though, tell me you didn't get a rush of pure adrenaline and joy when Jack killed Dana (this rush of joy may have been partially due to my hatred of Sackhoff's performance here). One thing this show has continued to do well is its shoot outs, and Jack's chase of Dana through the streets of Manhattan was well done and decently exciting. Credit also must be given to Keifer Sutherland, who continues to be flat out amazing in the role in spite of the terrible writing and story telling. Just take the moment he looked coldly into Dana's eyes and said "Nothing" as an affirmation of how little he has left to lose, and how much he has already given up. If nothing else, this season of 24 has given us more of Sutherland's masterful performance, and there's something to be said for that. I'm still not sure how the show is going to drag out its incresingly non-existent story for four more hours (Jack has the evidence! It should all be over!), and I'm definitely not excited for where it will likely be going, but I can still take solace in the few things this show still manages to do without making me feel like ranting.

Grade: C

Notes:

-Didn't it seem like Jack and Cole sprung Dana incredibly easily?

-Whenever Jack asks someone "Do you know who I am?" I feel warm inside.

Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episode 19: 10:00 am-11:00 am

I have defended President Taylor as a character a lot this season, mostly because of the solid performance by Cherry Jones. But the character continues to try my patience, and tonight lapsed into sheer unbelievability with her waffling back and forth on the cover-up conspiracy. Last week, 24 delivered the best episode of the season, ratcheting up the tension and setting the pieces for an exciting end to what has been a flat out terrible season. Tonight the show squandered what little good will it built up last week by putting the least rational character behind the wheel of the story.

Let's think about the rationale of President Taylor tonight. She is initially behind the idea of a cover-up to preserve this peace treaty whose goals are vague at best, and whose validity is questionable not only because an un-elected figurehead will be signing it, but also because at least one of the signatories smuggled nuclear weapons into the hands of terrorists and assassinated a world leader to keep it from being signed. So the chances of this treaty actually getting something done are shockingly slim. But she decides to engage in a massive cover-up anyway. Until Ethan tells her not to. Then she decides she has crossed a moral line and should end the peace deal and reveal the treachery of the Russians. Until Charles Logan tells her not to. Then she's back on the cover-up train towards impeachment town, and why exactly? Ethan tries to provide some rationale (presumably because even the writers were curious as to what the motivations of her character were) late in the episode, relating it to the loss of her family and personal motivations and blah, blah, blah. Her decisions are motivated by nothing even resuming consistent characterization, she is simply a walking, talking story contrivance with her own Oval Office. Charles Logan may be a bastard, but at least he's a convincing one, and you can understand his motivations at any given point. President Taylor is basically a noncharacter at this point, moving the story with her actions, but serving no other purpose.

The consistent problem with this season is the utter lack of tension, and after building some in nicely last week, the show revealed its hand early this week, and yet again, it had nothing. Think about it: at this point the only characters who are in any sort of danger at all are Jack (who will live not only because the writers lost the courage to kill him years ago, but also because without him there is literally no conflict yet) and Dana (who will live because Jack can't get the evidence without her), niether of whom is really in danger if we pause for a moment. The country isn't in any actual danger, except the scandal of having yet another corrupt President, and as Jack's effortless out-maneuvering of Cole and his men tonight proved, Jack isn't even in over his head like last week left us thinking. Further, it isn't like Chloe will ever fully turn against Jack, so even when Charles Logan inevitably calls in a kill order, she will figure out a way to help him. There is no tension driving this season, and that just leaves us with a whole lot of time on our hand to contemplate how absurd everything happening is. At the end of tonight's episode, I actually groaned at the realization that there are still 5 hours left. This season will not be saved at this point, I just wish someone would put it out of its misery.

Grade:C-

Notes:

-Michael Fucking Madsen guest starred as Jack's contact who had a bunch of weapons...because Jack needed one of those, and Quentin Tarantino isn't filming anything right now...That was the best part of this episode, and that is really sad.

Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episode 18: 9:00 am-10:00 am

For the first time all season tonight, 24 had me fairly riveted. And for the first time all season, I actually cared, when the final second was ticked off, what would happen next week. Last week was a piece setter in a lot of ways, an I concluded with my excitement for the way the pieces had been set up. Overall, the show has seriously botched the majority of this season, but it looks like it may turn things around in time for the final few hours. The elements that are likely to produce some compelling plot lines have finally been moved to the forefront and the more ridiculous stuff is being marginalized as much as possible.

Because I am so happy with so much of this episode, let's for once start with the few things I didn't like before turning toward what worked this week. For one thing, I have to comment on the still cheap way that Renee was shuffled off this mortal coil. I accept at this point that it was the only way to get Jack to go dark and turn against the world at a moment's notice, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a cheap story contrivance that actually works to lessen the impact of the previous sacrifices Jack has made on this show, the ones that actually mattered for more than just plot mobility. There were only two other little things that bugged me this week, and both were so minor as to seem like irritations in comparison to the glaring errors and inconsistencies I've become used to this season. Getting Ethan Kanin back on his feet just hours after he had a serious cardiac event and almost died is unrealistic, but only in real world terms. On 24's clock, that sort of development is expected and it makes story sense to bring the President's conscience back just when she is about to compromise all of her morals. In fact, it makes so much dramatic sense that I can barely call it a flaw that Ethan leap frogged his likely months-long recovery in just a few hours. The other thing I ranted about last week, but its just entirely implausible that Dahlia Hassan could be taking power, and this week stretched credulity further when they showed footage of women marching in the streets. In as radical and unstable a place as the IRK is purported to be, there is no way that women would be taking to the streets at all, regardless of the issue. But again, this is a small point, that didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the episode.

What worked best this week was President Taylor's painstaking ethical struggle and eventual moral compromise, and it was nothing short of compelling. Watching her dance around with Charles Logan was a pleasure once again, but watching her take steps toward the sort of compromise he made in his time in office created probably the best scene of the season. As Ethan begged her to show some reason, some sense of justice, she coldly realized that the best thing to do was refuse Jack, Dahlia Hassan, and the American people the truth they so richly deserved. President Taylor has never been particularly well written as a character, and tonight was no exception. Yet Cherry Jones, who is always excellent and usually underused, played the President's conflict and heartbreaking decision to the hilt, and watching her cross paths with the unhinged Jack created another excellent scene.

As for Jack, he rocketed through the episode with as much dark force as I had hoped to see based on last week's promise. After extorting a man by threatening his family, he slapped Dana Walsh around with as much abandon as Nicolas Cage in The Wicker Man before shouting down the President and stealing a helicopter. If I paused for a moment, I could point out how ridiculous all of this is, yet the episode's pacing (hearkening back to better days on 24) never let me stop for long enough to think about how easy it would have been for someone, anyone to stop Jack from stealing that helicopter and put this whole thing to rest. Instead, I was left rooting for Jack's improbable but inevitable escape. Because 24 is never better than when it pits Jack against the world, and while getting here has been an immense trial, it looks like the show might not make me regret spending this last 24 hours with it. The show is never more successful than when it leaves me wondering, "How will Jack get out of this?" and tonight's episode did just that. I mean, I'm pretty sure Jack can't just kill everyone in New York City, and President Taylor's Administration, and Russia, and maybe the IRK. Right?

Grade: B+

Notes:

-As I wrote this review I sometimes had to fight to keep my enthusiasm for tonight's episode as high as it was when the credits rolled, but honestly this was the most fun I've had watching the show all year, and for that, tonight's episode earned its grade.

-"Sir, are you going to be all right?" I just imagine Jack replying, "I'm covered in the blood of my recently dead girlfriend, who really only died to feed my rage so the show wouldn't stagnate for its last few weeks. How do you think I am?"

-Gregory Itzin is still excellent as Logan, and I'm really glad they brought him back. And hey, Reed Diamond got to talk this week. Bonus Points!

Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episode 17: 8:00 am-9:00 am

Last week I lamented that 24 was effectively dead in the water with 8 episodes left to go. Every plotline was wrapped up, the tension needed to sustain this show was entirely removed, and there was really nothing left to do but stagnate until the final credits rolled. The show managed to get around this problem by effectively nullifying the entire season so far, dramatically shifting gears, and resorting to some pretty cheap emotional manipulation, but to its credit it was definitely not the stagnant, bland procession of events I dreaded was coming. Sure the show is still a shadow of its former glory, but at least something will probably happen in the next seven weeks.

This episode was clearly demarcated as a "moving things into place" hour for the show, which means that everything that occurs largely feels like glorified set up for the weeks to come. Usually an episode this set up heavy comes earlier in the season, but there's always a piece mover at about this stage to send us "rocketing" into the final hours of the season, and it isn't necessarily a bad thing that this week drastically reset the board for the final gamut. Much of what the show has been doing this season has been a failure, so they gain points for trying something drastically different to turn the ship around last minute. Unfortunately, there are a lot of problems with how they did that, but let's for once start with what tonight did well.

The return of Charles Logan was a risky choice for the show, but I would argue a right one. Logan is one of the few characters from past seasons still alive, and he has also been consistently one of the more interesting (if aggravating) characters the show has created. With Charles Logan 24 has tried to create a complex, layered character, and Gregory Itzin has played him very well. Watching him play off of Cherry Jones' President Taylor this week was one of the best moments this season has given us, so much so that I don't mind how contrived his return seems. Sure, its slightly odd that the only person who has the necessary pull with the Russians is a discredited former President and felon, but I like the dynamic he brings to the show and I'm glad to have him back.

Now for the things tonight that ran the gamut from "that doesn't make any sense" to "that is literally insane," with a brief stop off in "I cannot believe how blatantly the writers are emotionally manipulating me right now." For starters, let's talk Dahlia Hassan. I understand that President Taylor is excited about the prospect of keeping her treaty (which apparently will usher in a new era of world peace or something the way its being hyped) on the table, but there is no way she would trust that a treaty ratified by a figurehead would actually hold up under the intense scrutiny that a Middle Eastern Peace Treaty would face. Beyond that, the way Dahlia's succession of her husband is handled flies in the face of any sort of reality. Imagine if you will the Constitution that allows a First Lady to succeed her husband in the event of his death (I can only presume the family dog then becomes Secretary of Defense). Granted, the show claims her ascension is being ratified by the Parliament of the IRK at the moment, which might be a way around any issues of Constitutional violation (sorry, I'm not well briefed on this fictional countries fictitious laws), but that actually leads to the most absurd thing about this development: the idea that the Parliament of a clearly divided, obviously pretty conservative Middle Eastern country would ever even remotely consider electing a woman to the presidency. This is not only the Middle East we're talking about here, its also a country whose last President had to imprison the opposition to keep them from taking over, and whose opposition are religious extremists who hate the west. Apparently these west hating extremists are also forward thinking feminist progressives. Who knew?

Another development that made little enough sense to warrant mentioning is Chloe's promotion to head of CTU. I liked that the show pointed out how ridiculously good her track record is (she's basically saved the country with only Jack at her side like 6 times now), and I know that its a nice, emotional moment for a show on its way out the door, but Chloe is nothing if not abrasive. Her most apparent character trait throughout the show is how bad her people skills are, and brilliant mind or no, it makes no sense to put someone with such an awful attitude in front of a team that needs constant motivation simply to not betray their country.

Finally we get to the episode's end, which leaves me with very mixed feelings. First of all, it was obvious that Jack (who is pretty much a horror movie character in how the show treats his sex life) finally banging Renee meant that Renee would die almost immediately after. I really hoped that 24 would surprise me here, but alas, Renee is literally still naked from her (pretty tame, from what we saw) union with Jack when she is fatally wounded by a sniper's bullet. Let's review why this is a bad choice for the show: its incredibly predictable, its obviously done more for the cheap emotional payoff than as further evidence of the toll Jack's job takes on his life, and it draws a comparison it can't possibly live up to, in that it closely resembles the death of Terri Bauer in Season One, arguably the single most powerful moment the show has ever done. As I've said, I know that one of 24's biggest themes is that Jack sacrifices everything for his country and that takes an unbelievable toll on his life and his psyche, but the death of Renee didn't feel like the show hitting that note one final time, it felt like a necessary development to give Kiefer a chance to show what a great actor he is again, and to get him angry enough to drive the rest of the season. In that regard, Renee's death may end up being successful: I am pretty excited to watch Jack go dark one last time in a revenge feuled race against some sort of deadline, but I'm pretty disappointed in the way the show got us here.

Grade: B-

Notes:

-How did Russia appoint that transparently evil Bond villain to the UN?

-"I'll take out Bauer while I'm at it." Who the fuck do you think you are, Russian hit man? Have you been watching this show?

-Hey, Reed Diamond from Dollhouse is Logan's personal assistant. I realyl hope he returns with actual dialogue in the weeks to come.

Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episodes 15-16: 6:00 am-8:00 am

Its truly sad to watch one of the most innovative shows of the last decade reduced to a bland, formulaic shadow of its former self. Yet that is seemingly how 24 will meet its end; not with a bang, but a whimper. Two-hour events used to be something to celebrate on this show, but now they just put all of this season's flaws in even starker contrast. The characters are mostly flat and boring, the plotline contrived and rehashed (when it even bothers to make sense), and at this point there is little to no chance that Season 8 will redeem itself. This show deserved to go out strong, as a testament to the often poignant thrill-ride it was during its first few seasons, and it is a minor tragedy to see it end like this.

The episode opened with a bunh of melodramatic montages, from Hassan seeing the people his sacrifice would save to all of the major characters looking gravely at their screens and awaiting a detonation. Niether of these worked particularly well because they were both heavy handed and laid their meanings on entirely too thickly. Any audience member with half a brain knew why Hassan was giving himself up, and showing innocent people walking by made it a little too obvious to effectively underscore his intentions. What followed was 24 contrivance after 24 contrivance as Dana "the mole" Walsh helps Tarin avoid the ambush, Tarin careens off the roof of a parking garage (I'm pretty sure Jack has done that before and been fine, but ok...), Hassan is magically transported to another car, and ends up in the hands of Samir, who wants to broadcast his execution over the internet. You know, like they have in the last several seasons.

The one portion about that development that should have worked (that Samir actually managed to kill Hassan) failed simply because there was no other story alternative. There was no possible way even the desperately out of touch writers of this show could have thought the audience cared enough about Hassan to drive even the next few hours worth of tension, so there was not much suspense over what would happen. Also, it wouldn't have made any sense for the terrorists to keep him alive for any period at all if their ultimate goal was stopping the peace process, so barring a contrivance so awful its below even where this show has sunk, Hassan couldn't last. With the bomb threat neutralized, the terrorists seemingly surrounded, and eight hours left on the clock, there was no way Hassan wouldn't get killed, which made his death far less effective, if no less poignant (and bringing back the silent clock that has always signified a major death on 24 was a very nice touch that worked to make the death hit home with more emotion).

At the same time though, this is the sort of gamut that I expect the show to pull around hour 22, leading nicely into a finale where at vengeful Jack tracks down and kills off Samir, while draped in an American flag and flanked by machine-gun toting bald eagles. As is, the show doesn't really have anywhere to go from here, and the last thing this season needs is to get more aimless than it already is at this point.

That being said, there were some things that worked about these episodes, and more of those than we've seen in a few weeks. The car chase with Tarin worked very well as a setpiece, and even though the magic disappearing Hassan didn't really make sense that sort of plothole is vintage 24 and I was immediately willing to accept it. The parking garage shoot out was pretty exciting as well (weird that the major action setpieces were both in parking garages, but then again its unrealistic to expect any sort of originality from the show at this point), though it was partially ruined by the continued hamminess of Katie Sackhoff, whose Dana Walsh has quickly become a charicature of Nina Meyers, the classic mole from Season One. Her 180 into evil psychopath is just bad writing, as is Cole's reactive 180 which has him leaping immediately from incredulity ("my fiance couldn't possibly...") to vengeful ire ("You lying bitch I'll kill you!") in the span of about two seconds.

But pause for a second to realize there's pretty much no place for the show to go from here. The bomb is out of play, the mole has been caught, the hostage is dead, and Samir has maybe one minion left based on Dana's estimates. Sure, the Russian guy who was clumsily introduced tonight is clearly behind everything (a. Because all TV Russians are evil, and b. Because President Taylor made it way too clear that the treaty was against his interests) and apparently Charles Logan is back again next week for some reason, but what is there really left to care about? I'll be here next week to find out, but I'm honestly mostly dreading what's coming.

Grade: C

Notes:

-Throw away lines that were evidence of lazy writing tonight: "The only reason I'm still here is because I gave President Taylor my word that I would protect President hassan." Sure, Jack. That and because there are 8 hours left. My other favorite was Hastings' claim that Dana's cover up was "not an easy task." Please. A trained monkey could infiltrate CTU, which actually might happen as a wacky filler subplot in these last 8 hours.

-Actually, I think an untrained monkey could infiltrate CTU. Training it would be a waste of resources.

-I may have said it before, but drink every time someone on this show gets immunity. President Taylor has probably signed more immunity agreements than bills into law...

Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episode 14: 5:00 am-6:00 am

Well, its official. This will be the last season of 24. I can't say I'm surprised, as this has been rumored for months, and basically confirmed in the last few weeks, and considering the quality of this season, I can't even say I'm heartbroken that the end is in sight. I am disappointed, however, that the writers didn't know from Hour 1 that this would be the last very bad day Jack Bauer would ever face (except for the upcoming movie spin-off, that is). I feel Season 8 would have been more powerful had the writers known this was their last hurrah, and as it is, I doubt we'll see much gravitas in the final hours. We may even end on a cliff-hanger, which would be awful (though I'm sure the writers had enough sense to bring in some closure, just in case). Yet, considering how repetitive and predictable the show has become, how increasingly immortal Jack Bauer is, and how the show has dropped any vague pretense toward realism, its no tragedy that CTU will soon be closing its doors.

As for tonight, we finally got the inevitable government conspiracy plotline underway as Weiss and another self-righteous TV general decided that they know better than the President, and should take the fate of the nation into their own hands, attacking and killing Americans in order to save other Americans. Weiss has always been a pretty unbelievable dick to have risen as high as he has, and pretty disloyal to the President from the start, and TV Generals are very self-righteous, so this came as no surprise. How quickly the show turned from a reasonable, if extreme, back room discussion about sacrificing a foreign leader for American lives (which I can almost guarantee would at least be brought up in the event that this entirely impossible situation arose), to villianizing the seditious Chief of Staff when he agrees to delay medical attention to Ethan after the Secretary suffers a heart attack. The show has always had a black and white mentality when it comes to good vs. evil, so it was no surprise that Weiss was immediately willing to let a friend and colleague die once he made the decision to commit sedition, yet Ethan's heart attack seemed a little too convenient a way to immediately make us hate him.

In another instance of immediately villainizing someone after revealing they're a bad guy, Dana has apparently given up all pretense that she's a CTU agent this hour. She made a total of four phone calls to Samir in the last hour, cut out a surveillance feed, providing him with codes, and advising him not to use the rods. Also, every chance she got she gave the classic 24 sideways glance that shows the audience you're doing something devious. Her revelation as the mole is twice as hilarious when you consider all the time she's spent dealing with Kevin and Prady over the past fourteen hours. If she was also dealing with Samir this whole time, she would have had literally no time to keep her cover up. Even if it wasn't unrealistic to assume she was dealing with the Kevin crisis and Samir at the same time, the number of calls she made to a terrorist from within CTU is patently absurd. Its like Dana realized that the audience knows she's a bad guy now, and so has stopped even vaguely pretending to be anything else. I'm sure its only a matter of time before Chloe catches on and points out Dana's behavior, but really, how has that not happened already? For the love of God, she was on the phone with Samir AT HER DESK. During the tracking of the cab containing the rods, is it even remotely possible that no one in the crowded room heard Dana muttering about how she was going to take out the satellite and which direction Samir should go? I have heard great things about Katee Sackhoff's work on Battlestar Galactica (which I still haven't seen), yet her Dana Walsh has been seriously disappointing, veering from annoyingly weak and whimpering to unbelievably composed and cold hearted. The performance lacks realism, but more importantly, it lacks any hint of subtlety. Sackhoff spends the entire hour glowering as if she's Jack Nicholson in The Shining, which is really only slightly better than the spineless whiny Dana of a few hours ago.

President Taylor was actually given something to do tonight, which is a nice change of pace, as Cherry Jones can actually act and is pretty fun to watch, even if her character has always been slightly over the top (take, for example, her "rah, rah, America!" speech to her staff tonight). Yet she was privvy to another plot development that makes absolutely no sense when she requested that Jack come escort Hassan through his evacuation. From a writer's standpoint this makes sense, as Jack needed to be involved in the action set-piece at the episode's center, but its a pretty lazy way to bring our boy Bauer into line with the major events. Keep in mind that at the time President Taylor asked Jack to come escort Hassan, she had not yet heard from Samir and had no idea that she would be asked to hand him over. What she did know was that she was taking the best federal agent in existence out of the search for radiological material directly after it had been smuggled into Manhattan, putting hundreds of thousands of lives in danger. I know she needs Hassan alive, and I know that she trusts Jack above anyone else, but it still seems like a pretty stupid call overall. Even if you can get past Jack's lazy inclusion, the military team he was set against behaved like crazy people. literally seconds after their leader ordered them to take Hassan alive, they began peppering the tunnels with machine gun fire, murdering a bunch of secret service agents and leaving them with no guarantee that they hadn't killed Hassan and doomed New York and their country even further. The shooting as a whole also lead to a dramatic problem in my view, in that there was no development on CTU's search for the rods for almost a full hour. Jack's shoot out was pretty exciting, yes, and Jack got saved at the last second by an unexpected gunman for the second time in two weeks, but still the show could have thrown in a few minutes of CTU desperately trying to beat the impossible deadline set in front of them. You know, for tension's sake.

This hour ends with Hassan learning that he must turn himself over to stop the attack, and pretty much cements Renee as Jack's partner for the rest of the day. If 24 sticks to his patterns, that means that she will probably die or go completely crazy in the remaining hours. I hope, however, that the writers presumed this might be their final day and have written an ending that will allow Jack some modicum of peace in exchange for the years of torment the show has put him through.

Grade: C-

Notes:

-How many times do you think Hastings has said "I can no longer guarantee the safety of Manhattan"?

-I'm glad you need literally no qualifications to serve on the security detail assigned to escort a foreign leader to safety, otherwise Renee might not have plausibly been allowed to accompany Jack.

Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episode 13: 4:00 am-5:00 am

This has been a very subpar season of 24 pretty much from the get go. The plot of "terrorists threatening America" has never felt remotely threatening, the story has done a lot to keep Jack out of the action, the show has wasted plotlines with potential (like Renee's walk on the wild side, or Hassan's courageous and sane Middle Eastern leader) in favor of drivel like Kayla and Tarin's romance and, even worse, Dana's slow descent into madness. Watching her try to sabotage Chloe's attempts to get the system back online tonight was annoying enough, and watching her murder Prady (does Stephen Root always have to get murdered? Is it in his contract liek Sean Penn and crying?) was a little funny, just because it was so predictable and there happened to be a giant air ventilation shaft. The whole scenario was a little comical, until it got absolutely fucking ridiculous.

Because guess what, twist seekers of the world? The government agency with the single worst system of background checks, and possibly a recruiter who only looks for corruptible data analysts has hired yet another mole. I can see why the writers would do this, because they needed some way to connect Dana to the main storyline, otherwise the last twelve hours of her plot has been a waste. What I can't see is how this makes any fucking sense. If Dana was a terrorist all along, why did she sufferthe visit from her ex at all? Why did she help him commit robbery, or more importantly, if she's a hardened killer like Prady's death suggested, why did she hesitate before killing Kevin and his hillbilly friend? For a twist to work, it needs to be at least grounded in the reality of the show, and it needs to make some sense. Literally nothing about Dana's plotline makes sense anymore if you factor in that she's been working with Samir all along. Plus, the show just took the only character whose agenda didn't match with CTU throughout the season so far and made her into a mole. Fro mthe first hour, if we had to pick out of a line-up who would be this season's inevitable mole, it would have been Dana, and after thirteen hours of an insufferably stupid plot it is.

Another 24 trope was exercised tonight as an NSA team arrives to help out CTU, and guess what? They're assholes. Because every government bureaucrat ever stands in the way of effectively running the government and wants to take as long as possible to do something that should be easy to accomplish. This plotline began irritating me when Jack called the NSA for back-up, which made perfect sense. What didn't make any sense is that Brian Hastings, the head of a temporarily defunct intelligence ageny never thought to call for some back-up and just figured they didn't need surveillance until his team could get it back up. I'm sure there were protocols violated there, but he seemed genuinely surprised when the NSA showed up. And there had to be a better way to get the NSA out of the room than by injecting "tension" into the scene by having Chloe pull out a gun and barricade herself in there. Not only are all bureaucrats obstructionist assholes, but only Chloe and Jack are ever right on this show, and that gets a little boring after several seasons. Of course, Chloe was right and saved the day, enabling CTU to continue failing at their job.

The episode's saving grace came from the shoot out at the East River, which falls into my continuing "24 is only good this year when guns are being fired" theory. That shoot out was expertly choreographed and pretty tense, but there were still four major problems with it. First, this season, more than any other, really just feels like a giant game of cat and mouse, when CTu gets close to catching the terrorists and obtaining the nuclear rods, but then the terrorists miraculously escape, allowing the threat to go on for a few more hours, because, well, the show is called 24...Second, it was clear from the opening that Owen and Random Asian CTU Agent were in the car simply so they could die in the shootout, especially once the armor came into play. Owen was shown to be brave earlier, so it was also obvious that Random Asian CTU Agent would be the one to crack under pressure and get shot, and then it was obvious that brave Baby Owen would run out to save him and get shot. We've seen this set up a lot on 24 and it played out exactly like it has many, many times before. Thirdly, thank god that both CTU and the terrorists brought their guns with infinite bullets today, because re-loading would have given either side a chance to take an advantage, and given the scene a realistic pacing that would have added the tension this show is desperate for of late. Finally, thank god Renee managed to not only arrive at exactly the right time, but show up in the exact right place to shoot the guy aiming at Jack in the head. Had she come three seconds later, or shot anyone else first, Jack would be dead, which would be bad for the show, but would be an actual twist, and wouldn't stink of deus ex machina.

I apologize that my reviews over the past two weeks have been less analysis and more a long rant about the endless things wrong with the show this year, but I feel there isn't all that much to analyze except the myriad issues the show is having and just how far it has fallen from its glory seasons just a few years ago.

Grade: C

-This one gets a slightly higher grade than last weeks if only because the shoot out scene was choreographed very well, and there were some good moments throughout it, even if it was incredibly predictable and implausible.

Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episode 12: 3:00 am-4:00 am

I got called out last week, and rightly, for my argument that 24 was sacrificing its political message for a cheap twist. A friend of mine pointed out that the idea that this show would ever be the vehicle for an effective political message is laughable, and to an extent that's true. I am often guilty of hoisting high expectations onto entertainment that doesn't warrant them (often by that entertainment's choice) and this was another example of that. As much as I may wish, hope, or occasionally argue that 24 is a show with important themes, its really a simple suspense machine, and its quality, to an extent, should be measured by how many thrills it generates per hour.

If that is the case, then this season still ranks at the bottom of my 24 list. I've beaten to death the fact that Samir and his vague threats of "nuclear rods" or "dirty bombs" feel overly done and don't put me anywhere near the edge of my seat. I've also criticized beyond reason the fluff that has been passed off as subplots this season. Last week, I ended my review excited for the prospect of some good old fashioned suspense this week, with a hostage, some promised twists, and Jack at the forefront. Instead, we saw recycled 24 bits and Jack stuck in a car, or in the living room of the only President this show remembers having (apparently President Taylor has been napping for the last few hours). To paraphrase another friend of mine, talking about a different show, it is one thing when a show borrows bits from other series and reworks them to create something new, but you know a show is in trouble when it starts stealing from itself. At this point, 24 is dealing in tropes we're so used to, its barely even shocking.

To recap tonight's episode: Tarin is a bad guy, who wants to kidnap Kayla. Jack is on his way there to stop him (if only he had MORE TIME), but NYPD Sgt. Amis refuses to be a good little police officer and set up a perimeter. Why? Because everyone who isn't Jack is a cocksure idiot with no restraint. So Amis' men get slaughtered and Tarin escapes. Kayla gets held hostage, and the baddies promise to kill her unless Hassan turns over File 33 (apparently he has the U.S. Nuclear Codes? This seems like a bigger breach of security than letting a few nuclear rods into the country, but let's all ignore that for the sake of the plot we've committed ourselves to!), but Tarin "selflessly" helps Kayla escape...except TWIST because really he doesn't. He just sends her to CTU with an EMP that will take out all of their computers.

If the heavy sarcasm of the last paragraph doesn't indicate my fury, allow me to elaborate slightly. We've seen a hostage situation like Kalya's in almost every season of the show, we've seen bad guys use an underpass to escape detection more times than I can count, and if I had a dollar for every time CTU was attacked or otherwise compromised by the bad guys, I'd have enough money to build my own Counter Terrorist Unit with much better security.

This isn't even mentioning the Dana plotline, which continues to be predictable and insufferable. Stephen Root is a joy to watch (As usual) as Prady the parole officer who knows more than he lets on, but was anyone surprised when he revealed he knew enough that Dana is in serious trouble. Just arrest her or let her sacrifice herself to protect Cole already and let's move on to another boring plotline. Perhaps President Taylor has indigestion and wakes up to take some Pepto? Is there a chance Hastings needs to cover up that he moonlights as a female impersonator (or more likely as a shrimp obsessed Vietnam vet)?Maybe something involving Renee getting attacked by Jack's wild housecat could fill some time? Actually, that last one doesn't sound half bad...

Grade: C-

Notes:

-Interesting that the EMP was rigged by a timer, meaning that the terrorists had to know the exact driving time between their pretty cliched evil lair and the end of the CTU security tunnel in order to have even a remote chance that the EMP would take out CTU.

-The only time I'm not disappointed this season is when there's a shootout. And that's only because the quick cutting and loud noises distract me from the shoddy plotting...

Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episode 11: 2:00 am-3:00 am

24 has done a lot to hurt the productivity of the discussion around the effectiveness of torture in this country (see, didn't I warn you we'd get to a discussion of torture at some point this season?). The idea of a "ticking time bomb" situation like those we've become accustomed to on the show actually occurring are slim to none. Therefore, any of the things that Jack Bauer does when he is in these entirely impossible situations must be viewed under a lens of pragmatism, and with the idea that Jack Bauer is a fictional character, not a political talking point, and certainly not evidence of the effectiveness of torture.

The show knows how politicized its become, and it has taken steps in the last few seasons to point out how ineffective torture can be and what horrible consequences it can entail for the victims, the perpetrators, and for our country. Tonight we got our first real torture scene of the season (discounting Jack's few moments of Lethal Weapon style electrocution at the hands of the now defunct Russians), and it played pretty much like it usually does. Jack tried talking reason into Marcos, then brought in Marcos' mother (a solid Mare Winningham) to try and get at him through empathy, and finally, Jack threatened to torture and kill Marcos' mother if he didn't surrender. It was pretty standard 24 fare, yet the show has never lost its skill at drawing tension from torture scenes, especially as Jack has become more and more morally compromised by his actions. When he tells Marcos he will personally expose his mother to radiation poisoning and let her die in agony, there is no doubt in the mind's of the audience that Jack would be capable of such things. Kiefer Sutherland has a coldness to his gaze as he locks eyes with marcos, and there is no doubt that Jack is not bluffing.

Yet the torture scene plays out slightly differently than we might expect this time around, which is to the show's credit. Jack's threats are not immediate; that is, he and Marcos are separated by the chamber Marcos has barricaded himself in, and Jack cannot use physical violence to get what he wants. This fits well with both Jack's image of himself now as more of a Grandfather than a federal agent (or, as he called himself this week, a specialist brought in for today). He is still the world's ultimate badass, but the acts of overt and immediate violence he used to take part in without hesitation now give him pause. Earlier in the season, when Renee cut off the man's thumb, Jack was shocked by the action, even though any die hard fan of 24 has seen Bauer do much worse over the last 8 seasons. Jack Bauer is changing, and his change fits in perfectly with a show that's more conscious of the effects it has on the national debate over torture.

Tangents aside, the episode's biggest flaw is that it didn't spend more time drawing tension from Jack's story, which is always the most compelling, especially when a situation like this arises. Instead, we saw that Stephen Root's parole officer is out looking for Kevin, and needs to speak to Dana about him. Also, there was a bit too much of Tarin and Kayla being lovey-dovey, which I'm sure was meant to lull us into submission before thw big twist, but mostly it just felt like more stalling from the series. As for the big twist, I'm sure I should have seen the "Tarin's a traitor" twist coming, but honestly I was giving the show a bit too much credit. I thought his character was being used to show the danger's of Hassan's dictatorial style and the pitfalls of his paranoia, and his character was all the more interesting as an innocent man indicted wrongfully by a dictator losing his control and his reason along with it. Instead, 24 has made Hassan's madness seem almost logical by proving his paranoia correct, which really underplays a perfectly valid plotline they were building this year. This is a general issue for the show, and they've sort of painted themselves into a corner. The writers seem to have fairly pragmatic views on torture, the corruptibility of government officials and many other issues, yet going to the extremes creates much better drama on a show like 24. While the writers may begin each season with an eye on being realistic and on tacklign serious issues in a pragmatic way, they eventually write themselves into a corner in an effort to feed the beast that is suspense, the driving element of their show. That being said, I was a bit shocked by the twist, and I have to give the show a little credit for that.

For the most part, this episode avoided focusing on the things that were actually interesting in favor of still more stalling, but if next week's preview is any indication, we should be in for a seriously good time, hopefully not at the expense of any solid themes or easy to call twists along the way.

Grade: B

-Apologies for the late publishing, I've been on Spring Break, which means things are slightly more hectic and delayed.

-No Renee this week. And here I assumed she'd get into some tomfoolery en route back to Jack's apartment...

-Dana and Cole's plot is mostly boring because its obvious they'll get caught, and almost as obvious that she'll take the fall to let him keep his job. But I won't object to more Stephen Root...

Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episode 10: 1:00 am-2:00 am

Remember the early days of 24 before Jack Bauer was Batman, James Bond, Jason Bourne and Chuck Norris combined? Back in those first few seasons Jack was a government employee who was very good at his job, in a sea of government employees who were almost as good at their jobs and an inexplicable amount of moles pretending to be government employees who were almost as good at their jobs. In the first few seasons of the show, CTU was filled with smart, competent people who mostly knew that Jack was the best around, and mostly trusted his judgment (at least until those bastards at Division showed up). But that has disappeared over the last several seasons as Jack graduated to superhero, lost his ability to ever be wrong, and found only Chloe on his side in the quest to always be right in the face of incompetent government bureaucrats. I understand why the show has moved this way, as watching a good man be great at his job against impossible odds and increasing psychological tolls would likely have lead us to either a boring show or an insane and suicidal Jack Bauer. In spite of all that, however, I was happy to see some of the other employees at CTU show off their abilities tonight, and do so in service of actually helpful goals.

When Jack's team faield to rescue Farhad due to Farhad's incompetence, Jack came up with a very clever plan to use Farhad as "dead bait" and Hastings went along with it. Hastings also stood up to Weiss by himself, taking the reins of CTU fully back into his control by refusing to press charges against Renee. Further than that, little Owen showed himself to be not only competent at his job, but exceedingly brave as he lead a bomb strapped terrorist through the hospital, stalling as much as possible and getting Chloe the necessary information to disarm the bomb. Most episodes of 24 over the past several seasons would have Hastings disagree with Jack and try ot stand in his way, or have poor Owen exhibit cowardice or incompetence that would further complicate the situation, but tonight even Arlo scored some points by disarming the bomb remotely (albeit with Chloe's help).

Hassan and all Hassan related plots continued to suck though, as he wavered between sympathetic foreigner in a serious situation and crazed dicator-cliche entirely on the strength of the performance, rather than any plausibility. Plus, I reall couldn't care less that Tarin and Kayla are together now, but in harm's way. Of all the tens of thousands of people the show has told us are in danger from the potential attack, those two might be the ones I care least about, and yet they get much more story than Mare Winningham's turn as the mother of the terrorist (who it seems will at least be back next week).

In Cole and Dana's subplot, Dana continued to follow the orders of whatever man was nearer as they disposed of the bodies they created in last week's episode ending gunfight. Dana seemd more concerned with the future of their relationship than with the chances of getting caught (she offered to just call the police and take the fall) but this was all pretty boring stuff, given any semblance of excitement only by the dark visuals of the two weighing down and sinking bodies (also, are they in Central Park? Because if so the idea of hiding a body in any "lake" there is patently absurd). This plotline didn't move at all tonight, but it looks like Stephen Root (who played poor, poor Eddie on Season One of True Blood and poor, sort of evil Dwight Dixon on Season Two of Pushing Daisies very well) will be showing up next week to complicate things further as a probably more dangerous Redneck.

Nothing all that exciting happened this hour, and there are still a slew of stupid plotlines detracting from my Jack-time, but for the first time in a while, the employees at CTU seemed like they might actually be capable of stopping terorist attacks without Super Jack and His Girl Chloe there to show them how its done. And that's comforting, in a fictional sort of way.

Grade: B-

Notes:

-Asking "Are we alone?" is a surefire way to ramp up suspicion if you aren't alone...

-Now that Jack and Renee are apparently madly in love, is she going to die or go crazy?

-Is it just me, or has CTU continued to be shitty at setting up a perimeter for like 8 years now?

Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episode 9: 12:00am-1:00 am

I discussed last week how 24 has to make logical and plot leaps in order to get us through a full day's worth of story, but that its hard to hold those leaps against the show and still count yourself as a fan. Tonight was a prime example of that, as the ability to overlook some pretty clear logical flaws in the structure of this episode's plot allowed for probably the best tension this season has come up with yet.

Case in point was the scene between Renee and Justice Department stooge Kristin Smith: Pause too long to think about it and its pretty clear that it makes no sense for Chief of Staff Rob Weiss and CTU Director Brian Hastings to be looking for a fall guy at this point in the crisis. Sure it sucks that they didn't get to the rods, and that a "lead" as killed, but really that lead had proven useless to the investigation, and without Renee's work they wouldn't be bearly as far along as they are. Plus, in every single investigation CTU undertakes at a certain point a lead dies or doesn't pan out and it is never labeled a catastrophe.

The same would logically be true here: provided CTU stops the attack on New York, there would be no need for a scapegoat, so logically they should be focused on that. Yet the scene in which Smith pushes Renee on her intentions was flat out compelling television, as Renee grappled with her tortured past and muddled motivations and the show actually felt for the first moment in quite a while like time was an issue. Think of the tension you (or at least I) felt when the scene was cut short to show Jack pulling into CTU; if time has ever felt more of the essence this season than at the moment it becomes obvious that Jack could save Renee from being made into the fall guy this season, I missed it. This show is at its best when viewers are compelled to overlook its flaws because they just have to know what happens next, and watching Jack burst in and grab Smith by the throat definitely had that effect on me.

In terms of the masterplot we made some good progress this week, though at the tragic (to me anyway) loss of David Anders' Josef, which means the Russian threat is over with. However, the show actually addressed a nagging continued flaw with this season this week, and that made me a very happy camper. From the beginning Farhad Hassan has been a shitty villain. He always seemed too weak and mild-mannered, and like too much of a pussy to actually pull off anything threatening and that seriously hurt the tension of the show. Plus, when Samir pointed out that they wouldn't realistically be smuggling the nuclear materials out of the country anymore, Farhad's motives to do evil disappeared. It wouldn't have made any sense for him to attack the U.S. when his ultimate goal was to gain power back home. What did make sense was having him pretend to go along with the plan for long enough to escape and contact the proper authorities. So the pieces are set for Samir to be the next Big Bad for us to deal with (though its early yet, so potentially not the last), and he is a much more threatening force than Farhad. This doesn't resolve the lack of tension fully, as something about a nuclear attack has just stopped being as threatening this far into the series, and their plan doesn't have any added levels of nefariousness to spice it up, but at least things are better off on this front than they were last week.

Even Dana's plotline with her ex and his even creepier friend had some really tense moments tonight. Though it was pretty clear Dana didn't have the cojones to actually pull the trigger on the boys (this is 24 after all, and that means women must be saved by the menfolk. See: Jack saving Renee and Cole saving Dana as just tonight's evidence of the continuing problems the show has with creating realistic or empowered female characters. But that is a rant for a different day), having Cole become complicit in her crimes by agreeing to cover them up if the guys leave his woman alone was actually pretty interesting. Darkening Cole up is a natural progression for this show, whose protagonists must always be gray lest we all get very bored very quickly, but I am actually interested to see how this will affect his relationship with Dana in the weeks to come. And caring about Cole and Dana is huge news at this point. Beyond that, it wasn't exactly unpredictable that Kevin's creepy friend wouldn't give up that easy, but it was an exciting moment when Cole turned around and took him out with a shotgun. For the rest of the season I look forward to watching what I'm sure will end up as a failed cover up (my guess is Dana takes the fall to protect her beloved) just because that means more of the action takes place at least around the masterplot.

This episode got me to give a damn about most of what was going on, got Jack fully in for the season (because that was totally in doubt before tonight) and moved everything along nicely. If this had been episode 4 of the season instead of episode 9, we'd all be better off, but at least we've made it here. Let's hope the show, having faltered out of the gate, kicks into full gear for the remainder of the season.

Grade: B+

Notes:

-No Hassan this week. I almost forgot about that until the preview. He was not missed.

-The score this week seemed a lot more rock heavy than usual.

-Two fucking bad ass Jack Bauer lines tonight: "Son, you better put that down or you're going to get hurt" and "Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear. I meant I'd call the President" both made me cheer.

-I like that Owen, Cole's replacement team leader, looks all of 12. Good casting 24.

Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episode 8: 11:00 pm-12:00am

One of the major criticisms of 24 is that the show needs enough story to fill its titular requirement, and this generally leads to a narrative that is impossible to unravel once the season reaches its end. If you pause, at the end of a season, and try to trace where the story ended up back to its beginnings, you are sure to find some logical leaps or plot holes to nitpick at. That's just the nature of the beast when it comes to 24, however, and even a man such as myself who loves to nitpick so much he spends much of his time doing just that can't be bothered too much by it. The show needs to generate story, and so there are bound to be some clumsy leaps.

The bright side of this is that even a season that starts off shakily like this one might go to interesting places in its later episodes, and so even though Season 8 has yet to wow me, I keep hope alive that we are headed to great places. That's an unlikely hope, but one I choose to maintain for now. And tonight's episode had some really solid elements, though its ending twist (involving Sark, as I can't stop calling him, stealing the rods from his Dad and aiming to deliver them to Hassan's brother) was the most standard possible extender of the masterplot so far. Jack's story tonight was the most compelling escalation of that plot so far though, throwing in some torture, escape, and gunplay and letting Bauer be Bauer for the first time all season. We also got a look at Dana escalating toward murdering her ex-boyfriend and his dickweed of a friend, and watched Hassan delve even further into paranoia and cliche-ism.

As I said, the ending twist barely qualifies as a twist it was so obvious, but it looks like next week we could be in for some interesting moments as Hastings moves to frame Renee for this whole mess and Jack decides to go dark to get her free. Everyone knows 24 is at its best when Jack goes dark, so here's hoping we're getting to the good stuff.

Grade: B

Notes:

-Take a drink whenever someone on 24 asks for "full immunity."

Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episode 7: 10:00pm-11:00pm

So this week's 24 was a step in the right direction, even if it was a pretty small step. I would take most of the near boredom of the last several weeks just to get to the scene where Jack pulls a knife out of his stomach, and throws it into another guys throat. As a 24 fan, this is the stuff I live for. Most of the plotlines tonight moved from insufferable and boring to just pretty dumb, but at least we've stepped into watchable territory now.

On the main front, Renee pushing Vlad harder and harder (and then pushing that knife into his face harder and harder) was realyl pretty interesting, and I would have loved it a lot more if she didn't get "woman on 24" syndrome the second she had to kill Vlad. The show really has a problem with female characters, who (with the obvious exception of Chloe, who can be filed under "Awesome" instead of "Female" on any list of 24 characters) are almost always victims or manipulative bitches, with almost no wiggle room in between. The show's introduction of Renee last season seemed a step in the right direction, moving them past their reductive and occasionally flat out misogynistic view of the fairer sex, but this year has taken her character several steps back on the path to equality. Last season it looked like she could keep up with Jack, trauma for trauma and torture scene for torture scene (after of course being torubled that they were torturing people for a few episodes to show she's human), but now she clearly has a few screws loose, and instead of being the empowered Dark Renee that I thought we'd be treated to, the show has reduced her to a simpering road block between Jack and day save-age.

Speaking of the show's inability to present a realistic, well rounded and capable female character (or, to some degree, not Jack Bauer or Chloe character) Dana's plotline tonight demonstrated mostly what a boring character Dana was. Yet, for the first time there was an upside, as Kevin's attempt to slip past the cop was probably the first scene of true tension this season has given us so far. Sure, Dana just furthers my belief that CTU should really increase its internal monitoring protocols, and has so far shown herself to be every bit the victim that 24 must think every woman is, but if her plotline can give me even half as much suspense as it does annoyance, I'll stop complaining about 24's lack of female empowerment for a while.

Meanwhile, President Hassan is quickly changing from Middle Eastern Jesus (or, I guess, just Jesus) to Middle Eastern Dictator as he rounds up even those loyal to him and threatens to torture children to get the truth. I think Hassan was a much more compelling character when he wasn't a cliched paranoid and power hungry Middle Eastern leader, but rather a progressive working against a system that is begging for his failure, but again, the show has trouble with complex and realistic characters outside of its main duo, so we're left with the inevitable cliche in place of a far more interesting character dynamic. While we're on the political front, does it feel liek President Taylor has literally done nothing this season to anyone else? She seems concerned a lot, but that amounts to little more than a time waster at this point.

So clearly, I still have problems with how this season is progressing, but tonight's episode presented the first ray of hope we've had this season and gave me some reason to become cautiously optimistic about the weeks to come.

Grade: B-

Notes:

-"Yeah, sure. No biggie. Just unsecured nuclear materials." I know Arlo was being sarcastic, ut I couldn't help but think, that this threat still feels like "No biggie."

-If the show entered a contest to see how much expository dialogue could be fit into an episode, it would win in a landslide.

Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episode 6: 9:00pm-10:00pm

If asked to describe this week's episode of 24 in two words, I think it would be a pretty simple task: nothing happened. Literally. Not one thing of major note occurred. its true that the show needs episodes to put pieces in place for what's to come, but this didn't even feel like a piece moving episode. It felt like an episode where nothing I cared about at all occurred. Annie Wersching is getting in some very solid scenes out of Renee's on screen breakdown, and watching her skirt the edge with a combination of fear and cynical detachment is remotely interesting because she handles it so well ,but she is really stretching the material as far as it can go.

Meanwhile, President Taylor still wants to get the peace dea through, Hassan seems to be a little nuts after the assassination attempt, Dana is still going through the motions of her incredibly rote "forced mole" plotline, Arlo is still kind of a jerk who is kind of right, and Jack is still stuck ineffectually behind the scenes calling out Renee for being far less crazy than he has been before (until he finally gets moved to the front line near the episode's end). Maybe becoming a grandfather has softened Jack, but this is a man who has done things far darker and crazier than anything Renee has thought yet who is freaking out over her. I desperately hope this doesn't turn into another damaged romance subplot as Jack's overreaction seems to indicate, as we all know Jack is cursed by his past to never be truly happy.

I'd love to stretch this review more, but there isn't much to say. I found Renee's idea to take a shower while her former rapist was in the next room entirely preposterous, and thought that the russian crime boss killing his son was very "look how evil I am, I kill my own men" cliched, to the point that it didn't even shock me. Clearly he wasn't going to kill David Anders, because no one kills Sark that easily, and because he is the thing I'm most excited about so far in this season. Let's pause for a moment to consider that fact: the semi-rebellious son of a disconnected and none too threatening bad guy is the closest thing we have to a solid plotline yet this year. Which reminds me, does anyone else feel like there isn't really a threat or tension in this season? I mean sure, there's a chance someone will get a nuclear weapon, but we already saw Los Angeles get a huge pock mark a few years ago (which was, by the way, incredibly shocking and a great moment for the series) and they really can't pull that trick again. Plus, I seriously doubt 24 is controversial enough to set off a nuclear bomb in New York City, which leaves literally zero tension. The preview for next week promised some cool looking action, and I seriously hope there are a few plot twists or complications thrown in to get this incredibly lackluster season off the ground. Otherwise we too are about to experience a very long day.

Grade: C-

Notes:

-Freddie Prinze Jr. is not nearly as bad as I'd worried he might be, but to this point has been pretty underused. I wonder when he'll get pulled in majorly...

Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episode 5: 8:00p.m.-9:00p.m.

After a fairly standard premiere last week, 24 seems to have settled onto a pretty rote pathway for the coming season. Every plotline is moving forward exactly as any fan of the show owuld expect, from the agent in the field going arguably too far to get results, to the CTU operative forced into compromising herself, to the President being worried about something and receiving conflicting advice from the wisened old confidant who is always right and the younger hotshot who is too busy looking at political implications to get a good handle on right and wrong. If I just described pretty much every season of 24 over the last few years, its only because the show has become somewhat indistinguishable from season to season.

What kept the other seasons so interesting is that, while they did tend to be a bit repetitive after the first few, they quickly established a sense of urgency and at least one truly suspenseful storyline to hook in the viewers and keep us interested. I suspect Renee's walk on the dark side is supposed to do that for us this year, but it all feels a little bit done. There's nothing Agent Walker can do at this point that we haven't seen Jack do before, and while its a good performance, Annie Wersching is no Keifer Sutherland, and pushing him into the background this week clearly displayed how much the show needs Jack Bauer front and center to survive. Watching Renee stare down death didn't provide the suspense it was supposed to because there was really no doubt she would survive at least through this hour.

While the main plot lagged a little bit, it was still markedly better than the array of very standard subplots we've been offerred as yet. Easily the worst is Dana Walsh and her corruptive ex who is blackmailing her into infiltrating CTU so he can get a six figure pay-off. This may provide some limited suspense once she actually tries to pull it off, but more likely than not she will just glance sideways a lot until Chloe catches onto her suspicious behavior (or sideways glances) and pulls the plug on her, likely also ruining her relationship with Cole, who will be hurt, and possibly have turmoil to work out on some suspects later in the season.

President Taylor took on her standard role as concerned statesman as she tried to talk Hassan out of human rights violations in his fictitious Middle Eastern country, but he is not entirely the saint he appeared and knows he must round up those involved in the conspiracy to overthrow him to keep his power. He is also having a conflict with his wife, who knows her marriage is a sham and wants to leave New York. At the end of the day though, Dahlia is no Sherry Palmer, and the show really needs one right about now.

The most promising subplot of the evening involved David Anders' (Sark from Alias!) Josef taking his brother to a doctor who he then holds hostage and demands treatment from. This could create some interesting moments next week, mostly involving me yelling "Hey, its Sark!" to myself while watching, but even at its peak, this episode offerred nothing remotely new or suspenseful. In fact, this hour passed as the least eventful or important episode of the series in recent memory. Here's hoping it was just a build-up to some excellent twists and action up ahead, but I prepare for next week's episode with seriously lowered expectations after this week.

Grade: C

Notes:

-I took literally no notes during this episode. That's how uneventful everything was.

-The people on 24 should watch 24. They'd be able to catch the traitors and wrap things up quite a lot quicker that way.

Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episodes 3-4: 6:00 P.M.-8:00 P.M.

Its conventional wisdom to say that 24 is at its best where there is enough at stake during a large, looming crisis that everything is moving at breakneck speed and the subplots (or, as the case usually is on this show, the filler plots between Jack scenes) are pushed so far into the background that they almost don't exist. The first (and arguably, best) season took its time building us from a missing daughter and a vague threat to a facedown with a past enemy and a kidnapped family, but the show learned quick that it could skip the preamble and dive right into the suspense. In each subsequent season, the writers have tried to push Jack into the danger zone as quickly as possible, for better or worse.

I tend to have mixed feelings about that plan, since it often leads to a lag about half way through the season when the writers realize they worked through their whole plotline and things are forced to get a little ridiculous to keep us gunning for the back half, but it does make for some excellent television early on. Tonight saw the death of Davros, the assassin/fake NYPD officer, and the revelation that Hassan's brother was the insider (something I think the show could have held off on revealing for a few more hours of suspense). We also saw the return of Renee Walker, who has gone over to the dark side of the Force after her torturing of a suspect at the end of last season, and was apparently suicidal recently. She comes in because Davros' body has trace elements of weapons grade uranium, and she used to work undercover with the Russian mob. She walks back into the life of a contact only minutes later and quickly cuts off his thumb to free him from his parole bracelet. Yes, Renee is a little bit crazy, and that should provide for some good old fashioned fun in the coming hours.

We also got more on each of our competing filler-plots, with Dana's ex causing trouble at her apartment and demanding to see her, and Hassan's relationship with Meredith the reporter being revealed (at least internally, though how long can that last?). The only plot that still hasn't really materialized is the political intrigue that will keep President Taylor involved in the events as the show unfolds, but all in good time I'm sure.

There was more good than bad in this episode, as we got to see Cole swerve his car in front of a bomb, Hastings admit his first mistake to Chloe, and Jack get drawn back in yet again (I guess maybe he won't be leaving the show that he is a star of during the first few episodes...). All in all, there has been some pretty solid piece setting here. Nothing that has happened is all that shocking yet, and we seem to be following the 24 formula so far, but here's hoping the show has some serious tricks up its sleeves in the weeks to come.

Grade: B+

Notes:

-That was some serious Good Cop/Bad Cop between the two that caught Jack at the house, one of whom (this one's for you, Sam) was on The Wire!

-So with Hastings putting his foot in his mouth and generally seeming ok, which twist are we preparing for: self-sacrifice or secret traitor? My money is on self-sacrifice, mostly because he's running CTU and that job almost invariably kills you (unless you're Jack, of course. Then it kills your wife).

Jordan's Review: 24, Season 8, Episodes 1-2: 4:00 P.M-6:00 P.M.

Over the last nine years, Jack Bauer has dealt with some very serious shit on a pretty constant basis, not to mention being sleep deprived at least once every 2 or 3 years as he experieces another very long day. Before diving into the events that occurred during night one of the season premiere, I thought it prudent to give a brief primer on how I feel about 24 as a series (this being the first time I have reviewed it for the blog). I have been following the heroics of Jack Bauer since all the way back on Day One with a furor that nears religiosity. I remember fondly when the time period for the episode was followed with "...on the day of the California Presidential Primary" and when I was trying to convince all of my friends and family members that they needed to watch this show. To a large extent I succeeded, and many people I know have learned to love the show as I do.

This is not to say, however, that I turn a b lind eye towards the show's shortcomings. The series is clearly past its prime, and hasn't really been of the highest quality since at latest Season Four (I would say that Season 3 was the last very solid run, and even that was a bit of a step down from the first two, which were unique and more uniformly stellar). Yet, if one is willing to accept the various obvious contrivances and occasional logical gaps the show takes, 24 still provides one of the best thrill rides on television on a weekly basis. Right out of the gate, Season 8 has shown itself to be the same old 24 we've all become pretty used to over the last (nearly) decade its been on: We have a strong, idealistic political leader, some angry, "by the books" beauraucrats who somehow still haven't learned the valuable lesson that JACK BAUER IS NEVER WRONG, the smart-ass tech guy, the up-and-comer who hasn't lost his (or, as in last season, her) soul yet like Jack has, and the CTU worker who has personal issues that are raring their heads at this clearly very inconvenient time.

It is true that 24 has become one thing it tried very hard to avoid during its early seasons: fairly formulaic. You can expect pretty much the same plotlines to unfold in any given season, and with a few exceptions (if the writers are especially on their ball, which they usually are at least once or twice a season) the experienced viewer can see most of the twists coming at this point. That isn't to say that the show isn't fun to watch, it is still a very solid piece of entertainment; it just isn't the pulse-pounding twist machine of its heyday.

So at the end of the first two hours, a lot of good piece moving has taken place, Jack is already back on the road with Chloe as his back-up, and the major storylines we'll be focusing on this season are in place. It isn't the most original show on television at this point (by a long shot), but there is something comforting in knowing that Jack Bauer is back in business, and 24 has another rollercoaster ride set up for us, if only we are willing to grant it some of its contrivances.

Grade: B

Notes:

-Apologies I didn't realy focus on the details of this episode; I felt it more prudent to discuss the state of the series as a whole at the beginning of my reviewing of it. A more episode-focused review for the next part of the premiere is a promise.

-Another promise is a discussion of the show's politics and its position on torture, but that can wait until Jack starts electrocuting people with lamp cords.

-I like that this season opened with a happy, satisfied Jack. Too bad that means he has things to lose again.

-There were some very solid action setpieces tonight.

-Anil Kapoor, of Slumdog Millionaire fame is playing President Hasan. Cool, I guess...

-"I'll see you in an hour." Famous last words on 24 and something I failed to mention above: after 8 seasons, everything still happens in "about an hour." Somewhat annoying, yet also fairly endearing at this point.

-Everyone knows to clam up until they get immunity. Its almost like they've been watching 24 for 8 years.

-The new CTU looks really spiffy, and hey! Bubba from Forrest Gump is in charge!

-"Who is Jakc Bauer?" Oh, new guy...

-Jack killed a guy with an axe! Awesome!

-There is someone on the inside. Drink every time that happens on this show...