"24" Season 2, Episode 19 - 2:00 a.m. - 3:00 a.m. (SPOILERS)

[KneadToKnow]

24, Season 2
Episode 19
2:00 a.m. - 3:00 a.m.

Spoilers ahead!

Previous episodes discussed: 1 (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=141661) 2 (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=142720) 3 (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=143761) 4 (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=144882) 5 (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=146280) 6 (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=147635) 7 (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=149356) 8 (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=150854) 9 (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=154843) 10 (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=156343) 11 (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=160583) 12 (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=162262) 13 (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=163850) 14 (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=165404) 15 (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=167046) 16 (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=172344) 17 (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=174079) 18 (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=175707)


This thread is presented as a service of the 24 Club.

[BiblioCat]

Well, who's gonna die in this episode?
Will Jack get the chip to Palmer in time to stop the bombers?
Will Kim find herself in peril once again?

[Tom P.]

After seeing this episode, I have only one comment:No Kim! Whoho!

Oh, and we find out why Michelle and Kerri don't like each other, Jack gets hung up, Lynn goes into the closet and I think Mike has had a little chat with the Vice President.

[Proudest Monkey]

Help! My cable company has screwed with the channels and is not showing anything on Fox tonight! I know from reading previous discussions that fx repeats each episode sometime after the original airing, but I don't know when. Can someone clue me in? I can't miss Jack and company!

An e-mail would be great--I'll have to squint really hard to avoid spoilers if I check back here.

Thanks in advance, my fellow fans.

[BiblioCat]

Proudest Monkey, F/X will air it next Monday at 11:00 p.m. and next Tuesday at 5:00 p.m.

[RexDart]

That's not how it works, wrt the 25th Amendment. They have to send written affirmation of their conclusion to the President Pro Tem of the Senate and the Speaker of the House. The President can then take power back by doing the same thing. If the majority of executives plus the VP contest the issue, it goes to Congress to be decided within 48 hours.

While the declaration sent by the VP and execs does immediately take effect before the President can rebut, they still have to send it in writing to those two leaders and that's not likely to happen at this time of night unless there's collusion between those parties as well.

[BlackKnight]

Eh, I really do like this show, but c'mon: brother shows up really for no reason other than to give Michelle a nervous breakdown. Then, Yusef runs into some rednecks out of nowhere. Just because Kim wasn't in this episode doesn't mean that they have to make the main plotline as ridiculous as hers was.

The bits with Micheal and Ensign Ro were great though, as were any and all moments containing Jack.

[BiblioCat]

Regarding the previews:
Who was that who fell? Lynn Kresge?


And no way Jack's dead!
Right? RIGHT?

;)

[RexDart]

Dunno, Biblio. The 24 fans on SA Forums were saying Kiefer was on for Season 3, but I didn't see a source, so I dunno if fans are just pulling that out of their you-know-wheres.

[BiblioCat]

Regarding the previews:
Who was that who fell? Lynn Kresge?


And no way Jack's dead!
Right? RIGHT?

;)

[Exapno Mapcase]

I've been liking the way they've been ending plots early - finding the bomb, getting Kim cleared - rather than stretching them out to the last minute. That's what is good about this series.

In return, though, we get plot twists dropped in out of nowhere just to get through another hour. Why should anyone in the world care about Michelle's personal life?

And I guess the argument about whether white guys in the show are racist against Arabs is pretty well settled.

Just what did Jack think he was doing running off with the tracker? Wouldn't he have been better off sticking it back in the dead guy and getting back to CTU?

Very depressing episode. Not what happened to Jack, what it means for season 3. A nuclear bomb, a war, and now a coup. How high do you think they'll have to raise the stakes next year? A plague? A meteor? The apocolypse?

[Biggirl]

Jack's naked and dead. No reason to watch any more.

[BiblioCat]

I reported my messed-up spoiler to the mods; hopefully one of them will be along to fix it soon. Sorry.

[Monstre]

Jack's naked and dead. No reason to watch any more.

Who thinks they will CPR him back to the living next week?

[annieclaus]

Originally posted by Monstre
Who thinks they will CPR him back to the living next week?

I do! I do! Jack's gotta save the world. Can't count on Yousef and Kate, for Pete's sake!
That Mike IS a rat after all!
And an hour without Kim is a truly pleasant hour, even with vomiting and torture!

[Monstre]

Yousef and Kate -- didn't Jack say "wait 15 minutes"? And they waited what...? more like 35? Get your asses moving to CTU!. I do believe Jack stressed to you how important it was?

Sheesh. Thought New Foreign Sidekick guy would have more sense. (...knew Kate wouldn't...)

[Cat Whisperer]

I just have to say it...
OH MY GOD!!!THEY KILLED JACK!!!!YOU BASTARDS!!!

The Danny/Michelle/Kerry storyline is totally unnecessary. Was anyone else expecting Jack and Kate to kiss goodbye when she left with Yusef?

[ElwoodCuse]

Jack's probably doing some uber-1337 "fake your own death thing" they taught him at CTU school. I mean come on, you think season three is going to be "a day in the life of Tony Almeida"?

And yes, I'll agree that it was a depressing episode. All around stupidity--Jack with the transmitter, Yousef putzing around, the whole 25th amendment thing, the stupid Michelle's brother thing (can someone please run that by me again? I didn't get the particulars of that the first time around).

I'm starting to get disappointed with the show. I'm not going to quit watching because I'm so intent on seeing how things work out, but the show is far from what it was when they were trying to find the bomb.

BTW, 24 is in the May issue of MAD (the one with Spongebob on the cover). It's called "24 Viewers" and is a pretty accurate send-up of the show ("Jerk Sour" and "Dim" indeed).

[ElwoodCuse]

And oh yeah--20,000 more troops will die if they don't attack RIGHT NOW? Jesus, what kind of diabolical military geniuses are we dealing with here? I mean, we just took over Iraq when the entire world knew we were coming, and what were our casualties (minus all the helicopter crashes)? A couple hundred, tops?

[yosemite]

There is no way that Jack is dead.

I have spoken. That is all.

[Monstre]

And oh yeah--20,000 more troops will die if they don't attack RIGHT NOW? Jesus, what kind of diabolical military geniuses are we dealing with here? I mean, we just took over Iraq when the entire world knew we were coming, and what were our casualties (minus all the helicopter crashes)? A couple hundred, tops?

Elwood, I was thinking the exact same thing when they said that. Okay, I'll grant them that some other Mid East countries probably have stronger military than Iraq does (did) now, especially since Iraq's military has been weakened since the Gulf War.

But the 20,000 projection is still stretching it, I'd say. Unless they expect these countries to be using nukes on our troops (and on their own soil).

I think the "Jack using secret technique to fake his death" is not out of the question here, either. Jack will live...

Otherwise, who will be the badass next season? Not Tony...

Hey, maybe they'll throw in a major twist and the new badass will be Michelle! Brother Danny will die, Michelle will stop being weepy, her heart will harden, she'll kill her bitch rival ex-boss chick, and she'll punch out Tony on her way out into the field to stop the next terrorist attack, in total badass style.

Or maybe it will be Kim, stumbling along adventure through adventure, haplessly foiling the baddies on the way...

Nahhhhhhh. :D

[John Mace]

Well, it's 20,000 troops because it's those, you know, 3 Middle Eastern Countries. We all know that the 3 Middle Eastern countries have some pretty significant armies. In fact, one of them at least has 500,000 Yusef clones ready to srping into action once the US troops land.

Wow, what a surprise the bitchy computer lady caught Tony and whats-her-name kissinig. I would've never guessed...

And, come on, if you were in the middle of a national emergency, and you're whacked-out brother needed to see you (even though you were 3 feet away from his long lost love), you'd have him come into your top secret gov't building, too. Wouldn't you?

Kate's gun handling abilities could've come in handy when the redneck white guys attacked the "towel head".

And wouldn't you run off to a secret meeting in a broom closet if you were the President's aid? And of course you wouldn't bring your cell phone.

The Kim episodes are starting to look like Masterpiece Theater...

The torture scenes were pretty brutal. Kiefer continues to give this whole thing credibility with his excellent acting. (I'm being serious now).

I'll put my money on him being revived at some point. I've watched enough Star Trek episodes where Capt Kirk was "dead"-- hey I'm no dummy!

[Sam Stone]

And just how many bombers does the U.S. have, that it can bomb three countries simultaneously, with enough force to destroy all three country's militaries?

This whole plot is stretched really, really thin. And that bit with Yousef or whatever his name is being attacked by rednecks is just ricidulous. I mean, even if there were gangs of vigilantes roaming the streets looking for middle eastern men to beat up, this guy hardly fits the profile. He's dressed in regular clothes, with a short haircut, in a nice car, with a blonde woman in the vehicle. They wouldn't have given him a second look.

And when he pulled the gun on them and gave them the shakedown, they're STILL going to try to attack him, just because he looks like someone from the Middle East? Give me a break.

And of course, the timing is ridiculous. And does the public even know the middle east is involved? I thought all they knew was that a nuke went off in the desert. For all they know, it was a military accident or a rogue military group or something. Sheesh.

And that whole bit with the brother running into CTU was jaw-droppingly stupid. Like, he's going to get into a secure government facility in the middle of a nuclear crisis, just 'cause he wants to tell sis he loves her, or whatever? Uh huh. And again, the timing is nuts. She tells Tony all about her brother, and the guy is storming into the place three minutes later? Bizarre.

I think they left Kim out of this episode because adding her twisted plot lines would have sent us all into BS overload.

Still, I'm not giving up. 24 heading towards the ditch last season with the amnesia and bizarre car stops and the rest, and pulled it together in the last three or four episodes. Let's hope they do it again.

[FallenAngel]

While I hate doing "me too" posts, let me just say:

The Jack scenes were absolutely amazing. I understand why he took the transmitter: Leading the bad guys in the wrong direction makes more tactical sense that just having them hang around the Med. center. Really. It buys more time for Yusef and Kate to get away. Of course the, "Go 12 blocks and wait for me for 15 minutes" thing was stupid. He should have told them he'd meet them at CTU, ditch the transmitter and either steal a car or catch a cab, but you can't have perfection.

Kiefer's acting during the torture scenes warrant an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a hummer from Julienne Moore. My gods was that convincing.

As to the non-Jack scenes...

Hopefully next week will be better, although I very much enjoyed the Tony/Michelle makeout session.

And of course Jack will be revived (I hope I hope I hope).

[RikWriter]

Originally posted by Monstre
Elwood, I was thinking the exact same thing when they said that. Okay, I'll grant them that some other Mid East countries probably have stronger military than Iraq does (did) now, especially since Iraq's military has been weakened since the Gulf War.



Actually, from what I understand (and I may be incorrect), Iraq still had the largest military of any Arab state even after the Gulf War.
But yeah, the 20,000 troops thing was a bit hard to swallow, unless one of the nations they were going to invade was Israel.

[WordMan]

I agree with all prev posts - lots of credibility stretching, especially regarding Michelle's brother and Jack/Kiefer not disposing of the transponder in a more effective way.

As for the 20,000 troops lost if we don't attack earlier, I basically agree that that was stretching it too, but if I am wearing my "willing suspension of disbelief" hat for a moment longer, I would go with the idea that a delayed attack would be a slower, more ground-war driven attack against three countries, thereby driving up casualties. Other than that, I don't recall them address this in a previous ep, which they should have (just like they explained why someone had to pilot the plane all the way down - you may not like the explanation, but the tied off that loose end).

Have we seen that bearded bad guy who was the boss of the torturer? I couldn't remember....

I agree with Sam Stone - 24 dipped last season, but pulled it out to end well. Here's hoping the same thing happens this season...

[El Elvis Rojo]

I'm with Fallen Angel on the whole Jack/transmitter thing. The baddies didn't know he had gotten the chip yet, and even once they discovered that, they wouldn't have guessed he'd have discovered the tracking device and removed it. It's a lot better to have them running after him, a guy who's got some good training ditching flunkies and special ops goons, then dropping it in a garbage can and hoping they don't chase after a car that was located at the last location their troops engaged them. The only bit I found somewhat off what the fact that two cars pull out in front of him while he's running away, and he only considers one of them to be a threat. They both seemed to be there to cut him off, I'm suprised he didn't pop the guy in the first car as he slid over the hood, and then nailed the other guy as opposed to leaving his back vulnerable.

Unless, getting caught and having them waste even more time torturing him was also part of the plan. he knows they have only a couple of hours, and I'm sure Jack's confident in his abilities to hold up to the torment, so the longer they spend torturing him, the less time they spend looking for the others, and the better off they are getting the info back to HQ.

That is, of course, assuming random roving gangs of red necks passing by at 3:00 a.m. wouldn't recognize an incredibly hard to distinguish Middle Eastern man driving by with his window down and car door unlocked, even though they're being hunted by some unknown special forces group (and ignoring the fact that most SUV's nowadays have doors that automatically lock once the car starts driving...and it all could have been avoided if Yuseff had put his seat belt on).

I have a feeling Jack's faking dead and is going to jab that needle up someone's nose into their brain, then kick the crap out of everyone else while covering himself with both hands.

[John Mace]

"That is, of course, assuming random roving gangs of red necks passing by at 3:00 a.m. wouldn't recognize an incredibly hard to distinguish Middle Eastern man driving by with his window down and car door unlocked, even though they're being hunted by some unknown special forces group (and ignoring the fact that most SUV's nowadays have doors that automatically lock once the car starts driving...and it all could have been avoided if Yuseff had put his seat belt on)."

I dont know what you're talking about. This exact same scenario happend to me just the other day...!

I guess we do need to remember that it's just TV. I only watched about the last 6 episodes of last year's show, so I got thrown right into the middle of the Dallas-esque amnesia thing. The writers did get it together for the last 2 shows, though, which I thought were excellent.

[BiblioCat]

Regarding the tracking device on the chip:
I kept thinking of that old Steve Guttenberg movie with the robot that comes to life after being struck by lightning. The robot has a tracking device and he rips it off and throws it in the back of a passing car. I was reminded of that, and thought Jack should have done something like that... throw it in a car or truck going the other way, get those guys off him and headed the other direction. (I'm drawing a blank on the name of the movie, though)



Monstre said:
I think the "Jack using secret technique to fake his death" is not out of the question here, either. Jack will live...
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking, too. Of course Jack will live.

[Sam Stone]

The best 'tracking device' plotline was in the movie thief. The cops had bugged James Caan's car, and thought they were following him. The camera starts from a cop car on the highway with two guys in it saying, "We've got this bastard now!", then slowly tracks forward past about 20 cars ahead of them, to a bus. The camera slowly pans across the bus, around the front, and zooms in on the destination - "Des Moines". It's a great bit of camera work.

[ivylass]

Really, Jack, running away?

With how busy the Urgent Care center was, surely he could have just casually sauntered out of there, not drawing attention to himself, then booking it when he hit the street.

I had a very hard time watching the torture sequences. :eek:

The Prez's chief of staff is bad bad bad. Why? Because bad. I thought the COS was the most trusted member of the Prez's staff. Palmer is indecisive? He had no problems deciding to kick Sherry out, or torture whatshisface with the paddles.

I'm waiting for the thugs who were beating up Kate and Yousef to carjack the car, and go on a joyride, with the chip lying unnoticed under the seat...

[c_goat]

Ugh. Bad episode. Other than Jack being a bad-ass to the very end, going out in true Jack style as the only man on earth without a breaking point. Although I bet they'll revive him, I wouldn't be disappointed if this was his end. Except for the fact that there's nobody good for season 3.

I swear I thought the torturer was holding a phone when he started talking about Kim, and I thought they were going to cut to her being held hostage. It's nice to have an episode without her.

The torturer's boss wasn't the VP was it? I don't remember what he looked like when the President talked to him. Maybe he's just a rich oil baron that started the war.

I don't think Mike was against the president from the beginning, he's just recently taken the VP's side in that the war shouldn't be stopped. But what's the point of kidnapping Lynn? It's not like telling the President about the VP's meeting is going to stop it from happening.

And the redneck patrol was a bit far fetched. First off, he doesn't even look middle-eastern. Yusef should have just shot the guys, diplomatic/CTU immunity and all. Although I was reminded of those riots where the truck driver was pulled out of his car and beaten with a brick. A warning to people everywhere to lock your car doors while driving. I always do right when I start the car.

[Biggirl]

Of course he'll come back. Jack's death is such a non-cliffhanger that it made me giggle. I was thinking it was a cool CSU trick too.

The episode was filled with unintentional giggles for me. They locked Ensign Ro in a closet-- heehee. I really did laugh when she started banging on the door and screaming to be let out. I giggled when Danny boy started choking whatshername. It reminded me of Homer and Bart--- "Why you little. . ."

[BiblioCat]

Aren't the President and some other people expected at a meeting soon? That's why Lynn's locked up, right?
I'm thinking one of the people we'll see at the meeting will be the guy who talked to Jack on the phone...the guy who was in the helicopter, with the goatee.

[Exapno Mapcase]

Obviously Jack doesn't watch movies or else he would have remembered all the other tracking device scenes. After all, wouldn't want to have a 5-10 minute head start on the bad guys while driving all the way to CTU through those completely empty streets.

Completely empty? Wait a minute. How can there be civil unrest on the East Coast over the bomb when Los Angeles has no cars moving in it at all. You mean the guy in the liquor store is the only one in the whole city who thought to get out of LA?

As for Jack, don't worry about him. Remember that he got a large chunk of tree right through his leg a few episodes ago that is probably turning gangrenous by now and that doesn't even slow down his running ability. Being tortured to death? No problemo. He'll be trading kung fu moves with the bad guys next episode without even bothering to put iodine on his wounds.

[thinksnow]

Yusef: able to dodge snipers on rooftops and kick much ass, yet taken out with a brick to the grape from a "redneck" despite a cry of warning and his being about midcar, an easy 4-6 feet from the back of the truck and therefor having ample time to have seen the third guy.

I guess when they don't have Kim in an ep, they have to spread the stupid around to everyone.

[ivylass]

Originally posted by thinksnow
I guess when they don't have Kim in an ep, they have to spread the stupid around to everyone.

Ouch, thinksnow! That hurt!

[DMark]

Originally posted by Exapno Mapcase
Being tortured to death? No problemo. He'll be trading kung fu moves with the bad guys next episode without even bothering to put iodine on his wounds.

My thoughts exactly...considering the crap that has happened to him, supposedly in the course of one day, most of us would be comatose in ICU by now, if not long since dead.

But I am sure within the next hour Jack will be running at a sprint, hanging by his teeth on a rope, shooting a cannon with one hand and lifting Kate out of a vat of crocodiles with his other hand, all the while dialing Kim on his cell phone with his toe.

There will, of course, be the standard Hollywood band aid on his forehead to show he was recently injured.

And:

An episode without Kim is a wonderous gift that should not be taken lightly. Therefore, in honor of the old TV series, "Blossom", I think this could be considered "The very special episode of 24".

[Lux Interior]

I was waiting for Yusef to switch chips or something. Just because he was attacked by rednecks doesn't mean he's a good guy.

Will he get capped in the next hour? I guess that would make it moot.

They already had us strung along thinking the other guy (Kate's sister's fiance, I'm bad with names) was bad when he wasn't, so know thy have us thinking Yusef is a good guy. Well, that just <i>has</i> to mean he's a bad guy, right? ;)

[thinksnow]

Another thing: with this move by the VP, it seems that everyone, and I mean everyone in the cabinet and on the Presidents staff is in cahoots against him, except for Lyne, whois shown falling many, many flights of stairs to her death next ep.

Kinda seems a bit implausable... Well, moreso than everything else in the show, anyway.

[Doctor Goo Fee]

Ahhh... so you put a little AMMONIA on the knife before you make the cuts.... so THAT's how it's done!

(makes mental note)

seriously though, I've never heard of that. SOP for bad guys?

Any torturers here who can comment?

[ivylass]

Originally posted by Doctor Goo Fee
Ahhh... so you put a little AMMONIA on the knife before you make the cuts.... so THAT's how it's done!

(makes mental note)

seriously though, I've never heard of that. SOP for bad guys?

Any torturers here who can comment?

Tell you what, Doc, why don't you self-experiment and tell us how it goes. And be honest.

At least Torture Guy didn't take a sander to Jack's nether regions like they did to the guy they caught with Kate. :eek:

[KinSaba]

Of course he'll come back. Jack's death is such a non-cliffhanger that it made me giggle. I was thinking it was a cool CSU trick too.

LOL - I went to CSU, but I didn't take the stop your pulse and fake your own death course!

[astorian]

Frankly, Palmer must be a LOUSY president.

Think about it- first, he married the diabolical Sherry. Then he picked the scheming Vice President, he appointed everytone in the Cabinet, he picked the chief of staff, and EVERY DANG ONE OF THEM is a disloyal, backstabbing traitor!

Is this guy a terrible judge of character, or what? If he's stupid enough to appoint a VP, a COS and an entire cabinet that's ready to turn on him at 15 minutes notice, he DESERVES to be ousted.

[Exapno Mapcase]

I don't want to think about it.

On the one side you have the Pres and the Joint Chiefs of Staff who sent the bombers out on the basis of one (that's right, one) piece of data.

On the other side you have the VP and the Cabinet and the CoS who want to keep the bombers going on the basis of one (that's right, one) piece of data.

So I guess here's the big question: Should Jack have failed in his mission in Season 1? :D

[RikWriter]

Originally posted by astorian
Frankly, Palmer must be a LOUSY president.

Think about it- first, he married the diabolical Sherry. Then he picked the scheming Vice President, he appointed everytone in the Cabinet, he picked the chief of staff, and EVERY DANG ONE OF THEM is a disloyal, backstabbing traitor!

Is this guy a terrible judge of character, or what? If he's stupid enough to appoint a VP, a COS and an entire cabinet that's ready to turn on him at 15 minutes notice, he DESERVES to be ousted.

I am thinking the same thing. This is the most clueless president since...well, better save that for another forum.

[BobT]

Originally posted by Exapno Mapcase
I don't want to think about it.

On the one side you have the Pres and the Joint Chiefs of Staff who sent the bombers out on the basis of one (that's right, one) piece of data.

On the other side you have the VP and the Cabinet and the CoS who want to keep the bombers going on the basis of one (that's right, one) piece of data.

So I guess here's the big question: Should Jack have failed in his mission in Season 1? :D

I think the VP and the Cabinet and the JCoS want to keep the bombers going not because of one piece of data, but because that was their plan all along.

This is a conspiracy at the highest level of government obviously. There were hints last year that Palmer and his people were being controlled by more powerful forces.

[Biggirl]

Originally posted by BobT
IThis is a conspiracy at the highest level of government obviously. There were hints last year that Palmer and his people were being controlled by more powerful forces.
What exactly happened to the mysterious business cartel? Did it turn out to be Dennis Hopper? My memory is fuzzy.

[Saxman]

What I found most annoying was the torturer's taunt to Jack, "You wouldn't want to make Kim an orphan, would you?"

Hello, writers, way to build tension -- not. We've already seen Jack more than willing to make Kim an orphan by flying a plane to detonate A NUCLEAR BOMB in order to save the world.

Fun note -- I live a few blocks from Vineland and Moorpark, and when Jack was "running north towards Magnolia", that's actually AWAY from the rendez-vous point -- maybe he was still trying to buy that fool Yousef some more time... :)

Serious note: a local CA friend's uncle was a Coptic (Christian) Egyptian shopkeeper killed shortly after 9/11 for being the wrong shade of brown, so I found the redneck characters quite plausible.

[BobT]

It would have been more effective for the bad guys to threaten to find Kim and kill her.

Then again, Jack's been through that before too.

[annieclaus]

Originally posted by BiblioCat
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking, too. Of course Jack will live.

I totally agree that Jack will live (after all it is Easter week and rising from the dead is in vogue), but. . .
He was pretty seriously worked over in this week's episode. Cut several times. Burned. Zapped with a Taser. Vomited his guts out. And now dead.
Assume the clinic doc does revive him.
There are 5 hours left in the series. How much use can a body that's taken that much punishment be in these important 5 hours? You don't just save the world from a sickbed. . . .
(Just being snarky about the Easter reference. No spamming, please!)

[Monstre]

from El Elvis Rojo
I have a feeling Jack's faking dead and is going to jab that needle up someone's nose into their brain, then kick the crap out of everyone else while covering himself with both hands.
Yeah -- during the whole torture scene, I was hoping that he would go all Mel Gibson Lethal Weapon on the torturer...

from Dr Goo Fee
Ahhh... so you put a little AMMONIA on the knife before you make the cuts.... so THAT's how it's done!

Ammonia? I was thinking acid.

[BiblioCat]

annieclaus, you're forgetting that he was also in a plane crash earlier "today," he had a huge piece of shrapnel in his leg that he pulled out, he's been in several gun fights, and hasn't he been beaten up at least once or twice?
He's really had a hell of a day.

[stolichnaya]

But remember, he's fresher than last year b/c he hadn't already been up for a whole day as of the start of the 24 hours. He's on a full night's rest, he oughtta be able to handle a little abuse.

[annieclaus]

Originally posted by BiblioCat
annieclaus, you're forgetting that he was also in a plane crash earlier "today," he had a huge piece of shrapnel in his leg that he pulled out, he's been in several gun fights, and hasn't he been beaten up at least once or twice?
He's really had a hell of a day.
Doh! How could I forget those items???
And I don't think he's had any lunch or dinner. If he had, he would have just tossed it up on the floor of the torture chamber.
Where WAS that torture chamber any way? I had the feeling that it was the basement of the Urgent Care Center. . . which isn't very wellsecured, then, is it?

[Dewey Cheatem Undhow]

Originally posted by RexDart
That's not how it works, wrt the 25th Amendment. They have to send written affirmation of their conclusion to the President Pro Tem of the Senate and the Speaker of the House. The President can then take power back by doing the same thing. If the majority of executives plus the VP contest the issue, it goes to Congress to be decided within 48 hours.

While the declaration sent by the VP and execs does immediately take effect before the President can rebut, they still have to send it in writing to those two leaders and that's not likely to happen at this time of night unless there's collusion between those parties as well. Nitpick: if there is a contest, Congress has 48 hours to assemble to decide the issue. The constitution does not require them to actually come to a decision until 21 days after transmission -- and then you've got to get 2/3 majorities in both houses to boot the president out.

I'm such a geek. I ran upstairs to grab my pocket copy of the constitution at the first commercial after this scene.

[Max Carnage]

Sigh...


I set the vcr this week and wound up taping the 9 o clock news instead of 24. For the first time in 2 years, I've missed an episode of 24 and must wait until Monday to watch it on FX.

BUT...

I had to tell everyone about TOYFARE magazine this month. Toyfare is a magazine about action figures and toys and is the most hilarious mag I read. Every month they do a six page comedy strip using old Mego Superhero figures. This month is a spoof of this season's 24 starring Captain America as Jack and Bucky as Kim. I was reading it at work and was embarrassed how hard I was laughing.

Just a couple of the funniest things...

Cap calls Bucky to tell him there's a bomb in Megoville and that Bucky must leave and not tell anyone about it. Next panel Cap's cell phone rings as Bucky yells "omigodomigodomigod..Get outta town! There's a bomb about to go off!"

Cap kills Electro's wife on tv. Turns out it was his EX-wife and Electro wants a copy of the tape.

Bucky runs past a tiger in the woods and yells for him to leave town, there's a bomb!

The final panel has Bucky underwater, surrounded by sharks, foot caught in a bear trap, holding a bomb with a lit fuse, wondering how he caught syphillis.

Granted this is probably only funny to an uber-geek like me, but if you are interested, the new Toyfare should be out on the newsstands next week.

Hmmm...I wonder if any of the 24 Club read Toyfare. If so, there are spoilers a plenty.

Crap, I can't read the rest of this thread...but I want to!

[MaxTheVool]

One comment about the 20,000 casualties thing... we only have the word of some military guys that that is their most accurate projection. It's very possible that they're all in on the conspiracy, and have come up with an inflated figure, figuing that Palmer wouldn't possibly be able to say no to it...

[Riboflavin]

Well, other people have gone over some of the wackiness, here's a few of mine:

So, when a team of highly trained assasins launches a suprise attack on you with serious hardware you're able to fend them off, but a couple of drunks can take you out with a brick when you're forewarned?

So, you're the super secret agent but you don't know any of the old transmitter tricks? Why leave it in the open when you can put it down a drain, in a car trunk, in/on an animal, or something else? Come on Jack, watch some of the classics.

There's not a real cliffhanger in this ep; the question is whether Jack 'died' from special training and is about to open his eyes kick ass or whether they shock him back to life.

Silly observation: Is there something weird about the props budget? That electro-shock-paddle gizmo is rivaling Jack for airtime. Password girl who died to bring CTU back online, 3 torture scenes, commando on table, and now Bring Jack Back - any more shocking scenes?

[SolGrundy]

I agree with the theories going around about Kim Bauer's being a stupidity sponge. The writers are required by some ancient Hollywood codex that they must inject x amount of stupidity into any epsiode of a television series. Without Kim around to absorb it all, it spreads to the other subplots.

Was I the only one who, after Yusef went on about "if it were your family at risk," expected Kate to start going on a tirade about the stuff that's happened with her family? "No you DIDN'T just say that. Let me tell you a thing or two about family." If they'd gotten into an argument it would've made more sense that they could be so easily flummoxed by rednecks. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm hoping Kate does a 180, even if it's almost completely inconsistent with her character so far, and just gets up and goes to town on those guys with a gun and a brick. Especially if she goes into a berserker rage whilst doing it, screaming about what a bitch Marie is.

Which reminds me -- does each country on the planet have one Superhero who can do anything, like Jack and Yusef? Or is it just the US and the "Three Middle-Eastern Countries." In any case, they should spend the year until the next 24 hours starting a League of Justice of some sort.

Have all the episodes this season had the frequent "Graphic Violence Viewer Discretion" warnings that this one did? Because as gruesome as the TORCHAR scenes with Jack were, they've done worse... I had a hard time feeling much sympathy for Jack after seeing him "question" two terrorists, terrorists basically flaying a private detective, and the President of the United States ordering electro-shock TORCHAR on an old man while he watched the whole thing on RealVideo.

[Slacker]

Originally posted by Saxman
What I found most annoying was the torturer's taunt to Jack, "You wouldn't want to make Kim an orphan, would you?"


Agreed. It would have been better had they said, "Would you like us to ensure she's an only child?" (((ZAPP!!))) :eek:

I too was fairly unimpressed with this episode, and next weeks will likely have a few groaner moments as well (judging by the show itself, not the 'next time' preview). Too many "rescued at the last moment" scenes in one hour is a recipe for disaster.

[Max Carnage]

Originally posted by SolGrundy
...the President of the United States ordering electro-shock TORCHAR on an old man while he watched the whole thing on RealVideo.

:Shudder: RealVideo? That's against the Geneva Convention, isn't it?