"24" Season 2, Episode 23 - 6:00 a.m. - 7:00 a.m. (SPOILERS)

Cafe Society
41

When Kim asked why Jack sent her and Kate answered “Because he trusts me” I turned to my wife and said “which means she’s bad.” I don’t know if that will end up being true, but it sure seemed like a set up for a twist.

Big breasts was sent to the apartment but arrived too late. She mentioned that she didn’t have enough lead time because they had assumed he’d be vaporized in the nuke blast.

I thought the very best scene was the split screen conversation where Novick was trying to convince Palmer to call the Turkish PM. I thought the acting was really good and it was a nice editing touch to see both of their faces as they had the conversation.

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I really wanted Palmer to start the conversation with the Turkish PM all diplomatic like, and then jump up onto the table and scream “I am no longer in control! Do not let those bombers proceed!”

43

My thought exactly when I first saw her. But the chick in season one was much cuter, I think. She wasn’t killed in season one, though. That was her lover, who tried to extort more money for the ID.
Kim looked like she had “Gone Native”. I thought she had become “super killer” by the look in her eyes (before she was visibly tembling with the gun).

They can’t do a cliff hanger (IMHO) based on the format of the show. It wouldn’t be as interesting if the next season were just the same story continued for another 24 hours.

44

Yep, I thought, “Uh oh, Kim’s tasted blood! Run, Kate!”

Also, I doubt that next season will be the next 24 hours. Someone would HAVE to sleep or eat by then. Plus they have to get CTU back up and running…what, they are? But there was a bomb, right?

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I thought it was odd that Palmer would agree to talk to the Turkish Prime Minister, also. I thought it would serve his purposes better if those bombers were shot down.
Nice to see that Jack does actually suffer a few side effects from all the physical abuse.
Where is daddy Warner and Marie?
I think there is a good possibility Kate may be bad. I think that would be a GOOD thing.

46

THey can have a cliffhanger. Doesn’t mean the next 24 hours have to be contiguous. They could end this year with Jack getting on a plane for the Middle East, for example. He can sleep all the way there. Or they could have a cliffhanger that sets up action for a week down the road or something.

47

I don’t know how they can possibly satisfactorily resolve all the loose ends in only an hour. I want resolution!! I don’t want cliff-hangers to go to the third season. Carry-over characters are fine, but not carry-over plot.

Regarding Marie… From the previews, it is evident that Marie will have a part to play in the last hour.

48

What in the…the hacker lived in North Hollywood, right? Then, how in the world did Jack emerge on the rooftop of a building on the east side of downtown L.A.?? Those must have been some long-ass tunnels they were running through!!!

At least that’s right where the L.A. River is, so they got that part right.

I too was totally expecting Kate to turn out to be a bad guy. Seems like everyone is in on this oil conspiracy plot, except Jack, David, Tony and Michelle. Wouldn’t it be funny to have a show where EVERYONE turns out to be a bad guy?

49

Yeah, I was kind of rooting for him to tell the PM that he should clear a runway or something, and that the planes must be ordered to land. That action would probably be a little complex, though, as it would force somebody’s hand. . .either what’s-his-name-Acting-President would have to step in and say, “Uh. . .well. . .I’m really the President, ignore Palmer,” or the PM would wonder why Palmer can’t just order the planes down himself. It would’ve been interesting, though.

50

Just to echo what some others have said, I don’t see how they can possibly tie up all (or even most) of the loose ends in one hour. I’d hate to see them leave everything up in the air, like Alias did, but I’m afraid that’s what’s going to happen.

I think it was out of character for Palmer to agree to talk to the Turkish Prime Minister. After all, if the planes were shot down, it would avert the war that he wants desperately to stop, and that would be a small price to pay. He also has perfect deniability for the consequences.

By the way, I think it’s incorrect, according to the 25th amendment, for them to say that he is no longer president, and that the vice-president is now president. Palmer is still president until he dies, resigns, or is impeached and removed. The vice-president is the acting president. I think the scene they showed of him taking the oath of office was unnecessary at best.

51

Yeah, Palmer’s been a real wuss about this. I thought we’d established that he’s kind of a loose-cannon, emotional guy. The same dude that had the NSA director tortured is now the lap dog of some vague and, in his opinion, unfounded political conspiracy. I’m disappointed in him.

52

As others have said, I didn’t think this episode was as strong as most. But it did have some good moments.

Jack’s shooting of the sound guy in the leg was just right. It’s much too hard to do the hollywood ‘shoot the gun out of his hand’ trick, and a shot to the upper leg will instantly drop pretty much anyone. And I liked that the sound guy seemed ok, for about 20 seconds, Jack relaxed, then the guy said his head felt ‘wet’. Oops. Maybe the lower leg would have been better?

And he’s the last lead, the last absolute final chance of stopping the war. Oh, wait. Let’s follow up on the Kingsley lead.

I was pretty pissed about the helicopters being diverted, but that was pretty much the only way the writers could manage to keep Jack on the ground and still in extreme urgent hurry tense pressure for another hour.

Did anyone else wonder about that weird series of corridors and rubble-filled tunnels that happened to be connected to Alex’s apartment? How often do you happen to find one of those? I thought we were in Beirut or maybe a crack-shack apartment building in the Bronx.

Palmer should have refused to cooperate with the phone call to Turkey. Yes, it probably saved a few pilots’ lives, but it enabled the ‘new administration’ to sidestep a few hours’ delay in their attack plans, which would have been just what Palmer needed, to give Jack a better chance.

How about Mike telling Palmer that he had authorized some ‘low-level clearance’ for the ex-president? Does anyone else think that he’ll be able to use that to contact Jack and help him in the last hour? Or maybe get word from Ensign Roe about the former vice-president’s dirty tricks?

Sherry is sliding into ‘good-guy’ territory. Given no choice about her role, she’s actually going to do something good in the final episode.

And I guess it’s obvious to everyone that Tony and Michelle are going to be restored to A+ status at CTU once Jack saves the world from war and the new-president’s conspiracy is revealed. “All in a day’s work. Thanks, guys.”

I don’t buy any questions about Kate’s ‘goodness’. I think they’re just setting up future conflict and sub-plot familial concerns between Kim and Kate for next season—
Kim: “I love my daddy the most!”
Kate: “No, I love Jack the most.”
“No, I do, you stupid bitch.”
“No, I do, you ugly bleach blonde emaciated gold digger.” . . .
And so on.

I won’t be surprised if we see Marie again in the final episode. She was such a wonderful cold-hearted bitch and since Sherry has softened and is trying, soap-opera fashion, to worm her way back into our hearts and Kim and Kate are together and good, we’ll need Marie’s sound counterpoint to all of that softness.

And that brings to mind a key plot device I’m predicting for the next episode. Since Jack and Sherry have crashed their car, en route to their last-minute, desperation meeting with Kingsley, they will need a quick ride. And recall that Kim and Kate are in their SUV and Kim has a cell-phone with her. Jack is going to call Kim and get her and Kate to pick up him and Sherry.

Not sure how things are going to work out at the coliseum though. I think Jack will probably shoot Kingsley, who will breathe his last words, implicating his boss, who will be the focus for Jack’s anger next season.

Then after he stops the war, Jack will celebrate by having a spontaneous menage with Kate and Sherry, while daughter Kim looks on and encourages, “Shoot it again, daddy!”

53

She did go to the apartment and get the evidence. That’s why Jack couldn’t just take the source recordings from there. Sound Nerd was hiding in a secret room while the bad folks were going through his stuff. Jack found the secret room when he shot a hole through the wall when he tried to scare Mrs. Palmer. Light shining through the bullet hole revealed the room. This also explains why the bad people looking for Sound Nerd weren’t looking at his apartment, they already looked there.

54

I don’t think that Sound Hacker is totally dead. After all he didn’t squeak out any last-breath important information like everyone else does when they die around Jack. :slight_smile:

55

That would be fantastic! I would love to see every character turn out to be a bad guy, including Jack, who, in the final scene, will be revealed to have invested in oil futures like Kingsley, but bought long instead of short, his sole motivation having been to make money, so he stops the war and pockets a billion dollars in the end.

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Just to point out, the previews for next week (no spoilers here) were not just clips of “new” footage. They also spliced in clips from several previous episodes. Crucial moments from this season were thrown in to the mix with previews of the finale. If one didn’t notice this, one could make a couple of incorrect conclusions about what is in store for us next week.

I also wouldn’t really enjoy a cliffhanger. This particular day should have a definitive ending with Jack triumphing but at great cost to him and those he holds dear. They can tie it all in and expand next year, but to leave us hanging would betray the premise of the show in my opinion. I would SO respect them if they actually offed Jack and made 24 a bad-day-at-CTU based show rather than a “Next Season: Jack-Bauer-has-another-real-bad-day” type of thing. Never gonna happen, but that’s what I said about them killing a pregnant woman on network television last year.

I just don’t see how they can live up to the twist from last year otherwise. Kill Kate? Kim? Kate and Kim? I guess that would do. Jack can protect & save the President, the Country, and the World, but he can never protect the ones he loves the most. Great tragic flaw for a guy like Jack.

DaLovin’ Dj

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Pablito:

Yes, I was kind of confused when Sound-hacker-guy was running thru those tunnels. It was almost like he had them as his planned escape route, but how could that have been?

I’m guessing Kate gets whacked. The writers are toying with us making us think she might be a baddie. No way.

Once again, I’ve got to moan about how PC this show can be most of the time. Why don’t they just have the evil-industrialist-guys rubbing their hands and chortling as they contemplate killing millions of people and starting a war with the (not “in the”) Middle East in order to pocket some bucks. Let’s see. We have a president who “stole” the office (whose last name happens to be Prescott, W’s grandfather’s name), and is starting a war in the Middle east based on lying about terror attacks. Any real life conspiracy theories come to mind? The only non-PC thing going here (other than Jack’s mega-violent vigilantyism) is that the two black women in the show are both baddies.

One other sure-fire prediction: Kim lives. Besides being ridiculously copycating last year’s ending, I thikn the writers are just having too much fun with her character to off her now.

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My prediction is that Kate will neither be killed nor be a baddie. She’s coming back next season and I think she will be Jack’s love interest.

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Rik:

There’s a good chance you’re right. The love interest angle has been put out as bait from the first time they met. I’d like to hope the writers are good enough about throwing us curveballs, though, that they’ll have her die. If so, it’ll be in Jack’s arms, for sure.

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Um…yeah, but…oh, okay. Still, it would have been a good idea to leave someone watching the place in case he comes back. That’s what the cops would do. Or maybe they did and Sherry’s bodyguard took him out off camera.

And cell phone calls don’t work like land lines. Check.

I still think CTU wouldn’t lock Tony and Michelle together. So one of the holding rooms has a busted door; they don’t have a storage closet or an empty office somewhere they could use?

And dj, I also noticed they spliced some old footage into the “previews”. Not sure what it means, but I don’t see how they can tie up all the plot lines they have running in one hour.

The bombers won’t even be in position in one more hour, if they’re not even out of Turkey yet. Unless the writers fudge travel times a bit. Hmm…