# 24: Season 4: Episode 13 (7:00pm - 8:00pm) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 14, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535 "2005-03-14T22:49:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/41 "2005-03-15T13:31:39Z")
> [@kingpengvin](#): > > All those poor looters will get home with their new Big assed TVs and Stereos only to find they are fried from the EMP bomb. If the TV sets and stereos were unplugged at the time the bomb went off, they should be okay. ---
**Author:** ![archmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@archmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/archmichael)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/42 "2005-03-15T13:40:31Z")
I had a few laughs this episode. Audrey:“You think Jack is going to want to come back after a day like today?!?” I laughed and laughed. Lady, you don’t know much about your boyfriend. This is his fourth spectacularly bad day. Michelle was great. Just one look at her, and you can tell that she got hard. Real hard. So what does Sarah do? She decides to get into a dick-off with the new boss during a crisis. Of course she could have burned her bridges even further by screaming, “I’ll kill you all!” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/43 "2005-03-15T13:45:26Z")
> [@archmichael](#): > > Audrey:“You think Jack is going to want to come back after a day like today?!?” Sure. Still, it was a pretty good exchange that (I think) foreshadows where the relationship is going and said some things about Jack. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/44 "2005-03-15T14:22:13Z")
> [@Wile E](#): > > I haven’t watched every season but I thought this Michelle was just another peon in the first season, how did she get such a position of authority with such bad interpersonal skills? She works for the government. ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/45 "2005-03-15T14:27:15Z")
Dear McLennan-Forrester Security Guy: Good call on the coverup. That worked out real well for you. :rolleyes: I’m surprised everyone was so willing to go along with it once it escalated into murdering innocent people. I think Heller is in on it, now. The only way the President would be on a tight schedule is if someone is ensuring that he’ll end up somewhere at a certain time, since right now he’s just flying around and nobody knows when he’ll decide to come down. So far, we’ve seen Heller on the phone, convincing them to stay in the air longer, and opening up the possibility that he’s the only one not on Air Force One that knows when and where they’ll be. Wouldn’t be the first time they turned the victim into the agressor, totally invalidating whatever happened earlier in the day. Though I’m sure they could just pretend the kidnapping/execution was a setup, and they were planning on a rescue happening. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/46 "2005-03-15T14:45:35Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Don’t forget we’ll be getting a visit from a former POTUS before the season’s over. > > What could that entail? That disease that he got after season 2 has finally eaten away his brain. He’s the big bad guy in charge, having convinced himself that he was pulling a Jack Bauer and ‘pretending’ to not be the President in order to win the confidence of the terrorists. And he’s got a heroine habit. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/47 "2005-03-15T14:54:20Z")
Michelle did the right thing. If an employee is harping about benefits and salary levels during a time of crisis, that employee cannot be trusted. During a national emergency, CTU needs people who will focus on saving the country, not on their paychecks. And I don’t think Michelle’s people skills were lacking in this situation. She needed to take a stand. She needed to show that she couldn’t be manipulated or pushed around. She tried to take a gentle approach at first, but when Sarah kept twisting her arm… well, that showed where Sarah’s true priorities reside. ---
**Author:** ![moi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@moi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moi)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/48 "2005-03-15T15:00:43Z")
When I’m watching the show, I’m so into it…then I get into this thread and wonder if I’m just watching “24” to better enjoy the biting humor here. Anyone know if the Band of All-American Arab Brothers were in this season’s scripts from the get-go or a response to the criticism they’ve received? ---
**Author:** ![ChuckForbin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@ChuckForbin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChuckForbin)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/49 "2005-03-15T15:08:27Z")
You’d think they could find someone more threatening than Conan O’Brian to kill the president. ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/50 "2005-03-15T15:14:32Z")
I never thought I’d say this after how much she annoyed me in previous seasons, but I hope Michelle brings back Chloe to fill Sarah’s place. ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/51 "2005-03-15T15:15:45Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > If an employee is harping about benefits and salary levels during a time of crisis, that employee cannot be trusted. During a national emergency, CTU needs people who will focus on saving the country, not on their paychecks. Even an employee that was just tortured earlier in the day, and decided to go back to work, and is just looking for some reassurance that the company actually gives a shit about its employees? Michelle didn’t even show any concern over what happened. “Yeah, I read the file” (paraphrased). Not “Yeah, that was pretty fucked up what they did to you, I’m sorry it happened and once this crisis is over I’ll take care of it. You’re a great asset and we don’t want to lose you.” Instead, she basically said “Screw you and your problems, if you’re lucky I might do something about it later”. ---
**Author:** ![Survey1215](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Survey1215](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Survey1215)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/52 "2005-03-15T15:19:29Z")
> [@Wile E](#): > > Also, why didn’t they check to make sure that one guy was dead? It seemed a huge oversight that they’d remove the rifle and then leave a handgun nearby. That’s exactly what I was thinking, so I put in a call to my cousin, who is a police officer and member of the SWAT team for his department. He said standard operating procedure dictates that team members ascertain the ‘status’ (ie living or dead) of each bad guy asap, and that until such a determination is made, one or more team members will keep an eye (and gunsight) on said baddies. I missed it where Heller suggested the plane stay in the air longer. Could he be the baddie as opposed to the daughter? Perhaps he’s in cahoots w a certain ex-someone. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/53 "2005-03-15T15:28:29Z")
> [@ChuckForbin](#): > > You’d think they could find someone more threatening than Conan O’Brian to kill the president. Bwah ha ha! I thought the same thing! I’d love to see Conan try his “turn-of-the-century Irish bare-knuckle boxing” style against Jack. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/54 "2005-03-15T15:30:23Z")
> [@Monstre](#): > > Paul’s getting beat up on and tortured by everybody, today! First by Jack, then by the MF dorks. Yeah, not Paul’s day. BTW, could someone please explain MF’s thinking? “The government might know for sure that we didn’t screen carefully enough and hired a terrorist. Then they might get mad. Then we might lose our defense contract.” “Oh no, that would be bad. I know! They won’t mind at all, so long as they only _highly suspect_ we hired a terrorist. And it won’t bother them the least to know we blacked out an eighth of LA, tortured and attempted to kill 3 government agents, and hired a bunch of mercenaries to take out section of the city. Let’s do that instead. The US Government never minds that.” How on earth was that better then just saying “hey, we messed up”? ---
**Author:** ![archmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@archmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/archmichael)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/55 "2005-03-15T15:40:23Z")
> [@c\_goat](#): > > Even an employee that was just tortured earlier in the day, and decided to go back to work, and is just looking for some reassurance that the company actually gives a shit about its employees? Yeah, but Sarah isn’t working for a copier sales company and happened to get tortured. She works for CTU. She knows that Heller’s son was tortured, on the suspicion that he might know something. She knew the job was dangerous when she took it. Driscoll already told her that she would be compensated, and showed that she cared. To use the emergency situation as bargaining leverage, is a bad sign. If you give in, there is nothing to say that a few hours later, during another crisis she decides the previous pay raise was not enough for her pain and suffering and thinks she’s entitled to more. I would have done the same thing Michelle did. ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/56 "2005-03-15T15:41:18Z")
Apparently they were also selling arms to known terrorist groups in other countries, which is what they were afraid CTU would also find out during their search. But even that wouldn’t have been as bad as the “solution” they came up with. ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/57 "2005-03-15T15:50:03Z")
> [@archmichael](#): > > To use the emergency situation as bargaining leverage, is a bad sign. If you give in, there is nothing to say that a few hours later, during another crisis she decides the previous pay raise was not enough for her pain and suffering and thinks she’s entitled to more. Yeah, I guess it was the right thing to do. I still think Michelle could have made an effort to handle it better. Seems like she was just doing it to establish her command, and using that logic as an excuse. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/58 "2005-03-15T16:23:10Z")
Ooh… That would be a smart move indeed. Bring back Chloe and make a whole bunch of male dopers happy! ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/59 "2005-03-15T16:25:31Z")
> [@c\_goat](#): > > Even an employee that was just tortured earlier in the day, and decided to go back to work, and is just looking for some reassurance that the company actually gives a shit about its employees? Nobody’s saying that she didn’t get a raw deal. She did. However, a national emergency is NOT the time to be quibbling about salary levels. If Sarah considers her paycheck to be more important than the safety of the nation, then she has no business working for CTU. ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535/60 "2005-03-15T16:36:34Z")
Thanks JThunder, that makes a lot of sense now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-season-4-episode-13-7-00pm-8-00pm/294535.md?page=4)