Peter. Not Pet. :rolleyes:
What title does that character hold, anyway? Not the Natl. Security Advisor or the Atty. Genl.; those were other individuals. SecDef? Director of Natl. Intelligence? Natl. director of CTU? FBI director? Or just a top White House advisor?
This is the first time I’ve watched 24, and I have a few questions about the world it is set in.
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Does Jack Bauer normally get a shower, shave and haircut, and then can be in a car miles away, in under ten minutes?
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Does the US Military routinely perform military airstrikes in residential neighborhoods?
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Is the US a democracy or a constitutional monarchy? I ask this because the current president seems to be the brother of the last president.
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Concerning close relatives of the President: the US is under attack, and the sister of the current president (and of a slain president?) works at a controversial non-profit but doesn’t have Secret Service protection?
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And can that Chloe chick routinely change the angle viewed by a satellite after the picture was taken?
If I understand these things, the rest of the show might go down easier for me.
The show maintains the “happening in real time over 24 hours” conceit, long after they should have buried it. This means that transit times have to be routinely ignored unless the whole show were to take place within the space of one city block. So it helps to think of L.A. as just a small town with no traffic lights for the purposes of this show.
A few other things to look out for:
Over the course of the day, Jack will (probably) be shot, beaten, tortured, tasered, drugged, tarred, and feathered. He will heal with remarkable speed -- after just one of these beatings, most people would be taking a sick day. Jack will finish the day displaying the energy of a trained triathelete.
Technology in the 24 Universe is ridiculously powerful. Satellites in low Earth orbit can not only track you, but visually determine the brand of underwear you wear. Information retrieval happens with improbable speed and accuracy.
Terrorists have an infinite supply of flunkies willing to die for the cause. Even though they're in the middle of L.A. during a period of paranoia against foreigners, the terrorist temp agency will provide waves of cannon fodder for Jack to wipe out. Terrorists are also amazingly well-organized with plans of inconceivable complexity and levels of misdirection. Their technological savvy rivals that of MIT postgrads.
CTU (The Counter Terrorism Unit) is the most dysfunctional, porous agency in existence. Of every five people there, one is an enemy agent, and two will probably die. The rest merely have problems working and playing well together.
As for bombing a residential neighborhood – this is a universe where the United State has been threatened with various kinds of mayhem ranging from plagues to nuclear destruction and chemical warfare, all of them averted at pretty much the last minute by the happy CTU family. So – they’re a bit hair trigger.
Yes. Jack Bauer can teleport.
I don’t think they’ve done that before, usually they do a ground assault, and I was really surprised they’d just blow up a random house on information from a known terrorist. I guess that’s a no.
The last president wasn’t his brother, his brother was three presidents ago.
Considering some of us apparently didn’t know about her either (myself included), I’m guessing the Secret Service didn’t know about her until now.
Yes, satellites can do amazing things in 24 land. They’re always in a position to view anywhere in LA. Just ignore the technical details and you’ll enjoy the show much more :). Plus you should be fantasizing about Chloe not listening to her technobabble.
Yes.
Bathrooms seem to exist in some time portal/fourth dimesnion thing where time does not pass.
Sure. See “Nikita” brought to you by the same producers.
Like Forty=One and Forty-Two, there was a guy in between.
Poetic license. Else the SS would have to have at the FBI.
Sure. Satellites can also see through walls and count guys in real time. She hasn’t transported anyone with one, but that may explain Jack’s travel ability.
Who said I was listening to her?
Thanks for the info. I’ll now file this under “Camp” when I watch - should prove to be enjoyable.
Yay, a new season of Jack kicking butt!
The premiere gave me a few “hey, he looks familiar, who’s that?” moments. Kumar / Taj / Ahmed / AKH-med I recognized right off. His friend (aka “moral dilemma boy”, since I predict Ahmed will be having to chose between his friendship and his mission) played Sid (the one with the brain tumor) in Lords of Dogtown. Assad / Bashir took a second (mainly due to the beard). Peter MacNicol threw me the longest, since I never watched Numb3rs past the first couple eps, and had only a passing familiarity with Ally McBeal. But after the episode, I spent a couple minutes on imdb, and straightened myself out. Browsing his imdb filmography also revealed that he was Yanosh, the weird museum guy in Ghostbusters II, and the lead role in Dragonslayer.
Did they mention last season why the Chinese were so pissed at Jack? Here’s hoping that comes up this season.
Ya’ll want a spoiler?
It relates to events in Season 4 and slightly in season 5.
I think a couple seasons back Jack had to break into a Chinese embassy and had to kill a couple of their men in the process. That was before I started watching regularly.
Heh. im in ur embassie, killin ur dudes
They shot their own guys in a friendly fire incident.
Of course, it was actually a perfectly-executed raid (using Chloe’s magical thermal satellites that can tell what floor someone is on) in which the Chinese diplomat was (accidentally) shot by one of the Chinese guards…
-Joe
And here I just thought that was your pet name for him… 
National Secretary of Weaselitude
The raid was also an incident that was undertaken with covert blessing from the administrative powers that be (at the time, newly Presidented Logan, being helped out of a crisis by former president David Palmer) – but such that the administration had to have complete deniability. So Jack’s position required him to take the fall for it if they were found out.
It was to capture a Chinese suspect who knew stuff, but was trying to hide out in the Chinese Embassy. Part of the whole hunt for Marwan, who was the 24-verse equivalent of the Road Runner back in season 4.
Everywhere in L.A. is apparently 10 minutes away from CTU headquarters, which must be right in the center of the whole city.
Well, not routinely, but military aircraft have been scrambled before. One of the better airstrikes comes towards the end of season 3, although it wasn’t such a residential area.
David Palmer was running for Prez in season 1. He was president in season 2 and 3. Wayne Palmer was introduced in season 3. In season 4, we had a new president – Keeler, and then Logan towards the end of the season. Logan was still prez in season 5. Now apparently we have Wayne taking up his brother’s mantle for season 6. (Although I was kind of hoping for President Heller, myself).
Mr. President, your sister’s on the line. Wait…! You have a sister?!!
Chloe is a wizard that can do anything with a computer.
Interestingly, she was one of the most annoying characters when she was introduced in season 3 – and I (along with many others) really really wanted her to die horribly. But in season 4 and 5, she kind of grew on me. I don’t think I’m alone in this sentiment. Chloe rules.
I think he’s White House Chief of Staff.
Definetly not Leo McGarity quality. 
During one of the split screens last night I thought for SURE I saw Marwan.
I think they heard the screams at the neighbor’s house.
False alarm, fortunately.
MY girlfriend wasn’t too clear on the whole thing, only having watched the last two thirds of last season. I had to explain to her that Jack can get anywhere in LA in twenty minutes. When Jack beat the Cobras (“they can hit anywhere in LA within 20 minutes”) to the hideout she thought I’d seen the episode somehow…
-Joe
Oh, and when Jack’s first words were to ask about Audrey, I guess it’s a good thing that Bill Buchanan didn’t tell him the truth…
“Well, she got mixed up in a bank robbery with Dr. Phlox and some other people – she’s okay, but still recovering from the aftermath right now.”
I mean, if Jack felt the need to break through that fourth wall himself, it could have severe repercussions for all of us…
Thanks for the link. And hell no, he’s no Leo!
It still bugs me that we’ll never find out what happened to her hair.