24: Day Six, 5 - 6 p.m.For the first time since hour four, I finally feel like something is happening. It's been a long time since I was this involved with an episode of
24. I'm not saying it's an instant classic or a return to form, but from the interest stand-point and being on the edge of my seat, this one was a definite step in the right direction.
For one thing, now that all the cliched family drama is gone from Jack's life is gone, we can get back to Jack doing what Jack does best--being the biggest, baddest secret agent around. I loved when Logan reminds Jack, you know the last time you violated the sanctity of a consolate, it didn't end well and that Jack totally disregards that. For Jack, the ends justify the means and he doesn't seem to care about personal freedom or any of those small things that you and I might think about in a simliar situation. I loved seeing Jack waltz back into the Russian consolate, take the ambassador hostage and then torturing him for information. OK, maybe I didn't love the part where Jack used the cigar clipper to encourage him to talk, but you still have to admit that in those scenes Jack was totally bad-ass.
And then, Bill Buchanan sits in CTU headquarters, finds out Jack has been captured and decides to go a bit Bauer himself. Bill decides he's going to have a strike team ready to go in and get Jack back. And I get the feeling that whether or not the vice-president orders it or not, Bill is going to make sure Jack doesn't stay in Russian hands too long. Of course, part of this is the necessity of the show--we have to rescue Jack to have him continue his pursuit of the nukes. But I have to wonder if part of this isn't a feeling that Bill owes Jack somehow. Jack has paid a pretty big price for keeping us safe in the past few seasons and has bailed Bill out by faking his own death and then going to China as a prisoner. Yeah, I'm just saying--Bill owes Jack one.
Of course, in good
24 fashion we had to completely strain credibility to get to this point. So, Jack doesn't trust Logan any farther than he can throw the former president but he lets him meet with the Russian diplomant alone...and without checking the room first to see if it has--oh, let's just say--another door?!? Yes, rooms rarely have two doors and a consolate wouldn't possibly maybe have a secret escape route for the important diplomatic officials. No, that would never, ever happen.
That said, I loved the scenes with Logan and the Russian diplomat where we find out that the Russians supplied last year's conspiracy with the Centox gas. Nice touch there.
Meanwhile back at the Presdential bunker, things are finally moving as well. Powers Booth takes over as acting president. And his first job is cleaning up the situation Jack has created. I loved the scenes when Bill calls up the v.p. and says, "Yeah seems Jack is out creating diplomatci incidents again." Yeah, that big chair is not feeling as comfy as you thought it would, now is it?
Tom Lennox is freed and does the right thing by having Chad Lowe and fellow conspirator arrested. But no one believes Lennox. Now, this twist while a nice win for Lennox makes no sense. Why didn't the bomb-maker just kill Lennox and frame Chad Lowe for it? I can't see why having Lennox still alive would be a good idea....or they can blame it on Asad somehow and that gives everyone a way to push through the legislation in honor and memory of Lennox. I'm just saying that it seems like the conspirators aren't thinking this through.
That said, I still think there is a link between the White House drama and the terrorist plot. But we'll see. I've been know to be wrong before.
Oh and we even get to see Karen Hayes who is running back to take her old job back.
So, while it's not classic
24, it's still a darn sight better than what we've been getting this year. Maybe it's the turning point....at last!
Heroes: ParasiteYou just sort of knew that after last week's "setting the bar" episode, that there'd have to be a let-down this week.
And it wasn't like it was a huge let-down ala this week's
Battlestar (sorry, Ron Moore...I listened to your podcast and it didn't sell me on the episode being good), it was still a bit of a drop-off.
But that was to be expected, I suppose.
The first half is fairly slow moving with us catching up on things and putting characters into place for the second half, when the gloves come off and the cliffhangers come left and right. So, the Hatian sensation and Mrs. Petrelli speak Japanese. Hmmmm, makes me wonder she's in on it and and reporting to George Takai. Seriously, I think George Takai is the head of this whole conspiracy thing....that would be pretty cool.
We meet a new hero--this one a woman with the abilty to morph into anyone she wants. Which works well to get Isaac out of trouble and then to get HRG into trouble. Man, you just knew having his wife remember everything and their new found honesty would have to come back to bite him. How great was it that not five second after he said how much he loves this new level of openness they had that it turns out he's been betrayed. I wonder if the Company has some way to reverse the memory wipe and find out where Claire is. Either way, this could get really good in six weeks when the show comes back.
Meanwhile, Hiro finally gets the show, is reunited with Ando and finds out that he's not changed a thing. At least this storyline is moving forward...finally.
And just as last week we began to maybe like HRG a bit more, Nathan gets some humanizing this week. Maybe he's not the bad brother, after all. Turns out he's working with the FBI to bring down Linderman. And we finally meet Linderman...I thought it might be Eric Roberts from last week, but instead it's Malcolm McDowell. Who knows that Nathan is working against him and offers him a choice. I am intrigued by McDowell as Linderman, though I kept expecting him to say "Time is the fire in which we burn." (Bonus points if anyone can tell me the reference without Google-ing it).
Last, let us have a moment of silence for Mohinder. He figures out who Sylar really is and straps him into a chair. Mohinder is looking to study Sylar before he gets revenge for his father's death. But Sylar has other ideas, using his powers to get out of the chair and killing Mohinder. Well, at least mortally wounding him so he can warn Peter about him....just so Peter can get captured.
And we're left another cliffhanger. Sylar has Peter and is using his ability to open up his skull. Sylar wants Peter's power and would be virtually unstoppable with it. The last scene is Peter's bangs hitting the floor and some drops of blood. Guess we know where Peter got the scar future-Hiro referred to.
And with that, we're left hanging. A good set of cliffhangers here. I think they were better than what we got in December. I will say this--I'd thought of tuning out once Eccleston's arc was over, but the past few weeks have convinced me this could be worth the time. I do know one thing--it's going to be a long six weeks wondering what happens next.
Labels: 24, heroes, tv shows
posted by Michael Hickerson at 3/07/2007 09:13:00 AM |
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