24 Day 4 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM
A Review
As the episode begins, we hear that Marwan has "covered his tracks"? How? (Note: you'll notice that "how?" is the theme of this week's review.) The van switcheroo took only place a short time ago. If he hadn't covered his tracks, what would he have done? Stood along side the road with signal flares?
We are told Dina's body has been found in a van. Farewell, Dina. We will miss you. The acting behind this character was probably the strongest of all the cast this season.
Someone in CTU, Michelle I think, says they need a license plate on the van. Is this the same van that CTU tracked coming out of the tunnel? If so, they already *have* the license plate number!
Michelle utters another of 24's Greatest Hits. She says "Alright everybody, listen up!" And the CTU drones gather around as the speaker gives us a little blurb summing things up. It struck me this is kind of the equivalent of using newspaper articles to bring readers up to speed, as is often done in fiction. Michelle says Marwan is planning an attack "today". Um, it's already 9 pm. Are you so sure the attack is going to come in the next 3 hours? Why not tomorrow?
Mr. Annderrrson wanders around the airplane hanger, and kills a hapless technician working there. The tech had said a broken part on the airplane has grounded it. Landings would be impossible. (There was a look then on Anderson's face that was curious. Not sure if they were trying to hint that Anderson planned on going on a mission where he wouldn't need to land the plane. But Anderson is a white guy. Why would he agree to go on a suicidal mission? Do infidels get 72 crystal raisins too?)
Tony says they can only assume that Jack was taken at the same time Dina was killed. Uh, brilliant deduction, Tony. Jack has been missing less than 30 minutes. You lost contact with him in the van. When the hey else would he have been taken?
Tony also says "chatter" has been decreasing. So, Tony surmises maybe the threat posed by Marwan is passing. Ah, ye olde "chatter". Just who is doing this chatter? In the real world, talk about "chatter" is usually in the context of weeks and months leading up to an attack. Not the day of. There was a serious attack on nuclear power plants. Why wouldn't baddies be "chattering"?
Tony says Audrey is a pro, and can handle the news about Jack. A pro? A pro what? She's not a law enforcement agent. Isn't she pretty much SecDef Heller's assistant? So then, we are shown just how much of a "pro" Audrey is. She gets real catty with Tony and Michelle, demanding to know what is being done to rescue Jack.
We cut to yet another terrorist hideout location. Goodness they have a lot of them. Jack is handcuffed against a wall. Marwan tells us there were "many dead" around the San Gabriel nuclear plant, the first reference we've had to a casualty number.
Marwan's flunky tells him that a relative showed up at Air Force guy's house, noticed the family was missing, and called the police. Goodness, these terrorists have some good resources. Just how do they know that?? Marwan is worried the report involving an Air Force pilot will cause red flags to go up in CTU, and decides they need to "distract" CTU.
We see a territorial grudge match in CTU, with Edgar and Chloe squaring off like a couple of baboons. Chloe thinks Edgar answers to her and should obey her orders. Edgar thinks Chloe should answe to him. Curtis says it has to look on paper like Edgar is Chloe's boss. Well, if it just has to look that way on paper, who cares what the situation is like in reality? And when did this become an issue? Why are we hearing about this now?
Marwan phones CTU (he got the number how?) to say he has Jack. Michelle wants them to compare the voice to Marwan's voice on tape. And just how did they get these tapes? Marwan wants to trade Beiruts for Jack. (This is the distraction. CTU will be so busy worrying about this swap they will miss the flagged report. Do you think this lame plan will work? What do you think?)
The first commerical break is odd. The break was only 3 minutes long, yet 24's clock went from 9:13 to 9:18. So much for sticking to the "real time" gimmick.
The terrorists note the report about the pilot has been flagged. Again, how do they know this? And why would it have been flagged so fast? Why would the family be considered missing after only an hour or two? Maybe they went out to eat or something, or to a movie. No, this is just made up stuff to serve the crackplot.
Chloe says she has voice tapes of Marwan from MF. Huh? When did they get these tapes? And how? Jack didn't get any tapes when he was there. And didn't the EMP pretty much wipe everything out over there?
Curtis wants to interrogate Beiruts, to find out why Marwan wants him. And so, we see another of 24's Greatest Hit, our dear friend "Richards"! Yes, Richards in his usual shirt and tie and little shiny case filled with strange chemicals. (Yes, we have seen Richards before this season.) Whiny Beiruts is given a shot to get him to talk.
Chloe and Edgar bicker about who should do what. Chloe says she is too busy tracking Beiruts. Huh? Tracking him? They know where he is. He's in the back room getting hopped up on goofballs. So, a flunky somewhere else is given the task of looking at the flagged reports. Oh, the tension is unbearable! Will CTU notice the report involving an air force pilot?
Back at the air hanger, Mr. Anderson has changed into some techie clothes and goes into someone's office and says the part really isn't defective, and the plane can be cleared to fly. The guy at the desk clears it to fly. Now wait just a minute. Who is this guy at the desk? If he is in charge of maintenance, doesn't he know his own team? This complete stranger wanders in and says the plane can be cleared and the guy doesn't ask "hey buddy, who the hey are you"? And he clears this several hundred million dollar plane to fly just on the word of this stranger? No no no no.
Chloe wants Audrey to sign some "standard nondisclosure" forms. Huh? For what? What is not to be disclosed? We get a little scene with Chloe babbling away inappropriately. Usually I like these little scenes, but this one seemed a little forced, like the writers know the fans like the blunt Chloe so we get this obvious little scene.
We see Beiruts, and he looks fine. Apparently they didn't give him the really strong stuff. Beiruts says Marwan had been to their home. Oh? That's news. Marwan actually going to Navi's home isn't exactly good operational security.
Chloe and Edgar bicker again. Chloe has a great line. She tells Edgar he has to look through the flagged reports, because that is the duty of the "lead tech, if that's what you think you are." Ha.
Another scene of Audrey acting like a pro. Snort.
Now, Bill from Division shows up, to take point on this Jack for Beiruts swap. To introduce him, Michelle gives us another "everybody listen up". Michelle says department heads are to run things through Bill. Um, how? And what things exactly? What does this mean? I know, never mind.
Now, no one will be admitted during the breathtaking "Edgar gets distracted" scene. He is given a disc with the flagged reports, but he doesn't have time to look at it, as they need to set things up for the swap.
Tony tells Audrey the swap can create an "exposure point" for Marwan. Ooh, I love it when they use jargon!
Marwan calls in again, and Edgar answers with a way too chipper "Edgar Stiles!", like he is some insurance agent. He did that earlier in the episode too.
At some point, we saw Jack trying to manipulate some wires in a box near where he was handcuffed.
It is decided to swap Beiruts for Jack, and off they go. And they reach the dam in less than 10 minutes. Sigh. And, Jack is taken off too, and the terrorists reach the dam in about 5 minutes as well. Goodness, space-time geometry is sure warped around LA.
We see a sniper on a roof. His orders are to kill Jack once they have Beiruts. I wonder if this is the same sniper that took out Powell earlier in the day.
The swap goes down. Beiruts walks toward the baddies, and Jack walks to the CTU people. As they pass, Beiruts tells Jack "I don't want to die!" Then, a CTU agent pops up out of nowhere and shoots the baddie sniper. Now just how did they know that sniper was there?
Beiruts is grabbed and the baddies drive off. Jack gets on the phone with CTU and says he shortcircuited some phone wires in the warehouse where he was being held. CTU should look for 2 service obstructions around downtown and they could find where Marwan is.
Oh, as Beiruts is being taken away, he is given two tracking devices. One in a wristwatch, and another is planted beneath the skin in his head. The terrorists quickly find both of these. (They cut the one out with a knife, causing Beiruts some discomfort.) So, CTU based their whole plan of tracking Beiruts on the hope the baddies wouldn't find the tracking devices? Well, I suppose it's not such a bad plan. What are the odds the terrorists brought with them one of those little electronic scanners that beep when it finds a bug. The baddies sure are prepared.
At CTU they need a satellite to track Beiruts. Now just how are they going to do that? They no longer know where he is.
The episode ends with Mr. Anderson taking off in the plane. It looks like it is a Stealth fighter.
Approximate Body Count: 106 (plus "many dead" near the nuclear plant)
<- 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM 10:00 PM - 11:00 PM ->
As the episode begins, we hear that Marwan has "covered his tracks"? How? (Note: you'll notice that "how?" is the theme of this week's review.) The van switcheroo took only place a short time ago. If he hadn't covered his tracks, what would he have done? Stood along side the road with signal flares?
We are told Dina's body has been found in a van. Farewell, Dina. We will miss you. The acting behind this character was probably the strongest of all the cast this season.
Someone in CTU, Michelle I think, says they need a license plate on the van. Is this the same van that CTU tracked coming out of the tunnel? If so, they already *have* the license plate number!
Michelle utters another of 24's Greatest Hits. She says "Alright everybody, listen up!" And the CTU drones gather around as the speaker gives us a little blurb summing things up. It struck me this is kind of the equivalent of using newspaper articles to bring readers up to speed, as is often done in fiction. Michelle says Marwan is planning an attack "today". Um, it's already 9 pm. Are you so sure the attack is going to come in the next 3 hours? Why not tomorrow?
Mr. Annderrrson wanders around the airplane hanger, and kills a hapless technician working there. The tech had said a broken part on the airplane has grounded it. Landings would be impossible. (There was a look then on Anderson's face that was curious. Not sure if they were trying to hint that Anderson planned on going on a mission where he wouldn't need to land the plane. But Anderson is a white guy. Why would he agree to go on a suicidal mission? Do infidels get 72 crystal raisins too?)
Tony says they can only assume that Jack was taken at the same time Dina was killed. Uh, brilliant deduction, Tony. Jack has been missing less than 30 minutes. You lost contact with him in the van. When the hey else would he have been taken?
Tony also says "chatter" has been decreasing. So, Tony surmises maybe the threat posed by Marwan is passing. Ah, ye olde "chatter". Just who is doing this chatter? In the real world, talk about "chatter" is usually in the context of weeks and months leading up to an attack. Not the day of. There was a serious attack on nuclear power plants. Why wouldn't baddies be "chattering"?
Tony says Audrey is a pro, and can handle the news about Jack. A pro? A pro what? She's not a law enforcement agent. Isn't she pretty much SecDef Heller's assistant? So then, we are shown just how much of a "pro" Audrey is. She gets real catty with Tony and Michelle, demanding to know what is being done to rescue Jack.
We cut to yet another terrorist hideout location. Goodness they have a lot of them. Jack is handcuffed against a wall. Marwan tells us there were "many dead" around the San Gabriel nuclear plant, the first reference we've had to a casualty number.
Marwan's flunky tells him that a relative showed up at Air Force guy's house, noticed the family was missing, and called the police. Goodness, these terrorists have some good resources. Just how do they know that?? Marwan is worried the report involving an Air Force pilot will cause red flags to go up in CTU, and decides they need to "distract" CTU.
We see a territorial grudge match in CTU, with Edgar and Chloe squaring off like a couple of baboons. Chloe thinks Edgar answers to her and should obey her orders. Edgar thinks Chloe should answe to him. Curtis says it has to look on paper like Edgar is Chloe's boss. Well, if it just has to look that way on paper, who cares what the situation is like in reality? And when did this become an issue? Why are we hearing about this now?
Marwan phones CTU (he got the number how?) to say he has Jack. Michelle wants them to compare the voice to Marwan's voice on tape. And just how did they get these tapes? Marwan wants to trade Beiruts for Jack. (This is the distraction. CTU will be so busy worrying about this swap they will miss the flagged report. Do you think this lame plan will work? What do you think?)
The first commerical break is odd. The break was only 3 minutes long, yet 24's clock went from 9:13 to 9:18. So much for sticking to the "real time" gimmick.
The terrorists note the report about the pilot has been flagged. Again, how do they know this? And why would it have been flagged so fast? Why would the family be considered missing after only an hour or two? Maybe they went out to eat or something, or to a movie. No, this is just made up stuff to serve the crackplot.
Chloe says she has voice tapes of Marwan from MF. Huh? When did they get these tapes? And how? Jack didn't get any tapes when he was there. And didn't the EMP pretty much wipe everything out over there?
Curtis wants to interrogate Beiruts, to find out why Marwan wants him. And so, we see another of 24's Greatest Hit, our dear friend "Richards"! Yes, Richards in his usual shirt and tie and little shiny case filled with strange chemicals. (Yes, we have seen Richards before this season.) Whiny Beiruts is given a shot to get him to talk.
Chloe and Edgar bicker about who should do what. Chloe says she is too busy tracking Beiruts. Huh? Tracking him? They know where he is. He's in the back room getting hopped up on goofballs. So, a flunky somewhere else is given the task of looking at the flagged reports. Oh, the tension is unbearable! Will CTU notice the report involving an air force pilot?
Back at the air hanger, Mr. Anderson has changed into some techie clothes and goes into someone's office and says the part really isn't defective, and the plane can be cleared to fly. The guy at the desk clears it to fly. Now wait just a minute. Who is this guy at the desk? If he is in charge of maintenance, doesn't he know his own team? This complete stranger wanders in and says the plane can be cleared and the guy doesn't ask "hey buddy, who the hey are you"? And he clears this several hundred million dollar plane to fly just on the word of this stranger? No no no no.
Chloe wants Audrey to sign some "standard nondisclosure" forms. Huh? For what? What is not to be disclosed? We get a little scene with Chloe babbling away inappropriately. Usually I like these little scenes, but this one seemed a little forced, like the writers know the fans like the blunt Chloe so we get this obvious little scene.
We see Beiruts, and he looks fine. Apparently they didn't give him the really strong stuff. Beiruts says Marwan had been to their home. Oh? That's news. Marwan actually going to Navi's home isn't exactly good operational security.
Chloe and Edgar bicker again. Chloe has a great line. She tells Edgar he has to look through the flagged reports, because that is the duty of the "lead tech, if that's what you think you are." Ha.
Another scene of Audrey acting like a pro. Snort.
Now, Bill from Division shows up, to take point on this Jack for Beiruts swap. To introduce him, Michelle gives us another "everybody listen up". Michelle says department heads are to run things through Bill. Um, how? And what things exactly? What does this mean? I know, never mind.
Now, no one will be admitted during the breathtaking "Edgar gets distracted" scene. He is given a disc with the flagged reports, but he doesn't have time to look at it, as they need to set things up for the swap.
Tony tells Audrey the swap can create an "exposure point" for Marwan. Ooh, I love it when they use jargon!
Marwan calls in again, and Edgar answers with a way too chipper "Edgar Stiles!", like he is some insurance agent. He did that earlier in the episode too.
At some point, we saw Jack trying to manipulate some wires in a box near where he was handcuffed.
It is decided to swap Beiruts for Jack, and off they go. And they reach the dam in less than 10 minutes. Sigh. And, Jack is taken off too, and the terrorists reach the dam in about 5 minutes as well. Goodness, space-time geometry is sure warped around LA.
We see a sniper on a roof. His orders are to kill Jack once they have Beiruts. I wonder if this is the same sniper that took out Powell earlier in the day.
The swap goes down. Beiruts walks toward the baddies, and Jack walks to the CTU people. As they pass, Beiruts tells Jack "I don't want to die!" Then, a CTU agent pops up out of nowhere and shoots the baddie sniper. Now just how did they know that sniper was there?
Beiruts is grabbed and the baddies drive off. Jack gets on the phone with CTU and says he shortcircuited some phone wires in the warehouse where he was being held. CTU should look for 2 service obstructions around downtown and they could find where Marwan is.
Oh, as Beiruts is being taken away, he is given two tracking devices. One in a wristwatch, and another is planted beneath the skin in his head. The terrorists quickly find both of these. (They cut the one out with a knife, causing Beiruts some discomfort.) So, CTU based their whole plan of tracking Beiruts on the hope the baddies wouldn't find the tracking devices? Well, I suppose it's not such a bad plan. What are the odds the terrorists brought with them one of those little electronic scanners that beep when it finds a bug. The baddies sure are prepared.
At CTU they need a satellite to track Beiruts. Now just how are they going to do that? They no longer know where he is.
The episode ends with Mr. Anderson taking off in the plane. It looks like it is a Stealth fighter.
Approximate Body Count: 106 (plus "many dead" near the nuclear plant)
<- 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM 10:00 PM - 11:00 PM ->
1 Comments:
At Tue Mar 29, 10:22:00 AM, Rambling Rose Cottage said…
I stumbled upon your blog. I love to watch 24 as well. Poor Beruiz. I don't think Jack would have sent the kid off to the terrorists. I think that perhaps either the Secretary of Defense or his daughter (probably her) is bad. I hope so. That would make the storyline better.
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