24

This is going to be a rant on the two most annoying characters of the season and who make some of their early impressions in this episode.



Carrie is simply plain annoying; the nosy, headstrong and unperceptive newcomer to the scene. The kind we associate with every entrant to the show who distrusts and opposes Jack Bauer who time and again proves right in his perception of the situation, and sometimes unnaturally so. She is like grit under the eyeballs, poking her nose in and delaying people with desperately crucial goals. Like when she rats on Michelle and Jack as they were trying to get Kate out of CTU. Other examples include shouting down Michelle during the authenticity report of the Cyprus recording in the last episode on what is a fair and unprovocative assessment on the legitimacy of the recording.



In another way but just as thoroughly irritating is Ramone, the whining out-of-control dolt involved in the scene at the grocery store. Goodness man, he makes me shake with frustrating. Screams like a pig to get in the store for supplies before they head to the mountain. A bomb went off so he's in a mad rush to hide away in some cave fine. His wife is 7 months pregnant, not about to give birth which just watching him would make you think he's trying to get her in so that she can deliver a baby. Then he breaks the glass door, throws the store owner into a shelf, almost choke him to death and then offers to pay for some bread and drinks saying that 'See, I wasn't going to rob you'. Then with the gun he grabbed from Kim, shoots the poor owner in a fight for the gun. And when the police comes dwadles and moans about how pitiful he is and how he was just trying to protect his wife (by breaking into a store, shooting the owner and holding the dying man and Kim hostage). The scenes with his babble should be used to torture terrorists and the other deplorables on this show. I would have broke that way faster than being electrocuted.

This episode continue to fill us with details, but more than that, only Jack knows what this is all about. Palmer Scenes continues to be about details and filler, because now the Vice PResident is introduced and his role will be important.



Jack metting with The Cobra Unit Guy was well strutured, but again, it was only about details that will make tha difference into the next episodes.



Kim Shop Plot is terrible and super repetitive, nothing more is needed to say.



In the End, you can star to see that there ara a payoff in the next episodes, so this will be worthwhile.

Oh.. after the bomb off the attention, it is all just so slow and weird. Their major problem is the war against those three countries accused of knowing and buying the bomb but the story just does not catch. I found myself doing all the other things while watching this episode than keeping my eyes on screen. The episode just did not get me at all. The whole Tony and new woman against Michelle is annoying, Kim is more than annoying. I could take one episode of that kind of slow motion but with this episode it did not get better. And Jack is acting out of himself again in the Kate's story.. weird episode and nothing major going on.

Another episode that was quite boring. Not much to say about it really because not a lot happened.



The Palmer storyline doesn't advance a lot. Palmer is still contemplating whether to go to war or not and you can tell that Mike Novick is getting fed up. I wasn't too pleased with Mike going behind his back though. Poor David, we haven't seen the indecisive side of him yet, I wonder if this will harm his presidency? You know what, I miss Sherry! There was always something going on when Sherry was around.



Tony continues to act out of character, I wish George Mason was there to throw in a few witty comments to bring him back down to earth. It actually makes me wonder how Mason would have handled this situation with the Cyprus recording. So Tony has asked Carrie to spy on Michelle and Carrie obviously dislikes Michelle anyway so thats not a good move, Tony. I was impressed by Michelle's calm and collective attitude in this episode and the next episode though.



And that mr Garcia makes me cringe everytime he comes on the screen. That whinging voice is giving me a headache. And my god, his wife is a really bad actress!! The writers must have some obsession with keeping Kim Bauer in every single episode. What a shame!! *sigh*



Not much happens with Jack in this episode. I thought he was going to be reluctant to hand Kate over to Wallace so I was a little surprised with the outcome. Overall, this thing with Wallace wanting Kate Warner is just silly, the writers must have an obsession with keeping her in every episode too. I liked the ending though. And Yusuf is a really cool character.



Quote of the hour! Mike Novick: Mr. President? I know you trust Jack Bauer implicitly, but to equivocate our response in a matter of this importance because of one man's reservations makes me very uncomfortable.

Important things learned this hour: the fake Cyprus recording was planted to get Palmer to declare war on the Middle East, thus quadrupling the value of oil in the Caspian Sea. Yeah, oil executives are the real Bigbads behind this whole thing. As in, white guys. Who called that? Not me.

All this info comes from Coral Snake's Jonathan Wallace, the seventh commando, the sniper of Syed Ali, and a grossly underdeveloped villain, as nearly all the bad guys in S2 are. Anyway, after telling all of this to Jack, he gets down to the reason Kate's been brought along: he needs her to clear his departure from the country so he can safely escape from the oil executives coming to kill him.

Palmer finally arrives in LA, and he'll spend the rest of the season at the oft-mentioned District Headquarters. Stationed in Washington, DC, Vice President Jim Prescott makes his first appearance, and he's kinda upset when Palmer considers that the Cyprus recording may be fake. Will this conflict lead into a story arc later on? Just watch…

Yusuf Auda makes himself useful this hour, and is inducted under that esteemed category: "24" characters whom you initially hate, but who later prove that they're not all that bad.

This episode is like an expository stepping stone, which is probably needed since we need to go somewhere after the nuclear bomb.



Hourly Highlight:

The completely cheap and magnificent cliffhanger ending.

Jack meets with the surviving Coral Snake Commando, who demands Kate Warner in exchange for evidence about the recordings - This part of the episode was a little less intense then I would have like it to be. I cant believe that Jack was about to just let him up and walk away after finding out that he had sent a man after Kate Warner himself. I would have thought he would have taken the man out himself and questioned him more powerfully. Tony and Carrie spy on Michelle when he suspects that she is working with Jack - Filler part of the episode for me. It seemed a little repeatitive and boring.



Mike and the Vice-President turn up the pressure on Palmer, when he expresses his doubts about the impending war - Also pretty boring for me, and I expect that will continue for the next 4 hours while the Cyprus conspiracy unfolds.



Kim - Really bad storyline

Jack finally gets to meet the man who called him earlier, he turns out to be a Coral Snake commando who is in possession of a recording of someone who is behind the nuclear bombing. tony and carrie keep up a close watch on michelle when they suspect that she's working for jack. novick and presscott finds a way to push palmer out of office when he starts to question the legality of the war. things heat up when jack is under attack by people who are also trying to get their hands on the recording. the action is relentless in this episode. it's awesome.

12:02 AM - 12:06 AM

Jack and Kate run into the CTU parking garage. Kate is hesitant to go with jack until he tells her what\'s going on. Jack tells Kate that he\'ll explain everything to her once they\'re in the car. Carrie finds Tony sprawled on the floor with an injured ankle. She goes to get a medic, but Tony tells her to call security instead so they can stop Jack from leaving.



Jack is heading toward the gate when the security guard gets the call. Jack slams on it and plows through before the guard can stop him. He tells Kate about the phone call from the stranger and his demand to see her. Jack tells her that she can help him prevent a war, but its up to her. Kate knows nothing about the man, but agrees to help.



At CTU, a medic tells Tony that he sprained his ankle and goes to get a first-aid kit. Carrie tells Tony that Jack got away and that Michelle may have been helping them. Tony doubts it, but Carrie says that she saw them whispering before the breakout.



Palmer, Mike and Lynne leave Air Force One and get into a limo. Palmer talks to Vice-President Prescott, who tells him that the British have placed their military on high alert. He asks Palmer if he can tell the British Ambassador about their plans for war, but Palmer tells him not to do so as it may be premature. Palmer tells him that the evidence they uncovered may be false. Prescott tells Palmer that its too late for second thoughts, but Palmer stands firm. When he hangs up, Mike tells him that its dangerous to place his entire opinion on the suspicions of Jack Bauer. Lynne agrees, but Palmer doesn\'t care.



12:07 AM - 12:12 AM

At the convenience store, Kim gives the storeowner CPR as the crazy man with the gun Wales, \"don\'t let him die!\" A SWAT team gathers outside the building and the police order the man to throw down the gun and come out. The man argues with the police, but stops when the storeowner dies.



Jack sees someone following him and pulls over. He jumps out of the car, pulls a gun and orders the other driver out. Its Yusuf, who still wants to prove that his country had nothing to do with the nuclear bomb. Jack tells him that he\'s doing this for the president and not for Yusuf\'s country, but Yusuf says Jack will need help now that he\'s isolated himself. Jack agrees and they leave for the meeting.



Tony is on crutches at CTU. He asks Michelle if she helped Jack kidnap Kate Warner. Michelle denies it and asks if he learned this from Carrie. Michelle says that she doesn\'t like Carrie and that Carrie wants to see her gone from CTU. Tony asks for more details, but Michelle won\'t say any more.



12:17 AM - 12:26 AM

Kim tries to convince the man to give himself up, but he refuses. The police call him on the phone and try to convince him to let the wounded man out. He tells the cops that the storeowner is dead. The police put his wife on the phone and she pleads with him to surrender. He tells the cops to take his wife to Monterey, and then he\'ll let Kim goa and give up.



Jack pulls up to the warehouse and tells Kate to wait in the car, urging her to call him on a cell phone in the car console if she needs him. He then takes a gun from the trunk and approaches the warehouse. He goes in and meets with the man, who turns out to be the seventh Coral Snake Commando. Jack orders him to drop his weapon and searches him with a hand-held metal detector. The man tells Jack that he has a piece of shrapnel in his ribcage. The man shows Jack the tattoo and identifies himself as Jonathan Wallace. He tells Jack that he killed his six comrades so they wouldn\'t find the bomb. He further explains that he wanted the bomb to go off so it would start a war. He says he also planted the Cyprus audio in Syed Ali\'s safehouse. He did this so the U.S. would believe that the three mysterious Middle Eastern countries were responsible for the bomb. If the U.S. went to war against them, it would increase the cost of oil in the Caspian Sea for a decade. Wallace states that his employers are oilmen, who tried to have him killed an hour ago, but failed. He needs Kate Warner to help him get out of the country, since her father\'s company has CIA clearance. Wallace is willing to trade evidence of the fake recordings for Kate Warner and a safe departure. As he talks, Wallace taps a plug underneath the table with his foot, causing the neon sign outside the warehouse to blink on and off.



Kate waits in the car, when a man with a gun knocks on her window and orders her to get out. As she does, Yusuf appears behind the man and pistol-whips him unconscious.



Inside, Wallace tells Jack that he has the source recordings that were used to make the fake audio. Yusuf calls Jack and tells him about the man outside. Jack hands the phone to Wallace and Yusuf tells him that his man is down. Wallace tells Jack that he still has what Jack needs and he won\'t get it until Wallace is safely on a plane with Kate Warner. Jack asks what he\'ll do with Kate once they\'re gone, and Wallace says he\'ll have to kill her. Jack says no, and Wallace prepares to leave. Jack stops him and tells Yusuf to bring Kate inside.



12:31 AM - 12:39 AM

At District, Mike and Lynne discuss the situation and Mike says that he needs to get in touch with Jack. Lynne doesn\'t want to go behind Palmer\'s back, but Mike feels that he can more effectively support the President if he has more information. Lynne calls CTU and hands the phone to Mike.



Tony talks to Mike and explains that Jack kidnapped a material witness. They can\'t locate him, so Mike tells Tony to call him the second they find Jack. Tony calls Carrie and asks about the search for Jack. Carrie says they haven\'t found him, but knows that Michelle is working with him. Tony tells Carrie to put a filter on all of Michelle\'s communications in case Jack contacts her.



At the convenience store, the police drive the man\'s wife away in a cruiser. The man points the gun at Kim and blames her for getting him into this mess. He accuses Kim of planning to rob the place, but Kim tells him that her father was killed in the nuclear explosion. The man feels sorry for her and puts the gun down. The police call him again and tell him to give up now that they\'ve taken his wife to safety. The man tells them to stop calling and that if they try to come in, he\'ll kill Kim. Kim sneaks into the bathroom and locks the door. She crawls out a window to safety as the man yells.



At the warehouse, Yusuf ties up Wallace\'s helper and asks him how many other men are there. The man doesn\'t answer, so Yusuf tells Kate to look away and aims at the man\'s head. The helper says there are no other men, and Yusuf knocks him out again.



Yusuf calls Jack and says he\'s going to sweep the parameter, which will take a few minutes. Wallace tells Jack that he was at Fort Benning when Samuels tried to recruit Jack. Samuels said he was disappointed that Jack turned him down, since Jack is a born killer. Jack looks at his shoes.



12:41 AM - 12:49 AM

Michelle gets an \"error\" message on her computer and calls Carrie. Carrie says the problem is on her end, so Michelle leaves her station. Carrie goes to Michelle\'s station and begins to tamper with her terminal.



At District, Mike tells Palmer about Jack\'s recent actions. He fears Jack might be going through some kind of emotional crisis. Palmer assures Mike that Jack is doing what\'s necessary to find the proof about the Cyprus audio.



At the warehouse, Wallace tells Jack that once he\'s safely away, he\'ll call Jack and tell him where the evidence is located. Jack questions his word, but Wallace tells Jack he\'ll have to trust him. Kate enters and Wallace tells her that they\'re going to take a little trip. Kate is shocked, but Jack tells her that she\'ll have to do what he says. \"You\'re giving me up, aren\'t you,\" Kate says dejectedly. Jack doesn\'t answer.



12:52 AM - 1:00 AM

Michelle gets a call from a man named Danny, who wants to know more about the bomb. Michelle can\'t tell him anything, which makes Danny angry. He threatens to call Carrie, but then calls Carrie a **** instead and hangs up. Carrie deletes the call from her database.



At the convenience store, the SWAT team orders the man to come out. He doesn\'t respond, so they go in. Kim watches as the team shoots the man down.



At District, Mike and Lynne have a videoconference with Vice-President Prescott. Prescott wants to know where Palmer stands on the attack, worrying that he\'s going soft. Mike says that Palmer just wants to cover all bases before they begin the bombing. Prescott hangs up and Mike tells Lynne that the planes are already in the air. It would be a disaster to turn them around now that they\'re on their way.



At the warehouse, Wallace orders Kate to get into the trunk of his car. She resists, but Jack tells her to remember what he said to her in the car. She climbs in and Yusuf whispers to Jack that he put a tracker on the car. Wallace tells Jack that he\'ll be in touch. Suddenly, gunfire erupts from above the warehouse. The windshield shatters as Jack, Wallace and Yusuf return fire.

Absolutely horrendous episode. It was like the people that made the show hired fill-ins to come in for a week or two to create this particular episode and it failed miserably.



Pros

-Again, I was amazed at how much I hated Carrie. Great job on the part of the writers to get me to almost physically get ill when she was on-screen.

-I really liked having the Vice-President on the show for a change. Prescott was a great character.

-I *loved* Yusuf in this episode and all the rest of the episodes he was in. He was one of the only redeeming qualities of this episode. When he snuck up on the guy and took him out, it was absolutely hilarious.

-I liked Mike trying to contact Jack so he could better support Palmer's decision.

-Some of Wallace's dialogue was very memorable, especially when he was talking about Jack's past.

-Interesting little twist with the veep being against Palmer's decision-making.



Cons

-Just an incredibly slow and dull episode on all storylines. There wasn't one storyline that was that good, not even Jack's.

-More Ramon Garcia crap. These scenes were almost like a parody. I'll never understand why they decided to do this storyline in the first place and then gave it so many scenes in this episode too. Also, the "no!" reaction by Ramon's wife when she found out that Ramon had killed a man was the worst bit of acting in this show's history. One other thing, when Kim escaped, why didn't the police just shoot their way in at that point? Horribly unrealistic.

-More stupid, bitchy, out-of-character Tony.

-This whole Wallace storyline made no sense. It was logically, but most things in this part of the season didn't. It was just a stupid setup to keep Kate Warner involved in the show.

-Even little things by the pacing of the episode and the score seemed to be off. It was like nobody really cared about this episode and were just going through the motions.

-Ah yes, we even saw the introduction of Danny Dessler. As dumb as Garcia's storyline was, this might have even been worse now that I think about it. Pretty embarrassing.

-An ending that could have been cool if I had cared about this episode. After sleepwalking through much of the episode, it was too little too late to have a quick firefight in the last 10 seconds.

In a show like 24, they can't all be winner's. Two episode's ago, when George saved Jack and took the plane down...that was a winner. This episode is necessary, which isn't a bad thng, but kinda boring. However, the sense of slowing down is nothing compared with halfway through the first season.



Palmer: The issues Palmer is having to deal with are not easy ones. It is easy for one to look at his situation and think Just chill out, you know Jack will deliver. But in order to get effectively caught up in whats going on, you have to look at this from a realistic standpoint. He has no idea what Jack will find out and is being pushed from all sides to make a decision. This is where Mike Novack comes into play. Novack has always been there as support for the President, but that should be read as someone for the President to talk to so the veiwers know whats going on. However not in this episode. Novack actually becomes the center for some potential drama. I'm looking forward to what will happen when the President finds out Novack has gone behind his back, cause as we all know by now, Palmer doesn't take crap from his staff. This is one of the reasons 24 stands above other shows: No character is simple in the background. Everyone is remembered and given something. There is rarely such a thing as a 2-dimensional character in this show.



CTU: Tony is still being a jerk for little reason. I like how the writer's slipped a line in for Jack: "He's in charge now so he has to follow standard Procedure. He is just doing what he thinks is best." I don't buy it.Maybe in the first season, but Tony has always shown that he trusts Jack and supported him when he was going around Mason's back. This sudden turn around is still a little hard for me to swallow.



Kim: I think Elisha Cuthbert can take anything she is given and act it out better than most. In ragging on Kim, I am in no way saying anything negative about Cuthbert. She does the best with what she has, and her best is better than most. That said... I know this is a TV show, not a movie, so therefore we have more time to devote to sub plots, but this is a little much. Had this been the only thing to happen to Kim today it would be ok because it is the most believeable. Yet when taken in context with Lonnie, Gary, and the mountain lion, this is excessive. Do we really care about this guy? Lambardo Boyer does a phenomenal job with his character. We can really feel this guy's sense of hopelessness and desperation. Maybe even identify with it. But with all thats happening, I have to ask agian...do we really care?



Jack: This episode puts Jack in a new light. Before this episode, we have always known that Jack would do whatever it took, but here we actually see him do it. When he handed Kate over to the Coral Snake guy, I was in disbelief. The last minute realization that Kate had a tracking device on her didn't help to much. But what I do like about Jack's scenes are Yusuf Auda (Donnie Keshawarz). This guy has been cold-shouldered since he arrived, it's nice to see him be used in such a cool way. When Jack left Kate alone in the car, I was shaking my head thinking 'No freakin way...come on, your smarter than that!' And I wasn't proven wrong. Jack was smarter than that. I'm very much looking forward to what happens with Auda, even though I have no doubt this guy will be killed in the next episode or two.



The ending of the episode was perfect. About time some action happened.