24

Gotta give the writers credit for stretching out the season's first terror threat for this long, but now it's time to top it off and bring things to an action-packed head! As Jack and company track the Matobos to Dubaku's hideout, Dubaku uses his CIP powers to wreak havoc at a chemical plant in Ohio. The episode takes its sweet time drawing the havoc out, which gives Jack enough time to sneak into that unrealistically dark control room and start shooting.

At the Office, Janis gets some room for development when she calls the chemical plant's manager to warn him of the threat. Yeah, I guess she needed at least one hour in the spotlight, since she's in the main cast. And it's fine development. It's not like an ex-boyfriend's blackmailing her into helping him steal $120,000 from some evidence lockup………

As for the action-packed head itself…eh, it's fine too. The darkness looks cool, and it's fun to see Bill Buchanan shoot people. Not the most memorable action piece of "24," but it's still the best 2-3PM we've had and it does its job by destroying the CIP device and…not capturing Dubaku.

And now we get to see what Henry's story arc was leading up to: a second terrorist threat after the CIP failure. With this and Jack's decision to go to the White House, things are gearing up for an even better post-action-packed head.



Hourly Highlight:

Latham totally blowing everyone's chances to capture Dubaku.

Presentation Phase - » (7/10). The presentation was about details, until Jack, Bill, Tony, Renee and Chloe arrived in Dubaku location.



Complication Phase - » (7/10). Save Matobo and his wife´s, destroy the CIP device and capture Dubaku, seems normal for 24 formula.



Climax Phase - » (8/10). The action happened in the middle of the episode and this was the best part, the tension was high, but everything goes right.



Suspense/Tension - » (8/10). Very good tension, but wasn´t great, Drama - » (7/10). It seems that President Taylor will be the main drama for this season, she will be explored like David Palmer was explored before.



Action - » (9/10)*2. Great action, many gun fights that 24 producers could made and one explosion.



Ending - » (7/10). I think the ending bring bad news, since we will have some filler time in the next episodes.



Time and Scene Management - » (8/10). Sean was participating in the Main plot, but the chemical plant scenes seemed pure filler, but was not bad explored, the white House scenes was fine, the same with Bauer scenes and Henry too.



Plot Details/Holes- » (10/10). I didn´t notice any flaws, maybe if when I re watch this episode, I will find something, until then this rate maintains.



What I liked -» The little action that this episode delivered. What I Didn´t Liked -» The chemical plan scenes.



This episode could end the Dubaku threat, but only ended the CIP device plot that could be more explored. At least, you have a threat and in the same episode it is eliminated.

Prepare yourselves for an about turn ladies and gentlemen because season seven of 24 just tied up its central narrative strand after seven episodes and if my maths is correct, there's another seventeen hours to go. Michael Loceff's script manages to shift the emphasis of the season away from the horror of the wonder device that controls everything and towards the politics of governmental corruption by destroying the gizmo in a wonderfully executed shoot-out sequence in which our heroes get to kick ass, take names and fail miserably to capture Dubaku, despite annihilating everything else within sight. Oh well, I suppose they had to keep the terror levels stoked somehow, right? Shame it means connecting this narrative with the First Gentleman's because if we spend the next seven hours desperately trying to rescue the poor sod while the President whines, I might throw things at my TV. Still, that's a little harsh: at least it (hopefully) puts an end to the whole 'paralysis thing and signals the start of something more substantial for poor Colm. And to be fair to the writers, at least this is fairly original; it hasn't really been done too many times before. Nor, for that matter, has the aborting of terrorist activity. While the 'chemical release' plot is arguably a show staple, and the whole 'sympathise with the brave plant manager' thing was about as predictable as a Pendulum album, the overall narrative was salvaged by the decision to have Dubaku back down, to withdraw and regroup. This has subsequently opened up a rather intriguing narrative avenue, as the FBI and the White House desperately fumble around in the dark, completely oblivious to the reality of what is occurring. Of course, this will soon be rectified with the marriage of the Bauer and Presidential narratives (nice of them to keep Tony out of the way of this one and reaffirm his mild bad ass credentials) but all the same, it makes for some captivating viewing. Oh, and then there's Dubaku's missus... when will these women ever learn? From the Presidential aide banging Alexis Drazen in season one to the First Lady in season five, the show seems to be littered with innocent individuals blinded to their significant other's inherently evil nature. I mean come on... are you really telling me she hasn't noticed his furrowed brow? His sinister tone? The way he angrily addresses everyone he speaks to?! Or has he put on his nicey-nicey voice every time he's spoken to his fellow terrorists on the phone when in his girlfriend's diner? Nah, sorry, don't buy that for one second.



Aside from this gripe, there isn't much to criticise in '2pm - 3pm'. Loceff's script is a decidedly solid and cohesive effort, concentrating firmly on one excellently orchestrated narrative strand and generating a truckload of tension, suspense and intrigue as a result. The cogs begin to turn on the season-long plot and we see the beginning of a shift in dramatic emphasis, suggesting that next week's episode could be a bit of a corker. I honestly don't really know where they're gonna go next. But I can't wait to find out.

A very exciting, nail biting episode. Dubaku is about to make a chemical plant to "blow a gasket" that will lead to toxic chemical clout that will kill upwards to 18,000 Americans. Jack and team storm the compound where Dubaku is and pretty much kill everyone but him. The CIP device is recovered by Jack and team but is broken. Matobo and his wife are rescued.



On the other front, Henry can finally move again as the toxin wears off. As he tries to leave the other dirty agent storms into the apartment and threatens to kill Henry. Henry convinces him that all all trails of the dead agents in the apartment will lead back to him and he will be blamed. The agent calls Dubaku and Dubaku tells him to bring Henry to him.



This is a great episode with a lot of plot building and a few twists. The look on Tony's face when Jack and Bill leave the compound makes you wonder where his loyalties actually lie.

A key part of this episode was the infiltration of Dubaku's secret location. The set-up and plan weren't bad. Walker getting in past security and then letting Jack, Tony & Bill in through the roof access, the assault on Dubaku's control room from both above and through the door were all executed pretty well. Dubaku escaped the attack and ended up blowing the guy who made the C.I.P device away but ended up getting Henry as a new bargaining chip. Henry who himself was passed out woke up just in time to open the door and see Vossler running toward the apartment. Vossler got Henry and took him to Dubaku. The F.B.I and the White House tried to figure out how an attack in progress at a chemical plant in Ohio, the CIP breach was stopped.

"24" continues its comeback with another terrific and suspenseful episode. One of the highlights of this episode is how the two major storylines, Mr. Taylor's predicament and Jack and the team's attempts to capture Dubaku, come together at the end. That worked very well and I'm sure viewers did not see that coming. The scenes of Dubaku's hideout being raided are terrific and adds just the right amount of action. Now that Jack has contacted President Taylor things just look to get better. I just hope "24" keeps it up and lives up to expectations. "24" has returned to greatness!

This was another solid episode from the writers of 24, but something is missing from the season. Let's seperate this epsiode into its main components. Jack Bauer's storyline was really good. Very action filled as Jack storms the hideout to try and take Dabaku and the CIP device. The device is destroyed, but Dabaku escapes. It will be interesting to see what happens with this storyline now. Does he have some other way to formulate some terror or is he going to go on the down low for a little while and pop back up when we least expect him. He now has Mr. Taylor, which was kind of dumb. Mr. Taylor cannot move for 45 minutes, all of the sudden the phone rings and he could stand up. What?



The FBI storyline and the crisis with the plant was pretty good. There are three main characters in the FBI office and no one seems to be doing much of anything over there with any level of interest. I don't see why the FBI is so important to this season. I think the writers scored big with Agent Walker, but everyone else is someone to just fill some time with. Overall - solid episode but the season is moving slow due to characters not being devoloped enough.

This episode continues the high quality that we have come used to in this 7th season. It has enough action sequences to keep you entertained all the while becoming more and more intriguing with each real-time minute that passes.



Dubaku continues to target a chemical plant in Ohio which doesn't go to plan as Jack has used Matobo to find Dubaku's location. With the help of Renee, Tony, Bill and Chloe, Jack is able to find Dubaku and destroy the CIP device. But being only 7 hours in this is far from over, as Dubaku escaped and the police are now on the trail of Jack and the crew.



Meanwhile Henry is in more danger as the agent helping Bryan in the cover up has been ordered to bring Henry to Dubaku. Dubaku has taken hiding in a residential area under a false identity (Samuel)so to continue his attacks on the US.



With still little known about who is corrupt in the government and whi agencies to trust, I feel there are still more than enough twists and turns to come to make it the best season of 24 in some time.

By the end of this hour, it was surprising to realize how little had actually happened. The writers managed to spice up the previous installment by piling on some fun and unexpected elements (like off-screen plane collisions and stabbings). This episode is essentially built around one major incident and the subsequent prelude to the inevitable change in the game coming with episode 8 (because that's when it always happens).



This is cookie-cutter "24". There's a crisis in an industrial location, no time to evacuate civilians, and a government agent (Janice, this time, instead of Chloe) has to interface with the one heroic soul willing to sacrifice himself while Jack and his team make their move. It's just a jumble of elements that have been done before, and that may be why this episode fell a little flat.



The plane collision in the previous episode was designed to convince the audience that the Dubaku might actually succeed in releasing the pesticide into the atmosphere and killing tens of thousands of people. Yet nothing in the episode itself ever made it feel like the situation might truly get out of hand. The sacrificial lamb was obviously going to succeed in delaying the release of the poison, and "CTU" was going to arrive just in time to stop the attack. And of course, it was a foregone conclusion that Dubaku would get away.



Ending the threat posed by the CIP device is an important plot point, but Jack's role in the operation is more important to the overall season arc. This is about Jack and his particular kind of operative being seen less as a liability and more as an asset again, and that process is still on track. Agent Walker represents the distaff version of Jack Bauer, as she has since the beginning of the season, and her pragmatism is refreshing.



The process underway seems to be taking this "shadow CTU" and restoring it as a legitimate agency. One would hope that Walker survives long enough to be a part of that. While Jack doesn't necessarily need a new love interest to completely his journey within the series, Walker would be a good professional match. Keep Tony in the gang, and things would really fall into place.



Speaking of Tony, it's good to know that the writers aren't turning their back on the troubled history they gave him earlier in the season. That means that his sentiments haven't necessarily changed, either, and that leave plenty of room for debate with Jack as their bad day marches on. Hopefully he won't end up going rogue again; it's far more interesting to have one of the good guys question the government and call them out when they step out of line.

1) The real FBI computers can't even share data with the CIA, much less FAA, etc. 2)There is no central "Control" system that controls the Air Traffic, Electric grid and Chemical Plants

3) Private industry would not have the government controlling their process, much less their safety relief valves. 4) safety relief valves are not computer controlled.

5) Chemical plants don't have 1000 employees on site at any one time, probably not even all four shifts

6) The Operators would know how to shut their process down safely and would be the only ones to actually do it.

7) The Plant manager would not be shutting it down and especially not by himself; He is correctly responsible for the safety of all his employees.

8) Only Hazmat trained employees (operators and maintenance) would expose themselves to releases or potential releases, then only with proper PPE

9) The FBI or any other federal or state agency could never a)access drawings, b) interpret them quickly, c) advice how to initiate a shutdown sequence;

10) the cell phone and ear piece probably wouldn't work too well with all that equipment and the noise around him would have made hearing a response impossible.

11)EPA is probably the only agency with any information connecting plant names with any process information and the plant managers name. Good of Jack to stop the attack in time!

This episode had much hype because of where the previous episode left off. And it delivered just what we wanted. The first half hour kept me literally on the edge of my seat with all of the suspense. The last half was not as riveting but revealed a lot and made a great bridge into next week. The best parts of the episode by far was the parts involving the head of the chemical plant targeted by Dubaku. This guest star took advantage of his 20-25 minute role completely and gave us a great performance. The firefight in the office building and the scenes leading up to it were almost perfectly executed as well. This show is one of the greatest of all time and gets better week by week. And this episode was the best of this season so far.

Mm.. That one was little vice-versa feelings. I did like the positive tune this episode had - that miracle the firewall breach stopped and there was no major meltdown. And there was that little tragic on the plant owner.. so, it was quite good. But that all happened quite quickly and only took part of the episode. Then in some moment they switched back to the presidental storyline and I do not know - it has been little off the pace lately or never get on it's right high - like everything is going in circles there - it is always the same thing - call troops out or not. They could develop that story little farther. And then ofcourse the ending - trying to get Dubaku but he got away.. And their faces ended up in video.. so.. now they know they were there.. and then the decision - maybe it was a matter of time when they have to bring back FBI or something like that.. I do miss CTU but I am not excited to see Jack going back to working with FBI.. And Tony is out of that came. So what will he do? I hope he is not off the story by that..

I thought this was a really good show. I'd hoped they'd capture Dubaku, but I'm sure that's in the plan. Madam President is a little annoying to me. She's only concerned with caving in to Dubaku's commands, but innocent lives are being taken because she won't withdraw the troops from Dubaku's country. Let's see how fast she acts once she realizes her husband is in Dubaku's custody. I love Jack Bauer. He is all about business and taking action. I'm a little skeptical about Almeida. He seems loyal to Jack, but then again there seems to be something about him that's not right. He seems like he has the potential to turn on Jack.