Last time on 24, Jack Bauer’s first kill of the day referenced The Lost Boys and then Valencia, CA got blowed up real good.
Quick note: The overnight ratings were posted, and 24 (8.6/12) just edged out Heroes (8.5/12) for second on the hour. Wait… second? You betcha. Two and a Half Men got a 10.1/14, which helped carry CBS to a 9.3/13 hour. People still love the traditional sitcom, I guess.
As always, you get stream-of-consciousness commentary from me…
– Apparently one square mile of Valencia is gone. Which… sure, I guess, but if the blast radius is 0.5 miles, then basic math tells me that the blast area is roughly 0.785 square miles. But since nuclear bombs can’t be considered reliable in terms of things like blast radius, I suppose I’ll let it go… this time.
– Luckily for Los Angelinos, the winds (and presumably, car exhaust) are blowing the fallout away from the city. Towards things like Edwards Air Force base (OK, it’s ENE of Valencia) and such. Good times.
– For at least 12,000 people in Valencia, they were lucky – they were killed instantly. For many, many others, they’re gonna wish they were.
– Wayne Palmer gets moved to the bunker under the White House, where it’s hoped that they can screen out his sister’s calls a bit easier.
– “Why do people I know keep dying?” While this is a very valid question, the look on Morris’ face after Chloe asked this was brilliant.
– Just when Jack thought he was out, a suitcase nuke detonated in Valencia, CA pulls him back in. But not before he rescues a guy from a downed chopper, which subsequently drops and explodes in the usual only-in-Hollywood fashion.
– Speaking of Jack, Bashir spits out a list of names to Buchanan and Nadia, and the name of a Russian general pops up a list of Americans that he’s dealt with, and smack dab in the middle of those names is Philip Bauer. So naturally that’s where they start.
– And naturally, Jack handles it, calling his dad’s company and instead finding out that he’s not around, but his brother “Gray” is, and Gray happens to be…
– Graham the Bluetooth Guy? I totally did not see that coming.
– With that being said, and knowing who’s playing Jack’s dad, I guess the baldness gene DOES come from the mother.
– Obviously, Graham’s pissed that Jack’s back, since he helped send Jack to China and assisted Logan in his crazed scheme 20 months ago. Things that you probably don’t want to let your federal agent brother to know so that he doesn’t put a bag over your head in order to extract information from you.
– As I alluded to in my Heroes column, Rena Sofer gets out of the wheelchair to play Graham’s wife and alleged ex-paramour of Jack. They even go so far as to imply that Graham’s son may in fact be Jack’s son, but I won’t believe that until he spends an hour getting chased by a cougar. Feline or human.
– Jack pays Graham a visit, and you know this is not gonna be fun for Mr. Bluetooth. Sure enough, Jack wants information, and isn’t above torturing his own brother for it. Feel the love.
– “You’re hurting me.” “Trust me – I’m not.” Who says Jack doesn’t have a sense of humour?
– Oh, I think that the aforementioned plastic bag over the head does.
– And remember, Graham hasn’t even mentioned that he was involved in sending Jack to China. The torture is just to find out where his dad is. Yikes.
– If it seems like I’m ignoring the whole Sandra-Walid thing, I’m trying to do my best to purge that out of my mind. The only way this can end is badly – as in Walid dead and Sandra getting to Sherry Palmer levels of bitchiness, without any of the evil craftiness.
– Seriously, can any real good come out of Walid wearing a wire? Aside from his escaping a relationship with Sandra Palmer, that is?
Until next week (hour)…
