So I haven’t had the opportunity to write about this show yet, so basically I’m going to be discussing stuff that has happened since the premiere. Before I get into all of that, however, a quick little Kal Penn story.
So it turns out that Kal Penn is friends with one of my best friends in college. My junior year, I was living with this kid, and one night he brought Kal over for one of our parties. This was right around the time that Van Wilder comes out, so after I was introduced somebody said to me “that’s the Indian kid from Van Wilder.” Of course, at the time I had never seen the film, so I blew it off, figuring “the Indian kid” referred to some extra that was in the background of one scene for ten seconds. Of course, a few months later I saw the movie, and ever since then have been dying to party with the guy. Naturally, that is yet to happen.
One thing I really love about this show is the fact that, as various entertainment publications gear up for the premiere, they really do make it seem like every character (whether they’re debuting or returning) is going to play a vital role in the season. Because of this, I was genuinely shocked when Kal’s role was so brief, and when Curtis was killed off almost immediately.
Actually, scratch that. Damn Stephen King blew the Curtis death for me. Right before the premiere he says that, in an emotional moment, Jack kills off a CTU regular. Of course, the second that tension was hinted at between Curtis and Jack because of the latter’s decision to work with Assad, I knew he was going to be the one to bite the bullet. Damn you, Stephen King!
While I understand Curtis’ anger, due to his personal connection to what Assad and his people had done, isn’t it just a bit hypocritical of him to be upset with Jack for agreeing to work with him? I mean, just a few hours earlier, Curtis had played a part in turning Jack over to another terrorist, with the knowledge that he’d be tortured and killed, in exchange for, like, one tidbit of information. Jack’s alliance with Assad has brought them a boatload of information AND will eventually bring peace between the country and some terrorist groups (in principle, anyway). Aside from knowing that the man who was responsible the deaths of some of his men, Curtis wouldn’t have suffered any harm.
I have also noticed a lot of people criticizing the fact that Wayne Palmer is president, noting that (a) it is unrealistic and that (b) he doesn’t have the experience. We really didn’t learn much about Wayne’s experience level when he was David’s advisor, so I’m not sure that’s a fair criticism. Secondly, I find the idea of Wayne riding the emotion of his brother’s assassination to successfully get into office perfectly possible. Above all else, it makes for a very interesting plot device, and given last year’s phenomenal presidential storyline, the bar was set awfully high.
While Stephen King may have subdued the shock of Curtis’ death, one thing I did not see coming was the revelation that the leader of the Bluetooth Mafia is actually Jack’s brother, Graham. What an awesome reveal. One that makes me want to go back and watch the latter portion of last season to see if they hand planted any hints regarding this turn of events. I’m interested in seeing how Jack’s dad fits into all of this.
Other notes:
I am loving Buchanan, who was one of the stand-out players last season, in my opinion. They did a fantastic job of developing his character and showing that he’s more than a stuffy guy in an upper-management position.
Likewise, I am very happy that Karen is back, and they did the great “show the ring” trick in order to show viewers that they are still married, instead of having them speak awkwardly to get the point across, like having Karen say “hello Bill, who I have since married, how are you today?”
As seems to be the case year by year, Chloe is a lot more tolerable than she has been. I like the character, but I am most definitely not on the Chloe-love bandwagon, like practically everybody else on earth. I also really like Morris.
