Getting this thing posted by Wednesday night, not too shabby.
It’s a bit hard to believe that I’ve been so overwhelmed this season because practically all of the shows I review air within two days. There’s Heroes, 24, and Lost. Honestly, it can be exhausting. And yet come next season, at the very least two of those series will be off the air. And Heroes is hardly a sure thing. But hey – there’s always Smallville!
Alright, so things are really beginning to come together on 24. Sure, it only took 14 episodes, but hey, better late than never! And while it was a fine episode – I actually found it very entertaining – as I write this column I can’t help but think about how familiar this all seems. Almost everything that has happened had already occurred in a previous season. And with this in mind, maybe it’s a good idea that the show is concluding. With such a similar story arc each year, there’s only so much you can do before you’re repeating yourself.
Well, we actually saw President Taylor this episode. And hey! She’s in New Jersey! My home state! And, like clockwork, we had somebody within her administration going behind her back to make a difficult decision “for the best of the country.” I found much of this a bit hard to swallow. It just seemed a bit unbelievable that such an elaborate mission could be thrown together so quickly, while involving so little people, while everybody remained quiet about it. And I found President Taylor’s firm stand that they will not relent to terrorists quite laughable considering that last year she appeared on camera, standing in front of her captors’ flag while reading their statement, in order to protect her daughter.
Oh, and when we saw Ethan pop a pill in the first few episodes, I think everybody knew it was only a matter of time before his health issues were integrated into the story as some sort of obstacle. Well, the time is now. I didn’t have a problem with it, except for the fact that we essentially saw Ethan in a similar power struggle last season with the President’s daughter. I do hope he survives, though. The deaths this season have been so frequent that they’ve lost a great deal of meaning. Ethan’s only been around for a couple of seasons, but he has the potential to be somebody I could care about.
And was this infantry wet-works team United States soldiers? You’ll have to excuse me, because I watch the show so late at night that I sometimes miss things, but if that’s the case – and perhaps I’m just being naïve – I have trouble accepting that U.S. soldiers would so willingly go out there and kill secret service agents. I may have missed it, and they were essentially mercenaries, but then that again bears the question – how was this thrown together so quickly?
And can Hassan’s daughter officially take over the throne as the next Kim Bauer? This girl can’t touch a situation without making it more perilous. She’s sleeping with the bad guy. Then she’s blowing up CTU. Then she’s spraining her ankle during the escape scene. Let’s just rename her “Obstacle.” Or “Contrivance.” Whichever.
Okay, now let’s leave the snarkiness at the door, because, honestly, I did really enjoy this episode. I found all of the scenes with Jack and Hassan quite thrilling. I actually loved the part where Hassan saved Jack. Hassan is quickly becoming an interesting character. In the first couple of episodes we learn that he’s cheating on his wife, yet it’s rather obvious that he cares deeply about his family. He’s also genuinely committed to creating peace, yet immediately resorts to threats and torture when he realizes that there are traitors within his regime. They’ve managed to make a fairly likable good guy, but haven’t held back on any of his weaknesses and imperfections. As I’ve noted in the past, I’ve found him and his story far more interesting than the American political arc.
I did find it curious, though, that Renee was so easily added to the security detail. Who allowed this? Wasn’t she deemed mentally unstable just a few short hours ago?
While I am intrigued by Dana’s character now, I still can’t really excuse the atrocities that took place over the past ten or so episodes. Actually, while I picked “ten” somewhat arbitrarily, I don’t think I’m that far off. And I think that’s part of the problem. Not only was the storyline so inane and unrealistic, but it dragged on forever! She’s interesting now, mostly because she pulls off the psychotic look so well. Like, I see her and I get a little disturbed and uncomfortable. So, this is a definite improvement. But then again, I still didn’t care for her talking on the phone in the middle of a crowded room. Yes, her eyes were shifting all over the place and she was whispering, so they at least cared enough to make it appear that she was cautious, but it just came off as a bit hokey. Like, there are people right in front of you. And next to you. And behind you. But part of me did think that Chloe was going to deliberately send her the wrong information to try to fish her out as a mole.
Next week is a big two hour episode. Since I don’t see myself staying up til 1:00 watching it, I may just watch it live. So, depending on how tired I am, I might even write my review Monday night. But no promises! Things have been very stressful and exhausting. But, as always, thanks for reading!
Matt Basilo has been writing for Inside Pulse since April 2005, providing his insight into popular television shows such as Lost, 24, Heroes, and Smallville. Be sure to visit his blog at [a case of the blog] and follow him on Twitter.
