We're heading into the homestretch of the final season of 24. A lot happened in the recent episode. President Hassan finally met his demise and it looked like it really took a toll on Jack and Renee who arrived at the scene only to find that the statement was pre-recorded. It seemed that his death was truly unexpected and everyone was expecting him to be saved. It was shocking to everyone that I watched it with too. I looked around and saw everyones faces and it looked as if they had just lost someone close to them. This just shows the emotional involvement that fans of the show have with it.
When this show ends I think that it really is going to have a minor emotional effect on people. Not in a way where people are going to cry or anything, but just like any good show people are going to be sad to see it go. Monday's just will not be the same without 24 on.
Jack...we will miss you. But we know you always have our country's back!
Jack Bauer Quote:
Jack Bauer: You can look the other way once, and it's no big deal, except it makes it easier for you to compromise the next time, and pretty soon that's all your doing; compromising, because that's the way you think things are done. You know those guys I busted? You think they were the bad guys? Because they weren't, they weren't bad guys, they were just like you and me. Except they compromised... once.
So this week it became OFFICIAL that this will be the final season of 24. :( It had been widely speculated for a while that this was the final season. But until this week the papers had been all but signed. Now the writing is on the wall and 24 will be ending after 8 seasons on the air. As much as I hate to see 24 go...it is the right time for it to end. It's still at a high point with a lot of fans. And if it ends now it doesn't have to go through ridiculous hoops to try to save itself. By that I mean absurd plots and twists. Plus there are talks about making a movie which in my opinion would be the perfect send off for Jack Bauer. He's done so much for our country it's about time that he gets to retire.
Here is a highlight video I found showing great parts of the series:
24..you will be missed dearly.
It'll be interesting to see what happens in the final 10 hours of this season. With a 2 hour episode next week a lot of things are bound to happen. One of the old presidents return to help save the day. If Jack Bauer is killed it will obviously kill movie talks but hopefully that doesn't happen and they give Jack the proper send off.
Jack Bauer Quote of the Week:
President Taylor: You resigned from government service, and the Senate regards you as having been a renegade agent. How am I supposed to know where your loyalties really lie?
Jack Bauer: With all due respect, Madame President, ask around.
I had to take a break from tributes this week to say OH MY GOD WHAT AN ENDING. The fact that Dana is evil is something that I called from Day 1. It was pretty easy to tell. Whenever she looks into the camera she just has the creepiest look ever on her face and it's easy to tell there is something wrong with her. Beside the fact that yes she's hiding her real identity from the world, and yes she just killed two more people. But other than those minor details her facial expression tells it all.
I was paroosing around the world wide web to find things that had to do with 24 to blog about and I came across a facebook group titled "Bauerisms". This group has 24 commandments for Jack Bauer Lovers world wide.
The 24 Commandments of Bauerism:
1. Jack Bauer is the one and only god.
2. You shall hold no other gods before Jack.
3. Thou shall not worship false idols such as Chuck Norris or Macgyver.
4. Thou shall not use the name 'Jack Bauer' in vain under punishment of CTU torture.
5. There is no such thing as a sabbath day. Jack Bauer only rests when the job is done. In fact, our God and his disciples regularly refrain from rest for 24 hours or more.
6. Honour thy mother and thy father, unless they are withholding crucial information, in which case you are to do whatever is necessary.Also, if you have a brother named Graem, you should begin interrogation immediately.
7. Thou shall not murder innocent civilians. It is not a sin, however, to kill traitors, terrorists, people helping terrorists, convenience store owners, or anyone that seems suspicious.
8. Thou must commit adultery. If you get married, you are putting in your wife in danger. If you have multiple sexual partners at the same time, terrorists can never kidnap them all.
9. Thou shall not steal except when it is absolutely necessary. An example of such a situation would be to carjack someone in order to chase after a terrorist.
10. Thou shall not covet thy neighbour's wife, unless thy neighbour is a terrorist, in which case you must seduce her in order to get information on her husband... and then just to rub it in his face after he is caught.
11. In times of crisis, thou must ask themselves WWJBD (What Would Jack Bauer Do?)
12. Thou must tune into 24 on Fox every week. If you miss an episode and don't record it for immediate viewing , you are a terrorist.
13. Thou must purchase all seasons of 24 on dvd. If thou cannot afford to do this, thou must borrow or rent these dvds frequently.
14. Procreation is dangerous because it gives terrorists the opportunity to harm someone you love. If you wish to procreate, you must have as many children as possible, and all daughters that do not resemble the female goddess of Bauerism, Kim Bauer, must be killed at birth.
15. Always be on the lookout for moles. While the people around you may seem loyal, they could really be helping the enemy. Be especially suspicious of those who really need the money or could be easily blackmailed. The terrorists are likely using them for information.
16. You are to wear Aviators at all times. Even at night or when inside.
17. Carrying a brown handbag with you has been officially made not gay since season 5.
18. Acceptable vehicles for members of Bauerism to own include Fords, Toyotas, and the new Hyundai Genesis. Chinese cars are strictly forbidden. If Chinese vehicles become successful outside of China, the terrorists will have won.
19. Do not be afraid to break protocols in order to get results. Sometimes you must go dark and work on your own.
20. Everything you do is to be done for the good of your country. This should not apply if your country is in the Middle East or certain parts of Asia (North Korea, China). In these cases, everything you do should be done for the good of America.
21. Be very careful and know who you can trust. Always remember that everyone is a possible suspect, including the President and your own family.
22. It is not considered homosexual to find Jack Bauer attractive even if you are a man. Jack Bauer is no ordinary man, and therefore it is perfectly normal to find him irresistible. In fact, anything less would be considered blasphemy and treason.
23. You are to be respectful and tolerant of people of all races and religions. Except for those where the majority of people are terrorists. The only other exceptions to this rule are the religions of mormonism and scientology, because those people are not worthy of respect, and should be coverted to Bauerism through the conversion process known as 'Debriefing'.
24. The act of worship can be done in many ways. Such fitting activities include; capturing terrorists, watching 24, talking about 24, and to a shrine of Jack Bauer. True Bauerists should have a shrine to our god in their homes, and also build outdoor statues of Jack Bauer if possible. There is no reason to pray in Bauerism. Prayer is a sign of weakness; Jack Bauer will not grant you whatever you want, you must obtain it yourself through the path Jack has laid out for you.
Even Jack Bauer is following Bauerism #1 and praying to himself.
Here is a funny 24/Jack Bauer parody:
Jack Bauer Quote of the Week:
"I'm federal agent Jack Bauer. This is the longest day of my life." --Jack Bauer, Day 1, Premier Episode
Chloe O'Brian is known as the fiery woman who works at CTU. She takes no BS from anyone and can see right through liars. She has been working with Jack Bauer since Day 3 and has always looked out for him. She doesn't necessarily always do what she is told to by the head of CTU but she always does what Jack tells her to do...which we all know is the right call. She is the best at hacking into databases, setting up traces, and any other technical task that needs to be done.
We can all recognize Chloe by this look on her face:
She looks like she's angry, but she's not. She's just fed up with other people's stupidity. And for all those people that thought this woman to the right, Janis Gold, was going to "out-chloe Chloe"? HA. Amateurs. No one could do that. Chloe just got tired of the spotlight and wanted to take a break and let someone else shine for a second. But of course Janis started to panic and do things wrong forcing Chloe to step in and show her how it's really done.
CHLOE O'BRIAN QUOTE:
Chloe O'Brian:I'm more insulted that you thought I wouldn't notice than by the fact that you were spying on me. Sarah Gavin: Driscoll ordered me to do it. Chloe O'Brian: Next time do it right. Use a Newman filter so the subject doesn't see red lights flashing everywhere. Amateur.
Here are a couple of videos I found on Chloe (but none of them can do her justice):
Stay tuned tonight for an episode of 24 that promises to be a good one. They have been talking about this huge twist that is going to happen at the end of the episode, and so far I have zero thoughts as to what that twist could be. My only thought that just came to me would have to be someone that no one suspected to be bad is going to be bad. That's all I can think of. But here is the promo for tonight's episode. ENJOY!
Instead of summarizing the week's episode I've decide to start paying tribute to all of the main characters over the years since this has been rumored to be the last season of 24! :( So we're going to start off by paying tribute to the man who we owe all of our safety to...
Jack has done many things over the years to keep our country safe. In the first 6 1/2 seasons Jack has stopped 3 attempts to end a president's life, 3 nuclear threats, 3 attempts on the lives of Jack Bauer's family, 5 members of his own team that have turned on him. As Denzel Washington would say in American Gangster "My man."
The way Jack has stopped all of these attacks is by employing the Jack Bauer Security Advisory System.
Here is the detailed descritiption of each of the threat levels thanks to John Kubicek of BuddyTV.com:
Low (Green) = damnit The word "damnit" is in all lowercase letters to tell you that the situation is, at best, a minor inconvenience. Perhaps Jack stubbed in toe on a container of Sarin gas or maybe he bruised his knuckles while punching out a terrorist. It's really no big deal, and you should just go about business as usual.
Guarded (Blue) = Damnit The capitalized "D" means things are a little bit more difficult, but still easily within Jack Bauer's control. Maybe he found some blueprints for a bomb inside the United Nations, or maybe there's intel on a damaged memory card with some random coordinates on it. There's definitely something suspicious going on, but Jack Bauer is on the case, so there's still very little to worry about because he'll probably stop the terrorists.
Elevated (Yellow) = Damnit! The exclamation point means things are getting tense. It means Jack Bauer has credible information that a terrorist attack is going to happen within the hour (there's always something happening within the hour on 24). It hasn't happened, and there are still 58 minutes left to stop it, but you're in for a very heightened sense of danger.
High (Orange) = DAMNIT This is probably the most common of Jack Bauer's "damnit"s, indicating frustration over something pretty bad that's happened. Maybe a co-worker died when terrorists leaked gas into CTU, or perhaps Jack himself was forced to shoot a colleague who was standing between him and the terrorist. Something seriously awful had to happen to reach this level, and it's going to take all of the items in Jack Bauer's man bag to stop it.
Severe (Red) = DAMNIT!!! All caps and three exclamation points can only mean one thing: a major terrorist attack has occurred. Maybe a nuclear bomb was detonated on U.S. soil or Air Force One was shot down by a missile or maybe the terrorists have broken into the White House and are holding the president hostage. Either way, if you hear a very loud "DAMNIT!!!" coming from Jack Bauer, you know it's time to head to the panic room.
But even Denzel's "my man" nor any award can really tell you how much Jack Bauer has done for this great country we call home. So in order to pay true tribute to the man I'm going to give you guys a video that honors all of his kills.
And here are his stats: Season 1 : 10 kills Season 2 : 30 kills Season 3 : 14 kills Season 4 : 43 kills Season 5 : 39 kills Season 6 : 50 kills Redemption: 13 kills Season 7 : 28 kills Season 8 (so far): 10 kills
- Longest killing spree: Day 6 6pm-11pm (ie, at least one per episode) - Most kills in a single episode: Day 6 5:00am-6:00am (14) - Kills per episode : 1.33
So everybody take your drink, put it high in the air and say "TO JACK!"
Day 10 of this season of 24 started out pretty slow. It definitely wasn't an intense beginning. Hasan's daughter meets with her lover and he tells her that he has a plan to escape. Right after that it cuts to Dana and Cole dealing with the two dead bodies. She wants him to leave so that he won't get caught. But he refuses and says they are cleaning it up and not going to jail. The president finally receives the news that there is a nuclear threat against NYC. Once the president leaves the conference call, Hastings has a conversation with the White House Assistant that forced a federal investigation upon Renee Walker and CTU. Hastings tells him that he is refusing to press charges against Renee. The assistant is not happy at all with this news. I still think there is a hidden motive for the white house aide wanting the prosecution of Renee so badly. He wouldn't be that angry if there wasn't.
The president meets with Hasan and she tells him about the situation with Farad. He is shocked that his brother is willing to turn himself in. The president asks him for covert files to help with finding the nuclear materials. At first he refuses to do so because it will breach his security but when she tells him that if there is an attack on her country she will have no choice but to retailate, he has no other option but to give her the files.
Then the lover of President Hasan's daugther escapes from the guys that are transporting him. After he escapes from the car he calls Hassan's daughter and tells her to meet him at a hotel. This was a really significant part because I have a feeling something huge is going to develop out of this situation. There are previews of the 2 in the "Scenes for Next Week" so I'm excited to see how big of a role they take on in the remainder of the season.
CTU's head honcho Hastings then makes a call to Farad and tells him not to move until they locate the shooter near him. But does he listen? The show would not be interesting if he did; so he moves. And of course the second that he moves he gets blasted in the stomach with 2 shots. Right after he gets shot Jack arrives on scene with a bunch of tact teams but they get there too late. Jack has the EMT guys do everything they can to save him....we'll get back to that in a second. :)
The President then holds a significant teleconference with her chiefs that reveal just how strong this nuke would be. It is revealed that it would cover 1 square mile. And if it were to go off in densely populated area casualties could be up into the 10,000s. The deaths would result from radiation poisoning, as well as the bomb, and it would leave the area uninhabitable for up to 40 years. Since NYC is such a densely populated area it would be unfeasible to evacuate the city so they decide to evacuate the U.N. building.
Now back to the Farad situation. He ended up losing too much blood and does not make it. But it isn't necessarily the end for him. Jack comes up with a plan to bait Farad's "boys" in. They plan to release a statement to the press telling them that they have Farad in custody and he is in critical condition. Upon arrival to the hospital he will be questioned by authorities. This is when things really start to get interesting. Farad's body arrives at the hospital and is transported to the room. As soon as he got to the hospital Chloe has Facial Recognition Software up and running to cross-check it with their database for questionable people. At this point we welcome a new player to the game, Marcos. And he has a bomb strapped to him.
Sidenote, Jack and Renee have a convo and he is having a CTU driver bring her to his apartment.
Back to the hospital. Facial Recognition recognizes Marcos and Chloe recognizes that he has a detonator and tries to disable it but is unable to unless she sees it. Marcos meets a young CTU agent, Owen, at the door and makes Owen give him his weapon and take him to Farad. They get up to the 3rd floor where Farad is and Owen makes a bold move and turns around and tells him to prove that he has a bomb. They banter back and forth and eventually Marcos shows Owen the bomb. Chloe recognizes it (of course) and sends the type to Arlo who disables it just in time as Marcos enters Farads room. Jack begins to move in and Marcos tries to set off the bomb. When it doesn't go off he shoots Farad multiple times. After shooting him he realizes that Farad was already dead and starts to get a little nervous. Owen tries to step up and stop Marcos but gets smacked down almost instantly. Jack gets into the room and tries to calm Marcos down but he isn't having any of it. So he does the next best thing, jump out the window and land on his back. Jack being the smart one jumps after the car to chase after him. Marcos runs back into the hospital and locks himself in a pressure chamber (weird).
Then Marcos calls his boys and tells him Farad was already dead when they brought him to the hospital. And the main boss tells him he is going to have to set off the bomb manually telling him, "You can't let them take you alive". Then Marcos makes the creepiest/scariest face into the camera and smacks the video off ending the episode.
NEXT WEEK:
It is going to be a really good episode next week. They bring in Marco's mom to use her to persuade him to not blow off the bomb and the way the previews went it looks like its going to come down to the last second. And Hassan's daugther and her lover are going to take on a more significant role. I would like to add as a side note that I miss Chloe and Jack being the go-to team when anything needed to be done. There are too many other people trying to do Chloe's job. They are reducing her role to too little so hopefully they increase it soon.
JACK BAUER QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
"Let's get something straight, kid. The only reason you're still conscious is because I don't want to carry you. Now get in the van." --Jack Bauer, Day 5, 8:00 am-9:00 am
This episode was very eventful. It carried a bunch of different story lines so that was really cool to see. It made the episode really interesting to watch. But really, when is an episode of 24 not interesting to watch? So lets get into the episode!
The episode begins with the Russian that was in charge of the nuclear material calling his son to let him know that he is in federal custody and that they are willing to offer everyone immunity if he turns himself in. The son eventually agrees to head somewhere to meet up with CTU agents and turn himself him and turn the nuclear material over. If only it was that simple. Farad has been watching him and listening to the phone call and snipes the son out and they take control of the nuclear material.
But a little side story that is continuing to develop is the romantic relationship between Jack and Renee. He calls CTU and is patched through to her. There was a little small talk being made but eventually she says that she "has him". In the previews for next week it is developed even further but things are definitely starting to look romantic. And I do believe I called this in an earlier blog post or just in general when the season first started.
Moving on, a White House Aide calls Hastings and talks to him about how if Hastings fails he fails too. So he tells Hastings that he needs to put the blame on someone else. The White House Aide says that the blame should go on Renee for the failed mission. She is an easy target because she is emotionally unstable and she stabs Renee.
More things are starting to develop with the Ortiz/Dana situation. He finds out her location and heads to where she is. This event continues later in the episode but at this point Dana is sitting in her car with a silenced gun. But here is where things begin to get really interesting. Farad is with his boys and they tell him they are going to transfer the nuclear materials into a different truck. This sets off some suspicions for Farad. A conversation is as follows:
Farad: Why are we transferring trucks? Goon 1: We can't get them out of the country. Lets use them. Farad: If we attack the Americans, they will destroy our country. (Insert convincing and eventual agreeing here) Goon 2: A huge empire can be toppled with a single stone. Goon 1: We need to make them fear us.
Now we go back to the interview by the lady from the Justice Department and Renee. This interview turns tense really fast. The lady brings up the past and the rape by Vladmir. Then she begins to question why Renee stabbed him so many times saying she had a clear intent to kill him. After this she starts to accuse Renee of being out of control emotionally and almost killing someone else. I think the person that Renee almost killed previously is going to come up in the next couple of episodes because they mentioned his name. And to me that means he is at least a semi-meaningful character.
Back to the Farad situation. He says he has to go meet with someone and is escorted by a lower ranking guy. He finds out they are planning to attack New York and he attacks the guy and escapes. Farad then makes a surprising move by hiding and calling CTU for help which sets off a whirlwind of an ending. Hastings decides to put some amateur in charge of going to get Farad (dumb). And Jack knows this is a mistake and he calls Hastings on it and he calls him out on Renee being hung out to dry. He says, "This is the new CTU, you hang your own? I've sat in that chair before. The ones that last know when to say no,".
Things start to tumble down here for Ortiz and "Dana". She tells him that her real name is Jenny Scott and begins to tell him everything. Of course he is irate like any normal person would be. He notices that she has a gun and takes it from her. He walks up to the car with Kevin and his friend in it and holds the gun towards them and gives them a couple of options. They agree to leave her alone, or so it appears. Ortiz and Dana walk away and Kevins friend has a different idea. He grabs a knife and gun from behind a mattress. When Kevin tells him not to do it his friend stabs him in the stomach and heads after Ortiz and Dana. He shoots at them but is no match for a CTU Agent and is gunned down with a shotgun (duh). Kevin bleeds out and that is the end of the episode.
PREDICTION!!:
This next epsiode is going to be a dandy. Ortiz and Dana have to get rid of the bodies that they just killed so that is going to be really interesting to see how they handle that. And there is no way Farad gets out of the situation safely and easy. Something is going to have to go down and someone is oging to have to die. It wouldn't be 24 if that didn't happen. And I personally am suuuuper excited for the romantic relationship between Jack and Renee!!!
Jack Bauer Quote of the Week:
"Make a sound and I will blow your brains out all over the windshield." ---Jack Bauer, Day 4, 12:00am - 1:00am
