Blow by Blow Review: "24" May 16th, 2005

It's all come down to the final two weeks of the show this season and could it possibly be more exciting? I think not!

A nuclear-toting missile is on it's way to anywhere in the continental United States - Jack has captured the rogue terrorist mastermind, Marwan, and has him captive: Will he be able to extrat the information that he needs to wrangle the bomb and save the day in 42 minutes once again? Let's take a look in this edition of the:

Blow by Blow Review: "24" May 16th, 2005

-- S Series Missile: Holy Schnikes! 1800-Mile Range and Stealth Capiabilities? There have been times in the show where I know I as a viewer have felt completely helpless, but this time, the gurus of counter-terrorism follow me to the brink of unabashed bogglery. What the hell are we going to do NOW - when we have a stealth-cloaked, 1800-mile range missle on the loose? Where the hell does one start "searching" for something like that?

-- The Whole Evacuation Thing: As we talked about previously when the 109 rectors were the target, the mass evacuation of a city to me just seems like a recipe for chaos. Wouldn't traffic be ridiculous? Wouldn't there be MORE danger that would cause and end perhaps not nearly as quick as a nuclear detonation? What would you do if your city were told to "evacuate?" I don't think we'd go anywhere - seriously. We're not even sure what the target city is so wouldn't it be like inciting a riot? What would YOU do if you saw a message come over the television or radio that said you had less than an hour to "evacuate your city???"

-- Just When You Thought the Interrogation Chair was Clear: Yay! More Jack-initiated interrogations! I can't wait to see what details they can peel from the boy!

-- The Son is Undone: One of the overriding and finger-pointing questions that I've been anxious to solve has been this question: How is it that the bad guys originally knew where to find Secretary of Defense Heller, his daughter, when visiting his son earlier in the season/this morning? FINALLY, in the third to last hour of the show we find out that the son WAS responsible for a phone call to Marwan (actually the woman that accompanied a man back tot he son's house was the caller) and that allowed a call tracker/bug to be placed on the device to track the Secretary's son's phone conversations. While selacious, the big twist here is that the son was preoccupied sexually with the GUY while the woman bugs the phone. An interesting twist but one that surely didn't have the "ommmph" that they thought it would in my opinion. This revelation also solves the potential of Audrey, the Secretary's daughter from being dirty (or does it?) and really allows us to understand clearly that the son (via phone conversations had on a bugged phone) was the sad and unknowing link in the chain to Marwans terror information network.

-- More Captioning Wonders: Something noted inside the Closed Captioning this episode is David Heller(The Secretary of Defense's son)'s address. In the audio they just say "in Van Nuys" while the captioning actually gives the physical street address: 2162 Vesper. Looking at it in Google Maps, nothing really comes up and the references used doesn't really look mich like what I remember from that first episode.

-- Toneo and Juliet: Tony and Michelle sure pick a HELL of a time to have a 4 minute heart-to heart about the future of their relationship. Is it the prelude to what might be Tony's demise? Are we going to have yet another heroic "Terminal Cliche?"

-- President Palmer's "Show Him Who's In Charge" Variety Show: The more they have David Palmer in this series the more I miss him. His character really is a singular genius and it's great to see him at work. The plan to vault the whiny, unprepared and cajones-less President Logan into something that looks more authoritative is perfect, unbridled and handled wonderfully. What a great job of writing.

-- In Walks Heller... I had forgotten the power that the actor that portrays the Secretary of Defense carries and it's great to see. The "no coddling" factor - knowing that all depends on his son's input and that it is critical that answers are conveyed. I am happy that they got a viable lead in regard to the man and woman that the son took home from the party, but DAMN! No Jack-initiated interrogation! They have become the stuff of legend and I was eager to see just how they were going to "break" David Heller! Arrrrgh!

-- The Hallway (in the Sky?) for Tony? Tony had a very long, quiet moment with Michelle and sadly, I believe he's just suffered yet another temrinal cliche. I have always said that good shows are able to spin on a dime and kill off even the characters that mean the most to their aidiences. I fear that this may be the case for Tony Almeda.

-- Dismount! Jack and Company land their helicopter only a block from the apartment building - You've gotta' wonder if that was prudent - another couple of blocks or further away with vehicles might have even been acceptable. They have to be monitoring via satellite. I hope that doesn't come back to haunt them.

-- Actor's Note: The asian gentleman that rolls up with Jack: Is that Garrett Wang from STAR TREK: VOYAGER? I don't see his credit on IMDB, nor has there been any banter online about that so I'm guessing it's not him but wow: That dude is dead ringer.

-- Super Killer (literally) Bad Lady at the End: For those looking for a show with casthing that simply will not stop, you need look no further than "24". The season ends in less than 2 horus and they introduce yet another heartless, dedicated to her cause woman that has every intention of escaping in true Marwan fashion.

-- End of the Road for Castle: He who sports no assault helmet finally met his end this season -and sadly it was a very uninteresting end.

-- Review of Perimeter Procedures After Its All Over: With not only one edge of your seat, completely surrounded terrorist being able to flee but TWO this episode, I would venture that a variety of workshops will be delivered that make Perimeter Procedures a very hot topic for next season. While clearly you can't conclude that "CTU Personnel don't know what they're doing" you've got to admit: There's a very long line of dead bodies this season that had everything to do with securing a perimeter that allowed what: 15 escapes in general?

-- 2 Hour Finale! I am and had been until this year a very dedicated STAR TREK watcher and fan. Not so sadly, this was the last year for ENTERPRISE, and it's finale was much like the rest of the show - available to watch. I look forward to seeing where a really stylish, edgy, well-written show takes us during a GIANT 2-hour finale next week Monday. I will be hosting a "24" Party so be sure to contact me with details about what's going on!