Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Boy That Escalated Quickly...

I mean that really got out of hand fast. It jumped up a notch, didn’t it? Jack killed a guy with a chain.

Even you right winger 24 addicts with fantasies in your heads of Joe McCarthy beating hippies with a shovel have to admit that the last ten episodes were at best “passable.” But can there be any doubt that last night’s episode of 24 single-handedly redeemed the season from mediocrity? Rickey thinks not. So after a self-imposed moratorium, Rickey gladly welcomes back the show where the camera absolutely cannot sit still, where everyone inexplicably whispers when they’re angry, and where Tom Lennox reigns supreme.

Oh yes, Rickey said it. Tom Lennox is currently the best character on the show. Mainly because the writers have decided to cast him in the role of “reaction guy.” So whenever POTUS unleashes a terrific dose of crazy (say, attempting to nuke a country for no reason whatsoever) we get a quick cut to Tom open jawed and wide eyed looking like he’s about to hide behind a chair and wet himself. Or there’s always “pensive Tom” which consists of him furrowing his brow or possibly even cocking his head if he’s feeling frisky. It’s fantastic television folks, and it’s also the only reason Rickey and Ms. Henderson have continued to tune in week after week.

Several thoughts on last night’s fantastic return to form:

Evidently in the 24 universe, international diplomacy works something like this: you launch a nuclear warhead at a country you want something from, wait for them to cave to your demands, then say “PSYCH!” admit it was a ruse, and call off the strike. Interesting.

Exactly when did CTU recruit an entire squadron of Arabic agents? And wouldn't they have been usefeul in multiple other situations over the course of the day?

Phone call quality while hidden away underneath a moving dump truck with your face six inches from a drive shaft? Not so good.

Ricky Schroeder gave his one and only semi-decent performance of the season by proclaiming “damn Jack” after walking into Kiefer’s DIY terrorist abattoir. Right, because the audience wasn’t quite slack-jawed enough after that over the top messianic craziness.

“Say hello to your brother.” Sweet jebus, that was good. Come to think of it, Jack needs a catch phrase every time he dispatches a baddie. Possibly something that isn’t ripped off of “Die Hard 3” next time?

And next week Jack goes it alone in search of Audrey. As far as Rickey is concerned, this year’s season just started Monday night.

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4 comments:

TheJackSack said...

"Damn Jack" indeed. This was a flawless episode. Finally, the show is back on track

Anonymous said...

Absolument! And not just saying "Damn, Jack," but also by saying it in barely more than a whisper. He said what we all were thinking.

I don't think 24 has jumped the shark. I think Jack killed it.

Rickey said...

Adam: indeed. Time for Act II.

Amy: Jack wouldn't kill a shark. He'd prefer to carry it around it as a deadly weapon/housepet.

Roci said...

Jack would not kill the shark until after he had promised it immunity and guaranteed that he would protect it.