Never did I laugh so hard, and find an episode so ridiculous, as last night’s episode of ”24” (Fox) “Day 8, 4:00 AM to 5:00 AM.” After last week’s exciting ending with CTU being hit by and EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) which essentially made CTU deaf and blind to the world, this new episode feel flat on its face with over the top silliness.
Lucky for the people at CTU, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) was out and about with Cole (Freddie Prinze Jr.) and a few hapless CTU agents trying to track down the nuclear rods. Of course, since Jack was not at CTU when the EMP occurred, he had the smarts to contact someone at the NSA who magically gets to CTU at warp speed in order to help CTU get their computers back up. Never mind that CTU head Hastings (Mykelti Williamson) never seems to check NSA guy for his credentials, and lets him waltz right into CTU giving him access to CTU computers.
Meanwhile, somehow Jack has magically deduced exactly how and where Samir will be bringing the nuclear rods into the city, and heads to the exact spot on the shores of the East River. I find this even more amazing since Jack is a Los Angeles guy, and he seems to know New York like he has lived there all his life. Under heavy gunfire from the bad guys, (can't anyone hit their target???) Jack et al magically are able to remove some of the armor from their car and use as a shield so they can attempt to get to the batphone, I mean the special RED phone, which is an emergency phone likely placed there just in case Jack needed it. Of course, because everyone they hire at CTU has the IQ of about 50, someone is bound to do something stupid. In this case, one of the throwaway agents panics and runs for it and of course is shot. The other throwaway agent gets upset that they aren’t running out to help the first agent – so HE runs out and gets shot. Jack and Cole run out and, as they are temporarily immune to the bullets, drag them both back in where they both die.
Meanwhile, Dana Walsh (Katee Sackhoff) is a little gleeful at her luck with the EMP, which has taken out any evidence of her involvement with Wade’s robbery that Prady (Stephen Root) is trying to pin on her. But while NSA wants to take the slow road to repair the CTU computers, Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) has one of her hissy fits because she thinks she can fix it quicker by tapping into the trunk line. Chloe’s tantrums are getting quite old, as is her constant pouty face. She stirs up trouble by calling Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) because she thinks she can help find Jack and save him from the trouble Chloe just knows he is in. Then Chloe really goes off the deep end and pulls a gun on NSA guy, and orders him out of the computer room so she can do her thing with the trunk lines to bring up the computers. Such a crazy place, this CTU!
While all this is going on, Kayla is returned to her parents, embarrassed that Faroush seems to really be a traitor. I am getting bored right about now, and also tired of smacking my own head in disbelief as to the ridiculous plot that is unfurling before me.
Of course, the NSA/CTU people manage to break in to the computer room and stop Chloe in her tracks, but Chloe begs Hastings to back her up, after all, she saved his ass a few times already. He cuts her some slack and lets her go to work, and after shorting out what seems like one bank of servers, she magically gets things up and running. Of course, this creates some problems for Dana, who knows that now the trails that attach her to Wade’s robbery can be traced back to her. So she does what any CTU agent would do – she gets to Prady who is still waiting in CTU to talk to Hastings – and she kills him by strangling him. Lucky for her that the air vents or removable wall panels in CTU are all at floor level AND they are big enough so she can hide Prady’s big body behind one. It is amazing how easily she gets it in there. But - wait for it – the big reveal comes when Dana places a call and tells someone that "It's me, CTU is back online." We see that she is speaking to none other than Samir. She adds she has been busy preserving her cover and tells him she'll call him in a few minutes. Samir, while his men load the rods, tells her he's going to need some help getting clear of CTU surveillance.
Let's not forget that while Jack was trying to create a diversion for Cole, Jack gets shot, and, while Samir makes his escape, the authorities arrive AND so does Renee. I am amazed at how quickly Renee was able to get to Jack, she must have her own personal warp drive.
Yes, CTU proves again that they have learned NOTHING over the years, its agents either being incredibly stupid, incredibly rude, or are secret agents who have infiltrated CTU operations. Some counter-terrorist group! They can’t even protect themselves. I’ve now come to the conclusion that I hope that this is the final year for “24” because I simply don’t think there are any more dumb people and traitors that they can hire a CTU. “24” has not only jumped the shark, it’s going down with it.
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