Hey, remember that guy McCarthy? The British dude who sold the bombs to Fayed? Well, he was now driving frantically through the streets of Los Angeles, but he managed to pull over and pick up a feisty, blond hooker type, who immediately insisted that she wasn't a hooker. Actually, she was some sort of friend of McCarthy, and she was all boned up to go to Vegas; however, McCarthy had other plans. He was going to make a detour first (ie. get killed) in an effort to provide Fayed with a new engineer within the hour. But who could it be? And how would this new woman screw everything up? And in what delightful way would both of these people die? The answers, sadly, would not come this episode.

Back at CTU, Bill came to realize that Assad might just be a stand up guy after all (ignoring all the innocent deaths he'd caused over the years). He informed the leader that he was being sent off to DC in a plane (ie. dying in a plane crash), and then in a call-back to his earlier snub, Bill extended his hand in gratitude. Awww... Best friends forever! Assad's so invited to Bill and Karen's next dinner party in Georgetown.

shake2012307
"Put 'er here, old friend."

Over at the detainee camp, the one Muslim dude who loved Walid was trying to convince his buddies that they had a comrade in their ranks, but of course, some stubborn guy named Heydar didn't trust the situation at all. His heydar was totally going off, if you will. Meanwhile, Sandra continued to fret about the whole situation, finally causing the ranking FBI agent to seethe, "The only reason you're here is because you're the President's sister."

"And you remember that, and we'll be fine!" Sandra retorted. MMMMM HHMMMM, SISTA!!!! Let those 227 roots shine, Regina King! I'll just say it right now: Mary Jenkins would never put up with this FBI agent. She'd be giving him a whole mouthload of sass, which would only be exacerbated by Pearl who would undoubtedly appear on the scene swinging one mean broom.

pearl012307pearl2012307
Go get 'em, Pearl!

Anyway, going against the better judgment of Heydar, the eager Muslim dude approached Walid and tried to find out why the Feds had been so brutal to him in the bathroom. Truthfully, I couldn't tell if he was extracting information or merely hitting on Walid. Nevertheless, Walid did as he was told by the Feds and said he was supposed to meet with a man named Fayed. His new friend suddenly clammed up, saying he had no idea who that was, but then invited Walid to join his circle of friends. Perhaps a jovial game of hopscotch would soon follow!

Elsewhere in Los Angeles, Jack had managed to defy the laws of physics yet again by getting from Granada Hills to Malibu in about fifteen minutes time (in reality, that would take forty minutes at least, and that's without post-nuclear bomb traffic). Anyway, Jack showed up at the door of his brother's house, which caused an awkward moment for all involved. Grey suddenly remembered that the normal thing to do was to give his bro a hug -- mind the torture wounds! -- and then engage in meaningless small talk that didn't involve around fratricidal ambitions.

"When was the last time we saw each other?" Grey asked.

"When Teri died," Jack replied coldly. This was almost as uncomfortable as a Bill Buchanan handshake denial. I take it Thanksgiving will not be in Malibu this year.

Suddenly, Grey's teenage son Josh entered the room, and immediately Jack gave him that "You're my secret love child" look. I mean, c'mon now. Josh was taller than Grey, and he was blond. If that doesn't qualify him for Kim's half-brother status, I don't know what does. Nevertheless, Jack played it cool and shook Josh's hand, which I'm sure was delightful for Josh, given that he could touch his uncle's nasty torture-scarred hand.

Just when the temperature in the room couldn't drop any lower, in walked Marilyn on a staircase balcony, icily gazing down at the two brothers. She gave him a death stare, one that seemed to say, "Why hello, former illicit lover and father of my son."

marilyn012307
"Don't mind me and my abnormally large nipple erection."

Recap: 24: Family Matters Sections:  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6 

« Recap: Battlestar Galactica: Final Five, Chosen One & A Couple of Bitch Slaps | Main | Recap: I Love New York: 12 Morons In The Bed, and The Little One Said, "Drink a live bee." »

Comments (24)

em Author Profile Page:

It's probably no more plausible, but . . . . Jack asked Chloe if Grey-ham was still at the Malibu address. She said no he's in Indian Hills? I think. Anyhow, not Malibu. . . .

Jennifer30309 Author Profile Page:

Great recap, B-Side. I am so glad you and J-Unit are still writing them. The 24 recaps are how I first fell in love with tvgasm, you nymphs you.

The show started disappointingly. The helicopter scene was a dumb non sequitur. I thought the family connection was too soap opera-ish but when Jack pulled out that lamp wire I knew it was ON. Say, Grey, did you know Paul Raines?

gamera87 Author Profile Page:

Eww, why are the screencaps "fullscreen" and not widescreen?

cincy_josh Author Profile Page:

Pure Genius, "It's not like we've ever had a season of 24 when the terrorist has opened a metal briefcase to reveal not an atomic bomb but several teddy bears and a dancing Coke can. It just doesn't happen."

I figured that kid was probably Jack's son too.

And Walid is gonna be dead soon (if I had to guess based on the terrorist at the playgrounds response)

lovinit Author Profile Page:

They mentioned that the vice-president had been notified, but didn't say who that was AND there were no gender pronouns used (he or she). I'm secretly hoping its Martha Logan!!!

Bauer's Sweetheart Author Profile Page:

I really really wished I could have seen your and J-Unit's reaction when it was revealed that Gray is Jack's brother - and also when Jack punched him in the face. I am not sure I like the whole love child twist, how does it fit into the timing of the back story? The kid is younger than Kim, so could that be the reason Jack and Teri were separated? But no wonder Gray is an evil guy - if you are the brother of Jack Bauer then there is nothing you can ever do to be better than your brother, except to be an evil American shadow conspiring with terrorists.

realitybred55 Author Profile Page:

By the way...Regina King was "Brenda", not "Sauuuuundra."

luvly_grrl Author Profile Page:

"Bitch, I know you might be scared, but use a damn crosswalk!"
That was so friggin funny I thought the same thing

mangos Author Profile Page:

Yesss! Torture within the first 5 hours, this really is turning into a great season.

At first, I thought the blonde girl that the British guy picked up was Kim Bauer. That would have been an interesting twist, Kim working for the bad guys too.

shank Author Profile Page:

Thanks for recapping this awesome/retarded ep, B-Side. And don't fret--the Cheddar Bay biscuits at any Red Lobster are equally delicious.

I'll also be pissed if Berooz doesn't reappear this season...is it too early for him to suddenly become Chloe's new operator buddy? He could be the new Kim.

Other random observations:

1. Regina King sucks!

2. The random, seemingly inconsequential dude Jack rescued from the helicopter will lead us to an inevitably lame subplot.

3. I wasn't buying the level of chaos in the streets of the greater L.A. area. Confused girl running across moderately populated backlot does not a nuclear holocaust make. The limits of 24's production values reached!

4. Did anyone else notice that suddenly Jack Bauer's family controls the fate of the entire nation...and that 24 suddenly morphed into Metal Gear Solid? Still, absurd and shark-jumping as it's become...I'm loving it.

Tony A. Author Profile Page:

Yeah, B-Side; how DID Wayne get to be Prez? Was there some special election in those 20 months? And what qualified him?

That helicopter thing-unnecessary, but must have been put in to show Jack's prowess at coming back to his normal, superhuman self. But he couldn't have opened that helo door with a flimsy TV antenna the way he did.

Is it me or is Peter McNicol hamming things up with his "reasonable, calm" demeanor? He talks like a goddamned robot, for Christ's sake! Even his rebuke to the argumentative admiral was said in an even, boring voice. I still say he'll turn out to be in cahoots with the terrorists.

I was blown away when we discovered Dr. Romano (Grey) was...Jack's BROTHER? Why was this fact not known last year when he was pulling all the strings to kill his brother and a whole bunch of other people? Why didn't President Pussy narc on him after he was apprehended? In fact, where the hell is President Pussy? I read somewhere Martha's going to be in the cast a little later on, so maybe there's hope.

So far, so good, and Fayed is the easiest-to-hate terrorist so far.

Bring back the hoodie of inexhaustible gadgetry!

NickelBagofFunk Author Profile Page:

The family that tortures togather.... Stays togather!

cincy_josh Author Profile Page:

I thought that was Kim too mangos. I figured she would jump in the car and be like what's up Grandpa making all of Jack's family evil. No such luck. :-)

wniffene Author Profile Page:

This has next to nothing to do with this particular episode of 24 but I was watching the incredibly lame Vegas Vacation this weekend and I'm fairly certain that Nadia was playing Audrey Griswold.

Firthguy Author Profile Page:

Powers Boothe as the vice-president? F-ing right!

Testiculon Author Profile Page:

B-Side,

With all due respect to J-Unit and everyone else, you are THE BOMB!

Keep up the good work.

(But don't expect to take over my Jack Bauer man crush)

cruella_deville Author Profile Page:

Firthguy---Powers Boothe???? Cy Tolliver as the VP???? That would be TOOOOOO fuckin' awesome!!!

It was a literal OH MY GAWD moment when they revealed that Bluetooth Mafia man was Jack's bro. I mean, damn....and when Jack pulled out the lamp cord, I could smell burning Paul Raines. But,as my friend Lisa says, Jack has over 101 uses for a lamp cord!! She also has a theory that the Goddamn paterfamilias of the Bauer clan is who McCarthy is trying to get to hook up the nukes.

Oh, and I totally agree with the Jack love child idea. Nice to see Rena Sofer get out of that wheelchair that Nathan put her in.....

I LOVE Monday nights now!!!!

LOVED the Wes grows up to be Graham comment. So true - that's what the Human Marshmallow will look like when he's old and bald.

Yeah, if that kid turns out to be Jack's kid that's gonna be lame.

President Wayne sucks. So. Much. Ass. The only scenes I'm digging are CTU and Assad scenes. And Assad's about to head to DC - can't wait to see how short that flight is in 24time.

HicksPub Author Profile Page:

Is it wrong for me to giggle like a 6th grader at a torture scene? That was freakin' AWESOME! Go ahead, Jack, and introduce bro to the world of pain.

Romano being Jack's brother is a kick-ass twist, btw. Of course, now I'll have to fire up my Season 5 DVDs to review Graham's many phone conversations.

Rena Sopher, Marisol Nichols...evidently 24 raided the "Blind Justice" cast list bargain bin (sigh, tragic that I know that). It's just a matter of time until Ron Eldard shows up to temporarily replace a misunderstood Bill Buchanan.

Firthguy Author Profile Page:

A little late, but here's the URL on where I found out about PB (Powers Boothe, that is..) 3rd paragraph down.

http://www.torontosun.com/Entertainment/Television/2007/01/24/3438059-sun.html

I agree with Wayne Palmer sucking as the president. I thought my stereo settings were screwed as I could barely hear what the hell he's saying half the time over the background music. Speak Up! And his speech at the end of this episode... Ugh. He sounds like he's either a) constipated, or b) has to go #2 reallllly bad.

Jojobear Author Profile Page:

B-Side - you ROCK! I was thoroughly entertained by your recap!
I can't believe Dr. Romano is Jack's brother! Never saw that coming. I'm sure that boy is Jack's love-child. Is that why Blue-Tooth Man hates him so much? I see that James Cromwell is playing Jack's father. It would have been awesome if they got Donald Sutherland!
I've said from the 1st episode that I think Wayne Palmer is a totally unbelievable Prez. I mean , c'mon, did he hold any other political office before he became the President? And being his older, more awesome brother's errand boy doesn't count! Someone correct me if I'm wrong..
Hopefully we'll see more of Martha and perhaps her loverboy Aaron the Secret Service guy!

livemusicjunkie Author Profile Page:

OMG - LOVE the twist that Romano is Jack's bro - love it even more that Jack isn't taking any crap from him.

Funny that so many of us thought that boy to be Jack's love-child. Now, in a way, I hope he's not...I like the UNpredictable.

btw, Jojobear, I SWORE I heard Kiefer say in an interview that Donald would be in the show this season - so I was shocked when they showed JC. I wonder if something changed.

Palmer 2.0(hilarious btw) "American Public" count = 22, God say something else! Do you remember Marilyn played on Melrose Place and was pure evil.... The role fits her actually. Bauer quote of the day "If you attempt to yell I will rip your tongue out"... something like that!

gamera87 Author Profile Page:

No, Rena Sofer as "Eve" on Melrose Place only went nuts in the final two episodes as a result of recovering lost memories. She was nuts, not "pure evil."

Post a comment

Post a comment

1