Great recap B-Side. I always look foward to them!

I think the season isn't as great as the other ones. It is like every three years, they have to make a sucky season to keep us guessing.

Maybe Mandy will somehow come up with Behrooz and be involved. Life would be grand.

Great re-cap B-Side. I was lawling all the way through it. It was much more entertaining than the actual episode(s). Good thing I get previous seasons of Jack Bauer daily on A&E. It helps me believe that this season can still be salvaged like Day 3 evtually was. Nothing like chopping off limbs to re-gain a viewer's interest!

I concur that Morris is a waste of space and breathable air. I was kinda hoping the terrorists would use that drill on his skull. oh well. At least Milo finally did something viewable and showed some (blue)balls this episode.

What's with the Hilary Swank name-drops? Did I miss something?

Firthguy - Hilary Swank dropped Chad Lowe like a hot potato. Used to be married, aren't anymore.

Hilarious recap. It had all the great elements: a lame president, torture, Chloe sulking, and another broken perimeter.

Love the elf photo (I was wondering who that kid reminded me of, but couldn't quite put my finger on it).

".... hopped in the CTU truck (which may or may not have been a UPS truck at one point)"

Heh. My thoughts exactly.

Why isn't Milo qualified to drive one of those black SUVs? Is it because he's a geek? Unfair!

zombies. or powers booth. that's all we can hope for. b-side, i respect your loyalty; i even share it to some extent. but this season is tanking.

david palmer already had a dastardly chief of staff who, with the cooperation of the e-vil vice president, lost his executive power in a temporary coup d'etat. and, of course, david palmer was assassinated. so, even though i wouldn't mind seeing wayne palmer killed or, at the last, bound, gagged, and left in a closet, 24 has been there, done that. but they're going to do it again. why?

because it's not real life, but, rather, a badly written TV show with plot holes galore.

the only thing more preposterous than CTU not knowing morris was the only guy around who could arm a nuclear weapon was morris actually conceding to arm a nuclear weapon. i don't care how big a pussy morris is--he knew that the only way he was getting out of that room alive was if jack and the gang came crashing through the windows. if i was him, i'd have been insulting abu fayed and his family with every slur imaginable (like that great scene in 'true romance' when dennis hopper taunts christopher walken) so abu fayed would get pissed and just blow me away. if that didn't work, i'd stall for time. why, at the least, didn't morris try to fake abu fayed out by making the device short circuit or something? why?

because it's not real life, but, rather, a badly written TV show with plot holes galore.

why, when jack's sister-in-law gets the intimidating call from philip, doesn't she just level with jack as soon as she hangs up the phone? given that the man just taunted her with the fact that it was he, not jack, who killed her husband (who also happened to be his own eldest son), wouldn't it occur to her that, sooner or later, philip would probably kill her and her little misfit/future dentist anyway?

because it's not real life, but, rather, a badly written TV show with plot holes galore.

how, how, how did abu fayed get out of that building? how could the producers/directors/writers think they could get away with not even explaining how yet another hard perimeter failed to contain a whole gaggle of arabs with suitcase bombs in a shiny black SUV?

because it's not real life, but, rather, a badly written TV show with plot holes galore.

i know every season of 24 has had these head-slapping improbabilities and stupidities (there's actually a viral video circulating with a montage of jack screaming 'DAMMIT!' over and over and over), but for some reason they used to be easier to swallow. maybe it's just that 24 is running out of tricks--you can only kill off so many presidents, after all--or maybe it's that they're not managing the tension very well (this season's minor characters haven't had much to do--there's no equivalent to dina araz or some of the other non-CTU characters from past seasons).

i will not turn away, but i can't stop pointing out the flaws, either, which range from being laughable to insulting. i take offense at the downward spiral of this show because we know the people who produce it are capable of better. i find it highly ironic that, after winning all of those big awards last year, 24 has become cornier and more improbable than old reruns of charlie's angels and 'the a-team' (now THERE's an idea--bring in mr. T for a cameo; couldn't make the show any sillier).

sorry to be a hater; i'm just depressed to see a great show bomb so miserably. i guess 24 is just sort of like babe ruth: home-run or strikeout are pretty much the only options. 24 has a high batting average, so i won't give up on it, but it's looking like it might need to go back to the minors to rediscover its swing.

Nice pep talk at the beginning of the recap, B-Side! I've been disappointed with this season so far, but after reading that, I'm going to be more positive! LOL!
That was some pretty gruesome torture tactics they were applying to Morris. I thought for sure he was toast when they brought him back the CTU infirmary...not many people get out of there alive! And him and Chloe together?? So NOT believable.
This recap was better than the actual episode ! Loved the line about Marilyn's response to Graem's death "Whatevs..do you have a mojito?" LOL!
I wonder what's gonna happen to Palmer 2.0? And that was kinda stupid of him to talk to the VP in front of Assad. All I know is that I can't stand that little elf Tom. So Keebler-esque!
Can anyone tell me what movie or show the actress that played Rita was in? It's driving me nuts...!

Jojobear -

Rita is also Nathan Patrelli's paralyzed wife on Heroes.

..and I'm a complete idiot since I'm not even thinking of the right character. Shows how much 24 is keeping my attention these days.

I thought that with this two-hour episode, 24 at least made a move towards an upswing. There's still hope!

I think Tom isn't involved in the takeover so much as trying to find out what's going on -- he seems loyal, deep down, even if he still is the eccentric little man he was on Ally McBeal. (Best John Cage voice: "I find myself strangely drawn to this president....") That said, though.... yawn....

Since when do we let former terrorists -- or any outsider -- know the location of a Presidential bunker, much less INTO it, much less sit alone with the president? Methinks the secret service is looking for a takeover to happen, too.... But anything Palmer 2.0 related, including subplots with Tom, is a major yawner.

MAJOR, MAJOR PLUS -- No Sistah Palmer in the whole two hours!!!! No Walid!!! Perhaps the 24 gods are hearing us!

Personally, I like Morris, but I have to wonder what rubber-like substance his skin is made off that he could be beaten with baseball bats at length, and then be just bebopping around CTU without so much as a limp. What's in that English tea anyway?

OTOH, his brain is obviously in his shoulder and leaked out the drill hole -- no stalling? He gave him a device that worked? Yeah, Morris, some guilt is rather in order. No worries, though -- we'll just put this recently tortured, mentally-devastated man right back at a CTU terminal.

About turning off the heat sensors and not being able to track a helicopter, um, yeah. Ditto, not being able to chase anyone out of the CTU parking lot.

I do hold out hope that the whole ultra-weird family connection could come to fruit starting in the next ep when Jack realizes Papa Bauer is evil. At the same time, though, what, exactly is Philip hoping to save THE COMPANY for if he kills off all his heirs?

Thank you Firthguy! I've seen her somewhere else too though...guess I'll look it up! Thanks for responding to my question! :)
Wow, it's true that we weren't subjected to Sista Palmer for 2 hours. I like her so much, I didn't even miss her, LOL!

Am I the only one who enjoyed this episode? Sure, it was full of plot holes, but it was a definite improvement upon the rest of the season. Ah well. My uncle just bought the first 5 seasons on DVD, so I'll always have the memories...

No, parttimecynic, you weren't the only one -- as I said above, I thought the show moved in a positive direction with this episode. But as jack says, it's hard not to point out that overall the show's been slipping -- a lot.

One of the reasons, frankly, that this past Monday exceeded a lot of the others is because we just had more of Jack. He's not nearly as present as he has been in past seasons, and I have to wonder if that's been a conscious choice by the people making the show (Kiefer included.). If so, it's the wrong choice, and it leaves us hopping from inane subplot to inane subplot. 24 with Jack onscreen most of the time always equals better 24....

I dont know if I said this in the last recap,but if so I'll say it again. I wonder if the producers are regretting killing off so many good characters last season. We lost Edgar, Michelle, Tony and David Palmer. They should have kept one or two around. I think one reason maybe that this season doesnt seem as good is because so many of our favorite characters are gone. Really, all we have are Jack and Chloe now. I miss Tony :(

To Jojobear (#7):

Rita aka Missy Crider's IMDB page.

Nothing spectacular, but I remember her from the CSI ep she was on.

Great recap, it's been awhile since I've checked in.

Did anyone else notice there was quite a high "DAMMIT" count for hour one of this? Was Keifer trying to get everyone drunk before nine?

I think it might be time to bring on the live webcast 24 drinking game! Every time Jack says, "DAMMIT", he tortures someone, or the CTU phones go "beep, bee-boop" you have to do a shot (of "Jack" - what else?).

Firthguy - isn't Nathan Patrelli also Natalie Maines' paralyzed wife?

Morris was being beated with baseball bats and had a drill into his shoulder ... but still came back to work after an hour or so in CTU medical. Still doesn't beat Tony coming back an hour or two after having his carotid atery sliced open 3 years ago, though...

This show still does some things right ... I liked it when Jack had to steady his hand when disarming the bomb, thought it was a nice touch...

I agree with the whole "LOYTALTY" thing. I get that way with pretty much any show that I've invested in for at least two years. I mean, if you start dropping out now, then they're going to cancel the show early and not even finish the season, then you'll have those of us who were loyal hating you for it!!!

Anyway, I just wanted to point out the look on Jack's face when he realized that Morris gave Fayed "something that works!!!!" It was almost as if he were saying, "I was tortured by the Chinese for two years and you couldn't stnad two minutes you pussy!!!!????" That was awesome!!!

Also, I initially thought the boy was Jack's son, but when I thought about it, Kim is like five years older than him. Now I know he could have cheated on Terry, but he was torn up about sleeping with Nina and Terry and Jack were on a break then. It jsut doesn't seem in his character to cheat on his wife. But that's just me. And it is 24 so who knows?