Monday, March 20, 2006
Tricky Jack
I love it when the show leads you down a certain path and you follow along on your merry way. It's a little dark and foggy but you're a trusting soul. But soon the light becomes dimmer and you find yourself stumbling a little until the light goes out altogether. That's when you fall down a hole.
That's how I felt when I saw the memory chip burst into flame. I freaking fell for it hook, line and sinker. I should know better by now. For years I've been watching Jack and the tricks up his sleeves and I still fell for it :)
Tonight felt like a bit of a calm before the storm - another transitory episode after a tumultuous couple of weeks with beloved characters dying left and right (yes dear fans, you're going to have to accept that Tony is indeed dead. Wishful thinking isn't going to bring him back and this ain't Days of our Lives where the dead rise again and again.) So we had some info to process, the most important being the intel Jack had to get from CTU's only lead in finding Bierko: an intelligence broker named Collette Stenger.
So first we find ourselves staring at Tony's body with a resolved Jack looking on as the sheet is draped over his body. But we're not given much time to grieve because Jack learns some intel was decrypted off Henderson's computer. Collette Stenger had apparently met with Bierko a couple of times in the recent past and she's in town this time. So off Curtis and Jack go to bring her in.
Meanwhile Homeland Security arrives at CTU under the guise of performing assessments of the place after the attack and loss of personnel. But they're really there to "absorb" the agency into Homeland Security and take over everything. Yeesh. Buchanan's not happy about it but reluctantly agrees to go along with the charade.
Logan - or should I say the Vice-President pulling the strings - declared a curfew for L.A. against Martha's wishes. Just after he made the announcement in a presser, Aaron received a surprise phone call from Wayne Palmer of all people. I didn't see that coming either. In fact I was in mid-sentence with my daughter when his mug flashed on the screen. Apparently Wayne has information that comes from David and Aaron's the only one Wayne trusts to give it to. So he gets past the curfew roadblocks and heads to the compound and that's pretty much the last we see of Wayne until the end of the hour.
Back to Jack and Curtis who have arrived at Stenger's hotel. But she's already left and sold her intel to Bierko. Bierko met her at a safe house and so we know by the time Jack gets to Stenger, Bierko won't be at that location anymore. But before she left to meet Bierko she kissed her lover goodbye and they were to meet at the airport in 45 minutes.
As Jack and Curtis scour the hotel, they run in to her lover on the roof who ambushed them. He ambushed them because it turns out he is an undercover German agent named Theo Stoller who's been working Stenger for her contacts for months. And he won't give her up to Jack.
Jack knows he won't be able to torture the info out of Stoller. So he offers a deal: the NSA "wet list" in exchange for Stenger. The wet list is the National Security Agencies top secret list of terrorist contacts worldwide. Compromising that list would be bad. So Jack gets his favourite geek to hack the NSA server covertly (well as covertly as splashing coffee on a guy to get him away from his computer can be) to get the list uploaded to his PDA.
She gets it done and Jack lets Stoller see the list but keeps the memory chip until Stenger in in custody. Now they're working together to get her. (Ok I just paused to admire the weirdness of those last four words I typed: together which is to get her smushed... together. Heheh. Ok yes I'm easily amused.)
As they wait at the airport for Stenger to show up Jack takes a call from CTU that Stoller forces him to put on speaker. Jack has to admit he gave up the wet list which of course pisses off Homeland Security but they have no choice but to let Jack carry on with his mission. Do they ever have a choice? Nope :)
They manage to apprehend Stenger and Stoller leaves with his intel. And then his intel promptly catches on fire because Jack programmed the chip to self-destruct. Hehehe. Jack rocks.
As they interrogate a nonplussed Stenger they realize the intel she can give them isn't much but what she can offer is good enough to warrant an immunity deal. All she knows about what she sold to Bierko is that they were schematics - but to what, she does not know for her own safety. She's just the broker after all. But she knows the source of the schematics and she'll tell Jack once she has a deal.
So we go back towards the compound and find Wayne stuck at a roadblock nearby. The officers there call the compound and the vice-president, Novick and the President hear the call. But we don't find out who okays it so Wayne can come up to the compound. But whomever did doesn't really want him there. A van appears out of nowhere and fires at Wayne causing him to crash. But he gets out of the car and runs off with three guys in black in pursuit.
Back with Jack, he waits for Stenger to confirm the immunity deal. Once she does, she gives up her info. She tells them where she last met Bierko...
and that the source of the intel is...
Audrey Raines.
Tick boom.
That's how I felt when I saw the memory chip burst into flame. I freaking fell for it hook, line and sinker. I should know better by now. For years I've been watching Jack and the tricks up his sleeves and I still fell for it :)
Tonight felt like a bit of a calm before the storm - another transitory episode after a tumultuous couple of weeks with beloved characters dying left and right (yes dear fans, you're going to have to accept that Tony is indeed dead. Wishful thinking isn't going to bring him back and this ain't Days of our Lives where the dead rise again and again.) So we had some info to process, the most important being the intel Jack had to get from CTU's only lead in finding Bierko: an intelligence broker named Collette Stenger.
So first we find ourselves staring at Tony's body with a resolved Jack looking on as the sheet is draped over his body. But we're not given much time to grieve because Jack learns some intel was decrypted off Henderson's computer. Collette Stenger had apparently met with Bierko a couple of times in the recent past and she's in town this time. So off Curtis and Jack go to bring her in.
Meanwhile Homeland Security arrives at CTU under the guise of performing assessments of the place after the attack and loss of personnel. But they're really there to "absorb" the agency into Homeland Security and take over everything. Yeesh. Buchanan's not happy about it but reluctantly agrees to go along with the charade.
Logan - or should I say the Vice-President pulling the strings - declared a curfew for L.A. against Martha's wishes. Just after he made the announcement in a presser, Aaron received a surprise phone call from Wayne Palmer of all people. I didn't see that coming either. In fact I was in mid-sentence with my daughter when his mug flashed on the screen. Apparently Wayne has information that comes from David and Aaron's the only one Wayne trusts to give it to. So he gets past the curfew roadblocks and heads to the compound and that's pretty much the last we see of Wayne until the end of the hour.
Back to Jack and Curtis who have arrived at Stenger's hotel. But she's already left and sold her intel to Bierko. Bierko met her at a safe house and so we know by the time Jack gets to Stenger, Bierko won't be at that location anymore. But before she left to meet Bierko she kissed her lover goodbye and they were to meet at the airport in 45 minutes.
As Jack and Curtis scour the hotel, they run in to her lover on the roof who ambushed them. He ambushed them because it turns out he is an undercover German agent named Theo Stoller who's been working Stenger for her contacts for months. And he won't give her up to Jack.
Jack knows he won't be able to torture the info out of Stoller. So he offers a deal: the NSA "wet list" in exchange for Stenger. The wet list is the National Security Agencies top secret list of terrorist contacts worldwide. Compromising that list would be bad. So Jack gets his favourite geek to hack the NSA server covertly (well as covertly as splashing coffee on a guy to get him away from his computer can be) to get the list uploaded to his PDA.
She gets it done and Jack lets Stoller see the list but keeps the memory chip until Stenger in in custody. Now they're working together to get her. (Ok I just paused to admire the weirdness of those last four words I typed: together which is to get her smushed... together. Heheh. Ok yes I'm easily amused.)
As they wait at the airport for Stenger to show up Jack takes a call from CTU that Stoller forces him to put on speaker. Jack has to admit he gave up the wet list which of course pisses off Homeland Security but they have no choice but to let Jack carry on with his mission. Do they ever have a choice? Nope :)
They manage to apprehend Stenger and Stoller leaves with his intel. And then his intel promptly catches on fire because Jack programmed the chip to self-destruct. Hehehe. Jack rocks.
As they interrogate a nonplussed Stenger they realize the intel she can give them isn't much but what she can offer is good enough to warrant an immunity deal. All she knows about what she sold to Bierko is that they were schematics - but to what, she does not know for her own safety. She's just the broker after all. But she knows the source of the schematics and she'll tell Jack once she has a deal.
So we go back towards the compound and find Wayne stuck at a roadblock nearby. The officers there call the compound and the vice-president, Novick and the President hear the call. But we don't find out who okays it so Wayne can come up to the compound. But whomever did doesn't really want him there. A van appears out of nowhere and fires at Wayne causing him to crash. But he gets out of the car and runs off with three guys in black in pursuit.
Back with Jack, he waits for Stenger to confirm the immunity deal. Once she does, she gives up her info. She tells them where she last met Bierko...
and that the source of the intel is...
Audrey Raines.
Tick boom.
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20 Comments:
How can it be Audrey?
Holy Crap!! Audrey???!! Audrey?!
WTF? very Interesting.... hmmm...
and many more exclamations that are falling out of my mouth.
Love the self-destructing chip!! Oh yea! He is not only a superhero.. he can program chips to do do amazing things!! Smarty! Jack does rock!!
I loved Tony... I am sad. So whi is it in the administration that is out to get Wayne? Could it be the VP? I bet so. What could Wayne possibly know that would be of interest to the Administration? Maybe that there is someone BAD in the cabinet? Hmmmm.... Once again... Holy CRAP!!
AUDREY??? HOW??
god jack has to learn anyone he gets together with, after Teri's death turns out to be a mole. Except Kate Warner
GOD!!!
This comment has been removed by the author.
Seriously a great episode, leading up to what can be an even better one. Jack needs a mental breakdown somewhere next season. Seriously. It can really thicken the the plot.
~IceFox
First of all, I do NOT believe that Tony A. is dead. He would not, and can not go that quietly into the good night. Come back Tony, don't look into the light. Also, Audrey, I thought I knew ya?. What is with that? She is a blue blood, but there is a character flaw in her bloodline, remember her brother? If she is dirty, the writers of this show so totally rock, that it blows my mind. I think that when the writers sit around drinking their Starbucks, they just see who can be the most outrageous, and which character they can milk for just a little more blood. Watch out Audrey, William Devane just might come back and spank his little girl.
The whole Audrey thing is either a tease or an absurd and redundant storyline that won't be believable and will make me really upset, because Audrey is one of the only characters I feel a connection to who hasn't been killed yet!
I'm also thinking the Audrey thing is a set-up. But honestly, I'm still in shock over Tony's death. realize it's a free-for-all, but the writers are working pretty hard at losing the fan base!
My guess is that Stenger got her info from someone pretending to be Audrey. Afterall, just two weeks ago, McGill's keycard was altered to allow one of the terrorists into CTU to release the nerve gas.
I personally don't believe Audrey knowingly or intentionally sold information to terrorists. She's too straight-laced for that. I'm not one of these crazy fangirls who refuse to believe their favourite character could ever possibly do anything bad... (not that Audrey is my favourite character, but anyway) I simply don't think it follows suit from everything we know of her and how she conducts herself that she'd simply sell information for financial gain.
We see how averted to Jack she became after last season when she saw what he had to do to keep the country safe. Terrorists are the people who made the man she loved do the things he did. In a matter of speaking; Terrorists ruined her life. Would she really sell information to them? I think this is a classic 24 ploy to make you believe that something heinous and unbelievable has happened, only to discover nothing is quite as it seems. I'm looking forward to next week to see what 24 the creators have up their sleeve for Jack and Audrey.
Now on an entirely different note, of which I'm probably in the minority, but I felt more distraught about Edgar's death than Tony's.
Edgar's felt more tragic because there was so much left unsaid with Edgar; his possible feelings for Chloe for one. He was someone who had never really had the chance to speak out and really shine. We knew very little about him, but enough to know he had a lot of his life left to live. So to die so pointlessly without ever getting the chance to resolve his character was harder hitting than when Tony died, to me. I mean, here is a man who has lost everything. We've already seen what happens to Tony without Michelle-- do we really want that for Tony again? Isn't death a kinder fate for his character? A character who is now redundant to be honest. He's left CTU and it's not like he'd come back. 24 isn't the kind of show where people can just go off and live happily ever after. Take one look at Kim Bauer and you'll see what I mean.
I think Jack probably envies Tony on some level... Jack couldn't let himself die after Teri's death because of Kim. But we all knew he wanted to die, and when he found an excuse that he felt was good enough to leave Kim behind, he had to face some harsh home truths to be talked out of it.
Tony felt he had no one to live for, and his last words prove to me that is exactly what he was thinking as he drew his last breath.
I doubt the mole is Audrey, but someone posing as Audrey. Mandy? Marie Warner? Kim Bauer?! Perhaps that was the thing Henderson was talking about when he said 'you don't want to know'. Perhaps Kim felt the country to which both her parents 'gave their lives' had not done anything for her lately and Henderson warped it to use her in this whole plot. It's just not plausible to think AUdrey did it. For one thing, Audrey would never have told them about Stenger. And even if she had, she would have either killed or tipped off Collette before any CTU agents could move on her. A mole would not allow themselves to be compromised that easily. Come one, people, it's a swerve.
I really wish Tony didn't have to die, but Michelle is dead and he has no real reason to go on. And even if they had not been carbombed that morning, what good would it have done for them to once again walk in off the street and help CTU. If that were the case then why'd they ever leave? Truly a bum rap for Tony, and I wish he had gone out better than he did.
I'm in a fight with a co-worker, he doesnt think that audrey was in pain when they were torturing her last night and claims that her screaming and crying were a result of her mental anguish not any physical pain- can someone clarify? thank you!
Anonymous,
Audrey was surely in pain. That particular type of torture is illegal unless specially sanctioned due to the extreme physical pain that it causes. Your coworker doesn't know "jack"...
Read Below: This is in response to saying that I don't know "jack". Sodium Pentothal (which is what they used, it's written on the bottle containing the drug) has the opposite effect of causing pain, it is an anesthesia. She was upset and freaking out, but the drug itself did not cause her pain. So much for JackSuperFan knowing anything.
"In Season 5, she was implicated in the ongoing terrorist attacks by Collette Stenger, a terrorist collaborator, who said that Audrey supplied her with building schematics to sell to Vladimir Bierko. She was soon cleared of wrongdoing - Christopher Henderson had ordered that Audrey's name be intentionally leaked to CTU in order to throw Jack Bauer off the trail - but not before being subjected to a medical interrogation involving Sodium Pentothal, the same drug used to torture Henderson and murder Tony Almeida. Bauer helped to clear Audrey of any suspicion. She was not immediately put back to work, despite the fact that she was only given one dose of the torturing chemical."
Blah blah blabbity blah... You are clearly of sub-par intelligence and clearly do not have the brain power to work at a first rate facility like CTU. You are more likely to get a job as a janitor or garbage man. The line that you give yourself does you in... "only given one dose of the torturing chemical..." Sounds bad doesn't it? Sure it is a sedative, but it causes extreme pain, which by the way Audrey acted out beautifully! It is a pain so horrible your skin feels as if it is falling off. It is a pain, your lack of understanding simple facts causes me...
JackSuperFan, you are an Internet loser. Do yourself a nerdy favor and Google Sodium Pentothal. If you are able to read you'll see that you're a fool. A fool in lover with Jack Bauer.
Oi less of the catfights and more of the show comments okiedokie? I have to deal with enough of this stuff at work, I don't want it in my blog too.
Ta.
Oh what a marvelous episode yet again, as we are filled with more creative plotline and clever twists of fate! I can't help but wonder a few things though! One, will Buchanen suffer for Audrey's false confession?!!! Lord I pray not since he is a wonderfully stoic man among men during such hard times! Also, I wonder if our dear dear new friend "anonymous" was able to understand the widdle widdle tiny bits of information about this episode. As we all remember, "anonymous" is so slow that he/she, or more accurately he-she, can't tell the difference of such easy things as the difference between a code 3 and a level 3 warning! Fear not new friend, as we'll always be here to spell everything out for you in words you can understand.
JackSuperFan, you are a poo poo head.
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