Monday, January 15, 2007
"I can't do this anymore." 8am - 10am
I'm gutted. In all the time I've been watching this show I've been enthralled by Jack's journey. That's what keeps me into this show. Sure the action is great. Lots of things blow up, good shootouts, but I'm a girl. I like the raw emotion on this show best of all.
But in all this time I don't think I've ever cried. I've been moved. I've been excited and scared, happy and shocked - but no tears. Until tonight. And I'm a softie. I'm the one at the movies sniffeling and searching for kleenex.
But when I watched the look on Curtis' face tonight, when I saw what it did to Jack, I lost it. Like a girl, I cried. Feel free to mock me, don't care :) but damn that was some fine television tonight.
So on with the recap!
In the 8am-9am hour we had a lot to get through. I think it was an exposition epi. So, Right off the bat, Fayed demands Palmer release 110 "freedom fighters" from Palmdale detention facility in exchange for a cease fire. But there's an ulterior motive we'll discover soon.
Jack and Assad continue to track Bomber handler. He's getting on Route 7 and they can't follow without being spotted. Chloe can't get satellite up in time so jack, thinking quickly, steals an suv, crashes into bomber handler's car and acts like crazy white racist guy so that Assad can step in and offer a lift to bomber handler to his destination.
Back in Suburbia, Ahmed brings Scott back to his home at gunpoint and forces the mother to bandage a wounded leg. He's bleeding too much so he holds Scott and mom at gunpoint and forces the father to deliver Fayed's package.
Cut back to Jack who is back in contact with CTU as he follows Assad. You know, the whole car crash thing was pretty damn slick.
In D.C., Palmer orders the prisoners to be loaded onto buses against Karen's recommendation. There's no time to dither over whether we should bow to terroristic demands. The buses will take the prisoners to a large transport plane where they will be flown out of the country. Fayed monitors the transfer.
Assad is still riding with the bomber handler.
Jack's awful perky for someone in such bad shape 2 hours ago. Must be adrenaline.
Curtis has "issues" with Assad. As he and Jack talk during the ride, Curtis is visibly angered that he has to work with Assad. Jack is suspicious.
Back in Suburbia again, Scott is told to get more painkillers for Ahmed. He slips a knife in his hand while Ahmed is cringing in pain but when he gives the painkillers to him, he's unable to bring himself to use it.
In the Oval Office, Palmer finds out his sis was arrested. He's irked but distracted by the larger issues at hand.
I get an alert that Shorty Greasy Spot-spot won the golden globe instead of Kiefer. Boo hiss.
Palmer's sister and her bf Walid Al-Rezani (head of the IIA) are taken to a detention facility that looks weirdly like an elementary school I went to in SoCal and I had an awful flashback of this horrid little boy who hit me in the mouth with a bicycle pump because I beat him to the drinking fountain, the slow little monkey. Palmer releases his sister but Walid must stay and he gets pulled aside to be interrogated. Sandra is pissed.
Oh I love Chloe so much. Smartassiness in full effect with Nadia as they work on tracking Assad after he lets the guy out at a storage facility. Curtis and Jack meet up with Assad. Curtis has Assad arrested. Jack promises to "take care of it." Assad goes peacefully.
Bomber enters one of the storage areas and takes out a laptop. CTU orders him to be taken in. Suspect spots CTU approaching and blows himself up.
Palmer orders prisoners loaded onto a plane.
Back we go to Scott's father, Ray delivers the package which turns out to be money. The guy who takes the package says it's not enough money which panics the dad. He calls Ahmed to tell him the sitch but Ahmed tells him to do what he has to do. So, you know, dad goes bonkers and beats up the guy by pounding his head into the cement floor until dead. He takes the package Ahmed was supposed to bring to Fayed, which is a device of some kind.
Chloe is able to pull off some stuff off bomber handler's blown up laptop which points to a nuclear weapon (Jack please stop saying 'noo-cue-ler'. It bugs me.) A weapon that can be activated by.. wait for it... one of the prisoners Palmer has just released. The bombings were all an elaborate scheme to get this bloke released.
They try to get to him before the plane full of prisoners takes off, but sneaky boy never left the transport bus. The guard was corrupt and working for Fayed.
Tick boom.
9am - 10pm
This hour's gonna be hard :(
Capturing Namir, the escaped prisoner becomes CTU's #1 priority. Once he gets to Fayed he'll be able to activate some old Soviet suitcase nukes. Thousands can die - hundreds of thousands depending on radiation according to the estimates.
Back at CTU, Morris and Milo can't play nice together for some reason. But it's kind of funny to watch their little pissing match. Adds a bit of levity which gets better in just a little bit.
Palmer makes Jack in charge of the search for Fayed despite Jack's protest that he doesn't think he's up for it. Wayne presses him and gets him to agree. Curtis is still rankling at having to work with Assad and Jack thinks there's a history there so he asks Chloe to look into it on the sly. Jack's hand looks gross. I wonder what was done to it.
Escaped prisoner Namir meets up with Fayed and awaits the device that Scott's father is bringing.
But Scott's father calls Ahmed and tells him he will not deliver the package until he lets his family go. Ahmed says he will release one and to choose. Scott's father chooses Scott so Ahmed releases his wife. Pretty slick actually. Despite Scott's father's protest, he tells him that he just showed Ahmed who he values the most. So he will keep a hold on him. The wife gets out and calls her husband. He tells her he will deliver the package and they will have to hope Ahmed won't kill Scott. He tells her not to call the cops. But she does. Of course.
Chloe's a ho. :) The pissing contest between Milo and Morris is because she dated Milo before she got back with Morris and Morris was jealous. Tee hee.
Scott's mom got connected to Jack. Lucky girl. CTU tells Jack to follow up the lead because the mother knew Fayed's name so it seems credible.
Palmer gives immunity to Assad. Curtis is not happy about it.
Palmer's sister calls to speak to Wayne but gets Weasly Tom. She threatens him about Walid's arrest. Checking in with Walid, he ends up in a courtyard with other detainees and overhears a convo in arabic between two others in the courtyard. He recognizes the phrase but isn't sure what it means. Later, he is able to meet with Sandra and he tells her to pass on the phrase.
Ray delivers the package to Fayed and Fayed keeps Ray as a hostage. He tells Ahmed to leave the Wallace house and kill the boy. Bummer. Namir begins attaching the device to the suitcase nuke.
Jack arrives in Suburbia and rescues Scott just before Ahmed is about to shoot him in the head. Ahmed is shot in the ensuing shootout but it's ok, Scott (Isn't he the kid who played Jack's son on Will & Grace?) remembered the address in Valencia Ahmed sent his father to and Jack calls it in.
Jack and Curtis talk about the deal Assad made with the President that gives him total immunity for all his past crimes. Curtis is stoic about it but you can tell he's pissed. It's then that Chloe calls Jack. Curtis and Assad do indeed have a connex. Curtis' squad in Desert Storm was ambushed by Assad's men. Assad left Curtis for dead and executed two members of his squad in a brutal way, after making them beg for their lives.
When Jack discovers this info he looks around and sees Curtis is nowhere to be found. He runs outside and finds Curtis has grabbed Assad and has him by the throat. He's threatening him. Jack pulls his weapon on Curtis and tries his best to defuse the situation. But Curtis is blinded by rage. He gets behind Assad and holds the gun to his head. he yells at Jack that he can't let Assad get away with it. Just when you think Curtis might see that he can't do this, he steels himself to pull the trigger anyway.
But Jack is faster.
Jack is forced to shoot Curtis in the neck.
God. It was awful. Awful. I don't have the words to convey the shock I felt at this moment. The look on Curtis face as he slowly sank to the ground and died is burned into my mind. And I cried. And I continued to cry as I watched Jack react to what he'd just done. He broke. He broke down. He threw up. He dropped to his knees and sobbed. It was excruciating. It was amazing.
Then Jack's phone rang. Buchanan calling to comfort Jack and try to make sure he continues his work. "I can't do this any more." Says a tired, emotionally drained Jack. Bill says he's sending a car. But Jack's done. He hangs up and loses it again.
Cutting to Fayed's location, CTU has a team infiltrating the area to try and stop them. As they break into the area, Namir hurriedly finishes assembling the device. The president and CTU follow the progress of the takedown live. They watch in abject horror as Namir manages, amid the gunplay, to flip the switch that detonates the nuke.
Blinding light interrupts Jack's misery and he stares in horror as a mushroom cloud forms in Valencia. CTU and the everyone in the Oval Office are dumbfounded as they watch the aftermath of the bomb. Palmer tells Karen to mobilize everyone who needs mobilizing but she's shocked.
And that's the end.
I'm still in a bit of shock myself. And drained. To bed I go. G'night all. See you next week!
But in all this time I don't think I've ever cried. I've been moved. I've been excited and scared, happy and shocked - but no tears. Until tonight. And I'm a softie. I'm the one at the movies sniffeling and searching for kleenex.
But when I watched the look on Curtis' face tonight, when I saw what it did to Jack, I lost it. Like a girl, I cried. Feel free to mock me, don't care :) but damn that was some fine television tonight.
So on with the recap!
In the 8am-9am hour we had a lot to get through. I think it was an exposition epi. So, Right off the bat, Fayed demands Palmer release 110 "freedom fighters" from Palmdale detention facility in exchange for a cease fire. But there's an ulterior motive we'll discover soon.
Jack and Assad continue to track Bomber handler. He's getting on Route 7 and they can't follow without being spotted. Chloe can't get satellite up in time so jack, thinking quickly, steals an suv, crashes into bomber handler's car and acts like crazy white racist guy so that Assad can step in and offer a lift to bomber handler to his destination.
Back in Suburbia, Ahmed brings Scott back to his home at gunpoint and forces the mother to bandage a wounded leg. He's bleeding too much so he holds Scott and mom at gunpoint and forces the father to deliver Fayed's package.
Cut back to Jack who is back in contact with CTU as he follows Assad. You know, the whole car crash thing was pretty damn slick.
In D.C., Palmer orders the prisoners to be loaded onto buses against Karen's recommendation. There's no time to dither over whether we should bow to terroristic demands. The buses will take the prisoners to a large transport plane where they will be flown out of the country. Fayed monitors the transfer.
Assad is still riding with the bomber handler.
Jack's awful perky for someone in such bad shape 2 hours ago. Must be adrenaline.
Curtis has "issues" with Assad. As he and Jack talk during the ride, Curtis is visibly angered that he has to work with Assad. Jack is suspicious.
Back in Suburbia again, Scott is told to get more painkillers for Ahmed. He slips a knife in his hand while Ahmed is cringing in pain but when he gives the painkillers to him, he's unable to bring himself to use it.
In the Oval Office, Palmer finds out his sis was arrested. He's irked but distracted by the larger issues at hand.
I get an alert that Shorty Greasy Spot-spot won the golden globe instead of Kiefer. Boo hiss.
Palmer's sister and her bf Walid Al-Rezani (head of the IIA) are taken to a detention facility that looks weirdly like an elementary school I went to in SoCal and I had an awful flashback of this horrid little boy who hit me in the mouth with a bicycle pump because I beat him to the drinking fountain, the slow little monkey. Palmer releases his sister but Walid must stay and he gets pulled aside to be interrogated. Sandra is pissed.
Oh I love Chloe so much. Smartassiness in full effect with Nadia as they work on tracking Assad after he lets the guy out at a storage facility. Curtis and Jack meet up with Assad. Curtis has Assad arrested. Jack promises to "take care of it." Assad goes peacefully.
Bomber enters one of the storage areas and takes out a laptop. CTU orders him to be taken in. Suspect spots CTU approaching and blows himself up.
Palmer orders prisoners loaded onto a plane.
Back we go to Scott's father, Ray delivers the package which turns out to be money. The guy who takes the package says it's not enough money which panics the dad. He calls Ahmed to tell him the sitch but Ahmed tells him to do what he has to do. So, you know, dad goes bonkers and beats up the guy by pounding his head into the cement floor until dead. He takes the package Ahmed was supposed to bring to Fayed, which is a device of some kind.
Chloe is able to pull off some stuff off bomber handler's blown up laptop which points to a nuclear weapon (Jack please stop saying 'noo-cue-ler'. It bugs me.) A weapon that can be activated by.. wait for it... one of the prisoners Palmer has just released. The bombings were all an elaborate scheme to get this bloke released.
They try to get to him before the plane full of prisoners takes off, but sneaky boy never left the transport bus. The guard was corrupt and working for Fayed.
Tick boom.
9am - 10pm
This hour's gonna be hard :(
Capturing Namir, the escaped prisoner becomes CTU's #1 priority. Once he gets to Fayed he'll be able to activate some old Soviet suitcase nukes. Thousands can die - hundreds of thousands depending on radiation according to the estimates.
Back at CTU, Morris and Milo can't play nice together for some reason. But it's kind of funny to watch their little pissing match. Adds a bit of levity which gets better in just a little bit.
Palmer makes Jack in charge of the search for Fayed despite Jack's protest that he doesn't think he's up for it. Wayne presses him and gets him to agree. Curtis is still rankling at having to work with Assad and Jack thinks there's a history there so he asks Chloe to look into it on the sly. Jack's hand looks gross. I wonder what was done to it.
Escaped prisoner Namir meets up with Fayed and awaits the device that Scott's father is bringing.
But Scott's father calls Ahmed and tells him he will not deliver the package until he lets his family go. Ahmed says he will release one and to choose. Scott's father chooses Scott so Ahmed releases his wife. Pretty slick actually. Despite Scott's father's protest, he tells him that he just showed Ahmed who he values the most. So he will keep a hold on him. The wife gets out and calls her husband. He tells her he will deliver the package and they will have to hope Ahmed won't kill Scott. He tells her not to call the cops. But she does. Of course.
Chloe's a ho. :) The pissing contest between Milo and Morris is because she dated Milo before she got back with Morris and Morris was jealous. Tee hee.
Scott's mom got connected to Jack. Lucky girl. CTU tells Jack to follow up the lead because the mother knew Fayed's name so it seems credible.
Palmer gives immunity to Assad. Curtis is not happy about it.
Palmer's sister calls to speak to Wayne but gets Weasly Tom. She threatens him about Walid's arrest. Checking in with Walid, he ends up in a courtyard with other detainees and overhears a convo in arabic between two others in the courtyard. He recognizes the phrase but isn't sure what it means. Later, he is able to meet with Sandra and he tells her to pass on the phrase.
Ray delivers the package to Fayed and Fayed keeps Ray as a hostage. He tells Ahmed to leave the Wallace house and kill the boy. Bummer. Namir begins attaching the device to the suitcase nuke.
Jack arrives in Suburbia and rescues Scott just before Ahmed is about to shoot him in the head. Ahmed is shot in the ensuing shootout but it's ok, Scott (Isn't he the kid who played Jack's son on Will & Grace?) remembered the address in Valencia Ahmed sent his father to and Jack calls it in.
Jack and Curtis talk about the deal Assad made with the President that gives him total immunity for all his past crimes. Curtis is stoic about it but you can tell he's pissed. It's then that Chloe calls Jack. Curtis and Assad do indeed have a connex. Curtis' squad in Desert Storm was ambushed by Assad's men. Assad left Curtis for dead and executed two members of his squad in a brutal way, after making them beg for their lives.
When Jack discovers this info he looks around and sees Curtis is nowhere to be found. He runs outside and finds Curtis has grabbed Assad and has him by the throat. He's threatening him. Jack pulls his weapon on Curtis and tries his best to defuse the situation. But Curtis is blinded by rage. He gets behind Assad and holds the gun to his head. he yells at Jack that he can't let Assad get away with it. Just when you think Curtis might see that he can't do this, he steels himself to pull the trigger anyway.
But Jack is faster.
Jack is forced to shoot Curtis in the neck.
God. It was awful. Awful. I don't have the words to convey the shock I felt at this moment. The look on Curtis face as he slowly sank to the ground and died is burned into my mind. And I cried. And I continued to cry as I watched Jack react to what he'd just done. He broke. He broke down. He threw up. He dropped to his knees and sobbed. It was excruciating. It was amazing.
Then Jack's phone rang. Buchanan calling to comfort Jack and try to make sure he continues his work. "I can't do this any more." Says a tired, emotionally drained Jack. Bill says he's sending a car. But Jack's done. He hangs up and loses it again.
Cutting to Fayed's location, CTU has a team infiltrating the area to try and stop them. As they break into the area, Namir hurriedly finishes assembling the device. The president and CTU follow the progress of the takedown live. They watch in abject horror as Namir manages, amid the gunplay, to flip the switch that detonates the nuke.
Blinding light interrupts Jack's misery and he stares in horror as a mushroom cloud forms in Valencia. CTU and the everyone in the Oval Office are dumbfounded as they watch the aftermath of the bomb. Palmer tells Karen to mobilize everyone who needs mobilizing but she's shocked.
And that's the end.
I'm still in a bit of shock myself. And drained. To bed I go. G'night all. See you next week!
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16 Comments:
wow...don't know what to say. shit's gone wrong before, but never like this. usually a few people die and everything works out. this is going to be a tough season. i don't think its going to go as well as it usually does for jack and the crew. luckily(and i use the term VERY loosely, Fayed and his main henchmen were wiped out in the nuclear blast. sadly, there are still 4 more "visitors" out there, and god only knows where they'll get used. i'm thinking this could be the season to end all seasons. palmer is a goodie, but he's not a political powerhouse like his brother was, and the adviser has me worried. this season is getting scary, and 24 doesn't usually scare me. suspense yes, true fear, no. that all changed with the flick of a switch.
Woah. That was an amazing 2 hours. Im posting from a Wiiii (yes, I need multiple i`s) so i`ll post a lot more in the morning, but wow.
→IceFox
wow
I believe Fayed got far enough away to survive{3/4 mile is far enough for the blast, and then you can ourun the fallout in on a bicycle}
on another note, this afternoon i went to the grocery, a muslim looking cabbie stole my parking place, and I was angrier than usual. Probably a feeling from the show 24. Hope this doesn become usual.
Fayad was gone way before the explosion..if you remember he got on a van while on the phone with ahmed when he told him to kill the boy to tie up all lose ends.
There are 4 remaining nuclear suitcase bombs...but if they had to go through so much trouble to get this one programmer and part for the first one...both of which went kablooie...how are they going to detonate the other 4. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.
And with the silent clock...we dont know for sure if Curtis is dead...I'm sure he is but they havent said it yet..Remember Tony didnt get the clock because the writers wanted people to think "is he dead or maybe still has a chance."
Curtis is dead. His profile on the official site lists him as deceased :(
Not every major character who buys it gets the silent clock and while I loved Curtis, if you think about it, his role on the show wasn't much beyond backup for Jack. He headed ops but beyond that there was never much of a plot involving him (like there was with Mason and even Edgar.)
So I can see why no silent clock for Curtis. Shame though because his revenge-streak aside, he could have been another Jack Bauer.
I must have missed the bit where Fayad left in a van. Here I was recalling that Assad said Fayad's network would fall apart without him, so if Fayad died in the blast, who would be left do detonate the other nukes?
Of course, this being 24 with only 4 hours into the new day, there are still rungs up the ladder of evil masterminds to progress before we get to the real baddie and the shadowy outlines of the plot are unveiled. Perhaps at some point we'll see the group of men who were controlling Pres. Weasel from last season.
It's hard for me to take Peter MacNichol (Thomas Lennox, the President's evil underling) very seriously. My wife used to watch Ally McBeal when it was on, and every time I see MacNichol I have an image of him using a remote control to flush the toilet before going into the bathroom and saying in a conspiratorial voice, "I prefer a clean bowl."
Why couldn't have Jack shot Karen Hayes instead. . .
Afraid to say it kids, but Melia is right, Curtis is indeed dead, a damn shame too. This comes directly from the official 24 website recap: "Curtis is about to shoot Assad but Jack intervenes by killing Curtis in order to save Assad’s life"
The episode ended with Jack on his hands and knees crying while saying I cant do this anymore, and then watches a nuke go off. Only 20 more hours to go buddy...
By the way, everyone should watch the tribute to Curtis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ysMghAZdhY
Don't be ashamed, Melia. Last year, I wept when Edgar bought it. And I'm a guy. I really wasn't expecting it and the way it happened was just so unsettling.
This time, though, I could see Curtis' death coming a mile away. The first thing that got my attention was him being listed as a "guest star" for this season. Then the multiple clues about him having some kind of history with Assad made me sure that he would blow up and do something stupid soon, which would probably either result in him being sent home or killed. Nonetheless, it was quite depressing anyway. And poor Jack. His reaction afterwards was very well-acted and memorable.
As for Fayed, yeah, he was miles away when the nuke went off. He's definitely still alive.
That preview was something else. I can't wait for next week (or maybe later?) when Jack confronts the guy who was the head of the Patriots / Wisemen / Blue Tooth Group from last year. I'm really curious how they tie into all this.
Chris, remember that talking about spoilers, and that includes scenes from next week, gives Melia the vapors. We want her rested and ready for what comes next, so don't give her agita by talking about previews! ;)
Hee hee... Vapors...
Talk about gut-wrenching. The guy who played Curtis deserves some kind of award for that scene. I'm not real emotional while watching this show (except for when Jack offed Nina) but that scene hit me hard and stunned me into silence and that isn't easy to do. This show is so good at finding previously unknown actors who can flat out act and draw us in to feeling that the whole thing is real.
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I wonder why everyone is so focused on the whole silent clock thing. Curtis did not die right before a break, so how should he get a clock at all? David Palmer did not get one too because of it.
I think a silent clock is nice, if it fits into the whole context. With Curtis it didn't.
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