Monday, February 05, 2007
"We're the same!" 12pm-1pm
Whew! Very intense stuff tonight boys and girls. This episode actually made me question whether I should be letting my daughter watch this with me. When I mentioned this to her, I got the eye roll and the, "Oh mom." She's 15. She's seen it all apparently.
Still, there's something sort of disturbing about watching a man torture his own brother for information - a brother Jack obviously cares about despite the long separation (and please oh please writers of 24, are you ever going to fill in this backstory for me? Why the Big Rift in the family? Did I miss a Very Special 24 when Jack flashes back on the Big Bad that caused his blood family to fall apart?)
Well, on with the recap. I'll speak more about the torturing of Graem (I guess I've been spelling his name wrong all this time. Oh well) later. And as a side note, I'm using my daughter's weird laptop t write this, and I'm typoing all over the place. So if any slip through, forgive me. I do know how to spell. Honest.
So we open with Wayne Palmer solemnly watching news reports of the bomb blast when the snivelly snit Tom comes in sputtering platitudes about Karen's resignation. Palmer's not having any of it. So Tom moves on to pushing his agenda again, asking Wayne to reconsider his decision on it. His argument is convincing really, using Fayed's attacks as proof his way of restricting freedoms is the best way. Palmer wavers and asks him to convene the cabinet to discuss it.
At CTU, Bill speaks to Karen and learns about her resignation and that she's on her way to CTU. She refuses to be specific on her resigning and Bill immediately realizes Tom had something to do with it. She won't discuss it though. As Bill tries to call Karen back. Chloe interrupts to tell him Jack's not answering.
Meanwhile, Graem is back at his house and Jack and his father are chained up in a van on their way to be "disposed of." Phillip tries to tell Jack why he's tried to "clean up" after Graem. He says that after Jack left, Graem was all he had left. The company they run was supposed to be "all for Jack." But Jack left. Or something. This is where the backstory gets hazy for me.
As the henchman lead Jack and Phillip to a big hole in the ground with a cement mixer nearby, Phillip distracts one while Jack takes out the other. Phillip grabs a gun and kills them both which pisses Jack off. He wanted to question them. Irritated, Jack gets a cell phone from one of the lackeys and calls in to CTU. He fills Bill in on the details of everything that happened. His next move is to get to Graem's house and recapture him. Bill makes the arrangements and they head off.
British Bloke (whom I've now discovered is actually the McCarthy Jack is looking for. I didn't catch that before) calls Fayed and says he found an engineer. He sends a file to Fayed and says that the engineer will need to be coerced. CTU manages to intercept the call and a corrupted image from the file McCarthy sent. Morris is assigned to recovering the photo using a salvage utility.
Back at Graem's, Jack busts in and has Graem prepped for questioning. Graem's wife, Marilyn has a cow about it all in the kitchen (man this actress has got some gorgeous eyes).) Jack tells her to stop looking at him like this whole thing has something to do with "us." I guess this means confirmation there was some kind of affair. Maybe that caused the Big Rift. Who knows :(
Jack spells out what's going on for her and she blows up at him. She says, "I've seen what happens when you try to protect people!" which causes Jack to flinch. A lingering stare later, and Marilyn and Josh are taken back to CTU.
And now, to the torture. As Jack begins to interrogate Graem, Graem says he just panicked and was trying to cover his ass. Jack presses him on the location of McCarthy but Graem won't budge. Jack torture buddy heads out to a van to get the "interrogation package" AKA the Silver Briefcase of Pain.
As they get set up, Milo takes Chloe aside and tells her that Morris' brother was taken to hospital with severe radiation poisoning. Chloe wants to tell Morris but Milo tries to talk her out of it. They need the data in that image and Morris is working on it. But Chloe prevails and tells Morris about his brother. He freaks a little and starts to leave for the hospital. But Chloe convinces him to stay and do his job.
At Graem's, Jack learns about the intercepted call to Fayed. And thus begins the scary torture. Jack orders his assistant to inject 2cc's of a neural pain-inducing drug I didn't catch the name of. Graem screams in pain and Jack is nearly about to lose it himself. Hearing his brother's screams is having a bad effect on him. Is he reliving his own torture in China? Does having to inflict pain on his own brother push Jack over the edge? Very nearly. As Jack orders another 2cc's he holds Graem, almost hugging him, trying to absorb some of the pain himself while screaming at him to tell him what he wants to know. Graem continues screaming and not talking. Jack orders another 4cc's which is the limit.
Graem caves and blurts out that what he's holding back has nothing to do with the nukes. He confesses that he was the one who ordered David Palmer's assassination. He ordered the deaths of Tony and Michelle. He lured Jack out of hiding to take the fall for Palmer's death. He orchestrated the whole. damn. thing.
Stunned, Jack back away, tears in his eyes.
"Why?" he asks softly.
"Because I love my country!" screams Graem. He says that in th real worl sometimes you have to do bad things, unspeakable things. And Jack ought to know this.
"We're the same!" he screams at him. This sets Jack off and he whips out his gun and screams, "WE ARE NOT THE SAME!" at Graem. He shouts at his assistant to shoot him up with more pain, but the assistant can't do it. He calls for backup and we have a standoff between Jack on the field agents as Jack struggles to regain control of himself.
Jack's father steps into the doorway and his presence has a calming effect on Jack and he holsters his weapon.
And after that intenseness, we're shown a hospital room where Walid is recovering. He is ashamed for spying on those men. Sandra receives a call from Wayne and she breaks down about how scared she is and how frightening it was in the detention center as these men's rights were stripped She tells Wayne that he is detaining the men whose help they need the most.
After this call, Wayne heads off to his briefing with the cabinet.
At CTU, Morris downloads works on the image which is nearly done and Jack fills Bill in on what happened with Graem. He is also dumbfounded at the revelations. He sends a chopper for Jack and as he waits, he goes to have a quiet moment with his father.
Phillip tells Jack he deserved a better family. All that time they lost... What he wouldn't give to have some of it back. "Me too." says Jack. (Why? Why did they lose all that time? Grrr Argh!)
Jack leaves the house to head back to CTU.
Meanwhile, Morris sets his program to finish working on the image and then gets the go ahead to leave to see his brother.
In Washington, the cabinet meets. The Vice-President listens in from Air Force-One. Interestingly, the Veep sides with Tom on his stupid agenda. Palmer begins to talk about how he rejected Tom's plan earlier in the day. He says after the bomb,he is forced to revisit it... and that he's still convinced it's the wrong way to go. Hindering law enforcement, restricting rights, radicalizing American Muslims because of the restrictions... Nope it's all bad. ANd he refuses any discussion on the matter.
Back at CTU, the image comes in... The engineer Fayed is getting... is Morris. The sick brother was a ruse. They get him on his cell, but too late. McCarthy bags him.
Speaking of ruses...
Phillip Bauer walks in o speak to Graem. Ostensibly to say how disappointed in him he is etc. As the field agent leaves, Graem ask, "How am I doing?"
Oh shit.
Graem was covering for Phillip. He confessed to the Palmer assassination as a ruse to hide Phillip's involvement in... whatever they're involved with. The Company lives on, he says... Graem tells his father he'd never betray him and that he'll hold his mud. Phillip believes him, but that what's coming will be too much. So he injects something into Graem's IV, and suffocates his own son. He then calls out to the agents that his son had a seizure. And then he plays grieving dad as they try to revive Graem.
Tick boom.
And so ends another great hour of telly. I'm still buzzing over the torture scene. Very intense.
Don't forget, next week we get two hours of 24, so w00t! :)
Still, there's something sort of disturbing about watching a man torture his own brother for information - a brother Jack obviously cares about despite the long separation (and please oh please writers of 24, are you ever going to fill in this backstory for me? Why the Big Rift in the family? Did I miss a Very Special 24 when Jack flashes back on the Big Bad that caused his blood family to fall apart?)
Well, on with the recap. I'll speak more about the torturing of Graem (I guess I've been spelling his name wrong all this time. Oh well) later. And as a side note, I'm using my daughter's weird laptop t write this, and I'm typoing all over the place. So if any slip through, forgive me. I do know how to spell. Honest.
So we open with Wayne Palmer solemnly watching news reports of the bomb blast when the snivelly snit Tom comes in sputtering platitudes about Karen's resignation. Palmer's not having any of it. So Tom moves on to pushing his agenda again, asking Wayne to reconsider his decision on it. His argument is convincing really, using Fayed's attacks as proof his way of restricting freedoms is the best way. Palmer wavers and asks him to convene the cabinet to discuss it.
At CTU, Bill speaks to Karen and learns about her resignation and that she's on her way to CTU. She refuses to be specific on her resigning and Bill immediately realizes Tom had something to do with it. She won't discuss it though. As Bill tries to call Karen back. Chloe interrupts to tell him Jack's not answering.
Meanwhile, Graem is back at his house and Jack and his father are chained up in a van on their way to be "disposed of." Phillip tries to tell Jack why he's tried to "clean up" after Graem. He says that after Jack left, Graem was all he had left. The company they run was supposed to be "all for Jack." But Jack left. Or something. This is where the backstory gets hazy for me.
As the henchman lead Jack and Phillip to a big hole in the ground with a cement mixer nearby, Phillip distracts one while Jack takes out the other. Phillip grabs a gun and kills them both which pisses Jack off. He wanted to question them. Irritated, Jack gets a cell phone from one of the lackeys and calls in to CTU. He fills Bill in on the details of everything that happened. His next move is to get to Graem's house and recapture him. Bill makes the arrangements and they head off.
British Bloke (whom I've now discovered is actually the McCarthy Jack is looking for. I didn't catch that before) calls Fayed and says he found an engineer. He sends a file to Fayed and says that the engineer will need to be coerced. CTU manages to intercept the call and a corrupted image from the file McCarthy sent. Morris is assigned to recovering the photo using a salvage utility.
Back at Graem's, Jack busts in and has Graem prepped for questioning. Graem's wife, Marilyn has a cow about it all in the kitchen (man this actress has got some gorgeous eyes).) Jack tells her to stop looking at him like this whole thing has something to do with "us." I guess this means confirmation there was some kind of affair. Maybe that caused the Big Rift. Who knows :(
Jack spells out what's going on for her and she blows up at him. She says, "I've seen what happens when you try to protect people!" which causes Jack to flinch. A lingering stare later, and Marilyn and Josh are taken back to CTU.
And now, to the torture. As Jack begins to interrogate Graem, Graem says he just panicked and was trying to cover his ass. Jack presses him on the location of McCarthy but Graem won't budge. Jack torture buddy heads out to a van to get the "interrogation package" AKA the Silver Briefcase of Pain.
As they get set up, Milo takes Chloe aside and tells her that Morris' brother was taken to hospital with severe radiation poisoning. Chloe wants to tell Morris but Milo tries to talk her out of it. They need the data in that image and Morris is working on it. But Chloe prevails and tells Morris about his brother. He freaks a little and starts to leave for the hospital. But Chloe convinces him to stay and do his job.
At Graem's, Jack learns about the intercepted call to Fayed. And thus begins the scary torture. Jack orders his assistant to inject 2cc's of a neural pain-inducing drug I didn't catch the name of. Graem screams in pain and Jack is nearly about to lose it himself. Hearing his brother's screams is having a bad effect on him. Is he reliving his own torture in China? Does having to inflict pain on his own brother push Jack over the edge? Very nearly. As Jack orders another 2cc's he holds Graem, almost hugging him, trying to absorb some of the pain himself while screaming at him to tell him what he wants to know. Graem continues screaming and not talking. Jack orders another 4cc's which is the limit.
Graem caves and blurts out that what he's holding back has nothing to do with the nukes. He confesses that he was the one who ordered David Palmer's assassination. He ordered the deaths of Tony and Michelle. He lured Jack out of hiding to take the fall for Palmer's death. He orchestrated the whole. damn. thing.
Stunned, Jack back away, tears in his eyes.
"Why?" he asks softly.
"Because I love my country!" screams Graem. He says that in th real worl sometimes you have to do bad things, unspeakable things. And Jack ought to know this.
"We're the same!" he screams at him. This sets Jack off and he whips out his gun and screams, "WE ARE NOT THE SAME!" at Graem. He shouts at his assistant to shoot him up with more pain, but the assistant can't do it. He calls for backup and we have a standoff between Jack on the field agents as Jack struggles to regain control of himself.
Jack's father steps into the doorway and his presence has a calming effect on Jack and he holsters his weapon.
And after that intenseness, we're shown a hospital room where Walid is recovering. He is ashamed for spying on those men. Sandra receives a call from Wayne and she breaks down about how scared she is and how frightening it was in the detention center as these men's rights were stripped She tells Wayne that he is detaining the men whose help they need the most.
After this call, Wayne heads off to his briefing with the cabinet.
At CTU, Morris downloads works on the image which is nearly done and Jack fills Bill in on what happened with Graem. He is also dumbfounded at the revelations. He sends a chopper for Jack and as he waits, he goes to have a quiet moment with his father.
Phillip tells Jack he deserved a better family. All that time they lost... What he wouldn't give to have some of it back. "Me too." says Jack. (Why? Why did they lose all that time? Grrr Argh!)
Jack leaves the house to head back to CTU.
Meanwhile, Morris sets his program to finish working on the image and then gets the go ahead to leave to see his brother.
In Washington, the cabinet meets. The Vice-President listens in from Air Force-One. Interestingly, the Veep sides with Tom on his stupid agenda. Palmer begins to talk about how he rejected Tom's plan earlier in the day. He says after the bomb,he is forced to revisit it... and that he's still convinced it's the wrong way to go. Hindering law enforcement, restricting rights, radicalizing American Muslims because of the restrictions... Nope it's all bad. ANd he refuses any discussion on the matter.
Back at CTU, the image comes in... The engineer Fayed is getting... is Morris. The sick brother was a ruse. They get him on his cell, but too late. McCarthy bags him.
Speaking of ruses...
Phillip Bauer walks in o speak to Graem. Ostensibly to say how disappointed in him he is etc. As the field agent leaves, Graem ask, "How am I doing?"
Oh shit.
Graem was covering for Phillip. He confessed to the Palmer assassination as a ruse to hide Phillip's involvement in... whatever they're involved with. The Company lives on, he says... Graem tells his father he'd never betray him and that he'll hold his mud. Phillip believes him, but that what's coming will be too much. So he injects something into Graem's IV, and suffocates his own son. He then calls out to the agents that his son had a seizure. And then he plays grieving dad as they try to revive Graem.
Tick boom.
And so ends another great hour of telly. I'm still buzzing over the torture scene. Very intense.
Don't forget, next week we get two hours of 24, so w00t! :)
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11 Comments:
Damnit! The entire time I was watching this I just kept repeating "Don't let the father be the bad guy!" over and over and over. Why do you have to be so ridiculous 24?! I don't even know if I can enjoy this (but I will). Jack is just going to shoot himself isn't he? Maybe soon we will find out Chloe is a mole! D:
...snort! Big Bad....love the Buffy ref.
GREAT ep. I did see it all coming, but I don't mind that; makes me feel oh-so-smart.
I knew it would be Milo or Morris, probably Morris. The sick brother story was too much like Edgar's mom. I was kinda hoping Rita would surprise us, and maybe she still will, or maybe she's just a Moll, as she seems.
It also was not surprising that Phillip was bad, although he kept me guessing with his taciturn demeanor. Well done!!
I'd like to know the "Bauer Big Bad" of the past too, but am more interested in the current Bauer Big Bad. No clue there yet, so I guess I'm not that oh-so-smart! I'll miss Paul Macrane/Graem. He played that part perfectly.
Oh, and Wayne Palmer just sucks ass a President. That sing-song kindergarten teacher tone makes my teeth ache. But at least he stuck to his guns.
I'm back on the smack that is 24!! (Brief shiver of morning-after withdrawl.)
Whee another Buffy fan :) I miss Spike.
Anyway, I actually thought the 'sick brother' storyline echoed Adam's from season 3 when Chloe had to tell him about his virus-infected sister in the middle of a crisis. Now Chloe has to tell her hubby about his radiation-infected brother? Hmmm...
As far as Wayne goes, I've never been much of a fan of his on 24. Then I saw him on Buffy and he was great there (Yes, I became a Buffy fan after the show was off the air for 3 years. I am lame.) But I have to say I'm still not digging on him this season.
Fun with speculation: how will Fayed coerce Morris to arm the nukes? My preference would be if Fayed somehow kidnaps Chloe and threatens to torture her, so that Jack has to rescue them, but I can't figure how Fayed would be able to get Chloe out of CTU.
More likely, they will kidnap Morris' brother and torture him, but that doesn't have nearly the same impact as if they kidnapped Chloe. Also, there's the issue of how quickly Fayed can learn about Morris, dig up the information on his family, and locate and kidnap his brother. Perhaps there is a mole in CTU to give Fayed the info, but that's been done already in every other season.
Anyone else have any ideas?
Watch out for the blond who is a constant companion of McCarthy. I think she's a CTU undercover agent. She will play big down the plotted road
Wow, that was insane! Ridiculous but great TV.
I don't mean to get political, but has anyone else noticed that ever since the liberal media commentators started bitching about the show pushing a supposed right-wing agenda (baloney), the episodes started to move Fayed and his henchman to the side and focus more on the, uh, not-so-Middle Eastern bad guys? Don't get me wrong, Graem and Phillip are great but it seems a little unnatural to have Fayed disappear from the spotlight so abruptly.
Man, keeping Eddie Izzard as McCarthy sure would have made his scenes a lot more interesting.
Talking about politics inevitably gets peoples' backs up, so there's never an great upside to it.
These episodes are taped long before the media reacts to them. Also, I don't think Joel Surnow is the kind to care what the chattering classes think of 24.
However, I can see how such "noise" in the media can make one perceive a reactionary response. Just hang in there, the bad guys always come out from under many different rocks. I'm sometimes annoyed to see so many shadowy mustache-twirling WASPS, but they don't make the terrorists any less deranged, either.
When did Chloe get married? I must have slept thru something and I usually don't miss a minute of 24! I wish Bill had a little more backbone. I like him but he seems too "soft" for the job.
I actually don't know if she remarried Morris or not. Maybe they're just back together. I haven't dug around the Net to verify one way or the other.
Yeah, I don't think that Chloe and Morris are remarried. I think that's something big that they would've mentioned.
I'm new to this site and it's awesome, I especially love the gallery. It's a frequent online top of mine. This was a great review, what an awesome mind blowing ep!!! I'm so excited for this season I think my head is going to explode.
-princesslucky.livejournal.com
hi folks, I have a new theory as to the reason of low traffic on the web page. Isn't that because the producers of the show killed off way too many familiar characters on us, particulary in the last season? We still have Jack/Chloe, but who else do we have from earlier soasnons? Maybe this is something necessary for the producers to keep the show afresh, but I don't have much to talk about on those various new characters (yet). I love the intense storyline of this season, though.
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