Innocent Bystander

Day 7: Hours 23 & 24, 6:00–8:00am

Two hours is a long time to sit through the final 2 episodes of season 7 of 24. A number of thoughts ran through my head. At one point, when they strapped Jack Bauer to the table to extract spinal fluid from him, I thought his results for the pathogen would come back negative, that he (and possibly Tony) had been faking this all along.

At another point, I yelled at Kim Bauer to grab a gun when she went in hot pursuit of the man watching her in the airport (side note: that "airport" was really the food court at the Los Angeles Convention Center). I think the writers missed a golden opportunity to redeem the character by having her hunt down and shoot the bad guy, instead of just retrieving his laptop.

And so we're left with a triple cliffhanger...what happens to Tony? (Thankfully, they didn't kill him off. I'm sure there'll be a time at some point next season where they'll have to grab him out of prison to help hunt someone down, ala Nina in seasons two and three.) Does Renee shoot, maim, torture or kill (you pick) Wilson? And do Kim and Jack have the life-saving experimental treatment and actually save Jack's life?

Season 8 is set to start--supposedly--just a few weeks after season 7 ends, a first for the show (most seasons have an extended period in between them). The cast and crew is in New York City now gearing up for production to start filming next week. That is if Mr. Sutherland can stay out of jail. On an interview on Entertainment Tonight last week, Kiefer said it would be "premature" to talk about his role in next year's season 8. Did he mean because of his current legal situation--even if he's cleared in New York, he may have violated his probation in Los Angeles--or because tonight's episode ended with him in a coma?

Only time will tell, as will the paparazzi. I'm sure we're only a few weeks away from the first photos of 24 being filmed on the wild and wooly streets of New York.

Friendly reminder: Season 7 comes out on DVD and Blu-ray TOMORROW. Order one by clicking here!

Day 7: Hour 22: 5:00–6:00am...

As dawn brightens the sky over Washington DC, there's only 2 hours--1 night!--left in season 7 of 24. Tony is in custody, the last canister of bio-weapon has been neutralized, Jonas Hodges is still dead, and there remains only one question:

How the f*ck do they fill the last 2 hours of this season?

Well, evidently with a bang and someone named Kim. The evil cabal of bad guys have an end game in place and it involves Jack Bauer's daughter.

But in reality there's a lot more gold to mine in the hills of season 7. Besides the kim-napping of Kim, there's the other daughter in the plotline, little Olivia Taylor, the most duplicitous character since good old Sherri Palmer. And judging from next week's previews, she's going to be caught by her mom, the prez, probably with help from stalwart FBI agent Aaron Pierce.

Next week has helicopters! Guns! The final fate of Tony (there's still time to redeem him!)! Jack, dead or alive? A change of clothes for Agent Walker (probably not)! Cat-fight between Chloe and Janice (maybe)! And the final KA-CHUNK REPORT!

There's only one way out of this for Jack Bauer: HEAD-BUTT!

Oh, sorry...that's Kiefer Sutherland's way out. My bad.

Day 7, Hour 21: 4:00–5:00am...

So...does this mean Jon Voight won't be back next season?

Day 7: Hour 20, 3:00–4:00am...(special CHUCK edition!)

CTU reborn! Jack face-to-face with Jonas Hodges! Chloe returns! The president's daughter more duplicitous than ever! Tony is bad to the bone! The plot thickens to rock-hard ICE!

24 was incredible again tonight...but I want to talk about Chuck.

That's right. This week's KA-CHUNK Report is really the KA-CHUCK Report. We will return to regularly scheduled 24 armchair quarterbacking next Monday evening.

If there was an award for "Most Improved Show" it would have to go to Chuck this year. While Heroes sank beneath the waves once again, destroying the promise it once held as a great show, Chuck has soared above. And if tonight's final scene was any indication, Chuck will be back with us in the fall. That "To Be Continued..." card had to be true, right?

The estimable Nikki Finke seems to think so. Even though Ms. Finke admits to never watching the show, but she says in this post, "I can tell you the Chuck campaign is having an effect on the NBC suits. 'It's a good show, a solid show, and it's in contention to come back,' an insider tells me. 'I'm betting it'll end up back. But that decision hasn't been made yet.'

There are numerous "Save Chuck" campaigns going on right now. But even if the show--sadly--doesn't come back, it went out with an incredible bang. The last six episodes or so have been amazing. I blogged here about how last week's episode would have been the perfect ending for the show, period, but tonight's episode, featuring Ellie and Awesome's wedding, was even better, filled with action, suspense, and an AWESOME ending, which sheds a whole new light on Chuck himself and the show. If it does come back, it'll be with a new and improved premise that changes the whole game.

Beyond that, rarely does a show click so well amongst its lead characters. Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Baldwin and Josh Gomez are so good together, both onscreen and off. They visited Comic-Con's sister show, WonderCon, in San Francisco in March and they were such a happy bunch, you'd swear they knew then the fate of their show. Chuck is one of those shows that deserves a second chance, whether it be on the moribund NBC or some other TV outlet. Hell, I'd pay to go see a Chuck stage show once a month if need be. Take that baby on the road and put on a play!

ADDED: I had a Chuck dream last night, too, after writing this. It concerned a sequence after the "To Be Continued" card. It was Chuck in a huge garbage dump, dressed in a garbageman's onesie, and with a huge Mario Bros. mustache, frantically digging through garbage. Everytime he saw anything, he flashed on it. Seems the new Intersect drove him nuts...and Casey and Sarah had to find him and save him. But go back to sleep...it was only a dream.

Day 7: Hour 19, 2:00–3:00am...

Wow...where to begin?

It didn't occur to me until watching the preview for next week's episode of 24, that Jack Bauer and Jonas Hodges had yet to share a scene. How much you want to bet Jack causes him to have that fatal, final heart attack?

And how cool is it that there's another classic bad guy on deck? Will Patton made his first appearance as at least one of the shadowy men behind Hodges and this whole conspiracy.

But in a sense, I feel robbed. I was hoping the blond attorney doppelganger would turn out to be our old friend Mandy (Mia Kirschner), the female assassin who was pardoned in Season 4, and who was an important part of both Seasons 1 and 2. I keep waiting for her to turn up, just like Nina did the first 3 seasons. (I suppose it could still be her, but with a different face. Hey, it's possible!)

But I do think they're beating this slow, agonizing death of Jack Bauer...well, to death. First off, he's not going to die, so there's little or no suspense involved in it. Secondly, we want to see Jack in action and kicking butt, not having a seizure on the concrete. I'm still guessing the experimental stem cell therapy will take place off-camera, between Seasons 7 and 8, and they'll want us to think he may die, ending this season in a cliffhanger. But if Tony really is a bad guy--and it looks like he is--they don't have a bench to go to if Jack dies and Sutherland leaves the show. With Tony back in the picture, they at least had a chance of a new show with Carlos Bernard, Mary Lynn Rajsjub, and Annie Werschling. And Kiefer seems to have genuine affection for the show and what it's done for his career. I don't think he's in a hurry to kiss Jack good-bye.

Meanwhile, news about season 8 of 24 is breaking almost daily. In addition to the previous announcement that Slumdog Millionaire's Anil Kapoor has been cast as Middle East leader, Entertainment Weekly has revealed that next year's story takes place in New York City. Cherry Jones will be back as President Allison Taylor, and supposedly the story takes place just a few weeks after this season ends, a marked difference in previous timelines of the show (there is often a year or two between seasons). CTU is rebuilt (I'm guessing by order of the president) and Chloe O'Brian is back (she's been pretty much MIA in this season), with a yet-to-be cast male character in command. Annie Werschling also returns as Renee Walker. And Elisha Cuthbert was on Letterman the other night (in the world's ugliest dress) telling Dave she'd love to come back for one more season. They must be ramping up for filming with so much info breaking at once.

Day 7: Hour 18, 1:00–2:00am...

In my 6 and 3/4 seasons of watching 24, I don't think I've ever seen an episode like tonight's. It had everything: drama, emotion, action, and a shocking surprise that I didn't want to see. It was a show that you'd expect--really HOPE for--as the season finale, yet we still have 6 episodes to go. And it thoroughly cemented this season as the best written "day" of the entire series.

I'm starting to wonder how much of this season's incredible revitalization can be laid on the laptop of Brannon Braga, the "new kid" among executive producers and writers at 24. Best known for his work on various versions of Star Trek (and the short-lived but missed Threshold), Braga co-wrote tonight's episode. I can only guess that new blood has brought new life to 24, but then again, after last season, it almost seems like the proverbial 10,000 monkeys with typewriters could have done better. Still, they couldn't have written this season, even with laptops.

Tonight's episode contained another one of those President Taylor/Jack Bauer moments that makes me hope and pray that Cherry Jones will be back next season. While Jack was urging her to let Tony destroy the underground fuel tanks, she asked him how much time the doctors had given him to live. After stammering a non-committal answer, the President wisely said, "Then there's not much I can threaten you with, is there? I expect you'll do what you think is right." And she hung up the phone.

The father and daughter reunion happened tonight, and though it was short, it was one of the most emotional moments ever on this show. Gone were the bad feelings and recriminations of the other recent meetings between Kim Bauer and her father. Elisha Cuthbert is scheduled for a few more episodes, but somehow I think this experimental stem cell procedure isn't something that'll cure Jack instantly. But hey, stranger things have happened on this show, and in this season, too.

Which, of course, brings us to Tony Almeida. With Jonas Hodges behind bars--and telling President Taylor he's just a cog in this machine--we now have the storyline in place for the final quarter of the show, hours 19-24. It's Jack versus Tony. To the death.

At least that gives Jack a reason to live.

Day 7: Hour 17, 12:00–1:00am...

So is this how the rest of this season of 24 will play out, with Jack on the sidelines? Last night we got a hint of what's to come: some experimental preliminary procedure involving stem cells from a relative. Who could that be, I wonder? Hmmm...well, let's see Jack killed his brother last season. His father, too...at least ALLEGEDLY. Who's left? That dippy nephew, who may or may not be Jack's son? (He sure looked a helluva lot more like Jack than his father.) Oh, wait! I KNOW!

It's the return of the prodigal daughter.

I still can't help thinking all of this was calculated to keep Jack--or rather Kiefer--off to the sidelines while he served his 48 days in jail. Carlos Bernard does an admirable job of playing the action role, while Sutherland takes over the role formerly played by James Morrison as Bill Buchanan. But I can't quite figure out the timeline for the filming of these episodes, and if all of Sutherland's bits would have been filmed pre-jail time (they all take place in the same set, with the same co-players), because the writer's strike came and went while he was incarcerated for DUI.

But you know, when it's all said and done, we want Jack to be the one to hurl Jonas Hodges out of a window or a helicopter or some such conveyance. It sure is refreshing to see a good, old-fashioned, nutcase American be the bad guy behind all of this, and not even some smarmy career politician. Jon Voight seems to be having the time of his life with this role and I can't wait to see him and Cherry Jones duke it out in the Oval Office next week.

Anyone else out there catch Christina Chang again this week as Dr. Sunny Macer from the CDC? We first encountered her back in Season 3. Remember when they took over that hotel and released that bio-weapon in there, too, and Michelle Dessler was trapped? That was Dr. Sunny there, also, in four episodes in 2004. She's been in two episodes so far this season.

See? Not EVERYBODY dies on 24. But how much you want to bet this year ends with a cliffhanger...with Jack undergoing the experimental stem cell treatment with a donation from the long-lost daughter, Kimberly...but of course, we have to wait until January 2010 to find out if he lives. I can already see this season's ending, just like David Palmer's handshake at the end of Season 2, and a fade to black as a heartbeat fades out, too. Plans are already afoot for Season 8, with an announcement last week that actor Anil Kapoor of Slumdog Millionaire has been cast as “a leader from the Mideast who comes to the U.S. for a peacekeeping mission.” Let's hope he's meeting with President Allison Taylor, our favorite TV prez since David Palmer (well...GOOD president; we still have a fondness for bad prez Charles Logan, too).

Day 7: Hour 16, 11:00pm–12:00am...

Tonight's episode of 24 was brought to you by Cisco and Hanes "Action Man" Briefs...for the action hero in all of us.

Well, if we learned anything from tonight's episode of 24, it's the answer to the age-old question "Boxers or briefs?" For Jack Bauer it's definitely boxers.

But where exactly are we going with this new turn of events, which sees Jack infected with the deadly bio-weapon and given just a day or two to live? Is 24 about to be starring Carlos Bernard? Or was that whole thing about star Kiefer Sutherland signing on for next year's Season 8 (see below) just a clever bit of misdirection from the producers?

Mother of God...is this the end of Bauer?

It's hard to tell from next week's previews, too, as the one scene with Jack shows him collapsing in FBI headquarters. With daughter Kim scheduled to appear in four short episodes, is she returning to the show to be with her dying father? Or does Jonas Hodges have a cure hidden away in the Starkwood compound, just waiting to swoop in like a hero and save his beloved country from a heinous attack?

I'll bet on the latter. There is no 24 without Jack Bauer. But tonight's episode was an interesting turn of events, having Jack sit out on the sidelines, possibly dying. And gee, Madame President, can you demonstrate that nifty Cisco™ digital signature software once more for us, please?

About Season 8: much ado was made last week about Kiefer Sutherland returning next year for another season of 24. I'm not quite sure why. Sutherland signed on for multiple seasons a few years back, which extended the show through seasons 6, 7, and 8, so the news was hardly new to those of us who remember that. I think the big question now is whether or not they'll go on to Season 9 and beyond. As a top 20 show this year, and such a re-energized one to boot, it would be foolish to go off. This all depends, of course, on whether or not Sutherland and the producers and writers feel they have more stories to tell. I think 24, the series, always had to end with the "real" death of Jack Bauer, not something fake he could be revived from with an adrenaline needle to the heart. With the continuing talk of a movie franchise, that now seems unlikely. But I think 24's true strength--and Jack Bauer's forte--is in 24 hours of story, not 2 or so. If Season 8 turns out as good as this one, I'm all for going on to Season 9 and beyond.

Added Tuesday morning: I woke up wondering if the whole Jack on the sidelines thing was something planned eons ago when it was apparent Sutherland was going to jail for 48 days for DUI. This season was filmed almost 2 years ago, and then interrupted by the writers' strike, during which Kiefer served his full time, quietly and--I'm guessing--somewhat embarrassingly. Could this have been written in to accommodate him being in the pokey, I wonder?

Day 7: Hour 15, 10:00–11:00pm...

I'll say one thing for 24, when they do a shoot-out, they do it right. And not once, but twice tonight, with a helicopter no less.

But while tonight's show might have signaled the end of Ethan Kanin as President Taylor's chief of staff (he exited walking, not in a body bag), did it also signal the beginning of the end for both Jack Bauer and Tony Almeida? As the episode ended, Jack had been exposed to the bio-weapon smuggled into the country by Starkwood, and Tony had been captured.

 Monday night has become my favorite TV night of the week. Not only do I have 24 to look forward to (at least until May 18), but tonight I also watched a new episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives over on the Food Network, the Jeopardy Tournament of Champions, a new episode of Chuck, and then 24. Chuck and 24 together are like a one-two punch of essential espionage. Chuck is, of course, the less serious of the two shows (although there are signs of it becoming more intense in the weeks ahead as Chuck Bartowski becomes a "real" spy, under orders from General Beckman), but still nonetheless enjoyable. And it's the perfect lead-in to the very serious and action-packed 24, even if they are on different channels (that's why God invented remotes, I guess.

I don't have a lot to say about tonight's episode of 24, other than it continues the incredible run of this season, with each episode adding on to the ones before it in perfect fashion. Next week, beyond the threats to both Jack and Tony, looks like all out war between the FBI and Starkwood as the race to get to the bio-weapon heats up, before it goes off.

There are a couple of loose threads here though. Does Tony--and for that matter, Chloe--know that Bill Buchanan is dead? And how about that sudden and miraculous recovery of the First Gentleman, Henry Taylor, sitting up and talking on the telephone to his wife the president. Last we saw him, he was at death's door and about to go under the knife. That's just part of the 24 Universe, I guess. Time, even a matter of a few hours, heals all wounds.

Day 7: Hour 14, 9:00–10:00pm...

"Trust isn't my greatest asset."

Truer words were never spoken by anyone on 24, especially Jack Bauer. And as tonight's episode saw still another shocking death, the real meat of the story turns up and the pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place.

Seems General Juma was testing a bio-weapon for a private paramilitary group, Starkwood, a group that--conveniently--Senator Mayer (Kurtwood Smith) was also investigating and trying to shut down, just like he did with CTU. Starkwood is, of course, the 24 world's version of our very own Blackwater, which has served in Iraq and other wartorn countries.

But a quick look at Senator Mayer's files revealed the true plot behind the White House takeover and General Juma's role in all of this. If you didn't listen closely, you might have missed it. Let's just say it's the MacGuffin buryed in the show this season, and do you really need an excuse to watch Jack kick ass? This episode also had a nice philosophical touch to it, as Jack talked over regrets (he's had a few) with the dear Senator. 

But the Senator answered the door when he shouldn't have, so it boiled down to Jack Bauer vs. Quinn, the super-operative and only one shall survive (guess who?). Too bad. Quinn was possibly a worthy adversary for Jack, and every bigwig evildoer--in this case Jonas Hodges, played with oily snarkability by Jon Voight--needs that second banana to protect him. Oddjob, anyone? But alas, it was not to be, since Jack brought in the heavy equipment (literally: a steam shovel). 

Along with the more philosophical Jack this season, I've noticed Sutherland himself is leaner--and meaner--looking, and I don't hear him huffing and puffing his way throught the fight scenes like last season. Maybe his 48 days in the hole and a lack of alcohol have cleaned him up a bit. Either way, both new traits are welcome additions to this season.

Soeaking of which, the Season 7 DVD set will be released on May 19, the day after the final two episodes air. (For some reason, IMDb has the series ending on May 25, but they skipped Monday, April 27, in their list of upcoming episodes.) In years past, Fox has released each preceding season of the series on DVD in early December, about a month or so before the new season debuts (and also right in time for that violent season of Christmas gift-giving). This quick turnaround is unusual for a boxed DVD set of a TV series, to say the least...looks like Rupert Murdoch wants his Jack Bauer endorsed economic stimulus package NOW, but I'm sure it also has something to do with the fact that this season has been in the can for a while now. You can pre-order your copy of 24 Season 7 by clicking here. (PS--It's also the first season to be released on Blu-ray...click here to pre-order, you high-definition purist, you.) Looks like Christmas comes early for 24 fans (and Rupert, too).