24 This Week: 3/27/06

Okay, so perhaps this is the second time this season no episode has been more anticipated, as we finally find out...bum, bum, bum... if Audrey's a traitor--deal or no deal! (sorry, had to do that :)

And you know of course this has to be one of my favorite episodes this week as we not only continue the tradition of good "24" storytelling, but....no President Logan, yay!!! I know I heap loads and loads of venom on the poor guy, but honestly, you know you want to put him on a one-way trip into the woods with Dick Cheney, too. Don't deny it ;) So now, without further adieu, what have we learned this week!:

--that I had the Full Metal Jacket line "Let me see your war face" playing in my head as they did that close up on Jack as he realized he was going to have to interrogate the hell out of Audrey. I thought for sure he'd do things that would scare the beejeezus outta that girl and their love would be ruined, but evidently you only choke the ones you love and they shared a tender kiss after he got enough out of her to believe she was innocent. Moments like the game face show what a terrific actor Keifer is, although I will admit that in watching the preview during the commercial break for his new movie "The Sentinel" where he plays a Secret Service agent, he does a lot of the Jack Bauer yelling and pointing a gun threateningly at people. But he does it SO well!

--that we get a spotlight on a background character in Burke, the interrogator, in this episode. We don't learn where's he's from or that he likes cocoa and Neil Diamond, but we get hints that he, too, comes from the Jack Bauer school of badass-ness--just the J.V. team, not Varsity. And I mean, come on, let's face it, if your job was to cause people pain all the time and that's all you did, you wouldn't be all warm and fuzzy anyway. And now that's the second time we've seen a CTU agent be the one in the hot box with Burke (three if you count Spencer). I know being in there would make me think twice about being a double agent, that's for sure. And Burke gets to show off a little: In a "I'm not fallin' for no banana in my tailpipe moment," Burke whips out that tazer gun pretty quick on Jack when he resists handing Audrey over like he knew there'd be a problem. Now THAT'S how you handle Jack Bauer if you want to take him down. Gotta know that the man WILL take you down if you give him some resistence and prepare accordingly. Generally, we learn though, when Burke is involved, there is no fun for you.

--we learn that the people at the gas plant haven't learned anything from the mechanic dude: The bad guys will kill you, period. They don't care. That's why they're called--everybody now--bad guys. They will not spare your life or the lives of your friends/coworkers/partners/what have you. You're kidding yourself thinking they will let you go when you've done whatever they want you to do. Don't do what they want and maybe save some lives. You're a goner anyway. But hey, there's no drama then in the story and we can't have Jack save the day with like zero seconds to spare.

--we learn that we've got a new freak girl in town. Okay, so Bill casually touches your arm and he's assaulting you? I knew her gooey story about the nutjob from Homeland Security harrassing her couldn't go without some hitch. I hope all Chem majors aren't that kooky! Now she looks like a looney and Chloe backed her. Now all we need is for not only Homeland to take over CTU, but Buchanon to be hit up with sexual harrassment charges. Again, it does not pay to be head of CTU.

--I know I wasn't the only one yelling at the TV, "Don't kill Aaron, please don't kill Aaron!" as rockets blazed at he and Wayne Palmer. The guy is good and we've lost too many soldiers already. Plus, he and the First Lady have to get it on (insert '70s porno music here) before the end of the season. Oh, and is it just me, but if I had a rocket launcher, I'd aim at the biggest freakin' target out there, one that would blow sky high if I hit it--the car? No, I'm going to be silly and make the little men dance in the mud and have a chance to drive away, totally missing them with my huge, huge, rockets. Ah, television...

Chloe O'Brien line of the week: "I guess I'd better not make any mistakes." [Chloe looks at her incredulously] "Yeah."

And here's my patriotic soapbox of the week: Chloe spewing out those stats to Jack in the helicopter as they approaced the plant--about telling the pilot to take a certain position coming in and the intel about how many guards posted, etc--made me think yeah, the guys like Jack get all the admiration and glory, but it must be tough as hell to be an analyst because people's lives depend on the intel you give them. If it's wrong--as we've seen on a global war scale--it screws up everything and people may die. And these people are real, so next time you bump into a government drone who either is an analyst or works with some in our fair town, give them some props because really, they do a hell of a job and I know they're not getting a TV series out of it...well, maybe Chloe would :)

So next week: does Jack survive (come on, really, you don't have to tease us); how is Bill going to lead an uprising against Homeland Security...I mean, he really could've used the Hobbit's (Samwise) help in that one; now that the main plot of the canisters has been foiled, what's the obvious-but-not-so-obvious other plotline we've missed so far that will end the season; what the hell does Wayne Palmer know that's so important he's jacking up the First Lady's assistant (disturbing amount of violence toward women this season by the fellas); will we be lucky and not get another does of President No Balls--er, I mean, Logan? All these and many more questions, next week on 24!!!!