So let’s take a look at what has happened to CTU in the last 60 minutes:
– Director Bill Buchanan, the lone sane man in a sea of crazy, was fired by Karen Hayes, his wife, for releasing Fayed two years ago for lack of evidence. That’s right, he was fired for following procedure and not obtaining a then-innocent man. Holy “Minority Report,” Batman.
– Morris O’Brien, fed up with the flippant cruelty of his ex-wife and current girlfriend (that comment about arming the nukes was a low blow), has requested a transfer out of coms.
– Acting director Nadia (!) has ordered the arrest of Jack Bauer. I’m actually on her side on this one. She had to do it: he went rogue and left them no choice but to take him down. However…
– Because of the Ricker’s impulsiveness, Cheng got away with the chip despite Jack’s plans to blow Cheng, the chip, and himself sky high. In the meantime, Cheng’s men blew a CTU helicopter out of the sky.
That’s some bad hat, Harry.
As much as I didn’t like seeing Cheng get away with the chip – if you were shocked by the outcome, congratulations, you haven’t watched as much TV as the rest of us – I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Cheng’s men launch a bazooka at that CTU helicopter. The gloves are off again, or as they said in one memorable “South Park” episode, it’s on. China just attacked the United States’ Counter-Intelligence Unit. Is there any way that China can spin this in such a way that they’re the victim? Don’t think so. Hit ‘em with everything you’ve got. Nice to see the show sport some onions.
And for the second week, I saw Senator Roark’s assistant/concubine wince at the thought of getting physical with him. Sure, she kissed him and said she’d get a change of clothes, but that woman’s body language is saying something compleeeeeeeetely different. She’s saying, “Damn it, I was kissing William Fichtner on the set of ‘Invasion’ a few months ago! Now I’m kissing…this? He damn well better make me the new First Lady.” And the funny thing is, she’d still be a distant second in the list of blindly ambitious First Ladies, but that’s a topic for another blog altogether. And speaking of First Ladies, I just realized: Wheelbarrow Wayne doesn’t have one, either. Or if he did, where is she? Is that even allowed? Was there speculation about his preferences during his campaign due to the Seinfeldian trifecta of Palmer being thin, neat and single?
And lastly, there’s Audrey, or what’s left of her, anyway. Her babbling towards the end of the episode sounded like Tara after the demigod Glory scrambled her brain in Season Five of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” I have to say, I didn’t see that coming. When I saw her walk in with the bulky coat, I immediately thought, “She’s strapped with C-4, too,” and that Cheng was going to blow Jack sky high after he was safely out of range. Since that didn’t happen, well, I’m at a loss for how they resolve that plot thread in a way that ends with me giving a damn. Could we get JJ Abrams to take over as show runner for a season? Screw the final frontier, JJ: we need you here and now!
