24 Season 8 - 6:00-7:00am: Okay, So Now What?

April 06, 2010 02:03 AM EDT

by Cynthia Boris

When you look at the major plot points for Season 8 of 24, it would seem that tonight's episode had it all wrapped up.

The terrorists didn't set off the bomb.

CTU found their traitor

President Hassan was recovered, too late, granted but still. . . story over. Right? What's left to be done? Frankly, I'm not sure except I think it has something to do with the Russians. Just to make sure we're not tuning out, Fox is promising the most dramatic scene yet in next week's episode. Short of aliens coming down and abducting half of Manhattan, I'm not sure what could top what we've already seen.

On the upside, we're finally done with this Dana Walsh nonsense. Seriously, double agent or not, that was the stupidest premise this show has ever executed.

On the downside, was I watching Dancing with the Stars longer than I thought, because to me it didn't seem like Tarin had time to uncuff the pres and hand him over to his co-conspirators without Jack seeing any of it.

On the upside, how cool was it when he drove the car off the building?

But how dumb was President Taylor to let Hassan's wife and daughter watch the attempted rescue? At least she didn't let them in to watch the video feed!

I will say that I was caught completely off guard by the feed being a tape and not live. I did think, that for the sake of Hassan and his family, Jack should have stopped the tape the second he realized Hassan was dead. Why let the assassination go out over the air?

All in all, I have mixed feelings about this episode. I thought the pacing and the twists and turns were great for the most part. I was literally biting my nails just before the bomb went off and during the car chase. But I was totally bored with the whole Dana plot and how many breaks she was getting. Seriously, she couldn't have done half the damage she'd done without plenty of help from her none-to-watchful co-workers.

One thing that always impresses me is the way 24 portrays their bad guys. Even with all the death and destruction, you always see that these guys are human, too. Tarrin was sweating when he thought that bomb was going to go off and he was properly nervous as he made the trade off. I think that's why 24 continues to work - if the bad guys were cartoon villains like Dr. Evil it simply wouldn't play season after season. But when you see people caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, as was the case with the President's advisers, then it all becomes that much more believable. Because face it, how often are the really important decisions we make in life, completely black or white?

I'm sticking with you to the end, Jack Bauer. I can't wait to see where you go from here.

Source: entertainment.gather.com

24 Recap 6am - 8am Episodes 15 and 16

'24' recap: Heady times for poor Hassan

by Lynette Rice

Categories: 24, Mini TV Watch, TV Recap, Television

Image Credit: Greg Gayne/FoxFirst off, many thanks to those of you who participated in my exciting, translate-the-Arabic-exchange-between-Samir-and-Tarin contest that I launched last week. While I wanted to believe our winner studied Arabic at the International University and spent many years abroad, it turns out that all Margaret Winchell of Houston, TX had to do was log onto Fox.com and get the answer from its 24 recap. But hey, that’s showing some smarts, too! Margaret received a free, one-year subscription to EW for correctly submitting the answer: “The next world is the true life.” I almost gave it to a dude named Christopher Buck, whose email came from the Army so I naturally assumed he was stationed in Baghdad where he probably leaned out a window and asked some Iraqi kid who was kicking around a soccer ball. But the translation he gave was ”May you have the blessings of the prophet upon you,” and as Margaret can attest, that ain’t on the Fox website. Still, Christopher’s working conditions probably suck whether he’s here or over there, where I’m sure the latest news about Glee and Twilightwould brighten his day. So a subscription is on its way to you, too, soldier!

I love these special two-hour installments of 24; feels like Christmas in April. And there was lots to accomplish tonight, especially given how obvious it appeared last week that Fantastic Sam would surrender to the IRK in exchange for saving 58,000 New Yorkers from three agonizing, radiation-filled days. And sunlight finally arrived on the set of 24! Too bad it looked a helluva lot like the backlot of 20th Century Fox in Los Angeles. But hey — it’s not that easy to corral a bunch of innocent bystanders in the real Big Apple and have them stroll by at the exact time when Tarin was poised to blow them to smithereens.

Some posters took issue with how I failed to celebrate Anil Kapoor’s mad skillz in the gunfight last week, but that didn’t mean I’ve lost appreciation for his work. Kapoor was in fine form again tonight, starting with the heated argument he had with Dalia over her wanting to join him on his fateful mission. Crazy good stuff, even if I started to suspect that that it wouldn’t end well for her and Kayla. Something big was going to happen in this two-hour spectacular, and if didn’t involve an explosion in Manhattan then it would clearly include the impending neck-slashing of Hassan (and maybe I’ve watched too many installments of Saw so forgive me when I say that when Jack busted into that apartment and went to grab Hassan’s head, I half-expected it to fall to the ground). I won’t miss Samir — I always thought he looked like Jafar from Disney’s Aladdin – but it’s tough to bid farewell to Fantastic Sam. As I write this, I’m pretending to run my fingers through Kapoor’s hair in tribute to his great service to 24.

His wasn’t the only departure in tonight’s supersized episode. Rob and General Brucker got their just reward when Jack gave Taylor the 4-1-1 on their act of betrayal. That, in return, gave us another helping of Cherry (Jones) Jubilee, who got to read Rob the riot act for handing Hassan over to the terrorists. “The charge is treason,” she asserted after slapping him silly. “It carries the death penalty and so help me God I’ll throw the shift myself… Damn you, Rob.” “Really, Madame President?”" He replied. “New York is safe.” Hey, the guy’s got a point!

Sadly, I’m not too sure we’ve said our last goodbye to Dana, who pretty much sealed her fate by tipping off Tarin to the ambush that awaited him and Hassan. Jack smelled a rat and dispatched Renee to CTU, where Dana was busy trying to plot a quick getaway by feigning a migraine (she needed some meds in her car!). It was probably a gas for Katee Sackhoff to shoot this episode; she got to take out several agents in the lobby before Freddie Prinze Jr. cut her off at the pass in yet another adrenaline-fueled fight scene. Though she’s now in CTU’s clutches, it can’t be over for Dana, who’s undoubtedly a link to those risk-filled final episodes that exec producer Howard Gordon promised. With Samir and his team dead and gone, it’s time to reveal a new crop of bad guys — and Dana’s complaint about losing money when “the deal” went south means that we’ve yet to meet the real puppeteers behind the IRK. Hassan’s replacement back home, maybe?

A few other thoughts about tonight: nice product-placement by Honda, though it seemed a little ironic that a terrorist who was in on a plan to wipe out the environment with a dirty bomb was trying to save it at the same time by driving an Insight hybrid. I continue to be fascinated by the rehabilitation of Renee Walker, who got an attaboy from the President for protecting the Hassan family. I don’t know what to make of that occasional vacant look in her eyes — that is, when she’s not getting all moony whenever Jack tells her what to do. And I felt poor Arlo got gypped out of the privilege of exposing Dana as the mole; he was clearly on to her duplicity when she was tinkering with that pesky trunk line but he got called away to do more grunt work in the CTU pit. Let somebody else be the hero for a change, Chloe!

So who do you think is the villain now?

Source: EW

24 Hockey Wins 4-3

24 Hockey Team Wins 4-3 vs House

Saturday April 3rd Los Angeles Staples Center.

Kiefer Sutherland and other 24 Cast and Crew members played

hockey at the Staples Center 4/3/2010 before the LA Kings Game.

Source: Dazia & Zak Cassar

24 Preview: Will The Extremists Get The Upper Hand?

'24' Preview: Will The Extremists Get The Upper Hand?

Monday, April 05, 2010

Henrik Batallones
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

Who among you saw the possibility of President Hassan holding a gun coming?

For me, who was introduced to Anil Kapoor only through Slumdog Millionaire, I definitely did not.

But his dirtier (for lack of a better term) involvement in last week's 24 sets things up perfectly: there is absolutely nobody you can trust at the moment. At the very least, not your colleagues--Tarin helping the terrorists, Dana acting as a mole within the CTU, even Rob Weiss chickening out and arranging to give Hassan up! And as things get messier than anticipated, with a nuclear device in play and everybody having a stake in it, where else do you go?

Tonight's 24 is two hours long, and as the sun rises--it's six in the morning, and finally, some sunlight!--trusted confidantes turn into enemies of the state. I'll guess Weiss and General Brucker's involvement in the attempts to turn Hassan over to the terrorists will be revealed, especially with Ethan Kanin's life on the line. I'm also guessing (and the promos also suggest this) that Dana's links with the enemy will be revealed. I wonder what Cole will say about this?

And tonight's episode promises that it's just the beginning of all these betrayals. Who else could be working with the enemy? Someone within the Hassan family? Someone critical within the government? Maybe Renee?

But as President Hassan makes a shocking decision (guess: he'll turn himself over to the terrorists) I don't think all of this will matter. 24 runs for two hours tonight and kicks off from 8pm on Fox. With ten more hours remaining, it will definitely go down the wire.

Source: BuddyTV

24's Annie Wersching Interview

Annie Wersching in 24 (FOX)

’24’s Annie Wersching Knows How The Series Ends…But Won’t Tell

by Sara Bibel
Apr 5th, 2010 | 9:11 AM

Annie Wersching plays ‘24’s Renee Walker, the rogue former FBI agent that notably amputated a man’s thumb to get him to give her information. The tough, slightly insane Renee may be the perfect match for Jack Bauer. Wersching reveals how the cast learned this would be the final season of the longrunning Fox series, the challenges her real life pregnancy created this season, and why she and Keifer Sutherland work so well together. But, despite the greatest attempts to interrogate her, she would not reveal how the series will end.

Read Last Week’s ‘The Big Tease’

How did you find out that this would be ’24’s final season?
We knew it was kind of lurking. It had been rumored for a little while. It was more so that we were waiting for someone to gives us the official word. It was kind of strange that it was dragged out. We found out on set from [Executive Producer] Howard Gordon. We were waiting to hear if another network would pick us up.

How do you feel about the show coming to an end?
It’s bittersweet. As an actor, you’re prepared for shows to come and go. And so that part I’ve always been prepared for. But as a fan of the show which I am and was since the very, very beginning — I’ve seen every episode since the very first one– it’s sad mostly [because] the show is doing so well. If a new show came out now and debuted with eleven million viewers then stayed around nine, never in a million years would they ever cancel the show. But it’s so expensive [to produce.] It was one of the most iconic, groundbreaking game changes in television. It’s a privilege to have been a part of it and to get to be there for two years was great.

Since you were a fan, joining the cast must have been a dream come true. When you got the audition, how did you prepare?
I had done a pilot with the creators of 24. About six months before, I had worked with [Executive Producer]Joel Surnow and Jon Cassar, one of the directors. Even that was exciting. Then that pilot didn’t get picked up so I was like, “Ooh, I wonder if maybe, just maybe I could go in and audition for a guest star in one episode.” So when I got the call to audition for a series regular and then found out it was a lead female agent that would go toe to toe with Jack Bauer, I was just in awe. It all happened pretty fast. I was cast about a week and a half before we started shooting. I definitely think being a fan helped in terms of knowing Jack’s history with different women and different partners that he’s had.

You and Keifer Sutherland have such great chemistry. How did you build that connection?
It’s something that we luckily just sort of had and found from the very beginning. And thankfully so. I think if that hadn’t really been there, the role might have taken a different turn and Renee may have not made it through season seven. He’s so dedicated and invests in the show with every single moment. There’s no way you could show up and not be on your A game. So I came prepared. When he knows that you’re going to show up ready to play on the same level that he is, that helps immensely in terms of gaining a trust between the two of you.

When you found that Renee was going to be kind of crazy this season, what did you think?
I knew that it was going to be a darker path and she was no longer with the FBI. I knew that something in her past was going to be directly involved in what she was doing now. That’s pretty much all I knew until I got [the script for] that first episode, which for me was episode four, and by the time I got to the end I was cutting off someone’s thumb. It was fun because I had such a great arc with the character of Renee last season from where she started episode one to episode twenty-four. It was really invigorating to get to do something completely different.

When viewers last saw Jack and Renee, they were were in a shoot out and had just found the man who was working for the rogue general and wanted to deliver President Hassan to the terrorists. How do they get out of that mess?
We’re trying to protect President Hassan. He doesn’t make it easy for us because he’s trying to do a noble thing. He has his own challenge to what we’re trying to do. In a typical Jack way, it’s never going to be quite like you think it’s going to be.

At any point does Hassan lose his hairsprayed pompadour?
Absolutely not. It may be a little bit more tousled because he’s running.

What have been some of your favorite scenes as Renee?
What I love about her so much is that I can go from a Wednesday where all I do is run and shoot weapons and hang off the side of a car and do all this crazy stuff and then the next day it can be this huge, dramatic heavy dialogue with Keifer Sutherland. It’s such an amazing role, definitely the role of a lifetime. I love the big scenes that are those huge 24 moments, like getting buried alive last year or cutting off the thumb this year, those things that you know are going to be such a big deal. But then I always love the scenes that are just Jack and Renee talking about a lot stuff. Last season in particular I found it very interesting that they got to have so much dialogue and discussion about torture issues. I loved the scene in the hospital where she slaps him. I love the scene this year when Jack and Renee see each other for the first time.

Have you found out if you are going to be in the ‘24′ movie?
I certainly hope so. With 24, I hope that I live to the next episode every week. I think, first of all, that the show is going to be so amazing on the big screen. I would love to run around with Jack Bauer wherever he ends up next.

Do you know how the series ends?
I do. Wouldn’t you like to know?

How much money would it take to get you to divulge that?
A lot. And you’d have to guarantee me another job.

Can you give me any hints?
It’s going to be amazing. Jack Bauer definitely goes into the Jack Bauer moments that fans just go crazy for are definitely in the future episodes. I do not think anyone’s going to be disappointed.

You are expecting a baby. Does that make it more difficult to shoot ’24’s action scenes?
It hasn’t been bad as far as how I’ve felt physically. It’s more about making sure you can tweak wardrobe things here and there. It was actually easier to hide my little baby bump that was forming than a couple of other things that get really big when you have a baby. Wardrobe was very good to me with jackets and shirt sizes going up.

A teenage girl has started a Facebook group to get you on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. Has anyone from Ellen contacted you?
No, we’ve not heard from the Ellen Show as of right now. These girls are doing all these things to campaign. This girl went skydiving and wrote on her hand, “Annie on Ellen,” and posted a picture of it on the group. There are other girls making raps. They’ve e-mailed Ellen and tweeted her all the time. Ellen’s probably going to get so annoyed she’s probably be like, “Fine.” It’s very sweet what they’re doing.

Have you ever used any of your ‘24′ secret agent skills in real life?
I like to recreate some of the fight work that I’ve done on my friends. I still remember the exact choreography of fights I had last season.

Source: Fancast

24 Memories: 24 Redemption

24 Memories: 24 Redemption

24 Redemption Flashback photos

Franchise Flashback: 24

Written on April 1, 2010 at 1:00 am by Zach

With news of 24’s cancellation last week I thought it would be a good time to look back on the last 7.5 years of the show from the first time we saw the split screen and ticking clock to last year’s adventures in DC.

Season One (2001-2002)- The first season featured some growing pains but also some of the most memorable and important events of the series. CTU gets a tip that an assassination attempt is imminent against Senator David Palmer. Jack investigates with help from his second in command Nina Myers but things get complicated when his daughter Kim and wife Teri are kidnapped. Major 24 characters like Nina Myers, Aaron Pierce and Tony Almeida were all introduced this season as well. This season was also still getting used to the split screen as they overused it a tad and there was a weird obsession with indie rock in the beginning of the season. Time was also more realistic than in later seasons; there’s an entire episode featuring Jack driving somewhere. Despite his horrible accent, Dennis Hopper was a pretty great choice for the first big bad and the last episode of the season is one of the best of the series as it features Jack wiping out the Drazens after thinking they killed Kim and Teri getting killed by CTU mole Nina Myers, which would have ramifications through the next two seasons.

Season Two (2002-2003)- Brian’s favorite season features Jack at arguably his most bad ass as he returns from inactive duty to help CTU find a nuclear bomb that has been smuggled into LA. The first episode ends with probably one of the best lines in 24 history, “I’m gonna need a hacksaw” and also shows the lengths Jack will go when he fake executes terrorist leader Syed Ali’s family. Nina also shows back up as she sold plans to CTU to a group Jack went undercover with which resulted in the first, and actually pretty shocking, attack on CTU. We also get the heroic death of George Mason, who was a douche through most of season one and this one but redeems himself by flying the plane carrying the nuke out into the desert to have it detonate away from populated areas instead of Jack. President Palmer also shows why he’s the best fictional president by dealing with, first the nuke, and then a coup attempt by his cabinet when he refuses to retaliate against a group of unnamed Middle Eastern countries who helped Ali. Both those plots are some of the strongest of the series but this is also the infamous “Kim’s Adventures in Babysitting” season where Kim winds up running from her babysitting client after he kills his wife and beats his daughter and then gets arrested, attacked by a cougar, locked in a bunker with a crazy survivalist and involved in a convenience store robbery. This is the season that also had one of the biggest cliffhangers as President Palmer collapses after greeting the public following a press conference. He was attacked by a biological agent by bi-sexual assassin Mandy and it was only resolved what happened in 24: The Game (this is also where we see what happens to the mysterious villain Max, who seemed to be the mastermind of the entire day).

Season 3 (2003-2004)- An interesting season that found Jack addicted to heroin and some massive deaths. LA was under threat of a deadly biological weapon that seems to be linked to the Mexican drug cartel run by the Salazars, who Jack just finished three years undercover with. This is also the season that Jack was saddled with partner Chase Edmunds (whose backstory is also explained in the game). This season also introduced fan favorite computer expert Chloe O’Brien and also saw Kim Bauer working at CTU along with future Spock Zachary Quinto. We eventually learn that one of Jack’s former Nightfall team members, Stephen Saunders, is behind the biological attacks and he releases it in an office building, trapping a number of people including CTU agent Michelle Dessler (and Tony Almeida’s wife). Saunders makes a number of demands, one of which is the death of CTU director Ryan Chappelle, which Jack ultimately has to carry out. Jack also finally gets to kill Nina after she tries to escape CTU and uber-bitch Sherry Palmer, the President’s ex-wife who made his life a living hell for three seasons, is killed by the wife of Alan Milliken, one of Palmer’s supporters who is threatening his presidency because brother Wayne Palmer slept with his wife. Jack eventually saves the day but has to cut off Chase’s hand with an ax after he grabs the bio-weapon dispersal device and is unable to let it go or else it will go off.

Season Four (2005)- My personal favorite season is like the Michael Bay of 24 seasons, it just keeps ramping up and there’s almost constant action. Forced to resign from CTU, Jack goes to work for Secretary of Defense James Heller and becomes romantically involved with his daughter Audrey Raines. Terrorist Habib Marwan launches multiple threats against LA, with the help of the sleeper cell Araz family. Heller is kidnapped, Nuclear power stations are melted down, Air Force One is shot down, the nuclear football is stolen and a nuclear missile is stolen and launched. Fortunately the Dream Team of 24 is assembled this season: You have Jack, Tony and Curtis Manning in the field, Michelle and Bill Buchanan in charge, Chloe and Edgar Stiles on the computers and Ex-President Palmer coming back to help the inept Vice President Logan after he becomes president due to President Keeler going into a coma after the Air Force One attack. Jack and co. manage to stop most of these threats but in the process Jack runs afoul of the Chinese government after one of their officials is killed during a black ops raid led by Jack. Logan wants to frame Jack so he fakes his death with only Tony, Michelle, Palmer and Chloe knowing he’s alive and then heads off into the sunset.

Season Five (2006)- This season started off with a bang, literally. Palmer is assassinated, Michelle is killed by a car bomb (with Tony seriously injured) and Chloe would have been killed as well if she didn’t call Jack, who arrives just in time but is then framed for Palmer’s murder. Season Five probably has one of the most complex plots in 24 history that didn’t completely become clear until the end of Season 7 but a massive conspiracy is created by President Logan, Jack’s mentor and now defense contractor Christopher Henderson and a group of shadowy men with bluetooth headsets led by a man named Graem. They help Russian terrorists, led by Vladimir Bierko, attack an airport and then seize control of a cache of Centox nerve gas, which they release in a mall and also at CTU, killing Edgar and new director of CTU Lynn McGill. The ultimate goal is to kill the visiting Russian president, killing a peace agreement and in return the US will be given access to a huge oil reserve. Henderson, who was captured by Jack and was seemingly unconscious in the medical bay, escapes during the CTU attack, seemingly killing Tony in the process. Henderson is eventually cornered again and agrees to help Jack stop Bierko from taking over a submarine armed with nuclear warheads. Bierko and his men are killed and Jack kills Henderson as revenge for Michelle, Tony and Palmer. Jack’s has also been trying to take down President Logan. He tries to track down an incriminating recording, following it to a passenger jet that Jack hijacks. He gets it but it is erased by weasel Miles Papazian so Jack and Co. devise a plot to plant a listening device on Logan, which pays off and he’s arrested by US Marshals. Jack can’t celebrate for too long however as the Chinese return and kidnap him.

Season Six (2007)- Easily the worst season of 24, I barely remember anything that happened. Jack was returned to the US after a series of suicide bombings over the last 11 weeks can be halted if he is turned over the Abu Fayed, who in turn will give the location of terrorist mastermind Hamri Al-Assad. Fayed is the true mastermind and Al-Assad is in the US to try and make a peace agreement and stop Fayed. Wayne Palmer somehow became president but is so terrible that he’s exploded into a coma halfway through the season and Vice President Powers Boothe takes over. We also learned that Graem is Jack’s brother and he and his father Phillip are behind the Season Five events and are hatching even more schemes this season. Some things happen involving Russia, China, Audrey turns up insane and Ricky Schroeder runs around as CTU head of field ops until he gets his face blasted off by a bomb. It all ends on an oil rig that Jack leaves his father to die on and then Jack winds up actually looking over a cliff outside of Audrey’s house.

24: Redemption (2008)- Because of the writer’s strike there was a large gap Season Six and Seven. To make up for the wait, Fox released this two hour TV movie which found Jack in Africa helping his friend Carl Benton defend his school from the evil General Juma’s men. Second best President Allison Taylor is also sworn in and baddie Jonas Hodges (Jon Voight) acts shifty. Jack leads the boys of the school to the US embassy after Carl is killed by a mine and must turn himself in for the boys to get passage out of the country. Jack is given a subpoena to appear before a Senate commission investigating CTU, which has been disbanded. Redemption was like Citizen Kane compared to season six and featured some great Jack action, especially in a sequence where Jack defends the school.

Season Seven (2009)- The last season of our retrospective finds Jack under investigation by the Senate for his controversial investigation methods but the hearing is interrupted by FBI agent Renee Walker, who informs Jack that a series of thefts have been carried out by Tony Almeida. Jack reluctantly agrees to help and unravels a conspiracy led by Jonas Hodges and featuring elements of President Taylor’s administration. Hodges agreed to help dictator General Juma attack the US and in exchange Juma would give Hodges free reign to create biological weapons in his country of Sangala. Hodges ultimate goal is for his defense company to take control of the US government. Jack teams back up with Tony, along with Bill and Chloe and they attempt to unravel the conspiracy. One of the set piece episodes was the attack on the White House where Aaron Pierce showed back up and Bill sacrificed himself so Jack could protect the President. Tony flip flopped back to evil and stole a canister of the nerve gas. He ultimately wanted to meet with the mastermind behind almost everything that happened since Season Five, Alan Wilson, and then kill him as revenge for Michelle and his unborn child. Jack and Renee stop him and then Jack resigns himself to dying due to his exposure to the nerve gas. Kim, who came back at Renee’s request, decides to undergo an operation to extract some of her bone marrow to save Jack. Renee, who kind of becoming a protege of Jack, decides to do a Jack style interrogation on Wilson and, we learn in Season Eight, almost kills him. This season benifitted from the change of scenery and the return of Tony and, with no CTU, didn’t fall pray to some of the cliches of the past seasons. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be the case for Season Eight, which is moving along OK but things are definitely feeling tired.

Well I’m exhausted after writing that and I’m positive there’s moments and details that I missed so feel free to comment about your favorite 24 moments and what your favorite season was and check back every Tuesday for our recaps of the final season in The Jack Attack.

Source: EverythingAction