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Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Ernie Anastos, Dead Man Bait, and New CTU Kid on 24.8.10

Real New York Fox newscaster Ernie Anastos put in a crucial appearance on 24.8.10 tonight, probably the best hour of the season so far.   Ernie has to announce in his newscast that Farhad - the "Iranian" President's bad-guy brother, who was killed just before Jack and his team could retrieve him - was only wounded, alive, and being rushed to the hospital.   The idea was to fool the bad guys into thinking they had to send an assassin to the hospital to finish the job and kill Farhad, which would allow Jack to capture and sweat the assassin for the information that Farhad might have provided.  Ernie over-acted a bit for my tastes, but he was convincing enough to the bad guys.  The dead man bait was working.

Enter the youngest agent ever on CTU - actually, Kimmy might have been a little younger, when she was working for CTU lo those many seasons ago.  But you get the idea.  The young agent is nervous.  Jack does his best to instill a little confidence in him.

He'll have a pivotal role to play, as he helps CTU disarm the assassin.  Though not completely, through no fault of his own.   The kid helps Chloe get images of the suicide bomb strapped to the assassin, and she disarms it.   But Hour 10 ends with the assassin locking himself in some kind of oxygen machine, which he bolts from the inside so Jack can't get him.   And the assassin's on the phone to a bad guy, who may be able to get the assassin to re-arm the bomb by manually re-instating the code.

Add to this a fine scene with our President Taylor playing successful brinkmanship with the "Iranian" President, and Jack and Renee on the phone, setting a rendezvous after the day's business is taken care of, and you have thoroughly satisfying clock-ticking hour.



5-min podcast review of 24



 See also Season 8 reviews: Hours 1 and 2 ... Hours 3 and 4 ... Hour 5 ... Hour 6 ... Hour 7 ... Hour 8 ... Hour 9

And see also Season 7 reviews: Hours 1 and 2 ... Hours 3 and 4 ... Hour 5 ... Hour 6 ... Hour 7 ... Hour 8 ... Hour 9 ... Hour 10 ... Hours 11-12 ... Hour 13 ... Hour 14 ... Hour 15 ... Hour 16 ... Hour 17 ... Hour 18 ... Hour 19 ... Hour 20 ... Hour 21 ... Hour 22  ... Hours 23-24 







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3 comments:

M.P. Andonee said...

Paul,

Hasn't the Subplot with Dana and Cole started to grate on you yet? Will anything come of it? And allowing Jack to run an operation....ooh! That could lead to bad results, like torturing subjects, or worse. We'll see what happens, but I wonder, if in saving Renee, Jack has set the stage (it's just a premonition) for himself to take the fall.

What do you think?

Anonymous said...

that's a hyperbaric chamber - used to treat carbon monoxide poisoning and treat chronic wounds, among other things.

Paul Levinson said...

Thanks, anon.

I agree completely, M.P., that the Dana subplot is the weakest link in this Season.

Is Jack setting the stage for his taking the Fall with Renee? Could be, but I hope not - I'd like to see a better result for Jack and Renee. And given that a lot of things feel different about this season, it could be that Jack in prison or taking the fall won't happen this time.

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