Hour 12:00 to 1:00 pm: The end of the weasel

ATTENTION: Some spoilers ahead, if you live in a place where season 5 of 24 is not broadcasted this is the wrong post to read.

Pop went Walt "The Weasel" Cummings, I was like "pop that eye .... pop that eye..." when Jack was giving him his interrogation special. I was baffled with the president response on Walt's explanation, he indeed was easy to manipulate but never thought he was such kind of a puppet. Walt proved to be an idiot bigger than I thought, how can he deal with theives?, if you are going to pull strings make sure you have them in your hands. In the effort of pulling an "Iraqui WMD threat" his "plan" backfired and now is every man for himself.

Based on my last hour post I got it right, a "coup d'etat" was in place and it triggered the primary directive of a secret service agent: "protect the president of the United States", based on that Pierce acted to his best to aid Jack, he is more of a company man than Jack, he doesn't assume or acts on his instinct but did heck of a job.

And is the dog house for you Mr. President, I highly doubt you will be welcome in your bedroom anytime soon. Sending the wife to a mad house by others recommendation is a big NO NO, the smart husband gives his troublesome wife a credit card, a trip or a new car and slips a pill within meals to keep everything happy.

At some point of this episode I thought I was watching "Day of our lives", the love triangle, the "you love her but she loves you?" and so on got me wondering: "Hellooo the man is working here", think they have made a point that Jack has a heart but please leave the man alone, his mind is on the game and his eyes on the prize right now.

McGill got a reality check when Bucanan played his experience card and he was right, nothing bad at all, the guy is learning the trade. They made a point keeping Bucanan on the experience grounds, going maverick at CTU is common procedure: "Whatever it takes to get the job done" you know, certainly you can get thrown in jail if you pull a Tony but if you do it for the good of your country as a base you might get a presidential pardon.

Is better to have nothing than losing it, but there is nothing worse than losing it AGAIN, is none for each of you Diane and Audrey, Jack said it: he will disappear when all of this is over. Seriously, Jack's line of work doesn't allow family or anything alike, they become a liability and Jack learned that from season 1. There is a vague chance he could take any of them into the anonymous realm but I don't think they would accept it.

One thing that got me thinking was Mike's reaction when Jack told him about president Palmer death, was it a case of bad acting or are his hands dirty?. Mike have been wanting to be first player in the presidential race, think he could make a move soon.

Tony dissapeared off the radar on this episode, he maybe will be the ace of spades for what is next on 24, maybe not.

It will be 2 hours before they hit the objective, which obviously is not Moscow.

THE DYST COMMENT:

Did you notice Diane's watch reads 4:10 while we are in hour 12:00 to 1:00 pm, well it happens in the better of the productions so carry on.

ON THE NEXT 24:

Who is that person raising slowly from behind the bed?, it looked like Nina but she is dead as Frank Sinatra, could it be Mandy?, is a thin person that's for sure, who might be "coming back" to 24?.

Jack is a goal driven guy but he finds the way to keep himself busy, the president appears asking him for help, if I was the president I would get my toothbrush and say "I'd better stick with you Jack, I'll be safer even if bullets fly over my head".

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Hour 11:00 am to 12:00 pm: The mole that was not

This episode was the aftermath of the events at the airport and the start of the nerve gas takedown operation. There were still questions in the air like who knew Jack was alive, he says he talked with Palmer over somebody at Logan's administration being behind him, a phone wiretap or an eavesdropping maybe?

Oh Martha, Cherry Palmer good twin, you go girl, don't let them step over you, if you don't get answers you go out and find them, by a moment I thought you were a goner but you have more guts than a stunt double.

McGill keeps gaining my respect, this guy is 0% guts and 100% facts, he is not looking to get a promotion on pointing fingers and asking stupid questions, he is there to face a crisis and solve it, giving Jack clearance was proof of his integrity and professionalism, we really need more guys like him. But wait, this is 24, could McGill be gaining everyone else trust for him to give the lethal blow when nobody expects it?, you know what they say: "if it is too good to be true maybe it is".

Audrey came out of the shock she has been for the first 4 episodes and talked to Jack, they raised a very good advise, don't go to sleep mad at anyone because it could be the last time you'll see that person, now we are tomorrow who knows. This encounter was kind of awkward but finally they closed that chapter, how that relation will evolve now Diane is there is yet to come, it's gonna be a hard choice, each woman has something in favor and I'd hate to be in Jack's shoes when the moment comes.

Out of the blue Edgar and Chloe had an argument on they keeping secrets from each other, kind of odd because I've never seen any sample of such friendship before, maybe when Edgar's Mom died but back then it was an act of sympathy by Chloe.

Spencer wasn't the mole everyone expected, he was following orders. This proves one point: CTU is still vulnerable and from the top, who would be able to control such kind of power?, that was and still is a very realistic thing to put on the show, power is handled good or bad by those who are in charge. At first I was confused on Spencer cover being blown off, I said to myself, that's too obvious, thought that 24 was jumping the shark but happily it was managed in a different way.

Finally some news about Tony, seems he will make it, does he have the key to what is going on?, he has a motive to put himself on scene and with a vengeance, can't wait to see the dynamic duo (Jack and Tony) back at work again, more when any of them are CTU.

THE NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! FACTOR:

We almost get a miss here, Jack being close to get shot and then stabbed was a VERY tense moment, athough Jack took a pretty bad beating there he came out OK. This was one of the best hand to hand combat in 24, I give this a 6 out of 10.

THE TINP COMMENT:

How is possible somebody can come close to the first lady, do something to her and go unnoticed?, Martha's assistant is not secret service, for what we have seen, how nobody was close to her and say "hey, I saw a John Doe coming out from that room". Very weird indeed.

THE ODD DIALOGUE:

(Spencer and Chloe arguing)

Spencer: "Nobody talks to me like that."

Chloe: "Really, I just did."

ON THE NEXT 24:

Seems like a 'coup d'etat' will hit 24, Cummings saying he was a patriot was a declaration of war... of the civil kind, this plus the fact we see Jack apprehended makes me think the president they are talking about is not Logan, well, president Logan is not the most fitted politician in the history of 24, he had proven to be easy to manipulate and maybe is him after all.

24 equipment: The CTU helicopter

Being curious and googling around I've got with fact that the current CTU helicopter served as a news helicopter for CBS, you can read all the details about the helicopter HERE.

24 Toys: The audio recorder device in hour 7:00 to 8:00 am

Want to record your household phone conversations?.

Want to get quality tapings you can alter at your will and get advantage of it?.

I present you the The 744T: Portable, Four-Track Audio Recorder with Time Code.


Perfect for blackmailing. The digital files stored in this device gives you long lasting copies you can store safely in many kind of medias like cd roms, dvd roms, usb sticks and various flash memory formats.

Featured on 24 to fool president Logan into thinking president Palmer didn't warn his wife on an upcoming attack. If its good to fool a first wife is good for anyone (who can afford it).

(Just in case this is a joke, I assume no liability if the use of a recording device to tap into phone or personal conversations lands you a lawsuit in your state, check with the local authorities)

Who is this guy?

Like I said in a previous post, you can see a guy looking towards Bucanan direction in the crisis room.

Could the bad guys be operating within CTU?

Hour 10:00 to 11:00 am: Buchanan meets the Trump: "You are fired"

ATTENTION: Some spoilers ahead, if you live in a place where season 5 of 24 is not broadcasted this is the wrong post to read.

So far so good, this episode brought the end of the hostage situation. Is good to see the series is moving on fast and keeping a nice rhythm.

Curtis deployed his team like a clockwork orange, Jack can retire in peace knowing that Curtis is there to deal with field operations.

Audrey still looks like an 18 wheeler ran her over, poor gal, she is really struggling on getting herself together and realizing Jack was not dead, like Batman all Jack girls suffer from the relation with him.

Mr. McGill comes up to the plate to hit Buchanan out of the park (I really wouldn't mind see Buchanan go). McGill brings to the table something fresh and is his involvement with the operations, he is not just giving orders left and right, this guy rolls his sleeves up and gets dirty, reminds me of Mason (from seasons one and two). McGill seems like a good replacement for Buchanan, think is time for him to go back to division and push papers, CTU really needs of leaders and after Alberta and Erin this guy is the best bet. He is tough but has some ethics and that's great.

Back to the Social Engineering point, it was the turn of Walt "The Weasel" Cummings to use this on his advantage, he seriously scared the crap out of Martha's assistant threatening her with prison if she didn't tell him what Martha got from the archives room. My piece of advice to anyone on this kind of situation is: talk to your boss, don't get scared, Martha has much vouching power than Walt just for one simple reason: she sleeps with the president, want more?.

This episode also gave me an idea: why the Russians didn't use Jack as leverage to coerce the US government threatening to prove to the Chinese Jack was still alive, at this point hostages would be useless and could have been let go. If the Russians knew Jack was still alive they should also knew the incident with the Chinese (somehow, I guess). How they knew Jack was alive is still the big question.

No news on Tony's condition, 2 hours have passed since they started the operation on him.

THE DYST COMMENT:

CN3 news channels showed the "dull" sign of the treaty ceremony and FOX News covered the gory events at the airport, this was art imitating life all right.

There was a poster close to where Jack was held where you can see kind of old airplane flying over a field that is being burnt, I have to see that again to figure it out.

ON THE NEXT EPISODE:

Lots of images from future episodes and the shocker: nerve gas is the next big threat for 24. Time to hit the old army surplus store.

Hour 9:00 to 10:00 am: Martha "Hillary" Logan is in da house

ATTENTION: Some spoilers ahead, if you live in a place where season 5 of 24 is not broadcasted this is the wrong post to read.

This episode dealt with the hostage situation at the Ontario airport, gore and shots were the main events here plus some tense moments.

Terrorist in 24 are getting meaner by the season but as always Jack was the right guy at the right place at the right moment and he was fit for it.

The main character of this hour was Martha (president Logan's wife), she can be on drugs but she is not a dumb trophy wife, that's for sure, on second thought, no dumb girl lassoes a prospect like a potential vice president just by her charm. Her idea on getting the security card to the archives was brilliant. This was a great example of Social Engineering, she coerced the poor guy on giving up his card or getting sent to a small detention cell in Guantanamo Bay, sex is power. Is good to see her character overcoming her health condition to get to the bottom of the problem, good for her. Also, now you know who wears the pants on this relation.

As in previous episodes the body count keeps going up, we have had deaths on each episode so far. Will we get desensitize before so much killings?, Will these situations lose their impact later on?, I just hope the producers keep this trend from going up else I'll have to wear a raincoat with so much bloodshed.

I'm still wondering what held Palmer on letting more people know about the attack, so far this isn't the Palmer we knew, unless he was indirectly responsible for what is to come and he fell he could do something to fix it up, this is something to keep in mind as the series advances.

THE TINP COMMENT:

Watching president Logan arguing with Buchanan over the news he is watching on TV was kind of odd, the president got to have a direct feed that communicates him with authorities in charge to get real time updates doesn't he?.

THE WTF FACTOR:

Checking on the Internet I got pictures of the Ontario Airport, as you see, there is not much of resemblance with what we saw on this episode. The airport on the episode looked more like the one in Burbank. I agree that with all the security issues nowadays shooting a TV series at an airport have to be close to impossible and unbearable.

I posted this factor on the doubt of the fire department suburban you can see for a few seconds at the beginning of this episode, it reads something like Los Angeles fire department but a yellow fire truck on the scene reads Ontario Airport, I said to myself WTF?. The Ontario airport is under the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles World Airports though, so there is room for doubt here (any comments are welcome).

I give this a 1 out of 10.

THE ODD DIALOGUES:

(Logan and Buchanan talking about the hostage situation at the airport).
Buchanan: "We don't have time"
President Logan: "Well talk faster"

(While Edgar is looking for the terrorists profiles based on photos sent by Jack).
Buchanan: "Can you wide the criteria?"
Edgar: "with any wider we can use the phone book"

Jack is not on the Internet, is that IP address for real?

On hour 8:00 to 9:00 am Jack gives Chloe an IP address for her help him to decrypt a document late president Palmer was working on, such IP address was 292 .162.12.2. IP addresses are not possible for anything greater than 255.255.255.255, and that is a reserved block, bad the producers didn't give a valid address like the Simpsons and their Dorks Gone Wild.

The whole configuration was:

IP: 292 .162.12.2
IPMASK: 292 .140.12.2
ROUTER: 10.140.49.1

IPV6: fe80 0000 0000 0000 020a 95ff fe89 2176

Here is a screen capture of the IP address:

Foxtrot does 24

Bill Amend's comic and a satire about 24:

Will somebody think of the Chinese???

I understand that there is an on going criminal investigation and CTU wants to catch Jack one way or another but broadcasting and delivering Jack photos and info left and right could alert the laziest of the Chinese spies on American soil. Just the little fact of going to war with the biggest military force on earth would keep me to yelling at the four winds that we need to capture Jack Bauer, maybe a task force of trustees and some codenames could have helped.

I really didn't want to include this little fact on my main comments because I go with the flow. I mean no disrespect to the show executives or anyone related to it.

Hour 8:00 to 9:00 am: Look who is selling out too

ATTENTION: Some spoilers ahead, if you live in a place where the premiere of season 5 was not broadcasted this is the wrong blog to read.

This episode brought more light on what is to come, kind of a bridge episode with hell of a twist at the end.

I have to admire Jack because he doesn't lose focus, sending Derek and his mom back to CTU with the purpose of confirming his alibi was simply awesome. Jack should be the Anthony Robbins of multitasking.

Edgar is back again on the scene pitching and catching requests at CTU and being kind of obnoxious, 18 months have not been enough for him to change/upgrade his wardrobe (good for the CTU and their dressing code), maybe Erin's promise of a raise didn't materialize even in the way of a recommendation for him. The funny fact is that his reactive attitude towards work jeopardized the location of Chloe and Jack, think you lost some points with your boss Edgar, better start updating your resume :).

Martha is back on the wagon with her medications, maybe we won't hear from her in a while, although doctors recommend caution when people take their pills after dropping their use, lets see where this is headed to.

This episode shows once again how terrorists are committed to their goal and how they are willing to kill themselves if they have to, seems like they carry cyanide pills as I carry tictacs. Never fear Jack is here.

THE NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! FACTOR:

I give this a 7 out of 10, the other 3 were the curses I yelled at security chief Walt Cummings. Yet another guy sells out in 24, things like integrity and values are things of the past, is all about the "bling, bling" or the "Benjamins".

At the end everyone has a price and the CTU haven't learn from the old saying "fear the enemy within", well "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it", hey Buchanan stop chasing your coworkers and do some work will you?.

Remember Palmer questioning Walt's integrity on season four?, well seems Logan will need a medium to get some advice if he wants to end this season in one piece.

THE TINP COMMENT:

After all Jack has done for his country and the CTU I conceive impossible and laughable the fact of somebody casting a shade of doubt on him, remember guys this man lost his wife over a CTU affair, dropped the chance to make himself multimillionaire in a deal with the drug dealers, developed a drug addiction to avoid blowing his cover while working and suffered a heart attack on the line of duty. Seems the CTU is better on pointing fingers than getting facts, nobody questioned the authenticity of the video or checked it if for digital alterations, did somebody take fingerprints on that doorknob?, NO, they made of the situation a witch hunt. CTU fell for the doctored tapes on season two and now falls for this, who is their technology provider?. If people question those who go postal on the workplace maybe this will open their criteria on this problem.

Chloe leaving a traceable link back to her while connecting to CTU's main servers?, ok we are humans and we commit errors under pressure, I could let that go, but isn't a work code violation logging into the system with an account that is not yours?, sure it is not a big deal at many workplaces but this is CTU, any possible security breach should count.

THE QUOTE OF THE EPISODE:

"The only reason you are conscious is because I don't want to carry you"

-Jack Bauer.

THE CURIOUS COMMENT:

The van the terrorists/mercenaries used looks like the van from old TV show S.W.A.T.

ON THE NEXT EPISODE:

Seems like Jack is back in command when Curtis talks to him on the radio to coordinate from the inside.

Hour 7:00 to 8:00 am: The end of Camelot hits 24

ATTENTION: Some spoilers ahead, if you live in a place where the premiere of season 5 was not broadcasted this is the wrong blog to read.

24 have delivered and in what a way!!!, the well promoted shock in the fist 10 minutes were indeed "blown away" first 15 minutes. The opening wasn't just a multimillion dollar super elaborated action sequence but a well crafted tragedy and what is a drama without tragedy?. This episode was simply genius.

For me Palmer melancholy worked both ways, maybe he was regretting something that he did and he was saying good bye to the audience, is very sad to see him go but I think it is for good. On the regret point I have to add something I heard once: "You mostly don't regret on what you did, you regret on what you didn't do" or so it goes. Thank for the memories Mr. Dennis Haysbert

Jack as always is ready for the action once again, the good friend and company man puts himself on the line now to "avenge" the death of the one he put his life before anything else, he is a guy on a mission and you better stay out of his way, the hero has returned.

The new season brings new characters but the one that takes the cake is Derek, for me this is the official Kim Bauer replacement, this odd guy will surely fill 24 of "don't go that way" situations, how that works is still to come, I personally ended season 2 not liking Kim a lot.

Chloe, the uber geeky hacker at CTU, is shown having an office affair with one of her employees, it works at so many levels that I'll keep an eye on this. This proves Chloe is made of flesh and bones, she is not that insensitive sociopath and bitching coworker almost everyone relates to, she has a heart too, this is officially Chloe 2.0. The new version of Chloe comes with improved gun shooting capabilities, since season four this lady seems to have developed a taste for guns, make no mistake this geek knows how to take care of herself.

Squizoprenia, the disease of the 21st century, also stars in 24, Martha, the first lady, seems to suffer this condition and the enemy will use it to their advantage, Sun Tzu was right, know the enemy as thyself.

This episode makes me think of the integrity of president Logan, seemed he wanted to make his wife think other thing over her earlier phone conversation with Palmer to keep her out of the picture for an unknown reason, this plus the fact he wants the meeting with the Russian president at any cost shows a mysterious president Logan, seems he is not the fool I thought he was.

THE NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! FACTOR:

This definitely is a 10 out of 10, both deaths were surprising and shocking. In short all that I have to say is that the good indeed die young. RIP President Palmer, RIP Michele Dessler, you won't be forgotten, your contributions were priceless. Think these situations serve a good purpose for the series that maybe some won't agree to but this is where 24 excels, it exposes the reality of life and the changes it brings along, nothing lasts forever.

THE TINP COMMENT:

Maybe this is possible or not but agreeing on letting a president go out in the open with a gun tooting sniper killing an ex-president just few minutes ago seems like a BAD idea, maybe 24's world haven't heard of the Kennedy assassination. This was not something to put much attention to but worth mentioning IMHO.

THE DYST COMMENT:

At the early minutes of this episode when Curtis is talking with Buchanan you can see a guy walking in the hallway down of the office, he suddenly turns his head and keeps walking, could this mean another mole at the CTU?, if this is the case CTU should review it's hiring procedures, too many problems on this aspect in a short time span. I'll post a screen capture soon.

THE CURIOUS COMMENT:

The helicopter Jack takes says RESCUE on the side, sure it came to the rescue of Chloe.

Jacks watches the news of Palmer assassination on an old TV set where you can see CN3 news, but the big and fancy screens show FOX News, is this a hidden message against CNN?, who knows.

New Season New Rush!!!!

The new season of 24 doesn't let us down, we are surely in for a great roller coaster ride this new season. The show definitely nailed it and the producers have found very creative ways on how to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

I won't say anything else till the west coast finishes it's broadcast, so wait a little more to read why I really liked about these couple of great episodes.

24 is officially ON.

24 premiere preparedness tips

Just a reminder to the fans out there, this is going to be a 2 hours premiere followed by 2 more hours on Monday so better be ready than sorry.

Some valuable tips:

• Plenty of fluids and snacks handy, 5 minutes for commercials sometimes is not enough to go to the kitchen and prepare something, trust me.
• Check your TiVo for free available space and operation if you don't want to miss a thing.
• If you are watching the premiere with first timers have a pre-show conversation with them so you won't have to explain things like why Jack is living underground or why he doesn't think twice to pull the trigger.
• Drink from mugs or glasses with lids, drink spills are most likely to happen when you watch the show.

Also remember:

• To tell your friends you maybe won't answer the phone while 24 is playing, unless you are planning for in-commercials phone conversations tell your friends to not take it wrong, this is a MUST for girlfriends or boyfriends.
• To set your cell and home phone voice mails, explosions, gun shots and shattered glasses may not let you hear the phone rings.