So what is going to happen to Tony Almeida in this season?

Kiefer Sutherland admitted that Carlos Bernard wasn’t expecting fans to hold him personally accountable for his character’s actions. “Two episodes in he started getting hate mail,” he said. “Then he started getting the hate phone calls. It made him a little nervous.”

Carlos views Tony as a victim. “I don’t perceive Tony as evil. He’s gone through really traumatic events. He’s a damaged individual. He’s a guy who doesn’t trust anybody anymore, feels abandoned and feels he has to take matters into his own hands.”

Exec producer Jon Cassar urges viewers to reserve judgment until after Monday’s finale. “I know right now they are kind of upset that he’s bad, but it all kind of becomes clear in episode 24. We really wanted [the season] to end with Tony and Jack, and that’s how it’s going to end.”

Howard Gordon was slightly less apologetic. “If people are disappointed or don’t like [how Tony's arc is resolved], too bad.”

Source

24: Season 7
Episode 7.15: 10:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Airs: March 23, 2009
Sneak Peeks

4 new sneak peeks from Episode 7.16!

Jack talks to Tony and says that Starkwood was involved with everything and created a bio-weapon that is in the U.S. Jack says that he needs to go to the Port of Alexandria and asks if Tony is with him.

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24: Season 7
Episode 7.11: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Episode 7.12: 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Airs: February 23, 2009
Sneak Peeks

Five new sneak peeks for episode 7.11 and 7.12! In these glimpses we see Jack and Tony in the car. Jack calls Chloe to have her delete Ryan Burnett from the list because he is supporting Dubaku. Tony expresses concern about Jack taking Bill into his confidence.

After, Jack kicks down the door into Bill’s door and asks him about Burnett. Bill says that he won’t reveal anything until Jack tells him what is going on. Jack tells Bill about the impending attack but Bill refuses to divulge any information.

Clip 1:

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Carlos Bernard recently chatted with SciFi about the return of his character Tony Almeida! Bernard admitted he always knew Tony might not be ready to rest in peace.

“I’m very tight with the writers and producers, and I knew that when they did away with Tony in season five, they’d left the door open to possibly bring him back,” Bernard said. “I wasn’t shocked when they called me to come back, but I was definitely surprised.”

When Tony seemingly died in the arms of Jack Bauer in the fifth season, the character’s loyal fanbase went crazy! “I wasn’t aware of how vocal fans were getting on the Internet [at first],” Bernard admits. “[But] I was aware of it in terms of people coming up to me in the street and making their feelings known. It’s flattering.”

The fans are also hoping that Bernard may just take over for Jack Bauer, as Kiefer Sutherland has said that he only plans to do the show for a few more seasons

“I don’t know about that,” Bernard said, laughing at the idea. “I think the show, in general, is going to go another year, and then that’s going to be the end of it. I don’t really see that happening.”

What do you think?

©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Kelsey McNeal/

Shocking right?  Every time Carlos Bernard got asked a question at last night’s 24 panel at Comic Con, he responded back with something snarky.  Not mean snarky, just smart ass snarky.  When asked if he though Tony Almeida was really gone for good, Bernard simply replied with, “Never!”

His working relationship with the cast and crew has been something to contend with, says Bernard.  First of all, I have to go back and work with these people. I don’t care what they say, it’s not easy.  I have to work with Kiefer, it’s not easy.  I have to basically write the story for them.  Not easy.” He quickly followed it up with a laugh, “No, no, it’s been amazing.”

Everyone’s glad to have Carlos back as Tony, even if the idea of his resurrection confused Sutherland at first. “I said how?  But the way he came back was so extraordinary.  So very 24.”

Kiefer wasn’t telling the audience how or why it was so extraordinary, so we’ll have to wait until January 2009 to find out how Tony’s not only returned from the dead but is at first glance, Jack’s new nemesis.

Thanks to Nikki Katz for her great Comic Con coverage!

Comic Con is officially in full swing, and 24 took main stage earlier tonight.  Present were Kiefer Sutherland and Carlos Bernard, along with executive producer’s Jon Cassar, Howard Gordon and David Fury.  They spoke briefly about 24: Exile, their working relationships and the upcoming seventh season, but for now, I’ll just post about Exile.

Howard Gordon initially did not think that doing a two hour movie was a good idea, but after some prodding he came around to the idea.  The writers’ strike gave them time to work the kinks, and according to Kiefer, “When we went to Africa, we arguable had the best script we’ve ever had.”

When asked if he’s had a favourite episode to shoot, Kiefer exclaimed, “I have to tell you that the stuff we did in Africa is up there.”

24: Exile features Jack Bauer in Africa, stuck in the middle of a civil war, protecting a school that provides safety for past child soldiers.  Cast and crew seem really excited about 24: Exile, do you think the prequel is going to live up to lofty expectations fans have now that the show has been off the air for so long?

Come back to 24HQ tomorrow where I’ll tell you about how Carlos Bernard is a smart ass, and why we never see Jack Bauer take a bathroom break.

*Thanks to Nikki Katz for all the great Comic Con reporting.  You rock!

Photo’s of the panel coming soon! Until then, check out the official 24: Exile photo’s released by Fox.

The downside to 24 having such great reveals, is that the episode after is rarely as entertaining. And that was the case here; everything was set up for bigger and better episodes.

Gaines ordered Jack back to CTU in order to switch the keycard Milo was in the process of decoding. Jack managed it, but Milo’s a smart ass and realized quickly what had happened. He alerted Nina, who Jack then had to take hostage because she knew too much. This came right after Nina told Jack that Alan York was the dead body in the car, which led to Jack having his greatest ‘oh shit’ moment of the show. He knows the stakes are higher now, that Gaines has both Kim and Teri. Alan orders Jack to shoot Nina, Jack refuses, but then Gaines pulls out his trump card (which is getting old now), that he’ll kill both Teri and Kim. Jack brings Nina over to the side of a cliff and shoots her. A lot. All in the chest. Gaines is content to see Nina fly down the mountain, and Jack’s desperation has now been proven. BUT, you didn’t have to be an idiot to realize what was going on. By taking Nina hostage Jack was able to reveal everything to her, and sneaky Tony caught Jack on video putting bullet proof protection on Nina. The power’s back in Jack’s control as Nina’s not dead, and once again his biggest ally.

Kim worked her charms on Rick and made him realize that Gaines wasn’t going to let him go. Once he realized he was just as screwed as Kim, he agreed to escape with her. When they almost got caught Kim was quick to make it look like he was trying to rape her. She’s quick on her feet, but one problem, now Rick’s sleezy cohort wants a go at her. That move will probably come back to haunt her. Kim managed to get Kim out of the room she was locked in, and they made their way to escape, but then Kim heard her mother’s voice. She was quick to tell Rick she wasn’t leaving without her mother, and they ended the episode watching as Teri got dragged into the compound.

Teri managed to put up quite a fight, nearly killing Alan with a rock. She then called CTU and got a hold of NotChloe, who sent someone to get her…or so she thought. Teri fell for the EvilFakeAgent ploy and ended up being captured by York’s goonies, who brought her to the compound. She showed some spunk with that rock though.

Also showing spunk? Sherri Palmer. She proposed to David that they should simply blackmail Maureen to keep her from leaking the news about Keith. David is too good for this, but the look in Sherri’s eyes? Crazy. The woman had crazy eyes. Lady MacBeth I tell you.

The best part of the episode? The evil twin! Remember the photographer who Mandy killed way back in the pilot to steal his ID card? Well Gaines’ guy pretending to be him is practically identical, and on his way to meet Palmer. I’m thinking that’s not going to turn out well.

Season 1, 5:00am-6:00am
Original Air Date: December 18, 2001

I do believe that Janet wins the award for worst day ever. Honestly, the poor girl did not get a break. First her arm was broken, then there was the heroin, the running, the getting hit by a car, the cardiac arrest. She could only be rebooted so many times. But to have her die at the hands of her fake father, while her real father ended up being the dead body in the car Jack found? Yeah, worst day ever. The writers were doing a genuinely good fake out with Alan York, making us empathize with the character, especially when he was so supportive to Teri. It wasn’t until last hour that I even suspected that he may not be Janet’s dad, with the early parts of this episode confirming it. Suddenly it made sense why he never went in to see Janet. Another shock? Having Teri realize by the end of the episode that she was in the car with ‘not Alan York.’ Now we get to see how smart Teri is, and if Jack has rubbed off on her at all.

I suspect he has, especially if their daughter Kim is any indication. After the death of the idiot blond kidnapper, Kim went into action with Rick. Putting it in his head that they had to escape, and making him open up about his mother. The kid has mommy issues, I assume much bigger ones than Kim. It was also refreshing to hear Kim finally admit that she’d been a little hard on her parents. She was a massive brat, and apparently it took a near death experience to make her realize.

It didn’t take Palmer long to realize he’d been duped about Keith. Apparently he was the only one in his family not in on the cover up. He was shocked to learn that Sherry orchestrated the entire thing, and even his daughter, the poor girl he perceived to be a victim knew about it. When he confronted Sherry, she started to babble about their family, and her ambitions, leading Palmer to respond with this doozy, “You keep your own council Sherry, you always have.” Anyone else feel like Sherry Palmer is a Lady MacBeth, championing her husband’s political potential for her own ambitions? Yeah, she scares me. That entire family is a little off. Palmer thankfully has a trusted adviser in Mike Novick(!), who was able to talk him through the crisis, and give him solutions so that it wouldn’t destroy his political career. Sherry will most certainly be happy.

Jack finally made it to Teri’s side where he showed a little vulnerability in admitting that he didn’t know what to do, but then he was a massive jackass to Alan. Even though he commandeered a a helicopter to get there, he didn’t last long at the hospital, having to bolt once he got a call from Gaines. Jack’s on his own now, especially after being able to talk to Kim for a brief moment. Odds are he’s going to do whatever Gaines wants, but you know it’ll come at a price for Gaines. When Jack yelled “If you hurt my daughter, I will kill you” I believed him. And I can’t wait for that battle later in the season.

My favourite part of the episode? Even though I was never a big fan of Milo, seeing him eat in the autopsy brought back some hysterical Dana Scully memories.

Talk about reveals, this episode had them in spades. First we found out who was behind Kim’s kidnapping, then what Maureen Kingsley had on Senator Palmer. Plus Mandy’s an evil lesbian who cries, Nina’s not evil, and Tony’s a rat. And a brat. Ah the drama.

Turns out Nina wasn’t the CTU mole after all. Her computer had been hacked into. The thing that got her off? One weekend when her card was accessed, she was with Jack. Jack straight out confirmed to Jaime that he was dating Nina while he was separated from Terry, and even worse, he couldn’t say for sure if he didn’t give her confidential information. Bad Jack. Not to be confused with Badass Jack, who used the finger he cut off for a fingerprint. Tony is so not badass, as he called a higher up at CTU to try to get Jack ousted. Once again, BRAT.

Also bad? Senator Palmer’s son Keith. He’s apparently the reason Maureen Kingsley is after the Senator. Keith was involved in an accidental death a few years prior, but Kingsley seems to think it wasn’t so accidental. Palmer parked his vehicle is the most ghetto parking structure in LA, where he encountered two hoodlums who attempted to beat him with a baseball bat. Too bad Palmer’s strong like bull. He caught the bat with his bare hands, leading me to have a Major League flashback. He met with a shady cohort who promised to help deal with the matter, before the secret service finally hunted him down.

Mandy handled Brigit’s revolt by giving her the most overdramatic slap. It was hysterical. Then of course, they were revealed to be lesbians, and my issue with this plot grew exponentially. It’s already been established that Mandy is a black widow, willing to seduce men, and kill men to get what she wants. However, by adding the lesbianism to her sexuality it just creates one massive cliché. One I thought the writers of 24 would be above. There was no doubt Brigit was going to die, so seeing her get shot, followed by Mandy accepting Gaines’ offer of a new job, did have some emotional impact. Mandy was no doubt affected by her death, and one can only assume that she will get her revenge eventually.

Gaines was double dipping this week, as he was revealed to be the guy ordering the two jackasses who kidnapped Kim and Janet. I have to give Kim points for bravery as she did attempt a noble escape, but her friend was dead weight all along. Janet is left for dead after being hit by the car, but the cops are going to find her, and then she’ll be able to give some details into what’s going on. Anyone else think Jack’s going to be pissed that his little girl has been kidnapped? I can’t wait to see him kill the blond guy. Also, heroine probably isn’t the best solution to a broken arm. I’m just saying.

Discussion Questions:

• Tony Almeida, could you get any more annoying? It’s a testament to the writers and Carlos Bernard that Tony was this bad in the beginning. It’s hard to believe he’s the same guy.
• Does Nina Meyers still carry a torch for Jack? I couldn’t help but notice the annoyance in her voice when she relayed Terry’s call to Jack.
• Does Mandy’s sexuality as justification for her black widowness make you like the character less?

Episode 4 links will go up later in the evening.

It’s Aaron Pierce!!! It’s Aaron Pierce!!!!! I didn’t care that this episode was full of twists and violence, the only thing that I cared about was the first appearance of Glenn Moreshower as Aaron Pierce. He didn’t do much, but it’s the promise that counts. Come on, he’s Agent Pierce damnit!

Anyway, Nina Meyers is evil, or is she? That’s the big reveal made at the end of episode two, that the key card that both Scott and Richard died to get into Jack’s hands contained the identity of the CTU mole. When Non-Chloe read the card, Jack saw that it was Nina’s. Uh oh. The reveal comes just as the audience begins to like Nina a little more. After all, she was easy to lie to Tony in order to protect Jack, and Tony’s right, she knows how to lie. Not until that moment did we understand why Jack relies on Nina so much, she really does seem to be his female equivalent, plus she has some sway over Tony, who still hates Jack. He’s a jealous bugger, that Almeida.

Not hating Jack right now? Kim Bauer. Poor Kim, suddenly having a father who’s not only alive, but is also an agent is something she’s willing to use to try to spare her life. The girl has some poor judgment, not only does she have useless friends, but she got in the van. #1 rule of horror movies, never get in the sketchy van! That being said, I was kind of shocked when the reveal came that these boys are after Kim for a reason. We don’t know why yet, but one would assume Jack has something to do with it. What we did know though was when Kim said ‘I Love You’ that Terry would take it as code, and I’m happy she did. Even though I hate Kim, I don’t want her to die…yet.

Now Mandy, I’d be fine if she died. 24’s resident black widow got a little bit screwed when her evil teammate decided that a suitcase full of money in exchange for the key card Mandy buried in the desert wasn’t enough. Why do I think Mandy won’t appreciate being double crossed?

And finally there’s Senator Palmer. The call he received from Maureen Kingsley had him flustered enough that he snuck out to go meet with someone to help him deal with her threat. Gotta love someone who thinks they’re invincible. Of course, it’s just as Palmer escapes that the ever awesome Pierce makes his first appearance announcing that there’s been a threat on Palmer’s life.

Once again, uh oh.

Discussion Questions:

• Tony Almeida, annoying ass, or just misunderstood?
• Ladies, if you had to choose who would it be, Season 1 Tony or Season 1 Jack?
• Mandy, just how bad-ass is she? And how long before she shoots the motorcycle girl in head for betraying her?
• Why are the van boys after Kim?

Episode 3 Links:
Amazon
iTunes
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