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.

We left off with Penticoff issuing the threat to Jack that if he ever wanted to see Kim again, he’d get him out of jail. Nice move there buddy. Jack’s brilliant and managed to play on the emotions of police officers who just lost a close friend in order to break Penticoff out of jail so the guy could make a call from Gaines. The best part? In his fake fight with Penticoff ,Jack gave him the access key to get out of jail, and the key swipe was inside the cell! I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the ridiculousness of that. He gets Penticoff out, and they’re taken to a car with a dead body inside. In a classic tv fakeout, they tried to make you think it was Kim in the car, but it wasn’t. It was some random adult male we had no clue about. Confusion ensued. Of course then Walsh showed up to capture Jack from breaking Penticoff out, but Jack simply opened the trunk and said he was following a lead. Only Jack Bauer could get out of a hole that big, that easily.

The Douche Twins delivered Kim to Gaines, but the end results probably weren’t what they wanted. Rick the good douche worried about Kim’s safety(really?) but Dan the bad douche didn’t care. He just wanted his $20,000. Really? They went through all that for $20,000, so after they divide it, that’s $10,000. $10,000 to kidnap and nearly murder two girls? Honestly, is Starbucks really that bad of a career in comparison? Gaines drove Kim around a bit, and put a gun to her head at one point when she tried to alert a fellow driver of the fact that she was gaged in the back seat. Don’t you just love how people on tv never snoop into others’ cars? Gaines and Kim eventually ended up back at the compound where Gaines finally got Dan to admit that Janet wasn’t exactly dead. Seriously, if you’re gonna kidnap someone and try to kill them, at least learn how to lie. Dan got what he deserved when Gaines shot him point blank. Of course things got tacky when Gaines looked at Rick and said, ‘you just got promoted.’ Argh, I hate cheap dialog.

Senator Palmer used his power to get a private meeting with Maureen Kingsley, where she told him that Keith had been admitted to a hospital the same night as the boy who raped his daughter was killed. Kieth had fight marks that matched those of the dead rapist. Palmer was not happy with this, and issued Kingsley an awesome staredown. If we’ve learned anything in these first few episodes, it’s that you don’t mess with David Palmer. If push came to shove, he would whip out a can of whoop ass. However poor Palmer trusted Maureen and confronted Keith asking him about the incident. He was shocked when Keith got defensive and replied with, “somebody had to deal with it.” See that? That’s what a guilty boy says. Poor Palmer, all he was trying to do was become President. He’s got about 0 luck. Although, Mauree’s proof of hospital records signed by Keith weren’t exactly valid evidence, Palmer should have called her on that.

And then there was Terry and Alan. They got to the hospital not knowing what kid was hurt, but of course, it turned out to be Janet. Somehow she’s not dead yet. Seriously, the girl is like the energizer bunny. Terry and Alan bond over Jack’s absence and parental guilt. And that’s when I started to think that Terry was going to end up doing something she regretted with Alan. After all, it was the brilliant Sandra Bullock in Speed 2 who said that traumatic situations tend to bring people together romantically who otherwise wouldn’t work. Alan and Terry ended the episode leaning on one another, which in hindsight was perfect foreshadowing for the big betrayal in the next episode…

I believe this episode qualifies as filler. It felt like it was four hours long, and only stopped being boring in its final momenta. It was so slow that the most exciting plot was Kim’s. It was THAT slow. There wasn’t even any Mandy for me to get mildly offended by.

What did happen? Nina was pissed at Jack for saying that she was, you know, evil. Girl’s got a right to hold a grudge, first he left her, then he claimed she was trying to take down the government. A girl can only handle so much. Jack manages to win Nina over by saying that she (along with Jaime) are the only two people he can trust. Nina likes Jack’s sudden neediness and goes back to being his best bud. So much so that when Walsh shows up at CTU and puts it in lock down to capture Bauer, Nina holds her ground and won’t reveal where Jack’s disappeared to. She even convinced Jaime to do the same.

Kim managed to persuade the Douche Twins to go back for Janet, but instead of saving her, they go to finish her off. Janet manages to live another day when an ambulance shows up just as Greasy Douche is putting the gun out the window to shoot her. And where are Terry and Alan this whole time? Stopped by a cop who Alan happened to piss off by acting like an angry ass. See what I meant about this being a filler episode?

We did get some movement with Senator Palmer’s secret as he told his wife Sherry what Maureen had uncovered about Keith’s past. Kingsley had evidence linking Keith to the murder of Lyle Gibson, the boy who had raped his sister Nicole, and whose death was previously declared a suicide. Palmer’s sketchy henchman, Carl uncovered that Maureen’s source was Keith’s old therapist, who claimed that Kieth confessed to him during a session. Sherry of course refuses to believe any of this, but Palmer isn’t as sure. He trusts Kingsley’s reporting and doesn’t so much trust his son. Uh oh.

Meanwhile, Jack’s off at a warehouse following up the address he found on the key card. Of course Jack ends up chasing after a suspect, is stopped by a cop who takes about 30 seconds to realize that Jack’s the good guy. They team up, and the poor girl gets shot. Good job Bauer. So the officer died, but Jack managed to capture the guy, Penticoff, who revealed the only twist of the episode by telling Jack, “If you ever want to see your daughter again, get me out of this!” And now Jack’s caught up with the rest of us that Kim is somehow a part of Palmer’s assassination plot. Uh oh.

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
Sidereel

12:00am to 1am
Original Air Date: November 6th, 2001

Before I dig into 12:00am, it needs to be noted when this episode aired. While filmed in the months prior to September 11th, 24’s pilot episode didn’t air until November 6th, 2001. The show unintentionally played on the nation’s newest, biggest fear, domestic terrorism. I didn’t watch the pilot live, so I can’t say how it affected me, but I can’t help but think that Mandi’s blowing up of the plane probably would have startled me a little bit, despite its utter ridiculousness. But it was that initial controversy that fueled 24 to be a hit right out of the gate, and despite the critical fervor surrounding the show and its ground breaking qualities, one has to wonder if 24 would have been so successful had it not tapped into the nation’s consciousness?

It’s ironic, because this first episode feels like the most conventional the show has ever done. The first time we see Jack Bauer, he’s domestic Bauer, playing Chess with his ‘angelic’ daughter Kim. We don’t know that he will eventually become the all mighty BauerGod, but rather see him as a mere mortal, a man who after a period of separation from his family, is trying to get his life back on track. We immediately have empathy, and how can we not? He’s human, and no matter how ridiculous his actions get in later years, Bauer was meant to be the average guy’s superhero, and that comes across perfectly in this first episode.

Once Jack enters CTU and begins to deal with the threat on Dennis Haysbert’s President Palmer, we get a taste of the character we’ll become so familiar with. He’s a natural leader, and appears to be damn good at his job. His people seem to trust and like him, with the exception of Tony Almeida!, whose dislike for Bauer is revealed to be because Bauer stole Nina Meyers from Tony. Nothing like a woman to keep two potential soul mates apart. The tension between Nina and Jack is evident from their first scene together, and it doesn’t take long for the viewer to connect the dots between Jack leaving his family and his affair with Nina. But that doesn’t matter, because in CTU, Nina is Jack’s biggest ally, the one person he appears to trust implicitly.

He’s also at his breaking point. The Jack Bauer prior to the show towed the company line, he sold out two agents, he regrets it, and he’s done compromising for the government. He takes on his superior, George, and in a classic BauerGod moment, tranqs him, blackmails him and forces him to tell him the source of some government intel. It’s our first taste of the Jack Bauer we’ll know and love, the one who will do anything to get the truth, no matter who he’s trying to get it from.

By the time Mandi blows up the airplane, we’re invested in Jack saving the day, we want him to win, and even though we knew very little about President Palmer, we don’t want him die. I mean come on, any Presidential nominee who has time to rub his wife’s feet cant be all bad, can they?

And unfortunately for the show, familial spats just can’t compete with that. Leslie Hope’s Teri Bauer ends off feeling like a disposable character, and then there’s Kim, played to bitchy perfection by Elisha Cuthbert. I could put up with her petulant spoiled brat act until she proclaimed to the obviously dangerous guy that her dad was dead. I just, there’s no excuse for that, no matter how much you resent your parent. And that moment right there pretty much ruined Kim Bauer for me. I never really cared about her fate whenever she decided to get herself in stupid situations, and honestly folks, I’m saying this to get it out of the way, I wanted the mountain lion to win.

The pilot ends on a cliffhanger, not only is there a threat against President Palmer, but the terrorists have now attacked. The consequences are real, and we want Bauer to win.

Discussion Questions:
• Do you think 24’s structure is innovative and groundbreaking?
• Would 24 have been such a big hit without the emotions surrounding 9/11?
• Initial thoughts on Kim Bauer, did everyone else hate her immediately too?
• Without spoiling who the mole ended up being, did everyone else think it
was obvious from the first episode?
• 24 without Chloe O’Brian, how much does that suck?

Guys, feel free to pose your own questions, as I’ll add them to the post if
you do.

So that’s it, my first 24 Rewatch. There’s no screencaps today because my Macbook drive has decided to die, so screencaps will go up on Thursday with episode two. I hope you guys liked it, and if you have any suggestions, just add them to the comments.

As for episode 2, here are your links:
Amazon
iTunes
Sidereel (free)

See you guys on Thursday.

It’s been 9 months since we last saw an episode of 24, and it’ll be 11 months before we finally see an episode of season 7, and frankly, that sucks. Readers have been frustrated about Fox’s decision, to say the least. So I suggest instead of spending the next 11 months in a 24 induced depression, we seize the day..

24 Headquarters Rewatches 24 from the Start

Starting this Monday, February 25th, I’ll review the pilot episode of 24, and I want you to join in. Here’s how the rewatch is going to go: Every Monday and Thursday I’ll recap an episode, post screen caps, and discussion questions. The discussion is where you’ll come in, I encourage everyone to follow along with me, and contribute to the discussion.

If you don’t have copies of the season 1 dvd set, don’t worry, that’s what the internet is for. After each episode is recapped, I’ll also be posting a link to the next one.

Pilot Episode Links:

iTunes
Amazon Unbox
Sidereel (Streaming times will vary depending on your internet connection.)

So there, you have no excuses. If you have an internet connection, you can participate. We’ve each got 11 months ahead of us before the show returns, so what better way to spend it than this?

I’ll see everyone back here on Monday!