(2:00 A.M. - 3:00 A.M.)
Review/Commentary
Reviewer: D
It’s Monday night and I’m parked in front of the TV, nearly quivering with anticipation. My palms are sweaty, my heart is racing, the questions race through my head: what will happen tonight? How will my expectations be toyed with? Will it be the way I imagine or a complete surprise? The tension builds, the introduction begins, my breath catches in my throat and then…Elisha Cuthbert walks out on to David Letterman’s stage.
Yes, I stayed up late Monday to check out the latest on our old babe-licious friend, Elisha, as she pressed the flesh (hmmm…now there’s an image…) in support of her new movie, “House of Wax.” I’d only seen her on a talk show once before and it was some horrible Carson Daly thing or something back during 24’s first season. On that appearance, she came off as a total airhead working her physical assets as hard as she could to extend her fame into the 16th minute (not that there’s anything wrong with that). But on Letterman on Monday, she actually was articulate and bubbly with a bit of an infectious laugh and a good sense of humor. Moreover, in her subdued, downright classy light green, non-revealing dress, she seemed less a trampy starlet and more of an accomplished young lady. Maybe I’ve picked up a spare moral value or sense of decency or something along the way, but for some reason it’s nice to know that the lust of my life is at least a little bit more than eye-candy (not that there’s anything wrong with THAT).
But that’s not why you’re here. You want to hear me ramble on about today’s 24, not 24 ancient history. Well, it’s almost getting boring to say it but this latest ep once again kicked sumo-wrestling, sushi-eating, thong-wearing bronco butt and then ate it for breakfast. I’m frankly running out of superlatives to use for this show, it is so consistently amazing.
The main lesson of this last episode was that shoot-outs and explosions are all well and good, but they are so much more effective when you give a shit about who’s being shot or exploded. The web of interplay that was getting more and more complicated between Audrey, Paul and Jack simply exploded on Monday in a horrendous, glorious, shocking and electrifying way. Can you even remember those furtive, tentative conversations between Audrey and Jack in the beginning of the season when they first said they loved each other? In the past several episodes, Audrey’s feelings had already gone from raging passion to tentative affection to guarded ambivalence. This last ep took the remnants of those feelings, shredded and stomped on them, then twisted them into a white-hot hatred that is tragic in a way, but delicious in a dramatic sense. Frankly, the wimpy whiney Audrey wasn’t doing a thing for me. Give me a heartbroken, vengeful DoD daughter and let’s watch them sparks fly. After this is all over, you think Jack-n-Audrey will be able to go back to sharing chummy limo rides with the Secretary, swapping spit in fancy hotel suites? I’m thinking not.
More than likely, Audrey is going to initiate some kind of official action that gets Jack fired, arrested, institutionalized, and possibly drawn and quartered (but not until hour 25). I’m hoping Secretary Heller comes back from limbo for this. I’d like to see William Devane walk the line on this one, supporting his daughter, expressing outrage at Jack’s behavior, but also understanding the steps that had to be taken to save humanity (or at least some middle American slice of humanity). I’ll bet that’s why Devane has been AWOL these past several weeks – he’s off practicing this last confrontation scene with Jack and/or Audrey.
But the triangle involving Jack, Audrey and the recently deceased guy with the big head was only the brightest of the highlights of this episode. I don’t know if Surnow brought in some comedy writing talent from “Curb Your Enthusiasm” or something but the Chloe – Edgar show just keeps getting funnier. My girl Mary Lynn Raskjub continues to nail Chloe’s singular oddness (let’s all chant: Emmy! Emmy! Emmy!) Part of why I love her is that, given my experience in the computer geek world, I don’t think she’s so far off from reality. There’s an uber-geek I work with who I could totally imagine getting all pissy with the CTU medical guys on the site of the shooting, just like Chloe did. These guys were brandishing stethoscopes as if they were magic wands and with an awkward delicacy that screamed, “I’m a non-speaking bit player.” And by the way, were these medical guys CTU? And if so, why weren’t they back in the clinic when Paul was flatlining?
It was a nice touch in the wrap-up of Chloe’s “Rambo” scene that Jack gets all compassionate with Chloe. At the time I was thinking it was a nice display of Jack’s humanity. By the end of the ep I was wondering, is Jack just developing prospects for the future having screwed the pooch with Audrey so badly?
Go On to Page 2
Back to the Unofficial 24 Page
Go Back to Television
Go Back Home!