Review/Commentary
I really liked the opening. It reminds me of last year’s opening, which I believe was in Malaysia. I’m not exactly sure why I liked this – I just did. It’s unique and not what we’re expecting, which has become a staple of this show. The more they surprise us, the harder it gets. So it’s cool to see them still on their toes.
I also liked that the Koreans weren’t “bad guys,” per se, but were helping us (the “good guys”) get information. Must be good terrorists/torturers in their own right. Speaking of which, how are they torturing that Jason Park guy? Electric shock clearly, with the electrodes that are attached all over his body, but also with some chemicals, it looks like. I imagine the chemicals burn his veins and probably highten his nerve sensitivity to the electric shocks. According to Fox’s official Episode Guide, he was simply being “tortured.” It looks like they’ve been doing it a while, and at one point they were irritated about a dosage being “too much.” Too much for what?
“Wait, wait, back off, we might hurt him.” Um, duh. Isn’t that the object here?
Anyway, I wonder what it was that finally made him snap and admit what he knew. I’m probably analyzing this scene too much since it was all of 2 minutes, but it looks like they put some thought into the set design and method of torture, and then didn’t use much of it at all. Okay, I’ll move on, but I don’t have to be happy about it.
Ah, Keith and the Prez fishing together. How father-son. Fishing at 8 AM, too. I guess it’s believable, given that the Prez is likely up and at ‘em at about 5 or 6. But you’d think on a day off he might want to be having breakfast at 8 and watching the news. But either way, it’s a neat touch that it was supposed to be a day off and now it’s going to turn into something quite different. And I also doubt no President has ever been called in on a day off. Seems kind of unlikely, wouldn’t you say?
Okay, now to a complaint/gripe. I am a stickler for continuity in my TV shows and in 24 that includes keeping the real-time format SOMEwhat believable. I am willing to accept that you can get anywhere in Los Angeles in about 10 minutes (which isn’t true, of course, but for purposes of the show has to be), but can the President really get from from sleepy Lake Oswego to the Northwest Intel Center in 15 mins? Perhaps, but that’s damn fast. In fact, it was less than 15 minutes I do believe. But hey, it’s the Prez so I guess we can let it slide. However, they had another major blip in the space-time continuum later on, but I’ll address that when we get to it.
Kim is lookin’ SO fine, eighteen months after she was a sophomore in high school. More scenes with Kim in her panties would certainly be okay with me. She spent almost all of season one in the same clothes, so why not spend all of season two in her panties and a tank top? Would anyone object to this? (Female opinions do not count.) And, of course, Gary was creepy from the very beginning. We got a little hit over the head with him, but again I’ll cut the writers some slack and assume that it was necessary to develop the character quickly. These are the kinds of things you just have to suspend your disbelief for in order for the show to work. And I’m willing to do that, just so long as it doesn’t continue to be blatantly obvious. And hey, perhaps he’s not tied into this at all. Perhaps he’s just an abusive asshole and he’s the reason Kim gets separated from everyone again and is randomly careening around Los Angeles while Jack mistakenly trusts CTU agents who get mowed down by attackers, while his little daughter has enough moxie (or dumb luck) to escape again and again. Hmmm, no, that’d be too much like last season. Anyway, I think it’s possible that Gary isn’t as evil as we think he is. He might just be a jerk and the people who called his cell are his regular old co-workers, un-tied to terrorist plots. Gary could just be a Type-A abusive prick. When I saw his wife making his eggs and then how she was wrapping the gift, it was crystal clear. Thanks for not leaving anything to my imagination, writers. (Yes, I might sway on my opinions of the writers.)
Since we’re talking about the family Kim nannies for, the little girl, Megan, is a fantastic actor. Just fantastic. I’ve seen her before, though I can’t remember exactly what I saw her doing. But her expressions are terrific, the way she looks at people is well-acted and her screaming in fear is absolutely dead-on. Just a pleasure. I hope we keep seeing her. Maybe she’ll force Kim to be more responsible this season.
And now, the converse of a good actor – the actor playing Eric Rayburn. He’s lousy. I’ve seen him before and he is an overactor. His expressions are forced and his tones of voice just sound fake to me. So much so that he almost appears as though he’s mocking an actor who’s too impressed with himself and padding his part. Plus he’s clearly being painted as the bad guy, so he’s probably clean, in the same way Mason turned out to be clean last year. It would just be too obvious for him to be a real “bad guy.” But then again, Miss Nina Myers (AKA, Yelena) was able to infiltrate our crack staff of background checkers in the US Government last year, so who knows.
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