24 – Jack Bauer reunites with old pals

(Season 7, Episode 2 – “10:00 AM – 11:00 AM” & “11:00 AM – 12:00 PM” – Season Premiere, Part 2)

“You’re running out of time. You don’t have a better option.” – Jack to Larry, when Renee tries to convince Larry to let Jack talk to Tony

Well! I just KNEW that Tony Almeida wasn’t a bad guy, and it turns out I was right. I was whooting! when — amidst Jack’s choke-hold on him — Tony managed to eke out the words “deep sky” and then Jack calls the number and it turns out to be none other than Bill Buchanan!

Partly what I love about this is that we’re all in on the inside story. Even if you didn’t know what “deep sky” meant, you had a feeling that it was some code from back in the day when they were partners. And we know what Jack went through losing Teri way back in season one, and for Tony to bring that up (“Every second you help the government, you’re spitting on Teri’s grave!”) … well, he knew that would get Jack up close and personal so he could give him the code words. I really love it when Jack gets a half-an-inch from somebody’s face with his steely eyes and grimace.

Already we’ve got a nice, juicy, complicated storyline to dig into:

We now know that Tony is no terrorist (although he was for a while and he’s still bitter, so who knows where that live-wire could lead?), and that he’s working with Bill Buchanan and Chloe, deep undercover to unearth the corruption in the U.S. government (the President’s inner council) who are aiding Dubaku and the Juma regimen.

We’ve got the President’s son, Roger, who we now know was murdered by the same people who gave false documents to the FCC about his insider trading. Roger had been tasked with auditing the brokers in his department, and two of the portfolio managers had taken on a new client who was actively trading with firms doing business in Sangala.

And we know there were other blind accounts traced to a senior member of the President’s administration who has a vested interest in military action. And the President’s husband now has all of the information and account numbers given to him by Roger’s girlfriend, Samantha. But hmmm … the President’s assistant watched their meeting through a scope, so I’m guessing he’s working both sides of this.

More fun stuff:

• Jack giving Renee the throat hold and telling her, “Don’t fight it.”
• Sean Hillinger checking his wife’s status on the plane. Jury’s still out on Sean.
• Getaway scene with Bill screaming up in the blue van to pick up Tony and Jack, after Jack hotwires a car and crashes over the parking structure onto the pavement and parked car below.
• Jack asking Bill, “What do you call this place?” and Bill replying, “We like to think of it as CTU, what’s left of it anyway.”
• Nice seeing Ever Carradine in the FBI. Loved her since she played Tiffany on Once and Again.
• Jack going undercover with Tony, and Emerson shooting one of his minions — or, in Jack’s words, a “traffic cop” — who threatened to walk away. Yeah, like that would ever happen.
• How quickly Renee resorts to Jack’s “extreme interrogation methods,” when she goes to Tanner’s hospital room and messes with his equipment while Janis stalls his legal team.
• President Taylor knowing about her son’s insider trading (though we know this isn’t the case) and not telling her husband about it to protect him. I’m having flashbacks to President Logan and his unstable wife.

Your thoughts on this episode?

Clacked by Jane Boursaw
on Jan 13, 2009 @ 13:45 EST5EDT