Kat gave birth to her fourth son on the evening of Friday, February 5th.  Please join AlmeidaIsGod.com in welcoming Nathaniel Isaiah Kuhn into the world.  I will post pictures as soon as Kat puts some (some that are appropriate for this venue, anyway) up on Facebook  Congratulations to Kat and her husband on the new addition to their already beautiful family.

Greetings, all.  Normally this would be Avery’s week to do the OESR, but she’s across the pond gallivanting around Spain with Mary McDonnell, Edward James Olmos, and a bunch of other Battlestar Galactica fans, so we decided to swap writing weeks.  Avery will return for Episode 8 and then we will be back on our regular posting schedule again after that.

Summary

Jack advises Hastings to pull Renee out of the operation as soon as possible because he thinks she is unstable and no longer values her own life.  He suggests CTU can take Vlad into custody and coerce his cooperation another way.  Hastings still thinks Renee is their best shot at finding the nuclear rods and orders Jack to stick with the plan.  Vlad takes Renee back to his base of operations and demands details about the deal.  Renee gives him the cover information on Jack, fills him in on the uranium rods, and suggests he can use his contacts to find out who has them so they can make a counter-offer.  Vlad agrees to mine his contacts on two conditions — his men meet with the buyer first and the buyer provides a $5M “good faith” payment. (more …)

Gareth over at TV or Not TV has posted a fun (and perhaps slightly controversial?) review of Season 8 up to episode 4 (UK viewers are a tad behind).  Highlights:

24 is back and on these fair shores we are now 4 episodes in, my opinions of this season are forever going to be tarred by the lack of Tony Almeida but I’m trying to keep an open mind for Jack Bauer’s 8th “longest day of his life”.

I’ll watch 24 until the day it goes off the air for good, I’m strangely loyal like that, I stuck with Prison Break until it was mercifully put to rest and I’m still watching Heroes in spite of the utter gash they have been putting out recently, so Almeida or no Almeida I’m still a 24 fan.

Because let’s face it, even the debacle of day 6 (which was undoubtedly a debacle even if it did feature the return of Milo Pressman) which was 24 at its worst was better than 90% of the other rubbish on TV these days. (more …)

Summary

It’s 8:00, and Ziya’s thumb bleeds. Jack reprimands Renee, who responds that she’s still their only shot of getting to the uranium. Jack sneaks back to his car as Ziya wakes up. He’s understandably upset, but Renee coerces him into helping her get to Vladimir in exchange for a big payday. He brings her to the hideout, and Jack tries to establish cover with her, meeting resistance when he asks Renee about her past with Vladimir. So like any man in love, he gets a mutual friend (Chloe) to google details about her life online.

Elsewhere, everyone connected to Farhad Hassan is being rounded up. Farhad himself is currently being kept busy by a couple of prostitutes, and Josef convinces his father to let him seek radiation treatment for his dying brother. The two wind up at a doctor’s office, where Josef convinces the doctor to help them… at gunpoint. (more …)

Summary

In the wake of the explosion, Hastings explains to President Taylor and Rob Weiss that the bomb threat inside the UN was a hoax designed to draw Hassan out of the building and into the assassin’s real line of fire.  Weiss is pissed at CTU’s clusterfuck.  Cole rolls out of his burning vehicle to safety and moves Hassan to another car and away from Davros, who is approaching with a gun, in the nick of time.  Cole calls Dana, who is relieved that he is OK.  As he explains that the assassin was posing as a member of the security team and that Hassan was evacuated successfully, he spots Davros across the street.  Davros bolts into a nearby building and Cole gives chase, instructing Dana to put it out on the wire.

Jack, en route to the UN with Phil the Benevolent Cop, receives Dana’s transmission that Cole is in pursuit of the assassin, and the address of the building.  He pursues, intending to back up Cole.  Farhad calls Davros and inquires about his brother’s status.  Davros informs him that Hassan is still alive, and instructs him to flee before the authorities figure out he was involved in the attempt on his brother’s life. He immediately bolts from his limo, stabs a CTU Agent who gets in his way in the neck with a pen, and runs off into the night.  Yep, he’s smooth, that Farhad. (more …)

Summary

Mr. Weiss follows up with Brian Hastings on the status of the interrogation. Hastings informs Weiss they are making progress on decrypting a file from Meredith’s laptop. Cole Ortiz suggests to Dana Walsh that Jack might be right and that maybe the file was planted on the laptop by someone else. Jack shows up at the location to follow up on his lead, but the taxi has disappeared. Davros (Mikey Farmer) continues to threaten Jim and his wife Maggie. Jim calls Captain Rivello, telling him he is sick and Mike Farmer is willing take his shift. Captain Rivello agrees and tells Jim to get better. Jim tells Davros to do what he’s got to do and leave them alone, and that “they wouldn’t make any trouble for him.” Jack stumbles into the middle of a street basketball game, and is confronted by a street thug and his “crew”. Jack offers $100 to any of the thugs who has seen the suspect he is looking for. One of the thugs says he saw him go in a nearby house. The kid takes the $100 and gloats at his friends. Jack kicks the door to the house open and discovers Jim and Maggie have been killed. A policeman named Phil shows up at the door. Jack confronts him and tells him to lower his weapon, pulling his usual “CTU federal agent!” routine. Jack is tazered from behind by another cop named John. The cops think Jack killed Jim and Maggie. (more …)

I want a Season 9 solely because I want a vehicle for the return and redemption of Tony Almeida, not because I can’t live without another year of Bauer Power, but nonetheless, this gives me some hope.  Although it appeared that everyone, including Kiefer Sutherland himself and the rest of the cast and crew, had assumed Season 8 would be the swan song for FOX’s flagship drama, a report on Friday from the Toronto Sun (yay Canadian news media outlets!) suggests that Season 9 may be in the works after all.  Negotiations regarding an extension of Kiefer Sutherland’s contract is the first step, and according to FOX Entertainment President Kevin Reilly, those are scheduled to begin in about two weeks’ time.  What I found interesting are the reports from a source “close to Sutherland” that Kiefer’s infamous problems with alcohol, most specifically the 48 day jail term he served for impaired driving that interrupted production of Season 7, were a strong factor in the network’s inclination to end the series after the conclusion of Season 8 and their contractual obligations to Sutherland.  Highlights:

Kiefer Sutherland had been under the working assumption that Season Eight of his hit series 24 would be his last. [...] But, now 24 is back and looking as good as ever, talks are hurriedly being scheduled for a ninth season; and it seems a good bet Sutherland’s now-iconic role won’t be put to rest just yet. (more …)

Summary

Following the attack, Jack informs CTU that someone close to Hassan may be working against him. Dana and Hastings are shocked, because they’re new to the 24 world. Jack doesn’t want to go back to CTU, but finally agrees to return for the debrief.

Hastings tries to convince Weiss to isolate Hassan until the threat is neutralized, but Weiss insists that the treaty takes priority. Dana approaches Hastings with a potential lead on the insider – someone has accessed the UN database without authorization and downloaded information about Hassan and the security protocols. With Chloe’s help, she traces the source to Meredith Reed’s computer. Reed herself has made plans to meet with Hassan before his next meeting. As she makes her way towards his office, CTU frantically collaborates with the UN security detail and locates her using facial recognition software. Hassan watches in confusion as she’s arrested and taken away. (more …)

… but not actually linked.  What up withat, Groucho?  Not very blogging-friendly of you to forgo the linkback!  Nonetheless, I enjoyed their review of Season 7, which was not crazy-glowing but certainly far from uncomplimentary, and it makes some very valid points in a very balanced way.  Highlights:

24 has always been uneven as it tries to keep the adventure alive and kicking through twenty-four episodes, but the early seasons had an undeniable vigor in their variations on a formula. Recent years, however, have understandably strained to sustain freshness, especially with a self-imposed mandate to twist the plot with double and triple-agent characters who betray loyalties from within CTU or the White House. Fan and critical griping came to a head with the widely-panned Season Six, so it was a blessing in disguise when the 2007-2008 Writer’s Strike halted preparations and caused a year-long delay for the Season Seven launch. With more time to “break” the story, the 24 team could begin filming from a place of relative confidence (though the show would shut down again, late in production, to rewrite a pivotal episode). (more …)

Summary

Time has passed since Season 7. Jack Bauer’s stem cell treatment at the hands of Kim Bauer has been successful, and he’s living in New York fully recovered. Kim Bauer, her husband, and their daughter Teri have come out to visit from Los Angeles, and Jack makes a decision to move back home with them. In global news, President Allison Taylor and President Omar Hassan of the Islamic Republic of Kamistan (which I suspect is a fictional country) are thiiis close to signing a historic peace treaty. (more …)