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 …)

Question: What is your reaction to the news that Tony will not be in Season 8?

52% (210 votes) – I’m upset. I still plan to watch Season 8, but I’m definitely less excited about the show’s return now.
33% (133 votes) – I’m pissed. The show isn’t the same without Tony, and I’m not sure if I want to keep watching now.
10% (39 votes) – If he’s not in Season 8, at least it means they can’t kill him.
5% (19 votes) – It doesn’t make a difference to me either way.
1% (3 votes) – I’m glad, I never cared for Tony anyway.

Not much in the way of surprises here.  The results of this poll fell out exactly as I expected, with the majority of respondents being upset enough to vote but not upset enough to consider boycotting the show.  But I have to ask … to the three people who voted that they’re glad Tony’s not in the show this season … wtf are you even doing on a website called Almeida Is God?

So … what the fuck is the point of a website devoted to Tony Almeida in a season of 24 that has no Tony Almeida?  I’ve been asking myself that same question since Carlos Bernard released the infamous statement on his website in November to the effect that he will by all reasonable and foreseeable estimates not be involved in the show’s 8th Season.  And you know what answer I came up with?  There isn’t one, really.  There is absolutely no point to a website devoted to Tony Almeida without Tony Almeida.  So I think my anger is split about evenly between being pissed that Tony won’t be in this season of the show and being pissed that the showrunners have rendered me irrelevant.

But that being said, I’ve been a 24 fan for a long time and this website has been such a big part of my life over the last six years that it seems wrong somehow to quit while the show is still on the air.  So I’m not quitting.  But, you ask, without Almeida, where will I get my inspiration?  That’s an excellent question, dear readers, and one that I haven’t been able to answer particularly optimistically.  24 snubbing Tony hurts, man!  The truth is that my inspiration well is looking a little dry and a little ragged at the moment.  I have serious qualms with the idea of devoting as much time or effort to 24 fandom online as I did last year since the news of No Tony came to light.  So I just want to give you guys an idea of what to expect from the site this season in terms of the features and content we had happening last year. (more …)

Indeed, the first 2 hours of Season 8 aired last night.  So what is the official AIG response to the premiere?  Honestly, there isn’t one yet.  I fell asleep, so I’m going to have to watch the first two hours again sometime this evening between the time I get home from work and the time the second 2 hours begins.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I’m not trying to intone that the premiere was so boring that I slept through it.  I honestly don’t know if the premiere would still have been snoozy for a person who wasn’t hung over, running on 5 hours of sleep after partying the night before and then a day of helping her aunt shop for a new laptop and setting up said new laptop.  Especially without any “OMG TONY” adrenaline coursing through my veins to offset the fatigue. (more …)

The writers and producers of 24 think they can get away with No Tony In Day 8 if Annie Wersching distracts us by posing for FHM? Not bloody likely! (although at least the pictures are tasteful, thanks for having standards, Annie).  Just hoping a few facts and figures will provide some food for thought …

Number of different search terms related to Tony and Season 8 that have directed people to AlmeidaIsGod.com since S7 ended: 440

Number of site visits generated for AlmeidaIsGod.com from people looking for information in search engines about Tony in Season 8 since S7 ended: 1,466

Number of times the “Bring Tony Back to Season 8″ petition has been viewed since it launched in November: 1,483

Number of signatures on the “Bring Tony Back to Season 8″ petition: 179

Come on, people, do the right thing and BRING HIM BACK!