24 News and Notes - 12pm-1pm

Before I get into this past weeks recap I do have to talk about the fact that 24 has become a bit – dare I say – predictable. Mrs.Geek and I (along with most of the viewing public I expect) were well ahead of every “shocking” twist this episode had in store. Was it a bit disappointing?? A bit? Was there some sort of satisfaction in doing this?? Not really. Will this trend continue?? I’m not sure. Since it began 24 has shown the ability to push the envelope and surprise us with the lengths it’s been willing to go to shock us. Because of this I believe we have developed the ability to look forward and in some ways expect the worst most shocking thing. Do I have a point?? I’m not really sure….

Onto the show -


12:00 P.M.
Wayne watches news reports of the nuclear blast, affected by what he is seeing. When Lennox comes in, Wayne is suspicious of his involvement in Karen’s resignation. Lennox suggests that Karen quit because she knew she couldn’t stop his new plan for the Administration. Wayne is resistant to sign Lennox’s executive orders, knowing they will abuse power and civil liberties. Yet Lennox makes a strong argument and Wayne despairingly tells him to convene his cabinet.

COMMENT: Oh dear – is Wayne going to actually give in and allow himself to be manipulated by Tommy-Boy? I certainly hope the hell not! We are still waiting to find out why the heck Tommy is such a trusted member of Wayne’s inner circle when they clearly don’t see eye to eye on so many things… Writers – we’re waiting.

12:03 P.M.
Lennox lets Reed know that they have succeeded and that the President is ready to sign the order. “Getting rid of Karen was distinctly unpleasant, but she left us no choice,” Lennox says.

COMMENT: What a couple of dirtbags!

12:04 P.M.
Karen tells Buchanan that she resigned, but she refuses to tell him why. She abruptly hangs up on him, and when he calls her back Karen does not pick up the phone.

COMMENT: What the hell is this insanity???? Why in the heck is Karen not telling Bill what the heck is going on???? Can you tell I’m a little pissed with Karen?? Obviously she Is hiding something. Time to spill it Karen!

12:05 P.M.
Chloe reports to Buchanan that neither Jack nor the support teams are answering her calls.

COMMENT: Bill is thinking – another one of Jack’s support teams bites the dust…Mrs.Geek and I are thinking – how can these teams be so inept that they always wind up dead?

12:06 P.M.
Graem goes to his house to erase all of his hard drives.

12:07 P.M.
Captive in the van, Phillip wearily admits that everything he ever did was for Jack. Phillip only now realizes that he pushed him away. After Jack left, Graem was all he had left.

COMMENT: The first of several Bauer family moments this hour.

12:08 P.M.
After arriving at a cement plant, Jack and Phillip are lead out in handcuffs. Phillip offers the men double whatever Graem is paying them, but they don’t accept. Phillip refuses to get on his knees at a freshly dug grave. With the men distracted, Jack is able to wrestle one of their guns with his locked hands. He shoots both men. Phillip grabs the keys and releases the handcuffs.

COMMENT: Sorry folks. That was WAY too easy. My suspicion antennae are up and twitching.

12:09 P.M.
Jack uses the dead man’s cell to call Buchanan. He lets him know that his brother lied to him and tried to have him killed. Buchanan sends a field team to Graem’s mansion. Jack wants Burke the torture specialist brought in too.

COMMENT: Is Jack really ready to torture his brother?? I guess so since Burke is on the way. Wonder what Dad thinks about this whole thing.

12:10 P.M.
McCarthy phones Fayed because he has found someone to program the triggers for the bombs. McCarthy emails Fayed the engineer’s photo and background. “He’ll need to be coerced,” McCarthy warns.

COMMENT: Mrs.Geek and I instantly deduct that it will be someone we know. Obviously. See what I mean?

12:15 P.M.
Fayed’s call is intercepted by the feds, and the CTU team hears McCarthy notifying Fayed about someone to detonate the nuclear weapons. Morris attempts to salvage an image file that McCarthy sent to Fayed of the engineer.

12:16 P.M.
Jack meets up with the field team outside Graem’s mansion. Although Phillip wants to go with him, Jack says he will need to question Graem alone and do “whatever it takes to find out what he knows.”

COMMENT: We all know what that means. Hide the lamps and plastic bags!!

12:17 P.M.
While Graem works feverishly on his laptop, he lies to Marilyn about what’s going on. Suddenly, the CTU teams raid the house. Graem pulls out his gun, but he is surrounded. Jack and Graem are locked in a standoff, but Graem gives up his weapon. Jack has an agent upload all computer hard drives to CTU.

COMMENT: Now let the fun begin!

12:18 P.M.
Jack drags an angry Marilyn into another room. She doesn’t believe that Graem would try to have Jack and Phillip killed. He tells her about Graem’s involvement with the nuclear bombs. While she believes that her husband is capable of such things, Marilyn does not know about any of his dealings. Jack promises to look after both her and Josh, but Marilyn only wants to leave. “I’ve seen what happens when you try to protect people,” she shouts. Jack orders for Marilyn and Josh to be transported to CTU.

COMMENT: WOW Marilyn! Talk about gutting Jack like a marlin. He’s just trying to help.

12:20 P.M.
Outside the house, Marilyn sees Phillip and asks him if what Jack said about Graem is true. She takes Phillip’s silence as confirmation.

12:21 P.M.
As Agent Burke sets up a camera to monitor body temperature, Graem claims to Jack that he doesn’t know where McCarthy is. Burke sees that Graem is lying about something. Jack calls for Burke to bring in the interrogation setup.

COMMENT: Oh goodie! Get the needles out!

12:28 P.M.
Milo lets Chloe know that Morris’s brother was exposed to radiation and is in critical condition. Milo wants to keep this from Morris, but Chloe disagrees.

COMMENT: What is this?? Edgar all over again??

12:29 P.M.
Chloe brings Morris the bad news. Morris is confused because his brother wasn’t supposed to be in Valencia. He tries calling the hospital but cannot get through.

COMMENT: Brother not supposed to be there? DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!!

12:30 P.M.
With no information on his dying brother, Morris gets up to leave. Chloe convinces him to stay and finish decrypting the photo that was sent to Fayed.

COMMENT: Hmmm – so maybe it’s not Morris (like we ALL think it is)…

12:31 P.M.
Jack checks in with Buchanan and learns that Fayed found an engineer to detonate the nukes. Jack realizes his time is running out, and he presses Graem to tell the truth. Burke prepares a syringe of hyocine-pentothal to induce pain, but Graem still claims that he doesn’t know McCarthy’s whereabouts. Graem is injected with a small amount and winces in agony. Jack is disturbed to see his brother go through this torture.

COMMENT: Do we see this as Jack getting soft or just becoming more human? Discuss amongst yourselves…

12:33 P.M.
Jack clutches Graem’s head and begs him to give up what he knows and forestall any more pain. When Graem offers nothing, Jack has the levels of serum increased. Graem launches into a series of spasms and Jack holds him tight for comfort.

COMMENT: Cringe.

12:34 P.M.
When Graem is still tight-lipped, Jack urges Burke to go even higher with the IV. This prompts Graem to confess that he arranged for the assassinations of David Palmer, Tony Almeida and Michelle Dessler. He even arranged it so that Jack would come out of hiding to take the fall. “Today wasn’t the first time I’ve tried to have you killed, Jack,” Graem says with spiteful pride. Jack reacts in heartbroken disbelief.

COMMENT: Okay you got me here….HOLY TRUTH SERUM BATMAN!!!!! Graem admitted to all of last seasons crap. Whoa.

12:36 P.M.
Graem claims his actions were for his country, and he says that the two of them are the same. “We are not the same!” Jack yells in rage before throwing back Graem’s chair. He charges Burke at gunpoint to increase the serum to a deadly level and then threatens to kill Graem. As Jack points his gun at Graem’s temple, he looks up and sees his father in the doorway. Jack suddenly stops in his tracks. He has Burke shut down the IV drip on Graem and walks away in silence.

COMMENT: Come on Jack. He told you all that stuff and all you did was push over his chair?? Hit him with something hard. Draw blood. I’m so disappointed…

12:40 P.M.
Lying in a hospital bed, Walid conveys to Sandra that he is ashamed for spying on the innocent men in the prison. She gets a call from Wayne, who apologizes for what happened to Walid. Sandra tells him that the inmates only saw the information on the internet. Wayne’s administration is detaining people who might be able to help, but they are afraid to come forward because they will be imprisoned or deported.

COMMENT: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ……oh excuse me. I fell asleep there for a while. Easily the most boring part of this entire day.

12:42 P.M.
Distracted, Morris is unable to make the image clearer. He downloads an unlicensed hack to help further the task.

Jack briefs Buchanan on what Graem disclosed. His brother doesn’t know where McCarthy is. Buchanan lets him know that Morris is working on the image of the engineer to be used for the nukes. He sends a chopper to pick Jack up.

12:43 P.M.
Jack approaches his father, who is visibly devastated by what he has witnessed. Jack consolingly says that he cannot blame himself for Graem’s choices. Yet Phillip is more upset at how the family has treated Jack and the time lost between them. Jack asks Phillip to return to CTU.

COMMENT: Bauer family moment #2. still not sure I trust Dad but what can you do. I don’t trust anyone. (thanks to my X-Files roots)

12:50 P.M.
Morris gets the plug-in to work and the image begins to sharpen. Since it will take a few minutes, he leaves it in Milo’s hands so that he can go tend to his brother. Chloe kisses Morris goodbye as he walks out.

COMMENT: NOOOOO – don’t let Milo leave the building!!!

12:47 P.M.
From the airborne cabin of Air Force Two, Vice President Noah Daniels congratulates Lennox about the plan he has pushed through. “To be honest, I didn’t think this President had the stomach for the cure,” Daniels growls.

COMMENT: Creepy VP alert. This guy is going to be nothing but trouble. Makes you wonder how the heck he ended up on the ticket with Wayne.

12:48 P.M.
Lennox puts Daniels on speaker phone as Wayne enters the bunker conference room. It is filled with generals, cabinet members and advisors. Wayne explains to the group that Lennox’s plan sacrifices rights and freedoms granted by the Constitution. To implement it would be a mistake. Lennox argues his case, but Wayne is insistent that the American Muslim community is the country’s best line of defense. Daniels suggests the President hear from some other sources, but Wayne stands firmly by his decision.

COMMENT: WOOOO HOOOO!!!! Right on Wayne!!! It’s about time you grow a set and start acting like the President! Nice to see Tommy-Boy eat a little crow.

12:53 P.M.
As the image materializes, everyone at CTU is shocked when Morris’s face and resume is revealed. Buchanan orders an APB on Morris’s car and he tells Jack what has occurred.

COMMENT: Everyone at CTU is shocked?? Good morning. Welcome to the show. No one watching in America was shocked!!! As soon as he left the building he was doomed.

12:54 P.M.
Chloe reaches Morris on his cell, and patches Jack and Buchanan through. They tell him that his brother’s illness was a setup and that he was the engineer McCarthy was looking for. Morris is shocked and goes to turn his car around. Suddenly, McCarthy pulls alongside Morris and fires at his windshield. CTU can hear the gunshots and McCarthy ordering Morris out of the car. Buchanan rouses a shocked Chloe to pull up the satellite so they can find him.

COMMENT: Okie….Let’s see how this one plays out now. Is it me or could Morris have done a little bit more to get away?? Oh well.

12:55 P.M.
Rita helps handcuff Morris inside their car as McCarthy calls Fayed to tell him he is on his way. McCarthy makes it clear that he is only delivering Morris. Fayed will have to make him cooperate.

COMMENT: More torture…I can’t wait. (not)

12:56 P.M.
Jack boards the helicopter.

At the mansion, Burke allows Phillip to speak to Graem in private. Graem is proud of himself for taking whatever Jack did to him and not revealing Phillip’s involvement in the plot. He assures his father that he won’t tell Jack anything, no matter how much worse the interrogation gets. They successfully convinced Jack that Phillip was innocent. Their plan is for Graem to take the rap and for Phillip to get him released in time. “The company lives on,” Graem says.

COMMENT: NO NO NO – don’t let Dad alone in the room with Graem. Only bad can come of it…..Just like we suspected – Dad is evil. Non-surprise #717 this hour….sigh.

12:58 P.M.
Despite Graem’s confidence, Phillip isn’t so sure that his son will hold firm. Graem tells Phillip that he loves him, and Phillip returns the compliment. Then Phillip apologizes and injects Graem’s IV with a full dose of hyocine-pentothal. As Graem convulses, Phillip covers his mouth so no sound can escape. Graem’s body goes limp, and Phillip kisses him on the head.

COMMENT: Told you he shouldn’t be alone with Graem. Bye Bluetooth – we hardly knew ya!

12:59 P.M.
Phillip bellows that his son has had a seizure. Burke and the other agents try to revive Graem. “If you people kill my son, I swear you’re gonna regret it for the rest of your life,” Phillip threatens.

COMMENT: Hmmm – the angry grieving father card. Let’s see how long that play works.


Dad vs. Son. Let the adventure begin.