S09.E06: Day 9: 4: 00 PM-5: 00 PM

[MandolinMagi]

Re: Waiting to drill: I thought that too, when the guy was just messing around with it through the entire commercial break and then the next few minutes afterward.  I was imagining some weird pre-torture digression where he was comparing different drill bit sizes or talking about other dental work he'd done.

The drill stuck me as mostly psychological, to keep Kate scared and unable to quickly think up any lies. It's not something you lead with, it's gona get really messy really fast and  it's hard to interrogate someone screaming their head off in pain. Remember Act of Valor?

 

Also, Cloe, next time you put a virus on a guy's computer, make sure there isn't a nice popup telling him that.

[ToxicUnicorn]

Re: Waiting to drill: I thought that too, when the guy was just messing around with it through the entire commercial break and then the next few minutes afterward.  I was imagining some weird pre-torture digression where he was comparing different drill bit sizes or talking about other dental work he'd done.

LOL, WhoAmIWorkingFor.  This reminds me.  I wish they would give Jack's sharpshooter (Ukrainian?) sidekick more to do.  I'm much more curious about him than about the tired Benjamin Bratt plot.

 

Kate Morgan continues to establish herself as a total freaking badass. At this point, I dare say she's the best sidekick Jack has ever had in the history of the show and if her taking up Jack's mantle is where they're going with this, I'm totally on board. I think YS could carry a show like this.

Agreed, CrashTextDummie.  Kate is the real star of the show this time.  To me, Jack looks a bit too movie star this time, whereas Kate looks real.  (I feel like Kiefer needs some moisturizer.  His face looks freshly out of a masque treatment or something.)  Dare I say - as much as I love Jack and am glad to see him back, he isn't being played as intensely this season.  It feels like he is more there to give Kate a boost and it's working: they play off each other really well.  I would be perfectly happy to see Jack retire and Kate keep going after this mini is done.

 

I hate the assistant to the PM.  That actress is giving a terrible performance.  She has a very smarmy look-at-me sort of delivery.  

 

I enjoyed seeing Mark sweating it on the phone with the Russian consulate guy.  I'll say it.  I like Tate Donovan.  He's playing a thankless role, and he's no Mike Novick, but he's good enough.

 

All the Jack-Kate-MI5 and Margo-Simone-sister-in-law-niece stuff was extremely predictable, except I, too, was surprised Jack got to hit the button.  The phone has to be Simone's so that it leads to a dead end.  (No spoiler, just speculation)  The only part that surprised me was that the co-worker found evidence of the deleted files rather than was the bad guy himself.  I'm glad they took that route.  After all, Kate's got to have a Chloe.

 

All in all, this was the episode I liked least so far, but I was still glad to watch it.

Edited June 4, 2014 by ToxicUnicorn

[Starchild]

Kate Morgan continues to establish herself as a total freaking badass. At this point, I dare say she's the best sidekick Jack has ever had in the history of the show and if her taking up Jack's mantle is where they're going with this, I'm totally on board.

Not me. 24 is not 24 without Jack Bauer. Anyone else is a pale imitation.

[WhoAmIWorkingFor]

 

This reminds me.  I wish they would give Jack's sharpshooter (Ukrainian?) sidekick more to do.  I'm much more curious about him than about the tired Benjamin Bratt plot.

Chloe notices Belcheck's tattoos in the second episode and mentions something about a Serbian gang, with the marks showing how many people he's killed.  Jack has a lot more tattoo work now also, so yes, those intervening years of Jack as a rogue superhero walking the earth would be a thing to see.  The Serbian angle is ironic in light of the whole Drazen situation from Season 1 and before that... but you could also claim that Victor Drazen wasn't Serbian, Victor Drazen was Dennis Hopper.

 

As mentioned upthread, though, with Jack and Chloe up and running and some sort of Kate and Jordan and computer files adventure coming along, Belcheck will probably just drop off screen after being captured by MI5.

 

Looking at the episode recap, I am reminded that Rask had a hilarious "WTF!" face when Jack yelled out that he was working for the President of the United States.

 

The show is perversely willing to show the Perils of SImone... they showed the finger flying off, and they showed her body bouncing off the front of the bus.  Gory Discretion Shot?  Nah.

 

Getting back to something that Darkpool mentioned on the last page, it's very plot-convenient that Margot sends Simone out to deal with Naveed's sister, though it makes sense since Simone would be able to approach the sister in a non-hostile way.  However, she's also trusting Simone to be able to deal with the situation.  It seems that most of the previous times hasn't been a problem, but on this one very important day Simone's already had a couple of slip-ups, had her finger chiseled off, and watched her mother shoot her husband.  The perceptive Evil Overlord would probably send another hired goon just to make sure the job gets done, but it seems that Margot is used to getting What Margot Wants, so she's assuming that Simone will be just fine... and of course things go quite pear-shaped.

 

Speaking of hired goons, there's maybe... two more people in the house that we've seen so far?  Maybe Margot can't send anyone else along because there isn't anyone to spare for the job.  Whenever the CIA/MI5/Jack Bauer Is Out Of Bubblegum operation might get down to finding their location, the fight should be fairly short, but I will be highly amused if the al-Harazis start gaining a ton of extra goons.  So far Basher and Rask have both had a decent excess of henchmen at their respective headquarters, all of whom have just served as places to hang squibs when Jack rolls on in.

Edited June 4, 2014 by WhoAmIWorkingFor

[dr pepper]

I'm still waiting for the Big German Baddie who sent Mandy to kill President Palmer with The Poison Handshake to re-emerge. It's the Fifth Reich, I tell you!

 

Yeah, that was not handled well.

I called Navaroo early on, but the previous episode swerved me out of it. Should have known better. Of course you be the molke and get blown up by your own side. But i also agree with those who are suspicious of the PM's aide.

[Scootman]

I think Navaro is clearly rotten but not necessarily involved in the Drone scheme. He was talking about Kate's hubby on the mole phone, I think. So he may have set KateHubby up, but didn't know he was going to almost get his ass blown off by the drone.

[torqy]

Call me crazy, but Shohreh Aghdashloo is still the one and only Terror!Mom to me.

Edited June 4, 2014 by torqy

[Haleth]

Simone's already had a couple of slip-ups, had her finger chiseled off, and watched her mother shoot her husband.

 

Yeah, like an hour ago!  What a trooper!

[ToxicUnicorn]

Call me crazy, but Shohreh Aghdashloo is still the one and only Terror!Mom to me.

For me, too.  She was fantastic.  That character showed emotions and conflicting loyalties and passion and love ... Margot - she just seems like a one-dimensional loony tune to me.

 

It's very plot-convenient that Margot sends Simone out to deal with Naveed's sister, though it makes sense since Simone would be able to approach the sister in a non-hostile way.  However, she's also trusting Simone to be able to deal with the situation.

I perceive Margot as setting each of these things up as tests of loyalty and not really caring if Simone passes them or not.  There's no question for me that Margot would have Simone killed in a heartbeat.  I've given up waiting for any hint of explanation there.  As for why Simone would comply ... that's the more interesting question, to me.  I also liked the glimmer of independent thinking that the brother showed.  

 

I think Navaro is clearly rotten but not necessarily involved in the Drone scheme. He was talking about Kate's hubby on the mole phone, I think. So he may have set KateHubby up, but didn't know he was going to almost get his ass blown off by the drone.

This makes a lot of sense to me.

Edited June 4, 2014 by ToxicUnicorn

[Chicago Redshirt]

Also, Cloe, next time you put a virus on a guy's computer, make sure there isn't a nice popup telling him that.

 

I think the popup was on Chloe's screen rather than on Rask's. It just was a wonky bit of editing. 

[blackwing]

I'm a little lost on how MI-5 was involved.  Is it because Jo Portman told the Prime Minister that Heller has Alzheimer's, so they didn't trust the operation?  Then they did surveillance on Jack and saw Kate's body in the trunk and thought he was betraying the U.S.?  So they thought they would come in and save the day?  MI-5 on "MI-5" was nowhere near this inept.

[WhoAmIWorkingFor]

They didn't trust Heller trusting Jack, so they put surveillance on the whole thing.  Since they haven't seen all the wacky ways that Jack has done things in the past, they were understandably concerned with Jack dumping Kate's body in the boot, and decided to be more hands-on with the situation.

 

On the practical side, this actually makes sense, because for several hours now US agencies have been doing all sorts of odd things on British soil without being very clear to their hosts about the details.

 

Though here the plan would be "Make sure Rask pushes the button, Belchick snipes the two guys with Kate, and I kill almost all of the huge group of goons that are surrounding me.  Trust me, it's all under control!"

 

Plot convenience: Rask is in one of the few places in the UK which isn't covered in CCTV cameras that Chloe could have used to keep an eye on things and see the MI5 team coming in.

 

(Edited: My grammar is horrible.)

Edited June 4, 2014 by WhoAmIWorkingFor

[AV8n]

Press ENTER, dammit!  This is why terrorists and organized crime syndicates use open source software - nothing like having your plans for mass destruction thwarted by the Blue Screen of Death.  What if Mama Stark has her anti-virus patches up to date?  Then the CIA will never find Winterfell!

[betsyboo]

Mommy Dearest? You've got the drones on their way, stop making your daughter go out and kill everyone by hand. 

 

The look on Jacks face when Kate jabbed herself in the neck with the propofol? Priceless. 

omg, i texted my friend and said "I think Jack just had an orgasm! #soulmates" he finally found someone as crazy as he!

I'm sure whomever Navarro is answering to is

 

Aaron Pierce, with a broken heart and nothing to lose??

[jendolly]

Other 24 trope that we got this week: Thigh choke!  Though not thigh neck snap, but the between-the-legs backstab was quite stylish in its own right.

 

That was way beyond ass-kicking, I'm telling ya! Ass-stabbing! Kate Morgan is now officially Kiefer 2.0!

 

 

I LOLed when Naveed's phone rang and the two henchmen WTFed.  The crap you put up with in these jobs..

 

LOL! And of course a total shoutout to Behrooz and his girlfriend's annoying little ringtone. "We got the same ringtone, see!"

 

Wow, this episode had so many twists and turns, I got whiplash!   A veritable smorgasbord of how to fuck up a plan... any plan.  Let's see, there's Chief of Staff getting caught in his forgery, CIA station chief unable to deflect gung-ho geek, reverse knock-out drug, sister & kid not "cooperating," and best of all, MI5 botching everything.  What fun!

 

Oh, I so agree. This episode had all the best of 24 wrapped up. And more!

 

The look on Jacks face when Kate jabbed herself in the neck with the propofol? Priceless. 

 

I saw that, too! He was like, "Wait a tick, I was gonna do that! ...oh, but yeah, we only got six episodes, so I guess you can help yourself."

 

I'm still hoping they do some more with Stephen Fry.  Considering his comic talents, this role seems to consist of being blandly British.  Evil terrorist mastermind Stephen Fry would be amusing.

 

The PM is very disappointing to me as a character. I adore Stephen Fry and had very high expectations for him doing this particular show. I'm hoping he's gonna kick some ass later on. Or be the baddie. Or both.

 

Call me crazy, but Shohreh Aghdashloo is still the one and only Terror!Mom to me.

 

Yes! Yes yes! This TerrorWhat'sHerFace is getting boring. Although the maternal intrigue is there, I hope they will work with it. Maybe there's something to become of the so far very boring TerrorBrother as well?

 

Mark B? Not convincing me yet. Slimy. Loved to watch him turn into a puddle talking to the Russian fellow, though. Off to Siberia, Comrade Boudreau!

 

This thread was so much fun to read! I finally got the time (I'm all out of it lately!!) to watch the epihour just now and couldn't wait to come and see what has been said. Thanks, guys! :)

[TimWil]

I think it seemed highly likely that Navarro was the one who sold secrets to the Chinese and framed Kate's husband. And I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that Kate's husband killed himself and when Kate finds out about Navarro she will kick his butt from Ealing to Hackney!

Anyone have any ideas where the drones are being targeted? I should think Wembley Stadium and Waterloo Station would be prime targets. And, I could only hope, the Shard.

[morgankobi]

Aaron is not alone! They got together and lived happily ever after, damnit!

[JoeSchwike]

Simone's already had a couple of slip-ups, had her finger chiseled off, and watched her mother shoot her husband.

 

Yeah, like an hour ago!  What a trooper!

You know, this got me thinking - why wouldn't the sister notice her sister-in-law is suddenly missing a finger??  I know she was trying to keep one hand under the table (when she had the switchblade) but when they first were talking at the kid's school or park, did she keep her hand in her pocket the entire time?

[millennium]

That was way beyond ass-kicking, I'm telling ya! Ass-stabbing! Kate Morgan is now officially Kiefer 2.0!

 

I want her, I need her, can I get her too?

[WhoAmIWorkingFor]

Anyone have any ideas where the drones are being targeted? I should think Wembley Stadium and Waterloo Station would be prime targets. And, I could only hope, the Shard.

Your typical terrorist with limited resources has to decide between symbolic targets with high recognition value, or soft targets that produce many casualties but ultimately don't mean much to a random guy on the other side of the world.  Margot is in the rare position of having the ability to blow up just about whatever she wants to without even trying very hard, but I'd imagine that in the end she'll still focus her efforts on wherever President Heller happens to be.  Conveniently for her, the Houses of Parliament are next to what might be the number one symbol of London, Big Ben.

 

There's also the matter of the missiles' actual destructive power, which I'd imagine will do the usual TV show thing of being only as powerful as the plot demands.  The dialogue initially mentioned something like "one missile destroying a city block" but it took some effort to blow up the decoy house, and a large portion of the CIA team survived being next to the blast with basically zero cover.  I'd imagine that if there's a missile heading for our heroes it'll have the relative power of a cherry bomb in a trash can. 

 

You know, this got me thinking - why wouldn't the sister notice her sister-in-law is suddenly missing a finger??  I know she was trying to keep one hand under the table (when she had the switchblade) but when they first were talking at the kid's school or park, did she keep her hand in her pocket the entire time?

I wasn't paying enough attention, though she could still somewhat explain away the big bandage as having sprained her hand or something.  Don't explain it like this though:

 

"What happened to your hand?"

"I cut my finger... off."

Edited June 5, 2014 by WhoAmIWorkingFor

[green]

Your typical terrorist with limited resources has to decide between symbolic targets with high recognition value, or soft targets that produce many casualties but ultimately don't mean much to a random guy on the other side of the world.  Margot is in the rare position of having the ability to blow up just about whatever she wants to without even trying very hard, but I'd imagine that in the end she'll still focus her efforts on wherever President Heller happens to be.  Conveniently for her, the Houses of Parliament are next to what might be the number one symbol of London, Big Ben.

 

There's also the matter of the missiles' actual destructive power, which I'd imagine will do the usual TV show thing of being only as powerful as the plot demands.  The dialogue initially mentioned something like "one missile destroying a city block" but it took some effort to blow up the decoy house, and a large portion of the CIA team survived being next to the blast with basically zero cover.  I'd imagine that if there's a missile heading for our heroes it'll have the relative power of a cherry bomb in a trash can. 

 

I wasn't paying enough attention, though she could still somewhat explain away the big bandage as having sprained her hand or something.  Don't explain it like this though:

 

"What happened to your hand?"

"I cut my finger... off."

 

Big Ben would probably be a prime target.  But just as much or even more so I'd think would be both Buckingham Palace and St Paul's Cathedral (the latter of which Hitler failed to take down back in the day).  Also the Tower of London (or is that also the Big Ben/Houses of Parliament area too?).  Throw in Number 10 Downing Street and the occupant thereof for extra credit.

[Rickster]

I guess we just have to ignore why the US would have a dozen super duper heavily armed stealth drones flying over Western Europe in the first place.

[dr pepper]

I perceive Margot as setting each of these things up as tests of loyalty and not really caring if Simone passes them or not.  There's no question for me that Margot would have Simone killed in a heartbeat.  I've given up waiting for any hint of explanation there.

 

It's simple. Simone is the result of Margot doing some sex spying back then. So Simone reminds Margot of what she had to do for the cause and also reminds her of Simone's real father, whom she hated. This has caused her to be emotionally distant and resentful, in fact playing evil stepmother to her actual daughter. Poor Simone is caught up in the need to gain her mother's love not knowing that her mother doesn't think of herself as her mother. No wonder Simone is screwed up.

[ToxicUnicorn]

It's simple. Simone is the result of Margot doing some sex spying back then. So Simone reminds Margot of what she had to do for the cause and also reminds her of Simone's real father, whom she hated. This has caused her to be emotionally distant and resentful, in fact playing evil stepmother to her actual daughter. Poor Simone is caught up in the need to gain her mother's love not knowing that her mother doesn't think of herself as her mother. No wonder Simone is screwed up.

 

Absolutely brilliant, dr pepper.  I bow down to your analysis.

 

Throw in Number 10 Downing Street and the occupant thereof for extra credit.

 

For a moment, I had a slight panic, until I realized the significance of that address.  Just as long as they don't target 221B Baker Street!

[WhoAmIWorkingFor]

Big Ben would probably be a prime target.  But just as much or even more so I'd think would be both Buckingham Palace and St Paul's Cathedral (the latter of which Hitler failed to take down back in the day).  Also the Tower of London (or is that also the Big Ben/Houses of Parliament area too?).  Throw in Number 10 Downing Street and the occupant thereof for extra credit.

The Tower of London, which has the also-very-recognizable Tower Bridge near it, is about three miles from Parliament.  The PM's residence at 10 Downing Street is only a short distance from Parliament.  As far as the drones are concerned, all of this stuff is right next door to each other.

 

I guess we just have to ignore why the US would have a dozen super duper heavily armed stealth drones flying over Western Europe in the first place.

I had one of my typically-long-winded speculative rants about this an episode ago.  I still think that while it would have been less ripped-from-the-headlines topical to make it an orbital bombardment system, that a satellite system would have been both cooler and implausible at the same time.

[John Potts]

I was hoping TerrorDaughter would be exposed by her friend (sister in law?) because of her missing fingertip. Given that she's (supposedly) an experienced operative, you'd think she'd be better at convincing people. Maybe losing her husband and her fingertip has thrown her off her game. Of course, that whole excursion was completely pointless and will presumably lead to her capture given that she's already revealed herself to the authorities. But hey, if the Bad Guys don't grab the Idiot Ball how will our heroes ever catch them?

 

And to stand up for my fellow countrymen, MI:5 didn't screw up. Sure, they disrupted the CIA Operation, but they did their job (and in fact, arrested all the Bad Guys). If MI6 or Mossad (both ostensibly allies of the USA) attempted to apprehend a terrorist on US soil, you can bet the FBI would act exactly like MI5 did here and stop them. And hell, the PM actually was acting reasonably: he'd learned that Heller has Alzheimers (or something similar) and that Jack Bauer (a wanted terrorist) had just incapacitated his CIA handler - so they were acting completely reasonably. There's a reason friendly agencies co-operate to achieve shared goals. Even if they didn't want to open the "Need to Know" pool any wider than they ha to, they could have said, "Don't sweat it, we've got a lead on Lady Stark". Then if MI5 screw up a CIA operation, you can blame them!

 

SoapDoc Kate is truly the female Jack -- the thigh choke, the torture, the wet electrocution.

 

I'm wondering if she might replace Jack in future Seasons (I for one wouldn't object).

 

Auntie Anxiety Margot makes Joan Crawford look like a saint.

As far as I know, Joan Crawford never committed any terrorist actions…

 

Auntie Anxiety "Set up a perimeter."

 

Aka. The Terrorist taxi service, since there is nothing guaranteed to speed a terrorist away from the scene of the crime than setting up a perimeter to stop them!

 

Jeff Alexander Jack can’t guarantee that the arms dealer will know where Margot is, and he can’t be bought, and he can’t be broken in time, even if they find him.

 

I did actually like the recognition that, even if torture works, it doesn’t necessarily work in time.

[AV8n]

I agree that MI5 did the best they could with the information they had.  They just weren't familiar with the Bauer Prime Directive, which states that if Jack is doing something it must be in the interest of national (or international) security.  I mean, we're only 6 episodes in and the CIA has violated the BPD like a dozen times already. 

It all happened so fast I may be wrong, but seems like Jack and Jackie (Kate) were the only ones who made it out alive after the shootout.

[gingerella]

Jack, you crazy, glorious bastard! When the end of epi clock ticked out, I let out a sigh of relief and said, "Shit, I'm exhausted after watching that..." That? Is a classic 24 episode response.

[Watcher0363]

Jack, you crazy, glorious bastard! When the end of epi clock ticked out, I let out a sigh of relief and said, "Shit, I'm exhausted after watching that..." That? Is a classic 24 episode response.

That response is what got me started on waiting for the season to be released on dvd so I could watch all the episodes back to back. I would walk into blockbuster back in the day and see those place holder cards and think Christmas is just a few days away.

[wallybear]

seems like Jack and Jackie (Kate)

Love this!! I also like the idea of Jackie/Kate getting her own 24 series.

 

I, too, was wondering why Simone's SIL didn't pick up on the missing finger, but she was wearing black leather gloves. Amazing that she had her finger chopped off 2 hours ago & is now running around London like nothing happened.

[John Potts]

I'm not sure TerrorDaughter is that bright in any case - even if she hadn't had a run in with that car (Bus? Van? I forget) what exactly was she going to say? "No, of course I didn't stab your mother. But would you mind running under the wheels of that truck? I seem to have mislaid my knife." Of course, it's really her mother's fault for sending her on a pointless errand that will only serve to help our heroes stopping her. 

 

AV8n I agree that MI5 did the best they could with the information they had.  They just weren't familiar with the Bauer Prime Directive

 

If Jack can't convince his own side that he's always right (which 8 serieses have shown he can't), there's little hope for the rest of the world!

[Milburn Stone]

I'm still hoping they do some more with Stephen Fry.  Considering his comic talents, this role seems to consist of being blandly British.  Evil terrorist mastermind Stephen Fry would be amusing.

 

Yeah, and part of being blandly British is that the writers are writing him exactly like an American would write someone British. The writers' ears are sensitive enough to have picked up some roughly contemporary Oxbridge locutions and they're just running with them, instead of creating a character.

[marcee]

Pretty sure Simone was wearing gloves throughout her meeting with Sis-in-law.

[jendolly]

Pretty sure Simone was wearing gloves throughout her meeting with Sis-in-law.

Yes she was, and I kept wondering how she could fit the bandages into those tight black leather gloves. Or she took off the bandages and took enough drugs to numb it out. Sick.

[Sake614]

I LOVED the look on jack's face when Kate injected herself!

And I think the person on the phone with Navarro is either the PM is his aide, who is just as conniving as Mark. In fact, I think they should hook up and let Audrey and jack reunite. But only if Kate's husband is still alive. Otherwise I want them together lol!

[TimWil]

I really think Kate's hubby is dead, clearing the path for a Jack/Kate pairing. I just don't believe Jack and Audrey are endgame.

[benteen]

Until they kill off Kate next season for the sake of Jack's manpain.  After they admitted in Season 8 that the only plans they had for Renee's character was for her to die, I don't trust any long-term plans for the new characters on this show.

[Sake614]

Yeah I was decidedly NOT pleased with Renee's death. I think I railed about it for the rest of the season. But according to Kiefer, this is it unless and until they make the movie. I wouldn't mind him faking us out because I'm loving this season.

[benteen]

Providing the ratings down go down significantly, I wouldn't be surprised if we get another season or more out of this.  I'd be cool with that so long as they kept the 12-episode format.

Edited June 8, 2014 by benteen

[jhlipton]

Felt really bad for Farrah and her daughter.  Why couldn't Simone have just told them to leave town right away?  She clearly didn't want to kill her.  I hope the daughter survived.

All through that whole bit I was thinking, "Simone, thousands of Farrahs and daughters are going to die at your mom's hands and you're in a twist over these two? Get a grip." Geez, pretty sentimental for a "stone-cold killer".  (I knew she was going to accidentally kill Farrah as soon as she got out the knife.  Dummy.)

[TimWil]

That's unfortunately an abstract concept which poor, brainwashed Simone would have great difficulty processing.