Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Uncategorized '24:' Episode 18, 1-2 a.m.
Posted by Debbie Michaud @DebsMichaud on Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 11:10 PM
Whoa whoa whoa. Whoa.
This episode was almost too much to handle. In a good way. Explosions, subterfuge, family reunions ... almost all of my favorite parts of '24' were in full effect last night. The midnight-1 a.m. hour ticked to a close last week as President Taylor frantically called off the air strike on Starkwood. Hodges revealed he'd armed 13 python missiles with the bio-weapon and already had three of them pointing at American cities, ready to launch should the government try to interfere with Starkwood. He forced the President into a face-to-face meeting where, this week, he promptly proceeds to try and blackmail her for "a seat at the table." In short, he wants Starkwood to become the fifth branch of the military with input and influence on the country's foreign and domestic strategies. Like any terrorist worth his salt, Hodges has typed up his whole plan and had it professionally bound and laminated. High marks for both presentation and lunacy.
Back at Starkwood, Tony uncovers the missile plot when he sees two of the compound's brutes unloading rocket fuel into an underground storage facility next to the bio-weapon bunker. After conferring with Jack, the two decide that blowing up the facility is the best option. The president OKs the plan without technically OKing it (deniability...). When Renee fills in Larry on the plan, he says, "It doesn't sound like the president authorized this... ." (Don't start Larry.) "Technically no. Do you have a problem with that?" asks Renee. "Hmmm. Actually, no," he replies. "Starkwood drew on my men and I want to get those bastards." Yes! Get the bastards!
What followed next was such a strategically choreographed series of events, I didn’t catch on/believe it was happening until it was nearly finished - a rare feat on “24” these days. The two Starkwood “soldiers” under Tony’s surveillance finish unloading the rocket fuel. As soldier No. 1 gives orders to leave, soldier No. 2 breaks off to give the area a quick sweep. In comes Tony for the sneak attack, holding the truck driver hostage. The driver’s knocked out and dragged under the truck, and Tony uses soldier No. 1 to get to the fuel tankers below. He rigs the tankers with C4 and returns to the surface where the driver jumps him, knocking the hand-held detonator out of Tony’s hand and down through the prongs of a drainage grate.
After a quick scuffle Tony takes out both men, but not before soldier No. 1 activates a code to launch the missiles. With only seconds to spare, Tony manages to grab the detonator, blow it all to high heaven and escape. Phew. Now, whatever happened to soldier No. 2, you ask? He’s at gate 6 with a canister of the bio-weapon and two dead FBI agents. He escapes in an FBI vehicle, which the FBI can track in its FBI helicopter manned by Larry and Tony. (Tony, it should be noted, has been taken into custody for his previous sins, and is starting to look rather smug from the back seat.) Soldier No. 2 takes out the pilot as the helicopter lands and engages Tony and Larry in a firefight. Larry takes a few serious hits to his bulletproof vest and lays wheezing behind a dumpster when Tony comes to his aid, er, I mean, to kill him. That's right people, Tony, holding his hand over the bewildered FBI agent's mouth, murders Larry. I did not see this coming. No way, no how. So awesome and so sad. Tony's one of my favorites. It makes me wonder, though, could Jack be capable of something similar? It's highly unlikely, but after Tony's deception, I'm starting to feel like anything's possible again.
In other, Jack Bauer-related news, Kim Bauer shows up at FBI headquarters. It turns out she was at the senate hearing and has been trying to get in touch with him all day. Kim, played by Elisha Cuthbert, looks a bit too much like an aging porn star for my tastes, but it's still good to see her. Jack refuses her help for the experimental treatment and the two say another teary-eyed goodbye. For now.
Hodges has turned out to be an especially wicked villain. Intelligent, ruthless, cunning, and wholly convinced he's in the right, I hope his arrest last night doesn't mean we won't see him the rest of the season. He's someone I love to hate, whereas somehow, I love to love Tony, even when he's deceiving and murdering people.
(Photo courtesy Fox)
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