Watching 24

According to this Access Hollywood article ‘24′ will be “Going Green” for the upcoming season.

In other words it’s becoming environmentally friendly, by offsetting their carbon emissions produced during the show. How they are going to offset all those carbon emissions from all the guns that are fired is anyones guess.

According to TV Squad 24 director Jon Cassar and producer/writers David Fury, Evan Katz and Manny Coto spent an hour answering questions about the upcoming season of 24.

The interesting tidbits are that CTU will be disbanded by the US government at the beginning of season 7 and Jack is facing a barrage of Senate Hearings.

The season will take place in Washington D.C. and not in L.A. Seems that terrorists do attack other places. But, unlucky for them Jack Bauer will be in that exact city to stop them once again.

Also, it seems that the whole “Tony coming back” rumor wasn’t as much a bluff as I thought it was. There was an alternate ending that was “discussed” but never “filmed.” That alternate ending supposedly had Tony returning at the very end and telling Jack something to the effect of “We have a lot to talk about.”

I hope this is enough to wet your appetites. I know it is for me. 24 being taken out of L.A. is desperately what the series needs. And with no CTU breathing down Jack’s neck it would seem that Jack will play more of a ‘John McClane’ character. That is what Jack needs. Put him out there on his own and let him do what he does best.

I’m excited!

Man, I’m really slacking on these summer posts. I promise when the show starts back up everything you love about this site will be there. Especially the Character Countdown.

But, for now let’s get straight into the winner of the last contest.

I have to give props to the person that first used our little inside joke here on Watching24.com. As you know throughout the season, Ricky “Mikey Doyle” Schroder was loving referred to as “Scrotum Face” by a few of us.

The first, and only, person to use the “Scrotum Face” joke was

Nil Thacker:

Nadia: (disgusted) “Wow, it really does look like a scrotum!�?

Congrats Nil you’ve won a pack of free 24 Jolt Energy Gum. I’ll e-mail you and sort out the details. Also, Tom who won last time I haven’t gotten an email back from you. I’ll try and email you again.

This week’s photo:

Well, I’m back to announce the winner of last week’s Jolt Energy Gum Contest.

Last week, if you remember, the picture was of little Josh holding a gun up to his grandpa. There were some great entries, and I was surprised by the number. I’m glad that so many of you are sticking around with the site. Thanks!

I looked over all the entries and there were 3 that made me laugh pretty hard. These were the 3 entires:

Tom–Philip: “Put the gun down…you don’t know how to use it.�?

Josh: “Sure I do, Jack taught me. Point…�? *fires gun* “and shoot.�?

Mr. Aaron Pierce (Hawkeye’s Uncle)–For the last time, I am NOT Ricky Schroder, Jr.!!!

Tom–Josh: “That’ll do, pops…that’ll do.�?

But, I’m going to have to go with the first one. Congratulations Tom on great usage of corny dialogue that was used this season. For that you win a free pack of 24 Jolt Energy Gum. I’ll email you later to get your details so I can send you a pack.

As for the rest of you your chance of winning is coming up right now. Here’s your new picture to play with:

Alright everyone we’re going to get back into the swing of things here. It’s been rough getting used to going to a 9-5 job everyday. This site would be updated a lot more if I had computer access at my job, which I most sadly do not.

Anyway, I thought the best way to kick off the summer season of Watching24.com would be to continue on with the Energy Gum Contest.

For those of you that are new, or simply don’t remember, this is a simple contest. Just put a clever caption in the comment section pertaining to the following picture that has been taken from a screen capture of an episode of 24.

I pick the winner and that person will receive a free packet of 24 sponsored Jolt Energy Gum. The gum that equals to cups of coffee!

So here’s your picture for this week’s contest:

Have fun everyone!

Hey everyone that loved coming here I just wanted to say thank you for making this site the success that it was. I couldn’t have done it without you guys and gals!

I just wanted to say now that summer is here I won’t be gone forever. It is harder to update the site now that I’m working a 9-5 job. But, don’t go too far away because I’m planning on doing 1-2 updates a week. I don’t know what they’ll be about but I’m planning on doing them.

So sit back and enjoy the summer, but stop in at Watching24.com every now and then and see if I’ve put something new up.

Tom Lennox (115)
-Stood up for Josh when the air strike was announced (+5)
-Totally turned his character around 180 degrees (+10)

Net Gain/Loss: +15
Current Total: 130

Bill Buchanan (179)
-Can fly helicopters, who knew? (+6)
-Perfect ladder placement for Jack when he had to jump off of the exploding oil rig (+9)

Net Gain/Loss: +15
Current Total: 194

Nadia Yassir (105)
-Still is pretty good looking even though she has a humongous scar on her face (+2)

Net Gain/Loss: +2
Current Total: 107

Jack Bauer (620)
-Commandeered CTU helicopter (+5)
-Took out tons of people on the oil rig platform by blowing up flammable canisters (+8)
-Made it awfully hard to tally the final kill count (-3)
-How do you like your Cheng? Regular or extra crispy? (+8)
-Didn’t put a bullet in Phillip Bauer’s head when he had a chance (-6)
-Jumped off an exploding oil rig, all in a day’s work for Jack Bauer (+5)
-Took a swim in the ocean (+2)
-Can kill countless people and save the world a dozen times, but he still got totally owned by a wave (-4)
-Showed up at Heller’s house unannounced, it’s a great thing that Heller lives about five minutes away, walking distance (+3)
-Gave a rousing “Jason Bourne-esque�? speech to Heller (+5)
-Said goodbye to Audrey even though he didn’t want to (+6)
-Stared out into the ocean and thought about nothing in particular (-1)

Net Gain/Loss: +28
Current Total: 648

Chloe O’Brian (217)
-Is pregnant (-8)

Net Gain/Loss: -8
Current Total: 209

Morris O’Brian (114)
-Felt bad for Chloe’s “Pale�?-ness (+2)
-Is out of the medical knowledge loop because he’s the Ex Husband (-2)
-Found out that his “boys�? can swim (+9)

Net Gain/Loss: +9
Current Total: 123

Vice President Powers Boothe (-21)
-Confirmed the air strike on the oil rig (+2)
-Dropped the charges against Bill and Karen (+15)

Net Gain/Loss: +17
Current Total: -4

Karen Hayes (130)
-Got the charges against her dropped (+5)

Net Gain/Loss: +5
Current Total: 135

Rick “Mikey Doyle�? Schroder (94)
-The terrible acting continued even with the Blind Doyle “Get the kid Jack. Get the kid.�? Uggg! (-5)

Net Gain/Loss: -5
Current Total: 89

FINAL LEADERBOARD:
Jack Bauer—648
Chloe O’Brian—209
Bill Buchanan—194
Karen Hayes—135
Tom Lennox—130
Morris O’Brian—123
Nadia Yassir—107
Rick “Mikey Doyle�? Schroder—89
Charles Logan—Good thing he made his peace with God, because he’s dead, dead, dead!
President Wayne Palmer—72
Milo—0
Vice President Powers Boothe—(-4)
Sandra Palmer—(-7)

Special Awards:

Pointless Storyline #2 Award: Goes to Chloe being pregnant. That’s all we need for next season, an entire subplot of Chloe managing her baby. All around the pregnancy was just a stupid idea more suited for Grey’s Anatomny.

Take That Grandpa Award: Goes to Josh. Nailed his gramps with a wrench then shot him in the shoulder. Now that’s some good old fashion family love there. Way to go Josh!

Tom Lennox (95)
-Offered to look the other way if Karen decided to help Jack behind the VP’s back (+5)
-Agreed with Karen when she said that Jack has been the most right today (+5)
-Vouched for Karen and Bill and wanted the VP to let them resign peacefully (+10)

Net Gain/Loss: +20
Current Total: 115

Bill Buchanan (166)
-Helped Karen and Jack (+5)
-Even did a little recapping (+3)
-Best recapping was when he recapped that whole agent’s career, and how he had trained him (+5)

Net Gain/Loss: +13
Current Total: 179

Nadia Yassir (117)
-After everything that’s happened today she’s still trying to follow stupid orders (-5)
-Questioned Karen when she asked about Jack (-5)
-Didn’t smack Marylin Bauer who was acting like a loon (-6)
-Found out from Milo’s brother that Milo saved her because he loved her. Awwwww…(+4)

Net Gain/Loss: -12
Current Total: 105

Jack Bauer (618)
-Got put back into CTU custody (-3)
-Pistol whips people like it’s nothing. (Have you ever noticed that TV/Movie characters always know the exact amount of pressure and where to hit someone to knock them cold for the exact period of time they need to do whatever they need to do) (+5)

Net Gain/Loss: +2
Current Total: 620
Read the rest of this entry »

I have to come right out and say it, I’m torn between whether I liked this finale and whether I thought it was very possibly a huge let down.

On the negative side we have really horrible acting by Ricky Schroder. I mean the parts he was in he was just terrible. We also had Jack storming an oil rig, which had a lot of promise to it, with very little pay off. I would’ve much rather seen Jack surgically take out Cheng’s teams of men rather than watch him blow up a few barrels of oil. If you think back to Jack taking out Fayed and his team, that oil rig rescue wasn’t even in the same league.

This episode also featured a lot more “fluff” at the end than we’re used to in 24. I remember the 1st season, and being gripped right up until the end minutes where Jack kills all the Drezens, captures Nadia and finds Teri dead. It was insane and something I wasn’t used to seeing in a show before. This time we had to go through all the stuff with Karen and the VP. I just thought it was something that could’ve been dealt with by just the VP saying, “Release Karen.” They didn’t need to waste time showing how she reacted.

Jack’s showdown with his Father wasn’t nearly satisfying enough for me. I was sitting there thinking after all that’s happened this day. After Jack’s Dad being the head of everything that happened in this season, and the last, he’s done in by a teenager with a wrench. It just didn’t seem fair to end it like that. Don’t even get me started on the Chloe pregnancy. That was a complete waste of our time I thought. How does something like that help a story move forward in 24? In Grey’s Anatomy, I can see how something like that would be a plot mover, but in 24…come on.

Ok, not everything was bad I thought. Bill being brought back into the mix was a nice touch. Although, did anyone notice that there was absolutely no mention, ever again, of the District Doo-Doo Head that came in to take control of CTU? I know I said to keep that out as much as possible, but to ignore it all together seemed kind of weird.

I thought seeing a whole 180 degree change in Tom’s attitudes was great character development. Tom went from one of the most annoying characters to one of the best at the end.

I thought delving into Jack’s character as a human being at the end was great. His speech to Heller was fantastic, and his choice to leave Audrey behind was heart-wrenching, but necessary.

But, taking this whole season in now it doesn’t compare to earlier seasons. The first 4 episodes of this season set such a high bar there was no way the writers could achieve driving that kind of story for another 20 episodes.

For me the season finale just didn’t really separate itself as a “season finale.” 24 finales in the past have really distinguished themselves as the best episodes of their given seasons. But, it wasn’t true tonight. The episode where the bomb went off and the episode where Jack killed Fayed were by far the best episodes of this season. The season finale was just average.

Now I’m kind of mad that we were fed that stuff about a character showing up at the end. I guess it was put out there to throw people off the “Jack staring out into the ocean” ending, (heaven forbid we give that away). Was anyone else mad that there wasn’t a big character reveal at the end? I felt a little bit duped.

Well, that’s it for the reviews for this season. I hope you liked them. The Character Countdowns will appear Tuesday and Wednesday night. It’s way too hard to do 2 in the same day, so I’m going to split up the 2 hours. Until then let me know what you thought about the finale. Do you agree with me? Or do you think I’m insane in saying that this finale, and season as a whole, was just average by 24 standards?

Last week was a build up episode to what we’ve all been waiting for. Tonight’s two hour season finale.

I thought last week was a fairly strong episode, with enough “Jack-tion” to keep me entertained. I was irritated that Cheng escaped Jack’s grasp once again, but I have a feeling that the Cheng era will come to an end in these last two episodes.

The situation in Washington worsened when President Suvarov was actually spying on his own spy which totally caught VP Powers Boothe by surprise. If Jack doesn’t act fast, the US will be headed for war.

Phillip Bauer, the World’s Worst Mullet, has been pulling the strings all along, and now he’s attempting to blackmail the VP into getting his grandson. What kind of insane grandpa does something like that? I sure hope we get some sort of explanation as to why Phillip Bauer is so completely off his rocker.

There is one thing that I’m not too sure about, and if done wrong will really ruin this season finale for me. Last week we were introduced to yet another District Head that has been sent in to run CTU, because of it’s huge “security breaches” like having access to the government building via the public sewer. In past seasons of 24, the District Bureaucrats have come into CTU roughly mid-season where they did their damage and then left. What I’m worried about is the majority of these last two hours being devoted to this new District Bone Head saying things like “Arrest Jack Bauer,” and doing just about everything in their power to totally screw up anything good that has happened. I know it’s going to happen, but hopefully a lot of time isn’t devoted to it, that’s all I’m saying.

Okay, now let’s take a look at tonight’s preview and discuss it after the jump…

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, everyone here it is. Sorry for the delay. It’s been a crazy week, but I know how much everyone loves the Countdown, so here it is. Again sorry about the delay everyone.

Tom Lennox (82)
-Uttered the quote of the episode when he said “And finally we’re done,�? when referring to Lisa and Mr. Bishop (+8)
-Got Bishop to send the emails to the Russians (+5)

Net Gain/Loss: +13
Current Total: 95

Bill Buchanan (161)
-Was shown in the preview for next week’s episode. Bill’s going to be recapping like a madman after he’s missed so many episodes (+5)

Net Gain/Loss: +5
Current Total: 166

Nadia Yassir (129)
-Got slapped right in the kisser (-2)
-Took on her own terrorist in the fight (+5)
-Saved by Doyle (+2)
-Tried to tell Jack that he was still under arrest (-8)
-Blames herself for Milo’s extra body hole (-3)
-After everything she’s still being pushed around by Division (-4)
-Still feels bad about poor Milo (-2)

Net Gain/Loss: -12
Current Total: 117

Jack Bauer (590)
-Calmed Marylin down to the joy of the terrorists, the CTU personnel, and the other 14 million people watching the show (+5)
-Concocted a plan to take CTU back over (+3)
-Doubted his own plan. Come on Jack we all knew it would work (-3)
-Killed guy by using him as a shield (+3)
-Killed “Zhou�? with a little strangulation and a whole lot of neck crackage (+5)
-Shot one of Cheng’s getaway drivers which resulted in a huge fire fight (+5)
-Killed quite a few people in the fight, but none as great as the SLIDING KILL OF AWESOME-NESS (+15)
-Saved Josh (+5)
-Let Cheng, his own “White Whale,�? escape again (-10)
-Fell for the old “There’s a call for you Agent Bauer, and it’s urgent�? trick (-5)
-It took about 11 guys to hold Jack down (+5)

Net Gain/Loss: +28
Current Total: 618
Read the rest of this entry »

This was a tough Graveyard to get done. These shootouts you just never know what’s really happening until you have to watch it frame by frame to get all the kills.

Well, No CTU guys got killed. Jack went on a killing spree killing a bunch of Cheng guys.

THE SLIDING KILL AHHHH YEAH!

Poor CTU guards always getting killed like the red shirt guys in Star Trek:

Cheng’s mercenaries were no match for Jack Bauer:

And finally, poor Milo got shot in the head trying to save the woman he so desperately wanted to have relations with:

Well, as many of you might or might not know. Watching24.com has been down a lot today. So, I’m sorry to announce that the Character Countdown will not be up today. It’ll be up tomorrow. Also, I’ll do a catch up Graveyard for last week. I totally forgot to do it.

Thanks for your patience.
Aaron.

Well, that show was just full of “Jack-tion” wasn’t it?

I lost count of how many people Jack killed in that episode, but it was quite a few. I did however find myself upset that Jack would underestimate himself so much.

“There’s a good chance this won’t work and we won’t get out of this alive.” BAH! Come on Jack, you’ve got a lot more confidence in yourself than that. You took out Cheng’s men with ease. Snapped that guy’s neck like a twig. Nadia and Morris weren’t too bad themselves. Nadia pulled the old James Bond chop in the back trick while Morris went for the Princess Bride move of jumping on the bigger man and strangling him until he finally passed out.

As I was watching tonight’s episode though, I came to realize that Cheng is Jack’s “White Whale.” He was so close this time to putting a bullet in the man that tortured him for two years, but did he? Nope, he had to save is fake nephew/most likely real son from falling to his death. But, I’m confident that Cheng will be going to the big Chinese Consulate in the sky before this day is through.

Man, Phillip Bauer really is a sociopath isn’t he? That guy just doesn’t give up. Now that Jack foiled the plot for Cheng to get Josh Phillip is now blackmailing Vice President Powers Boothe. There’s a lot of things that need to be answered regarding Phillip Bauer, first and foremost is why in the world does he have that disgusting old man mullet? Second, why is he hell-bent on destroying America? And third, what did Jack do in his childhood (maybe wrecked the family car or accidentally broke his Father’s favorite porcelain figurine of Kim Jong Il) that made his dad hate him so much?

So here we are staring down the mouth at a two hour season finale that is promising to shock and awe us up to the very last minute. Anything can happen, and us 24 fanatics know that anything most likely will.