'Grey's' Isn't Going Anywhere
'Red Widow' Gets The Axe
Review: '24' - '10:00PM - 11:00PM'
by Jane Boursaw, posted Feb 9th 2010 3:54AM
(S08E07) I'm going to whine a lot about this episode, so that's just a little warning to anyone absolutely loving this season of '24.' But first, let's talk about the great scene where Renee goes ballistic, stabs Vladimir, then accidentally stabs Jack. Then Jack takes the knife out and hurls it at the other guy coming in the door. Awesome!
Ok, now for the bad stuff. For one thing, I thought we were going to get to see Renee kick some major butt this season. So far, she's just a wimpy female with a big fat vengeance chip on her shoulder who still gets knocked around by the bad guys (excepting that awesome scene noted above). Come on, Renee! I want a female Jack Bauer, not some sniveling sap!
The WTF aspects of '24' these days are just too WTF to ignore. Why don't we take them one by one:
WTF #1. I know Jack is a badass who can take any sort of torture and spring back to life, but that was no small knife wound he got in his mid-section. Yet he's able to bandage himself, jump back up, talk some sense into Renee, and give himself over to the bad guys so the deal isn't all for naught. I know it's '24,' but ... I don't think so.
WTF #2. I mentioned last week that it seemed unrealistic that Dana would be able to secure access codes for a warehouse that's housing a LOT of stuff, as we saw in this episode, in such a short time. Not to mention the fact that she's working for the FBI, so wouldn't they have done a teensy bit better background check on her? And given that there IS so much stuff in the warehouse, doesn't it seem like they'd have someone on permanent security duty there, rather than just a cop wandering through every now and then to check on things? Or at the very least, someone monitoring the security cameras 24/7?
WTF #3. Let's stick with the warehouse, since it's so craptastically WTF. Did Dana really think the guys wouldn't take more than just the $120K? They're clearly lacking in judgment, given their history, so she'd have to be a numbskull to think they wouldn't be stuffing multiple duffel bags with whatever they could get their hands on.
WTF #4. And are the guys so stupid that they wouldn't think to wear gloves? Their fingerprints are all over that place! It's like they're hooligans robbing a drugstore or something.
WTF #5. Did Bazhaev really say he wanted Oleg buried "out back"? I didn't run the DVR back, so you can tell me if I've got that right. Seriously, it's like he's burying his pet goldfish in the backyard or something. Not only that, but to tell Josef that his goal with the nuclear deal is to leave him and his family with a wealthy inheritance and respect? Really? How about get a good job and open a 401K? That works, too.
WTF #6. Why, oh why must the Russians always be the bad guys? Are there no good Russians in the world? Just once, I'd like to see somebody switch it up and make the Russians the good guys.
WTF #7. The President's peace treaty. Eh, just WTF. I don't even know what to say about this because the storyline is so nothing. Back in the good old days of '24,' all the storylines had equal value, and each thing hinged together beautifully like a big house of cards ready to topple over. Not so this season.
WTF #8. Hassan's idea to have Jamot's family "detained." Who are we kidding? There's going to be torture involved. So this guy who seemingly has been an upright person so far suddenly has a change of heart and goes all rogue and evil?
A couple more things:
I burst out laughing when Jack said to Renee, "I know what he did to you six years ago, and it IS a big deal," then he put on his nerd glasses. The timing with the glasses just seemed really funny, for some reason.
I'm really liking Freddie Prinze, Jr. and wishing we saw more of him. If '24' implodes after this season, he definitely needs his own crime-thriller TV show.
Ok, your turn. Please tell me some good things you saw in this episode, other than Jack's knife-hurling moment. I know they're in there somewhere. For more reasons why '24' just isn't getting it this season, check out Allison's post.
26 Comments