Bauer power for another two hours

I had written last night about Jack Bauer's intuitions on "24," and had thought to comment that Jack, whose first instinct is usually the way to go, was probably right to think that Tony Almeida couldn't possibly have gone bad. So when Almeida was captured in last night's 2-hour premiere, I was tempted to write that he was probably just working undercover. I chickened out.

But it's a good thing I did! As of tonight, we now know the situation is complicated: Tony's helping the only two people who still hold a candle for CTU-- Bill Buchanan and Chloe O'Brian-- but as he told Jack, Tony had, in fact, crossed over to the other side, motivated by bitterness against the US government. This means that Jack and Tony have unresolved issues, as I wrote last night. (And if Tony is lying to Jack because this is actually a double double-cross, it still means that he and Jack have unresolved issues.)

Tonight's back-to-back episodes cemented my appreciation for the redheaded Agent Walker, who fell victim to one of Jack's famous sleeper holds ("Don't fight it," he whispered, almost romantically), but sprang up madder'n hell. Suckered once by Jack, she vows not to be suckered again. We'll see. I have a feeling that she's going to be an interesting character to watch. The fact that she and Jack seem to be kindred spirits makes this all the juicier.

One of the trademarks of "24" is its portrayal of torture. I hope the people who worried that the show was going to soften up were happy to see Agent Walker engage in a bit of intensive fact-finding this evening-- first by shoving her gun into a hospitalized bad guy's bullet wound, then by pinching off his air tubes. Personally, I've had an uncomfortable relationship with the show's almost casual approach to torture-- I found it genuinely shocking when I first worked my way through Seasons 1 and 2 on that bootleg DVD in Korea-- and by my lights the show hasn't softened up at all.

It was good to hear all that un-subtitled French (even though it didn't amount to much more than "What's going on?" "We're under attack!") from the African characters, and to see both Chloe and Bill Buchanan again. I wondered, at first, whether CTU was secretly up and running, but from the dialogue it appears that, yes, CTU really is gone. Perhaps that's for the best: over the previous six seasons, CTU was a deathtrap for its staffers-- it harbored numerous moles, lacked sufficient safeguards against nerve gas, had easily compromised computer systems, etc. The depiction of CTU's physical space over six seasons also rubbed me the wrong way: the place was far too shadowy; it had too many niches, dark corners, and security camera blind spots. Its invasion by the Chinese in Season 6 was particularly embarrassing (they erupt through its floor, for God's sakes!). Nah... I'm glad CTU's gone. I hope the building's been turned into a Wal-Mart.

So now we're a sixth of the way through Season 7. I assume we'll be getting only one-hour doses of "24" from here on in. It's a good time for me to be home: both of my favorite TV series, "24" and "Battlestar Galactica," are starting up again.

An aside about the other TV series I've been watching on and off: I find "House" interesting for its relentless focus on its hilariously megalomaniacal main character, but the show's plots follow almost exactly the same formula in every episode. I love "Burn Notice," but haven't had the chance to watch it from the beginning, so I sometimes feel a bit lost. I'm tired of "Monk," a series whose charm depends entirely on whether you, the viewer, enjoy watching neurotic, OCD-afflicted characters on a long-term basis. I've had absolutely no desire to watch anything else-- not "Heroes," not "Smallville," not "Desperate Housewives," not "Lost," nothing. I occasionally get sucked into the "Law and Order" vortex if I stumble across it late at night, but it's another series that, like "House," relies on almost exactly the same formula for every episode. Doritos for the mind.

So if, at this point, you asked me what TV series I'd have with me on a desert island (assuming this island had cable TV and/or a DVD player), my choices would pretty much boil down to "24" and BSG. Both are in-your-face, tightly scripted shows that keep you guessing. They're unabashedly about Big Issues, and not afraid to do something corny now and then. They also share a tendency to bump off major characters, which sucks from the actor's perspective ("Gotta find a new job, dammit"), but is great for the viewers, who never know who might be next. This heightens the suspense. Ah, yes: both series now feature a "Madam President."

Too bad I'll be walking while these shows are playing... but I'm in America, so I have access to Hulu. (Unless something has changed since April 2008, Hulu was unavailable in Korea because of Korean digital piracy problems.) Best of luck to Jack... and to the human race in the BSG universe.

PS: I still think Janeane Garofalo's character is a mole.


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