24 Rebounds

I haven’t written anything about 24 yet this year because there hasn’t been much to write about: I haven’t felt much emotional connection to any of the characters, there haven’t been any jaw-dropping surprises, I haven’t felt a REAL sense of threat, there hasn’t been all that much tension or humor. It’s just been blah.

But much of that changed last night. After seeing Paris and Nicole fuck with the yokels for about 15 minutes (I did like the havoc they wreaked on the Sonic Burger sign), 24 bore much fruit.

There was tension and great shock: it turns out Jack, Tony (who checked himself out of the hospital as soon as he became conscious after surgery on his neck) and the dreaded mole Gael turn out to have been in cahoots all along in a TRIPLE-AGENT effort to reintegrate Jack into the Salazar crime family, much to murderous kingpin Ramon Salazar’s suprise. It all makes sense now, and that extra layer of intrigue and insider information that has been missing the entire season so far, suddenly snapped into place.

I love this betrayals within betrayals stuff – now only Jack’s partner Chase (and his daughter Kim’s boyfriend) is outside the loop. In his best imitation of the older Jack, Chase has taken matters into his own hands and commandeered the private plane of the Salazar’s accountant to fly from L.A. down to the Salazar camp in northern Mexico to rescue Jack, who we know by now is in no need of being rescued after pulling off the Ramon Salazar escape and delivering him to his brother at the camp.

Nothing is as it seems, and now the very mediocrity of the first six episodes have been turned into just another part of the plot line. Very clever – now I’m hooked again.