It is a refreshing touch that this episode doesn't begin with one of those time warps 24 is famous for. I mean, we start right off with Pa and Beiruts making their way into the basement at the hospital. We didn't start off with Beiruts finishing up a pre-med program.
It is a remarkably deserted hospital, though. Pa was roaming the floors and stairwells above, gunning down people in the hallway, with no one in sight. And no one is in this basement? Especially in a hospital laundary?
Jack wants a thermal scan of the hospital, and within 4 minutes, he has it. Now, just how is this done? If you recall, it seemingly took Jack and Chloe about six weeks to get a satellite retasked to aid in tracking one of the terrorists. How did they get this scan done so quickly? I know, I know, never mind.
The magic thermal scan reveals there is a laundary chute leading into the central computer core, I mean, the laundary room where Pa is disciplining his wayward son.
Back at Gestapo HQ, Edgar is falling apart with grief over the loss of his mother. (We assume Mama has gone to the Great Oxygen Tent In The Sky anyway.) Well, not so much falling apart as he merely says he is, with the same tone of voice and expression as every other line he has ever delivered. Driscoll, in her main role as Spreader of Cheer and Sunshine and All Around Team Encourager, asks her little camper to buck up, as there is work to be done in stopping the evil influence of the Flux Capacitor.
Which, again, leads me to one whopping question. Just how does this Override work? I had assumed that the Override allowed the baddies access to the reactor computers, and the terrorists uploaded some kind of programs that sent the reactors into China Syndrome mode. But here, it seems like the terrorists are still actively using the Override to try and gain complete control over the computers, which would imply they are still communicating with the computers. Now, before we saw that the whole kimnapping of the SecDef and show trial was to create so much Internet traffic the Override attack would be masked. That says to me the baddies are using the Internet to attack the computers with the Override. If that is true, isn't there one breathtakingly simple solution here. JUST TAKE THE BLOODY REACTOR COMPUTERS OFF THE INTERNET!!! Just unplug the phone line from the wall. Am I missing something here? I'm getting a headache.
Article comments
1 - Aaman
One has to constantly remember that these reviews are of past shows - great detailed review of the Driscoll Period, quite a Jurassic one. The current guy is so much better.
2 - Temple Stark
Maybe an "aired on ... " addition.
3 - Aaman
Salon has a great review of "24" today, asking "How Real is 24?"
4 - SFC SKI
This stuff is far more amusing than most TV critics could be. I think I stopped watching the show so I could read the reviews and not be distracted.
Tonight's the big 2 hour special though, isn't it?
5 - Jeff
Laughter is the best medicine, as they say.
No, tonight is just the 4am - 5am episode.
The two-part finale is next week, May 23. They'll show the 5am-6am, and 6am-7am episodes back to back. (Starting at 7pm Central Time, at least according to the TV Guide Online listings.)