(Season 7, Episode 5 – 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. 
)
Nothing about this episode really grabbed me until the last few minutes. And then it got fairly intense. But up until then, I was just, eh….
Watching this episode, I kept harking back to earlier seasons of 24: Jack shooting his friend (well, more than one friend in previous seasons), Jack seeming to be the bad guy when really he’s the good guy, the relationships that simmered at CTU, and so on. I guess there are only so many storylines you can come up with when it comes to this stuff. Sooner or later, you’re going to start repeating yourself with different faces.
Before I go any further, I have to say how disappointed I was that Bill Buchanan and Chloe weren’t in this episode. It’s like the writers got us all worked up last week with their pseudo-CTU they’re running by themselves, and then we’re back to the stories we started out with.
I’m not glomming on to the FBI people at this point. I keep wanting the CTU people, and instead, we’ve got the FBI people, with fringes of CTU people on the outskirts. I know this will change, but when we saw the sparks between Sean and Erica, and the obvious connection between Larry and Renee (he sure was broken up about her, wasn’t he?), and then the faux Chloe in Janis … it just made me nostalgic for the old days. It’s like leaving a job you’ve been in for years and being forced to work at a new job and make new friends. Maybe I’ll get more comfortable with it as the season moves along.
If you’re going to pick a guy to go undercover and make it real, Jack is certainly the guy. You have to wonder what’s going on in his head as he poisons people and shoots his sort-of partner. He sure makes it look real.
And by-the-book Renee sure flipped to the other side, didn’t she? I guess you don’t have to hang around with Jack for too long before you toss out the rule book, go rogue, and start saying things like, “I will deal with the consequences after I find the CIP device.” Except Jack wouldn’t be so dumb as to walk right into a trap like Renee did. At least she had Jack there to watch her back. Sort of. He made the shooting look so real, and I’m guessing they’ll leave some air-hole for her to breathe, after he and Tony “buried” her. The clock wasn’t ticking.
What a MESS the President’s husband has gotten himself into. I see shades of Martha Logan in there, but Henry Taylor is really onto something about his son’s murder. And was the stuff Brian gave him the same stuff they gave “Iron Man” to paralyze him? Jane’s inquiring mind wants to know.
And I’m not really liking how obvious they’re making things this season. We knew right away last week that Brian was not what he appeared to be. We know there’s something romantic going on between Larry and Renee. Heck, we even had an inkling that Tony Almeida would turn out to be a good guy. We’ve got six seasons under our belt here, people. We’re not dumb. Make us work for it.
I wonder if the writers are trying to be comical by including “We’re running out of time” in every episode. In this episode, it was one of Emerson’s minions who said it while nudging Jack to add more gas into the ventilation system and kill Matobo and his wife.
Ok, that’s about all I have to say on tonight’s episode. Your turn!
Clacked by Jane Boursaw 
on Jan 20, 2009 @ 09:30 EST5EDT
I have to disagree with you. I found this episode thrilling as well as the season thus far. Every storyline has been interesting ignoring the Sean/Erica affair. I also disagree with you about the obvious writing thing. There will be twists and turns coming in the approaching weeks I’m sure. They seem to still be developing the characters and realationships. Once we think one thing it will be flipped upside down.
I too immediately thought Nina Meyers when Jack was going to “kill” Renee. I wasn’t thrilled until the buried alive part. Watching that scene was disturbing as I’m sure it is a fear of many people, myself included. The silent clock confused me but I’m sure Renee is not dead as she is way too kick ass to be offed this early.
I also feel the Henry Taylor storyline is starting to pick up steam. The preview for next week of him sitting still on the couch as Samantha walks in being stalked by a knife… looks epic. can’t wait.
I’m guessing that Moss is the FBI mole. Renee called Moss and told him about the kidnapping plot and told him that was all she knew. Then the main terrorist told Emerson that Renee only knew about the kidnapping plot and that they could go ahead and kill her. Moss may or may not have a romantic relationship with Renee. He has had a long working relationship with her though and maybe he is so worried about his treason hurting her. The best mole is someone that is high up in an organization who has higher clearance levels and more authority to get things done. This will make for a good twist later in the season. I think Renee will be the one to bring Moss down if he is the mole. And Moss may be doing this because they are extorting him or they kidnapped someone close to him or just for the money. Also Moss ordered the Tac teams to bring Almeida in alive no matter the casualties to the rest of the team, possibly so Moss could try to break him out later. Well thats my theory so far. I could be wrong.
The clock may have been silent but you could hear Renee’s breathing during the clock so she should be still alive.
I’m confused by the speculation about who the FBI mole is. Isn’t the mole the one guy who helped the shooter escape from the basement in the second episode?