THE PENULTIMATE 24: Dammit ...?!?!

TWENTY-BY-GUM-FOUR Review:

- Ugh. We were on our way to getting a pretty damn good episode of 24 tonight ... there was an intense search for the soon-to-detonate bio-weapon, EVIL TONY was captured by Jack, and that uber-beyotch Olivia was well on her way to getting vice-gripped by the righteous hand of justice, aka AARON PIERCE. Everything was going pretty well, and there was GRAVITAS a-plenty. We even had a thunderous NOD OF GRAVITAS between Jack and his Muslim cleric friend, as the two exchanged psychic waves on a plane of existence that most of us can only dream of. Even the banter between Chloe and Janeane Garafalo was semi-amusing and provided some much-needed levity in the midst of all the grim n' grittiness.

BUT ... we should have known that KIM and AWESOME STORYLINES rarely mix. I wanted to believe that Kim would be woven back into the action in a fun and exciting manner, but instead the writers resorted to "24 Cliche #537": One of our heroes is blackmailed by the badguys and must betray everyone and everything they hold dear in order to save the life of a friend or loved one. ARRRRRRRRRGH. Not only have we already seen this IN THIS VERY SEASON, but it's been done multiple times in the show's history, and the tropes are so familiar by this point that a 24 fan can practically recite them by heart.

Now, who knows, maybe there will be some great twist in next week's finale that will put a new spin on a familiar situation. But who cares - it made for a groan-inducing cliffhanger tonight. The 24 team should be smart enough at this point to subvert the show's conventions. How great would it have been for Jack to have anticipated this villainy and worked out some kind of contingency plan? Or what if Jack simply said "screw it" and decided that, with only hours left to live, he'd throw caution to the wind and somehow try to save his daughter, danger be damned. But are we really going to spend half of next week's season finale going through the motions of seeing Jack go rogue and take on the FBI, so that he can appear to have betrayed his country for the 500th time this season? And it doesn't take a psychic to see where this is headed - Jack will save his daughter, will be on the verge of death, and in his last moments the FBI will experiment with their newfangled medical procedure and use Kim's blood to help revive Jack. Ugh. Where's the twist? Where's the climactic showdown? Dammit all, where's the gravitas?

This episode of 24 simply dropped the ball. It took the emotional core of this season, Jack vs. Tony, and blew it off with barely any fanfare or drama. We STILL don't really have a good explanation for Tony's actions, so it's hard to even hate him all that much or to truly buy him as a legit villain. But here, within minutes, Jack cornered him, captured him, choked him out, and, well ... that was pretty much it. Even if Tony escapes and we have one final epic battle royale between the two, well, the air has already been let out of the balloon, so to speak. I just think it's disappointing that, for a while there, 24 was telling a very logical story about Private Military Corporations and disillusionment with one's country, and now we are left with something of a cluster as we head into the finale. And it feels like it's a mish-mash of every 24 cliche - Kim in Danger, Jack having to go rogue under duress, a scheming relative in the White House, a friend-gone-bad, Jack at the end of his rope / life, some vague conspiracy that was built up for weeks only to (as usual) disappear into the ether by season's end, etc.

Dammit 24, get your $#%^ together for the finale, or I'm going to need MORE CC's!

My Grade:

Most of the Episode: B+
Ending: C-