What did you think of 24: Live Another Day Episode 5?

24: Live Another Day Episode 3 Discussion
What’d you think of 24: Live Another Day episode 5?

What did you think of the 24: Live Another Day Episode 5? Vote in the poll and leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Thoughts on 24: Live Another Day Episode 5?

Last weeks episode was well received – 83% of voters loved the episode while 14% believed it was good and only 2% thought it was just OK.

Tonights episode was written by Sang Kyu Kim and Patrick Somerville (the same duo that wrote the third episode) and was directed by Omar Madha. All three are new to the 24 crew. Did they do a good job?

If you missed the episode, you’ll be able to watch it on FOX’s website tomorrow or catch the repeat on TV this Friday at 8:00 PM on FOX.

158 Comments

Comments Closed
Judging from the previews, next week’s episode looks to be even better than this week’s.

Oh god, this episode could have been one of the greatest if we hadn’t had Jack sitting in a chair all hour.

This episode had the potential to be remarkable, but I think it failed in execution. My initial thought is that the show should not have revealed the trap until the very last moment. I think it would have made the drone attack resonate a lot more. As the final splitscreen came on with eerie music, I couldn’t help but feel like they missed the mark: I did not feel the way the music suggested I should feel. Something in the pacing there was a little off (just my opinion). I also didn’t like that the big shocker at the end was more al-Harazi family drama (the killing of Naveed). I would’ve let the drone attack sink in a bit more and left the execution until the beginning of the next hour.

Another thing: Where the heck was Jack all episode? I don’t want to believe that this season was meant to transition us into a 24 with Kate Morgan at the helm, but that’s sort of what we got this week. Rogue Kate is the same as rogue Jack… except it’s less compelling, because Jack’s our star. Re: Kate, the shades of grey that 24 introduced in season 8 are slowly disappearing: The show treated it like a no-brainer that she should give Chloe access to the CIA servers, but it maybe should’ve been more of a dilemma. Kate Morgan just gave Open Cell unfettered access to CIA ops and information. That’s crazy!

Anyway, it was great to see Jack and Audrey reunite with such a powerful scene. That being said, I couldn’t help but groan when Jack admitted to Audrey that he did kill those people and that “it’s complicated.” Is “it’s complicated” really the way the writers are going to treat Renee’s memory? That’s what it felt like. Sometimes I find that 24 is so intent to make itself accessible that it tries its best to ignore the past. Graem referred to Jack as Bauer throughout season 5 and then miraculously becomes his brother in season 6? Oh well! We’ll pretend it never happened. Charles Logan is as sleazy as ever in season 8 despite professing to be a changed man in day 6? Don’t worry about it! Audrey was catatonic in day 6 and comes back without a scratch in Live Another Day? Forget about it! Jack Bauer was dying at the end of season 7 and the experiment treatment came off without a hitch for the day 8 premiere? Okay! It just kind of baffles me.

Actually, I don’t think that was what Jack was talking about when he said ‘I killed those people.’ I am not sure he was talking about the Russians. Remember, last week he said that Heller’s state department had designated him a terrorist and he never got to tell his side of the story. Since Heller wasn’t president at the time he killed the Russians, I am thinking there might have been some other incident after season 8 that got him branded a terrorist. I know next week we are supposed to learn something important about Jack’s past over the past 4 years, so I am thinking that what he said to Audrey was related to that and not to the Russians.

If the “it’s complicated” was referring to the events of Season 8, I don’t see what’s wrong with that description. For all those who make Renee out to be the love of his life, remember that he only knew her for a total of about 36 hours. When the doctor asked Jack if Renee had any family that should be contacted, he didn’t know. Contrast that to the scene in season 6 when Jack told Audrey her full name, where she was born, and her whole family history to try to help her remember who she was. And remember that Jack said to Audrey at the end of season 6 “I love you with all my heart and I always will.” I don’t think anything that happened with Renee changed that for him. That much was obvious from the way he cried when he saw Audrey tonight.

Oh, yes. Thank you for this amazing answer. Quite frankly, I keep trying to make people understand the difference between the two of them and their relationships with Jack and why Audrey will always be Jack’s one and only. But no one seems to get that, although he did had feelings for Reene (obviously, I really don’t deny that), Audrey will always be Jack’s true love. It is what it is.

Oh, and btw, the reunion scene was beyond beautiful. Extremely touching and emotional.

The issue is not who is the love of Jack’s life or any kind of shipping war, the issue is writers pretending Renee Walker whose death sent Jack into a downward spiral and forced him to a fugitive status never existed in the show. It is really just ‘Jack killed a bunch of high ranked Russians, please don’t ask, don’t tell why he took such a drastic action’. Which is actually quite lousy writing for those who have never watched 24 before.

And I can imagine something even worse that the writers would even manage to tell Jack’s side of story from Jack’s mouth without even mentioning Renee Walker.

Yes, you have a point. But that happens a lot in TV shows. Or do you remember Jack mentioning Audrey at all after season 6?
And this is not about ship war, I just wanted to make an statement about it. Yes, I ship Jack with Audrey and I think they belong together. But also, I think Renee was an amazing character.

The difference is there wasn’t really any need to mention Audrey back then because there weren’t any direct significant ties between S6 and S7. This is different, Jack is a fugitive now because of his actions that started with Renee’s death, so only referencing “Jack killed a bunch of Russian diplomats” without mentioning the actual root cause is simply not right.

And it is not just Renee, there is an obvious lack of mention of Taylor and the direct aftermath of S8 just to shift the focus on Heller’s administration. That part feels really off as well.

Ozgur, you’ve captured my thoughts exactly.

I think you are forgetting that 24:LAD only has half the amount of time to tell its story than it used to. That being said, I would imagine they want to minimize as much “fluff” as possible. I am acceptable with this response from Jack to Audrey, as in reality, I doubt that context would have been the appropriate time to go into detail about what happened 4 years ago when there are terrorists about to strike at any moment. This complaint is a little picky, in my opinion. The episode in general, and that scene specifically between Jack and Audrey, were very well executed, IMO.

I feel the same way Corina and am glad to find another of like mind as I have been saying so at various places here and on other sites. I’ve been waiting for this reunion between Jack and Audrey forever it seems like. As I’ve also said I hope “Daddy Dearest” has been straight up with her that after telling Jack what low life scum bag he was, he’s also the one that told Jack to never try and see Audrey again.

Their acting was right on target emotionally; Jack’s up front owning of his jaded past that is yet to be clarified to us. Then could come the acknowledgement of her marriage and wanting to know if “he” was treating her right was so on target and characteristic of Jack. The touching of her face was proof that it wasn’t a dream that it was for real. And him being the strong one to tell her she had to leave and to leave now so their meeting/being together still had honor in it along with giving her the cover of integrety for when the replaying of it in her head surely would come later.

It was very obvious that they still love each other deeply as oppossed to needing a physical release from being “in heat” with each other.

Now one of the question becomes if there is another drone strike does the husband manage to survivie it?

That’s an interesting take on why Jack made her leave. That said, it sort of bothered me. After everything she sacrificed for him I feel he owed it to her to give her a proper goodbye (that she was awake for! ). He could have talked to her for a few minutes and given her a hug goodbye without ruining her marriage. I can’t understand why he pushed her away so fast.

My husband would agree with LadyJ. He thinks Jack asked her to leave in order to protect her. I also believe he wanted their reunion to end before he lost control. He didn’t want to break down in front of her. In fact, I think he’s spent the past four years trying not to feel anything. Once Jack cracks, there’s no telling what might happen. (Kiefer Sutherland’s portrayal of Jack is always the best part of the show.)

Another thought to toss out to fellow 24 agents. Do you think Alan Wilson’s shadow group has anything to do with this season? I have a theory that these people were behind Chloe’s family tragedy. I think the group wanted to kill her husband and son, so she would be isolated. Then Adrian Cross recruited her to help them. Of course, she and his other followers don’t know about his connections. They don’t realize the shadow group controls the chaos Open Cell creates.

That’s where Tony comes in! He knows more about the shadow group than anyone else, so Jack helps get him sprung from whatever prison he’s in. Of course, all this is speculation and has nothing to do with the Al-Harazi plot.

I wish you were right. I would guess that XAM does too, as I recall from the 24 Community that XAM is the name some fans gave to the phantom organization behind all the events of the show.

Unfortunately, I think the writers try their best now to keep the seasons as “standalone” as possible. Would casual viewers actually remember Alan Wilson and the Red Dot Cabal?

I think they might leave Wilson out of this (though that they mentioned him on Day 8 was interesting) but I disagree that 24 is entirely standalone. If it were, everything that happened in Day 8 that led to this day wouldn’t exist. I think you’re right in that they try to keep it open for new viewers and I did start laughing when Jack summed Day 8 up to Audrey as “it’s complicated” and left it at that. But what I like about 24 is that they make the past actions of the characters have an effect on their futures. It’s cumulative.

Correct! XAM was a term coined by 2 24 Community members Peter_Kingsley and Milpool and inspired by the production company name of Oprah Winfrey (Oprah/Harpo, Max/Xam).

To this date, the most jaw dropping moment of 24 for me was Mandy appearing at the end of day 2 to make the attempt on Palmer, and her boss being a German dude and (quite possibly) part of the organisation behind Nina. That was such a HUGE twist that sent chills down the spine, connected both seasons in an interesting way and potentially set up an awesome arch nemesis organisation for Jack. Sadly, that angle was carelessly brushed off in season 3.

Day 4 and 5 see Mandy’s return and the assassination of Palmer which got tongues wagging once again over a possible return of XAM. That didn’t happen – a shitty video game happened instead – but an interesting XAM/SPECTRE like organisation surfaced, which was sadly ruined the following season with the terminally stupid idea to make the head of the organisation Jack’s brother.

Jesus Christ!!

Even the 24 writers realised what a colossal screwup they made with day 6 and in day 7 made Alan Wilson the man behind the man behind the man behind the… behind the man who killed Palmer. The final 6 episodes of day 7 were rewritten to include the Red Dots specifically to tie into day 8.

But after brushing off the Max storyline
After cheapening the bluetooth group with family ties to Jack
They drop the conspiracy angle AGAIN in season 8 in favour of the same old Johnny Jihad shite we’re so used to with even seasons.

Tony’s last words were “these people think they can take everything away from us Jack”. Well, whoever “these people” are, there should have been a season dedicated from hour one to tracking and bringing “these people” down. LAD could have been it. Alas they always get into the nasty habit of building these groups up and WHOOPS! running out of time because they spent most of the day trying to neutralise a generic and shitty threat from equally generic and shitty villains – oh wait, kinda like they are in LAD.

As much as I criticise LAD for being one giant rehash, I AM hoping they honour the tradition of introducing higher up villains for the final act. As for bringing back the red dots/Wilson, I can think of no better reason for Tony’s (now likely) return. If casual viewers don’t remember or know Wilson/Max/Whoever then that would surely encourage them to go back and check out earlier seasons. Just think how thrilled someone starting 24 with day 6 would be if he went back to discover Fayed’s brother was actually a villain from a previous season.

Also…

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/s9/24/news/a495759/24-return-will-patton-interested-in-reprising-alan-wilson-role.html

As terrible as it was to see the writers flub the BTG by turning it into BXJ Technologies for season 6, I’m definitely thankful for the Red Dots in season 7. I feel like the organizing structure of the group provides a framework for fans to envision the connections between all the seasons, even if the show doesn’t do that itself.

You’ve got a group of corporations working together to ensure world events work in their favour. Starkwood was one “dot,” BXJ and Nathanson were another, McLennen-Forster fell in with the group, and Max and his crew did too. It kind of clouds “the German connection” that everyone was waiting to learn about, but if you set up a big flow chart, there are ways to connect the bad guys of every season… except season 8. That’s how I like to look at the show. If Wilson was the man who kept everyone in line, so be it.

Agreed, AgentRez! I think there’s been a few red-herrings this season so far, and I am positive some of it will come to light next week.

I think what I saw with Jack regarding Audrey was more guilt and regret than anything else. And, for the record, I’m not some Jack/Renee shipper. I don’t ship him with any lady in particular (unless The JackSack is female.)

I actually kind of agree with you, and I am probably the biggest Jack/Audrey shipper out there. But it also felt like he still cared a lot about her, so much that it was too painful for him to be in the same room with her and look her in the eye and tell her the things he had done. He said at the end of season 6 that he would always love her and I don’t think that’s changed. I just think he was fighting hard not to show it.

Yes, painful to be in the same room with her and fighting not to show his emotions, I agree. I always sort of felt that Jack told Audrey he’d always love her on Day 6 because she had gone to China because of him and since he was leaving, there was then nothing else that he could really do for her. It’s kind of along the lines of how he told his daughter that she was the love of his life on Day 8 in a video that was meant for her to see– he’s saying what he feels he needs to maybe more than what is really true, IMO. But it’s obviously interpretable…

If Jack had not been in that room most of the episode, how would he be right there when he is needed to save the day.

Exactly. Especially since it’s massively convenient that he’s just around when all this is going down and he knows exactly how to solve the problem. Funny, that… :)

Total ly agree. For me it was the weakest episode of this season

This episode was just OK. It suffered from a decided lack of Jack. Not enough Bauer in the hour.

Agreed – the catalyst and really only compelling reason to watch is Jack. Chloe is morphing into a cliche and tired formula, while Kim Raver’s portrayal of Audrey once again shows that beyond teary-eyed, quivering lip displays, her acting invokes more yawns than interest.

There are more elements that worry me about the season sliding downward than not – the Margot-and-her-demented-kids theme as the villains might play well on ‘American Horror Story’ but comes off bizarre in an action series. And while I like Bill Devane and Benjamin Bratt as actors, they’re not turning in their best work IMO. Sadly, other than Jack and Heller, the remainder of the cast this season has been uninspiring and bland. With only 12 episodes to shoot, I would have expected a lot more screen time for Jack.

Watch how Jack magically switches seats just before Audrey enters the room.

When Jack admitted to Audrey that “it’s true. I killed those people”, does anyone else think he might have been talking about something other than the events of season 8? Heller wasn’t president then, and it was Heller’s state department that designated him a terrorist. I am thinking that maybe he was referring to something that happened between season 8 and Live Another Day that we don’t know about yet that got him designated as a terrorist. Thoughts?

I interpreted that reference to being the Russians he killed – Heller himself referred to it when questioning whether to let Jack go back in in the field, and Navarro mentioned it in his interogation of Jack. I have to believe that the writers wanted to give a glimpse of how Jack feels about that time – hence, his confession to Audrey.

Kiki Vanderway
May 26, 2014 at 10:47 pm
Season 4 Echoes–An over- ride system that takes over six agents of destruction –drones vs nuclear power plants. At a time when Heller and Audrey are central characters…. An opening line of “I don’t even know where to begin”

All that was missing was Audrey grabbing his hand as she flees the room.

In terms of Jack ” coming clean” remember he has never had an issue owning his actions. Whether he is referring to what happened after Renee or not remains to be seen but either way he owns it. And that is why he remains so compelling and untouchable as a character and why we still care so much about it.

It’s true that the set up of him sitting in a chair in a room used for storing furniture not compelling, but Sutherland is still riveting to watch even under such limitations .

That explosion was insane, very well done.
Really enjoyed the episode, not perfect but still highly enjoyable.

OMG!!!!! Tonight was on point. Must admit 1st few episodes were slow to me. But these last two have been on point. I love Kiefer aka Jack. Not a big fan if chloe new look. But I can live with it. Just wish more of some of the old crew was here. Although most are dead.

Funny – I thought the 1st two episodes were the best ones so far. The past two have been far too slow and minimal in Jack-time.

Loved this episode! Don’t know why it’s getting such a negative reaction. I think because Jack was MIA all episode. I admit I would’ve loved to have seen Jack in action but in the context of the story it made sense he wouldn’t be out in the midst of things this quickly. Plus we got two great scenes with him and audrey as well as him and Heller.

I did have quite a few nitpicks regarding some silly timing/believability issues. (ie. within seconds of looking at complex coding Chloe is able to instantly form a jpeg that immediately proves the drone was hijacked. That coding could’ve been anything, it could’ve been photoshopped for all we know and yet after 5 seconds Jordan is convinced enough to say with full certainty Tanners drone was hijacked?)

Other than those nitpicks I thought it was a really suspenseful hour. Definitely a bridge episode but a good one at that. I also love how the Al harazi family is written. Margot seemed to be genuinely disappointed and let down by Naveed. She wasn’t just the typical “you crossed me so instantly I kill you with no remorse”. Something about Michelle Farhley’s acting really convinces me of her role.

The best if not one of the best “hours” on 24 I’ve ever seen. Jack and Audrey reunited, Margot puts on her best “game face” in front of the entire world, Naveed pays the price and taking a bullet to the head thanks to Margot and let’s hope Navarro and Ritter survives after they were ambushed. Looking forward to next week’s episode and I guess were in for a wild and crazy 24 moment known as TORTURE (scream for mercy).

That explosion was rather impressive

….although they really shouldn’t have parked that car in front of the building because it doesn’t react to the explosion at all

Not as good as last weeks, but a solid episode.

The highlight for me was the Heller/Jack scenes, those two are always fantastic together. Jack and Audrey’s reunion scene was also very well done. Good acting by Sutherland and Raver and I like how Sean Callery played their old piano theme in that scene.

Chloe scenes were good and had some nice humor bits. I especially liked her “I could tell you how to open a socket” line to Kate which was cool fan service. Speaking of Kate, she continues to be a great character.

The Naveed storyline never really clicked with me so I’m glad we’re past that now. From the moment he was introduced and started having second thoughts, you just knew his character was a goner, it was only a question of when. Naveed already learned just an hour before that Simone was relaying information back to her mother, so telling her his newest plan wasn’t the greatest idea.

Also, it was mentioned in the third episode that Margot’s husband was killed in a drone strike three years ago, and now it’s suddenly two years ago. Both of these episodes were written by the same two people and aired so close to each other that it sticks out as sloppy to me. Especially considering it’s crucial backstory that explains Margot’s motivations.

I think the two years versus three years thing was actually intentional because I doubt very much that Muhammed Al-Harazi is actually dead. There would be nothing more ironic than for Margot to find out after all of this that he’s still alive so if there is confusion over when he apparently died, it works. It’s also somewhat similar to what happened with Victor Drazen and how everyone had a different idea of exactly when whatever they thought happened happened. The Drazens thought it all went down two years ago to the date of Day 1, which puts it in March, but Teri and David Palmer both thought something had happened to make Jack a little crazy on a mission that took place the previous summer. It’s kind of entirely possible that there were really two Operation Nightfalls, which goes along with with the fact that there are two different versions in the show’s own canon (the comic and Findings at CTU) about what actually happened. Yeah, yeah, the show retconned the hell out of it to factor in Saunders, etc.., but way back on Day 1, it already had two different spots on a timeline in a way that sounded really purposeful. Considering that pretty much everything anyone thought they knew about Nightfall turned out to be wrong, it makes sense that there’s a question as to when it even happened. I think the same thing is going to be true about the drone strike against Al-Harazi.

The timeline thing I raised my eyebrows at in this episode was Adrian saying everything *we’ve* built to Chloe “in the last six years.” So… was Chloe a mole for Open Cell during Day 8? That would be an awesome twist…

So guys, who is that man that Jack is talking about, when he was talking to president. the guy that Jack needs to contact him himself, but others can’t. tony?

I wish it were true… I like Tony Almeida.

It’s not Tony but there’s some Almeida on the horizon at some point here…

An alright episode, I knew pretty much everything that was gonna happen in it thanks to following the production of the show, but that’s my own fault (sacrifice I made in order to get info for Wiki 24 :P).

A couple of people commenting about how good the explosion was – that was a low point for me. 24 proves time and time again that it can’t pull off decent CGI (they just don’t have the budget for it) so I don’t see why they feel the need to have a huge wide shot of a mansion exploding. It just looked cartoonish and stupid, and had they done more subtle shots using the physical effects they set up it would have looked far better. The money they spent on physical effects was utterly wasted, as each one was “augmented” by the cartoon explosion

I thought by 24 standards that CGI was very good. Was a hell of a lot better than how they handled the Drone attack at the end of episode 1. And a million times better than any of the CG in Season 7 and 8 (those horrid Apache helicopters ha ha)

This was a nice book-end episode to last weeks action thrill ride. Yes, there wasn’t much action. Yes, there wasn’t much Jack. But the plot did move forward and there was a nice little twist along the way. I think the episode would have worked better if the last 2 scenes were reversed. First kill off Behrooz, I mean Naveed, and then end the episode with the drone strike / explosion. We all knew Naveed was going to be killed by Mr. and Mrs. Araz, I mean Margot, so it wasn’t as shocking or dramatic as the drone strike / explosion. And we didn’t need to see the brief wreckage scene of the explosion until next week’s episode. Ending with the explosion would keep us in suspense as to whether any semi- important character has died. All that being said, it was a solid episode.

Does anyone else feel like Audrey deserved better than Jack yelling at her to go away after everything she sacrificed for him? I know it was painful for both of them to see each other again, but I don’t understand why Jack was so anxious for her to go. Considering she never really had any closure since she was asleep when Jack said goodbye, I kind of thought he would at least say a proper goodbye.

My hope is that it was deliberately designed to be unsatisfying and not provide closure because it’s not the last time we’ll see them together on screen.

AgentRez, I felt like Jack told her to go because he’s up to something and he’s trying to protect her. He doesn’t want to screw her over in his mission because, uh, he’s done enough of that *laughs* so he had to get her to leave. He might also fundamentally not be sure he can trust her. Audrey had the power to persuade her dad to do something about Jack’s standing all this time but she didn’t. She also told Mark before she saw Jack that her father would need Mark “now more than ever”. I think Audrey still cares for Jack, undoubtedly, but she knows him enough now to be worried about the ramifications of his showing up on her father and their family. Mark’s reaction to that comment of Audrey’s was really interesting– he seemed to begin his apology expecting (as we the audience kind of did as well) that Audrey would defend Jack more than she did and then he was surprised when she basically said that they had to circle the wagons and protect her dad now more than ever. All past history aside, I’m not so sure that Audrey is entirely in Jack’s corner anymore.

These are all really good points, especially about him wanting to protect her. I agree that he might not fully trust her because he does not trust anyone, although it’s not entirely clear that she knew about Jack being designated as a terrorist or that she didn’t try to persuade her father that it was wrong. And we still don’t even know what she knows about why Jack left. I found it a little surprising that she didn’t show any anger toward him last night, so maybe she knows about the things her father said to Jack, but she doesn’t seem to have any anger toward her father regarding Jack either.

You are right about what she said to Mark, but I also noticed that she quickly brushed him off after that. It was like she couldn’t stand to be around him while she was processing what was going on with Jack. You are right that she is also protective of her father and the impact Jack might have on his presidency though. From what Kim Raver said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly as well as what we saw on screen last night, it’s obvious that she still loves Jack. But she probably knows it can never amount to anything, since she is married and he’s a fugitive.

I thought it was clear when she said that she should have defended Jack more that she meant over everything that’s gone on with Jack since the last time they met, not just this day. Since she’s a senior aide and the de facto First Lady, I think Audrey more than knew Jack was designated as a terrorist. I do think it’s interesting that we also don’t know what she knows about Jack leaving but there’s also that him staying wouldn’t have done Audrey any real good, anyway. Like you say, it’s not going to amount to anything because their worlds are so fundamentally different.

I agree with then how she brushed off Mark in that scene, which I also thought was weird. I’m not entirely sure that Audrey is as “okay” as she seems to be. One minute, she’s pissed at Mark for covering up that Jack was in town but when Heller finds out Mark covered up the Al-Harazi drone strike, Audrey tells her dad that Mark made the right call (maybe subtly implying that Audrey knew about it, too, and helped cover it up.) She didn’t even seem to react to kids being dead. I know she’s not the emotional type (see: Edgar’s mom) and she’d see it as making the tough call but I still thought it was a bit… cold. Even for Audrey. She seems a half-step removed half the time. I’m not entirely sure that she’s as trustworthy as she seems to be.

kiki vanderway
May 27, 2014 at 9:30 pm
The reaction was like Season 7 Jack telling Kim she had to go now because seeing her was the one thing making his reality unbearable. I took it as Jack on emotional overload and not a reflection of anything more. He has been isolated and frozen out of the lives of those he cares about — “I have no friends.”

He has a mission and there is still a lot of backstory we have yet to understand. His response to seeing Audrey is to yearn deeply for a connection that he probably doesn’t feel he deserves to have and one that he knows makes it much harder for him to keep his focus on the mission. He knows what it is to have to do something urgent and to know at the end….it could mean it’s really the end. He has been there many times before. It’s a 24 staple. But so too is is building in the opportunity to allow the viewer to witness and respond to the toll it takes on him.

From cast interviews it’s clear Audrey is still in it over the arc of the episodes. I am looking forward to a more satisfying meet– a la Season 5 where we had them together by E5 but had to wait another 10 hours before a kiss. Not sure we will get that here but I feel more is coming from both of them.

In the meantime Jack and Kate in the field lnext week ooks awesome!

Wow, I could not have said it better myself. I had that thought too, that their reunion in season 5 felt equally unsatisfying. Of course, that was episode 5 out of 24, not 5 out of 12, so we knew they would have more time to interact.

Wow, *excellent* point about it being like Jack and Kim on Day 7. Thank you for that as I was trying to place the feeling of familiarity…

I respect you view, very well said, but I really don’t think that that was what was happening to Jack when he met Audrey again.

The first thing that Jack said was: “You are married. Is he making you happy?” The close they were getting, the more Audrey wanted to kiss and hug Jack. I think that Jack saw that (also he wanted that) so he asked her to leave because they will end up in bed together, and he wanted above all, to take care Audrey’s honor.

Great analysis, Kiki!

Jack’s reaction to Audrey also reminded me of the Jack and Kim dynamic toward the end of Season 7. Seeing Audrey is one of the only things that could endanger his ability to complete this mission. He can’t allow himself to connect with others, even through friendship. It hurts too much when he is betrayed or loses what he loves.

It seems as if Jack doesn’t really get women. As damaged as Renee was, she probably came as close as anyone to understanding and appreciating Jack. She actually saved his life in Season 8.

I’m sure Audrey loves him in her own way and that they could be happy together. But she’s never been totally committed to Jack (despite him saying that). When she followed him to China, Jack had just saved America again and she was the privileged daughter of a U.S. leader. She never expected to be captured and tortured. Of course, maybe part of her realizes she isn’t tough enough to live in Jack’s world–a world her father helped create.

What was the deal with Jack’s mother? Is there any backstory about her? I’m a latecomer to the 24 community. I recently watched it all for the first time.

We don’t know anything about Jack’s mother. She’s presumed dead because of this and all of Jack’s crazy relationships with women but not a word has ever been spoken of her, even when we met Jack’s brother and father on Day 6. There were some hints that the relationship between her and Phillip was not super-awesome because Graem says to Jack at one point “you know Dad and the ladies”, implying that Phillip stepped out on Mrs. Bauer and Jack and Graem knew this as kids. Graem also had an urn on a mantle in his office but we don’t know if that was their mother or not.

Kiki Vanderway
May 28, 2014 at 3:30 pm
I totally agree that Audrey was not able to run with Jack’s crowd and knew it unlike Renee who not only ran with the big dogs but ran circles around pretty much everyone but Jack. But Audrey doesn’t want to be Junior Jack and that was never a goal to have her as a field operative — she is tactical political and brave in her own way. Renee maybe understood him in a way that Audrey couldn’t but she also could never be his voice of reason or conscious or absolution and Audrey fulfills all those roles for Jack.

>>> Renee maybe understood him in a way that Audrey couldn’t but she also could never be his voice of reason or conscious or absolution and Audrey fulfills all those roles for Jack.

Renee was actually the voice of conscience of S7 and was quite instrumental in leading Jack to his absolution over the course of the season which culminated with a bedside confession with the imam, so I completely disagree with this statement.
Not to mention her being a broken person who needed to be fixed over time would serve as a true redemption for Jack who had quite a number of personal failures in his life.

Actually, I don’t even see a single example of conscience or voice of reason with Audrey at all. Audrey is too self-centred for that because her own wishes, needs and wants should always come before everyone else’s.

Kiki Vanderway
May 28, 2014 at 4:34 pm
I guess we see this quite differently . Jack’s connected to Audrey because she represents for him hope and aspirations of a more fulfilling life. My comment reflects what I see as a function of who he sees himself as reflected in the person he is with.

Actually, Renee just enabled Jack’s descent into madness on Day 7. She wasn’t instrumental in anything but helping him to continue not to truly see himself in his dying hours.

I know someone who knows Jack inside and out, can open up sockets as easily as he can kick ass in the field, is a voice of reason and conscience, is coming back and pretty much is immortal at this point, and has more chemistry with Jack than anyone else in the history of the show. He can even cook. It’s all about Jack and Tony :)

kiki vanderway
May 28, 2014 at 7:42 pm
HOLY SHIT YES!!!

It’s only taking them and everyone else nine seasons to get what Nina Myers figured out before Day 1. ;)

Kiki Vanderway
May 28, 2014 at 9:27 pm
OMG

Someone called this a bridge episode, and I agree. But in a 12-episode season, should we really be getting bridge episodes? That’s my qualm. We’re basically halfway done the season, and two-fifths of it has been bridge episodes.

I agree with whoever said episodes 1 and 2 were the best. The show was doing something new and fresh with those episodes. Jack is no longer on his own, the social commentary on drones and Free Information is basically done, the CIA is becoming a central set instead of a peripheral one, and the human drama with Heller’s Alzheimer’s has slipped off the radar. Instead we’ve got more torture, a random video, and Jack about to go on his bazillionth undercover operation.

I agree, unfortunately.

I was expecting something great from the ’24’ writers but yet again, I’m seeing the same “let me back in the field” motive from Jack Bauer, the same officials who don’t trust Jack Bauer, only for him to be proven right. They really are not making great use of this being set in London. Seriously – what is the point of making this in London if you aren’t going to show us any cinematic shots?

I hope I’m proven wrong. It seems to me that the only great episode yet was Episode 3 with Episodes 1+2 leading slowly behind that.

I mean the only great episode was the previous one, Ep 4. That’s what I thought anyway.

I feel your pain with the slowness but I think we’re on the verge of turning a corner. This episode set up the stuff for the next one where we get to know about what Jack’s been up to and how all of this ties together. We’re finally going to get moving on stuff like Kate’s husband and with Naveed dead, there is hope that something actually interesting and surprising might happen in that plotline. Also? We’re officially out of footage from the Jack Is Back And Here Is The Whole First Half of The Season! Special so maybe it will seem a little more exciting from here on out.

What slowness? The ’24’ writers can’t do right for doing wrong with some people; if they just have relentless run-and-gun action, some will accuse them of forgetting about the characters, if they focus on the characters, some accuse them of being slow… the show has increasingly evolved (matured even?) over the years from a straight-up action drama to a drama with action in it, and I believe that is the increasing influence of Howard Gordon being showrunner since Season 5, whereas the first four seasons under Joel Surnow as showrunner were much more relentless and run-and-gun in their pacing with little time to catch your breath before the next action setpiece.

Some criticize Seasons 7 and 8 as mediocre, but they were innately character-driven affairs that took the time to build character between the action setpieces, and which made for better seasons as a result. Season 8 in particular had a depth and pathos that just seems to have been totally unappreciated by some people, and from the Markos-in-the-hyperbaric-chamber episode (and a remarkably moving one at that) onwards, was actually ’24’ on absolute top form!

I’m enjoying ‘Live Another Day’ so far, and so far I haven’t found much to complain about, they seem to be trying hard to balance character and action within a much tighter narrative, and they seem to be doing a pretty decent job all told thus far… I wish some people would just relax and not feel the need to pick things to death, leave some meat on the carcass for the rest of us to enjoy!

Just my own humble, subjective, and fallible opinion…

Your opinion is just as valid as everyone else’s here. I’m also enjoying it, I just have some issues with part of it. And Day 8 was a mess but Day 7 is probably tied with Day 5 for their finest season, IMO, so not everyone thinks it was part of the slump of the last few seasons. Six started out great, IMO, then went nowhere and Day 8 was disappointing but Day 7 was damn near perfect. And this from someone who loved and still loves Tony Almeida, a’right? :)

kiki vanderway
May 28, 2014 at 7:07 pm
I agree the first four of Day 6 rocked. Day 7 was close to the perfection of 5 even with Tony ending unredeemed. I am mixed about 8 the more time passes the more I like parts of it but the whole Dana thing sucked ass and was IMO a rare casting miscues for 24. As for 24 LAD it’s really exceptional. I love the echoes of seasons past like little bread crumbs for us to follow.

Yes! The first four hours of Day 6 are some of the best of the entire series, period. I love, love, love Graem Bauer and the arc with Jack and Logan at the Russian embassy was awesome but the rest of the season was just so awful. I’m of the opinion that it’s really Jack who could use some redemption for Day 7 but that’s a whole other kettle of fish. Day 8 is the first day that I was watching entirely for the political plotline. The Hassans were awesome and Logan’s return was excellent but it felt like they could have cut everything from after Kim and her family left up until Logan showed up and we wouldn’t have really missed much. I think I’m probably the only person in the world who enjoyed the Dana storyline even if it went on *way* too long because I felt like it was a lot of wink-wink to the audience, almost poking fun of a lot of 24 tropes, and it mostly worked, which was surprising at that point. That and I could watch Katee Sackhoff doing anything because she’s fantastic. Still, for what I wanted for a then-final season, it was all so epically disappointing. 24 ends with Tony and Kim, not with Arlo Glass, ya know?

It did end with Tony and Kim. Just not by having them physically present.

Very, very true. It ended with the effects of the absence of them, that’s very true.

I guess I should rephrase and say that, to me, it ends with the beginning again, not that beat right before the beginning of the end, which is what the end of Day 8 felt like to me. I want Day 9’s end to have Los Angeles and CTU and that damn ringtone again. The plot is one big circle so why can’t we have the start again? I’ll take a third cousin of the Palmer kids, if that’s what it takes lol.

JackBauerFan1977
May 27, 2014 at 12:57 pm
Episode #5 was an excellent episode, but the only major complaint that I have with it was the drastic error made by the two writers. In Episode #3, it was revealed that Margot’s husband was killed in a drone strike three years ago. In Episode #5 it was suddenly and surprisingly mentioned that Margot’s husband was killed only two years ago. Those episodes were written by the exact same duo and that’s a very annoying mistake and only adds confusion to this major and important backstory of Margot. Either way, I don’t see how James Heller was the President of the United States when Margot’s husband was killed because Heller has likely only been President for one year and eight months heading into 24: Live Another Day. 24: Live Another Day is believed to be taking place in September of 2022. The eighth season of 24 is believed to have taken place in September of 2018. 24: Live Another Day is said to be taking place four years after Season 8. Maybe Heller was Mitchell Hayworth’s Secretary of Defense sometime after Allison Taylor’s resignation, that would not be surprising. The reunion scene between Jack and Audrey was very emotional and highly anticipated. In that reunion scene with Audrey, I would imagine that Jack was referring to the Russians when he admitted to Audrey that he “killed those people”. If he was referring to the Russians in that dialogue, then the word “complicated” shouldn’t have been said by Jack in that scene. Jack probably doesn’t want Audrey to know of Renee Walker’s existence and that he and Renee had a romantic relationship. Who knows what Audrey would think if she knew that Jack killed all of those Russian thugs in revenge for Renee Walker’s murder? But, Jack should have told Audrey about Renee and that he killed those Russian thugs in retaliation of Renee’s murder.

He didn’t just do it for Renee. He did it because Allison Taylor betrayed him, the country was fundamentally broken from the top down, and the bastards literally killed world peace with Hassan’s death. Renee was just icing on the cake to Jack’s mental breakdown and if Allison Taylor had supported him, he never would have gone off the reservation the way he did. Jack went crazy because everyone around him went crazy and he was left with nothing. Renee was just a by-product of that.

Alison Taylor was inaugurated President during ‘Redemption’, Season 7 picks up six months later, Season 8 picks up eighteen months later in what would have been the end of Taylor’s second full year in office, she resigned later that day. The next Presidential election in the ’24’ universe would have taken place just under two years after Season 8, and thus Heller is now approaching his second full year as President… if my maths are correct.

Maybe the ’24’ writers cottoned on to the timeline and changed it accordingly, albeit after they had already established another timeline for the death of Margot’s husband!

JackBauerFan1977
May 28, 2014 at 8:08 am
Gerry Mander, it was revealed during a news broadcast during the 8:00am – 9:00am episode of Season 7 that Season 7 takes place just 65 days after the events of 24: Redemption.

(Very) Brief Timeline of the seasons of 24, per Day 7 taking place in 2017 as stated at the time of Day 7 airing by Jon Cassar:

DAY ONE: March 2004.
DAY TWO: September 2005. (Eighteen months after Day 1.)
THE GAME: March 2006. (Six months after Day 2.)
DAY THREE: September 2008. (Three years after Day 2.)
DAY FOUR: March 2010. (Eighteen months after Day 3.)
DAY FIVE: September 2011. (Eighteen months after Day 4.)
DAY SIX: May 2013. (Twenty months after Day 5.)
REDEMPTION: January 2017. (Three years, seven months after Day 6.)
DAY SEVEN: March 2017. (Sixty-five days after Redemption.)
DAY EIGHT: May 2018. (A year and two months after Day 7.)
DAY NINE: September 2022. (Four and a half years after Day 8.)

Political Timeline:

March 2004: Senator David Palmer sweeps Super Tuesday.
November 2004: David Palmer elected U.S. President.
January 2005: David Palmer inaugurated as U.S. President.
September 2005: David Palmer temporarily booted out of office; Vice-President Jim Prescott becomes acting U.S. President; Palmer regains Presidency but is attacked; Jim Prescott becomes Acting U.S. President.
September 2008: David Palmer has regained his presidency and is running for re-election against Senator John Keeler; drops out of the race because of events of Day 3, giving Keeler the edge.
November 2008: Senator John Keeler wins U.S. Presidential election.
January 2009: President-Elect Keeler inaugurated.
March 2010: President John Keeler gravely injured in assassination attempt while aboard Air Force One during events of Day 4; Vice-President Charles Logan sworn in as President.
September 2011: President Charles Logan arrested for treason; Vice-President Hal Gardner sworn in as President.
November 2012: Wayne Palmer wins U.S. Presidential election; defeats sitting President Hal Garner.
January 2013: President-Elect Wayne Palmer inaugurated.
May 2013: President Wayne Palmer severely injured in assassination attempt; Vice-President Noah Daniels eventually assumes the Presidency.
November 2016: Senator Allison Taylor wins U.S. Presidential election; defeats sitting President Noah Daniels, whom she also toppled in the primaries.
January 2017: President-Elect Allison Taylor inaugurated during events of Redemption
March 2017: Vice-President Mitchell Hayworth temporarily assumes the functions of President, if not the title, when President Taylor his held hostage inside of the White House. His epic failure on all fronts during this crisis leads to Allison Taylor firing him after the events of Day 7. She replaces him with former Keeler-Logan Secretary of Defense James Heller.
May 2018: President Taylor resigns from office and turns herself into the U.N. for war crimes as a result of the events of Day 8. Vice-President James Heller assumes the Presidency.
Sometime in 2019: President Heller authorizes drone strike against the Al-Harazis.
November 2020: President James Heller wins the U.S. Presidential election.
September 2022: [Day 9/Events on-going]

JackBauerFan1977, you’re correct, Day 7 was indeed 65 days from ‘Redemption’, I had the figure ‘6’ in mind, but got the specifics wrong, thanks for the correction, I stand corrected.

Mary, how do you know Heller was President Taylor’s VP? Not in Season 7 he wasn’t, and there was no indication – either explicitly or implicitly – that he was during Season 8, even offscreen, I’m sure had he been the Veep during that day’s events, Taylor or Jack would have mentioned him… they didn’t because he wasn’t.

Because the show says that Heller authorized the drone strike on Al-Harazi three years ago. The only way Heller could have done this is if he assumed the Presidency from Allison Taylor after Day 8. The only way he could have assumed the Presidency from her is if he was the VP during Day 8 and since no one mentioned the VP at all on Day 8, we really have no idea *who* it was. But Day 9 just explained to us that it was Heller.

I don’t think that you can say it wasn’t Heller because no one mentioned his name on Day 8. That would be like saying that until Mike Novick showed up at the end of Day 4, he couldn’t have been the Chief of Staff to the Vice-President because no one had told us that until that moment. 24 leaves itself wiggle room and the VP on Day 8 was a huge bit of wiggle room. We had Allison Taylor’s presidency crumbling but no one specifically ever says that Hayworth is still the VP or mentions who will then take over. If you also consider that *everyone else* from Taylor’s Day 7 administration was still on her staff by Day 8 *despite* the attack on the White House, the only thing that makes sense is that the one who took the political fall for it was Hayworth. I mean, Allison Taylor kept on Tim Woods– the Director of Homeland Security kept his job after the President was attacked inside of the White House. That’s… insane. It’s insane to begin with lol but it’s *really* insane if you think that no one got fired as a result of it. Since Hayworth was in charge during that crisis, he makes the most sense to have been the one to take the hit for it, especially since he was the most ineffectual leader in the history of the series and managed that inside of, like, two episodes. Plus, if you were Taylor, you’d then want to replace Vice President Wishy-Washy with America’s Lovable Grandpa War Hero Heller.

I think Jack’s true motives behind his downward spiral in Day 8 are still kind of ambiguous…we saw very few explanations from Jack himself: he talked to Ricker, Taylor, and Chloe, and then made the video to Kim. Isn’t that right? He mentioned Renee’s death a lot, but at the same time he says that he did it for justice for her and Hassan…but was it revenge, or was it to truly do what he deemed right and stop the blood covered peace treaty and the cover up of Russia’s involvement? I think the ambiguity of his true, heartfelt motives have been a selling point in his actions since Renee’s death all the way until now, and likely until we hear his side of the story in full. Does anybody else feel this way?

Loved this episode…I hope Ritter and Navarro live, or at least one of them!

I think the true gold moment of the Naveed story is to show Simone present at his execution, and she doesn’t even shed a tear. Even MARIE WARNER shed a tear when she shot Reza, Simone has been playing him this entire time! I knew she fed Margot information, but I thought she at least felt bad and torn between two sides, but nope…that was the most chilling part to me, not that Naveed was going to die.

Belcheck is awesome. Every scene he’s been in, I’ve been super hyped. I hope we see him in the field with Jack!

Next week’s episode looked very intense…I admit, I thought Tony for a few seconds when Jack mentioned an underground arms dealer, but then I remembered that that would be ridiculous to have Tony have been in prisons around the world for years and then turned into an arms dealer, and then have been in cahoots with Margot for some time.

I think the arms dealer will be “Karl Rask”, played by Aksel Hennie

I remember Emily Berrington in the Jack Is Back Special saying “I don’t believe Simone is a bad person, she just believes what she’s doing is right”. Yeah, so did Hitler and Genghis Khan you silly cow.

Why the fuck are actors so desperate for their characters to be so grey and complex even when they’re obviously not. No, your character very much IS a bad person.

I think the goal behind these characters is to build just a little bit of sympathy for them, specifically this season, with the drone attacks. Which is why we had that seen with Mark, Audrey, and Heller talking about the morality of the drone attack that killed Margot’s husband and those children. I think it opens up a dialogue about the real “necessity” of the drones, as well as the consequences they have in our world, outside of a television show.

I think it was Naveed that said to Margot that he can’t kill all of these innocents, and she scoffed and reminded him of her husband’s innocent death, or maybe the children’s, or both…but multiple times she said that the drone attack killed the innocents, and she is just getting justice, therefore she outright denies that she is a terrorist. I think the grey comes in from the characters truly believing that what they are doing is right and will make the world a better place. So, while we see them as psychopathic bad guys, they see themselves as warriors of justice, and I think with the drone back story relating to Margot, this brings the character’s motives into possibly the greyest villain story in the series to date.

Not saying her attacks and willingness to murder are in any way right…but the motives are surely a real talking point.

Agreed with everything you said here.

Only one thing: the scene between Jack and Audrey was beautiful written, no exposition, no explanation…and a brillaint performance from Kiefer and Kim. I was on the verge of tears !!

Good performances from Jack and the Heller’s, and count me in as someone who likes Belcheck as well.

Overall though it’s all just so painfully underwhelming. The new characters, the hideously cheap way it looks, the tired old whore of a plot, fuck the lot of it!

Well, the scream which you hear from the radio static.. it’s steve’s then? poor he :(((

I’ve already stated I thought this episode was solid but one thing I’ve really disliked about LAD is Ritter. Is it just me or is he an incredibly lacklustre actor? He’s providing absolutely nothing to the show he’s just following Kate around and being the talking head that opposes her.

He has no function in the story and every line he delivers I cringe. He just seems very amateur. And although I’m liking Kate more and more, I do think Yvonne plays her rather bland as well. I thought Renee was a much more complex and interesting character to watch. She had a lot more presence and believability than Kate imo

24marathonman
May 27, 2014 at 7:11 pm
Yes, Rene seems more complex but it is amazing that Morgan thinks exactally like Jack does. Rene was the” female Jack Bauer” but Morgan has the “mind of Jack Bauer”.

My ecuation:

(Michelle + Renee + Kate) – Kim = A female Jack.

I agree that Gbenga Akinnagbe is not doing very well on this series in my opinion. I don’t know if you’ve seen him in The Wire, but he was excellent as a quiet, cold blooded killer and naturalistic acting style worked really well there. It seems he is trying that on 24 but it’s just not working at all, perhaps because of the far-fetched dialogue, so far from reality, that has become the standard for 24 these days. He may have worked well in Season 1, but by now it’s too far beyond the pale.

Yeah, I’ve heard that Gbenga was excellent on The Wire (which I never watched), but he hasn’t impressed so far on 24. I think you either fit on 24 or you don’t and he doesn’t seem to fit so far. But maybe he’ll improve later on.

I think the biggest problem isn’t the actor, it’s that this character has had about as much to do so far as the woman who fetched folders for Navarro. We know more about Belcheck than we do about Ritter, which is kind of ridiculous.

This will sound racist as hell, but I don’t care. Gbenga does NOT carry himself like someone who was in the services or an agent of any kind, he looks every inch the “bustin caps in da hood” type that I’m surprised he doesn’t fire his gun sideways. Curtis might have been bland, but at least he LOOKED like an agent.

Maybe that *was* Ritter’s background. We still don’t know anything about the guy.

Remember the lame performance of Logan as a president in the end of season 4.

Remember… just in case.

Gregory Itzin nailed his part from beginning to end.

Kiki Vanderway
May 28, 2014 at 10:12 am
Yes, he was brilliant beginning to end of his 24 run

I said Logan as a president, no Itzin as an actor. We are talking about characters here.

Agreed. You start out thinking Logan is just a mouse and then you find out he’s a panther. It was such epicness.

I think it’s sort of unfair comparing Renee’s ‘complexness’ after close to 40 episodes to Kate’s 5 episodes.
In season 7, I think Renee lacked a bit believability. She came from a good job,
and within minutes just did everything Jack told her to do, and maybe the biggest flaw, she hated it. She had huge regrets about what she did, but acted on autopilot. And we knew nothing about her background or her motives at that point.

I think Kate comes off as a more developed and credible character as we learned about her background as a good agent and her motives from episode 1.
But what I like the best, Kate is not, contrary to popular belief, a female Jack. Kate don’t go over the top (yet), she use different strategies. And I think that’s great.

As some said above, “Rene was the” female Jack Bauer” but Morgan has the “mind of Jack Bauer””
That a very important difference that set both Renee and Kate apart, but more important, it set Jack and Kate apart, and it make the show better.
I also think Jack and Kate will make a great team as they will play different roles. On top of that, hopefully with no romantic feelings involved they wont have that to screw things up.

When that is said, I do agree Kate is portrayed as a somewhat cold character at this point, but it feels very natural, and it leaves room for a lot of growth. I also think her “coldness” might come in quite handy in the next episode ;)

Is there some reason why every woman in this show with a gun needs to be compared to one another as the female Jack Bauer? Do you all do this with like Ortiz versus Curtis in terms of who was the male Jack Bauer? It seems kind of sexist that just because a woman is a field agent, we have to compare them to one another and try to determine which one is ‘better’.

I think Kate, Renee, and Michelle were all great, well-acted characters, and very different from each other. There was an interview where Yvonne Strahovski said she was deliberately portraying Kate as cold and detached, which makes sense given her character’s situation. She did a great job showing restrained emotion in that scene with Navarro. Great acting.

24marathonman
May 27, 2014 at 7:07 pm
Here are some questions that I am anticipating answers in future episodes:
1. Adrian Cross is still very, very mysterious. Yes, he deliberately got Jack captured at the embassy but will he eventually commit the resources of Open Cell to help stop the attacks or will he turn out to be helping Margot? Chloe will help Jack but I think the Open Cell people are better with computers then the CIA geeks so they need to be a part of solution.
2. I wonder if hidden in the Open Cell stolen documents is evidence that will help Jack defend his actions of 4 years ago. Maybe Open Cell can help Jack tell his side of the story.
3. Belchek, Jack’s helper, is still very mysterious. We know little or nothing about him except that Jack saved his life. He barely speaks. Who is this guy?
4. Are there any moles??

I like your points of view, so here is my response to each one:

1. I agree. Adrian is too “charismatic”, so I’ll wait to see more of him in the next few episodes. About Open Cell helping Margot, I really don’t think so. Adrian said that the whole thing “is not their fight”. So, neither helping USA, United Kingdom nor Margot.

2. When Kate asked Chloe to enter in the CIA servers, Chloe said that they were good, but not that good. So, I don’t think that they can clear Jack’s name.

3. He’s now “free” to leave Open Cell facility and go into the field with Jack. I also want to see more of Belchek, about his past and his relationship with Jack, and with this situation.

4. I think that now Fox wants us to forget about moles, and suddenly show someone. I think that Kate has something hidden, particulary about her dead husband, Adam.

re: #2– I keep wondering if the linking Open Cell to the CIA is going to have a different sort of ramifications than just blowback against Kate. What about Jordan Reed? Does anyone else think it’s weird that Open-Cell.org has leaked internal memos from the CIA but Chloe says they can’t get into the CIA’s systems? Who is leaking the information? Who has a name suspiciously identical to that of Meredith Reed, the journalist screwed over by the government on Day 8? What if Jordan is a mole for Open Cell? He could have nothing to do with the terrorist attacks of the day– Margot and all of that– but he could complicate matters for everyone by having been leaking information this whole time to Chloe’s group.

re: #4– I don’t think Kate is a mole. I think she’s Girl!JackandTony and the future of 24 but that means that she can’t be perfect. I think the twist here is that she’s wrong about what she missed. She doesn’t know yet that her husband was set up by someone close to her. So, she didn’t miss that her husband was a traitor because he wasn’t a traitor but she *did* miss– and continues to miss– that he was framed. It gives her a blind spot where her personal relationships are concerned. If she gets too close, she has trouble seeing the truth. This could not be more Jack and Tony over Nina if they tried. The real question is… who is Kate’s Nina Myers and why?

I think the answer there is Navarro. He is very quick to remind everyone in sight that Kate missed seeing the thing about Adam and he uses it to try to get Kate to back off pursuing the threat. He looks guilty sometimes when he’s around her– like that whole hate to lose you and it’s not your fault scene from a few hours back. He cuts Kate all this slack at the start because he’s destroyed her career to hide his own duplicity and that eats away at him because he’s not fundamentally an evil guy.

#2- About Jordan and Meredith, nice, never think about that. But, that’s a long shot. I don’t see Jordan having contact with OpenCell. But nevertheless, Jordan didn’t hesitate to show Kate’s evidences (that came from Open Cell) But, he was the one that didn’t notice that the whole ip-adress-thing was a set up for the CIA. Chloe did. So… Maybe they are in contact… Don’t know.

#4- Every time we see that someone is trying to explain why Kate is still there in London, they always refers to Adam, and that she is trying to “fix” that he was a traitor and she didn’t notice. Some kind of redemption. They always talk about that, every time. So it’s strange… odd. We’ll see.

About Navarro, I’m thinking now that he will no longer take a primary role in the next episodes. He is now out of the picture because of the explosion, Jack will lead and perhaps someone else comes to take control of the CIA as a head.

re:#2– Agreed a Jordan-Meredith connection is a long-shot but it’s possible, I guess. They have to give Jordan something else to do besides moon after Kate and actually if both he and Navarro are moles with different agendas, then what’s going on with them gets more interesting. They could try to pin stuff on each other without knowing that the other has an agenda– kind of like Nina and Jamey on Day 1. Actually, it would be worth a connection between Jordan and Open Cell just to give Chloe’s “you should give him a raise” line from the last episode even more dry meaning. :)

The other thing I wonder about with this is that Adrian said to Chloe in the last episode “everything we’ve built in the last six years”, meaning the two of them, not just Open Cell itself. How long has Chloe really been working with Adrian? Six years puts us back between Days 7 and 8. And when you think about the fact that Chloe got Arlo to mirror CTU’s systems on Day 8 and wanted to use them to leak information about the conspiracy but was stopped before she could… is it possible that Chloe was a mole for Open Cell on Day 8? That maybe half the time she was pretending to not know how to use her computers since she’d been a stay-at-home mom in order to cover the fact that she was leaking information? (Because she sure seemed to know how to use them just fine after she got promoted.)

#4– I think we could see a little less of Navarro for awhile since the focus is going to shift to Jack & Kate in the field and Jordan pursuing all the whatever about Kate’s husband in an attempt to out-sexy all the hot guys vying for her attention here. ;) But Navarro is Benjamin Bratt. They didn’t hire him to be the exposition guy for the whole season. There has to be something awesome coming down the pipe there.

@24marathonman

What if Adrian Cross, and belchek are some kind of poorly written characters? wow, I hope that’s not the case, because I’d be so pissed and disappointed to be honest.

Adrian Cross could just stand there and he’d be awesome. Michael Wincott is amazing.

This was a great episode, especially the Jack/Audrey scene. Kudos to Kiefer and Kim who were wonderful. Naveed’s death was a bit predictable, but still well done. I wonder if Simone is going to turn on her mom.

Can’t believe there’s only 7 episodes left!

I think that the point with Naveed was to show Margot’s limits (that she has none haha) Also to show that Simone approves his mother’s decisions. So, probably, we don’t have an ally there.

JackBauerFan1977
May 28, 2014 at 8:49 am
Seba, Simone is a girl, not a boy. I know that it was just a typo though. Simone would be a total nightmare being married to. Simone is pure evil.

Correct. Thanks.

WouldntYouLikeToKnow
May 27, 2014 at 9:30 pm
Not sure if anyone’s posted it before, but we can vote for “24 Live Another Day” for a TV Choice Award here:

http://www.tvchoicemagazine.co.uk/awards/2014/vote

You have to vote in all categories for it to count, I think.

Sorry for being a dick, but I voted for Fargo bwahahahaha! :-D

I’d love some kind of a meta-reference by Jack; something like: “With all due respect, Mr. President, I’ve saved this country from countless devastating terror attacks almost single-handedly; I think I’ve earned your trust.” For us long-time fans. I’d cheer so hard after a line like that.

Anyway, I think that was a great episode. I’m never a fan of Jack being sidelined, but it made sense, and everything else was near-perfect.

Let’s see what I have learned about LAD from many of the posts on this board. Everything is a re-hash of a re-hash of a re-hash. Kim Raver can’t act. Chloe is just totally stale. Unrealistic explosions due to poor CG. Too many holes in the story. Unrelaistic time passage. Gbenga not coming across well. Not enough Jack. Not enough story revealed as of yet. I guess I may as well not watch 24 again. It is probably the worst show ever. Wait a minute Ronnie…you will watch the last 7 hours because you enjoy the show now just as much as you did in the past. You are not a professional critic, rather just a fan of the show that is delighted that, after 3 years of thinking that the show was history, it’s back! And yes, Ronnie is enjoying every minute of it. I take the posture that it is better ot enjoy something for what it is (a TV show for God’s sake) as opposed to cutting something apart and ending up disappointed.

Totally agree. While I did mention a couple nitpicks and that I didn’t care for Ritter, it honestly doesn’t affect my enjoyment of the show. I’ve been thoroughly entertained watching this season and that’s all we can ask for because like you said it IS a tv show, meant to ENTERTAIN. (Which it’s doing for me)

I think because it’s been gone for 4 years and because 24 has done such brilliance in the past, it’s hard for people to just let go of the flaws.

Honestly, for the past few seasons all I’ve seen is people bashing the show, which I don’t understand. It’s ok to share your opinion though

Disagree strongly about Kim Raver. I think she is a terrific actress. Every character I have seen her play has been so relatable and she does a great job of making you empathize with her character and feel like what’s happening to her is happening to you. You could see how nervous she was when she walked into the room where Jack was, and I realized that I was similarly nervous – my heart was pounding during the entire scene!

Yep, my heart was pounding as well. Not sure if Chloe’s revelation about Morris and Prescott was stronger than this one or not. Both were really great scenes….but Jack and Audrey face to face was epic. Can’t wait to watch it again this evening.

Unrealistic time passage? What does that even mean? I disagree about Kim Raver. Audrey is not my favorite but Kim Raver is not a terrible actress.

Agree Ronnie, I love the writing style, repetitive storylines/themes and characters.

People just need to get their opinions out there and they have the freedom to do this. They also have the freedom to not watch the show too…but yet they still watch it because we all know 24 is fucking awesome.

Being a fan of 24 is like having retarded siblings. You grew up together and had an amazing, fun time, but as adults they start to bug the shit out of you. But no matter what stupid shit they do, or how much they disappoint you, you still love them and stick with them no matter what. And I shall stick with 24 till it’s put out of my misery for good.

So kindly give the condescending “don’t like, don’t watch” nonsense a rest.

you make no sense XAM…seriously man, get a grip.

Just watch the show and enjoy it…in a positive vibrations, bob marley kind of way man

it’s make believe tv, not real life

For all of you complaining about repetitive story lines, just be thankful a character hasn’t had amnesia or gotten chased by a cougar every season! Take that!! :)

RonnieTheC is absolutely correct; we finally have new ’24’ on our screens after four years, it’s bloody good stuff thus far, and all I read on here after every episode is nitpicking and obsessing over every little detail, complaining about utterly irrelevant stuff, and generally picking the bones clean! I would have expected a lot more positivity and goodwill from the fanbase, the writers are obviously working hard to make the best show possible, but all they seem to get from people here is “that didn’t work”… “that was rubbish CGI”… “that was slow”… “it all looks cheap” (at $4m+ an episode, it neither looks nor is cheap, it looks fantastic)… yada-yada-yada… etc.

For the record, I thought this week’s episode was a barnburner of an episode, they seem to be on a solid roll now and back in the groove… not that you’d know it from many of the comments here, I wonder if we were even watching the same programme! I think I’ll give this forum a break until ‘Live Another Day’ has wrapped, see y’all in July, enjoy the rest of the series, and please be nice to each other :-).

Over and out.

P.S. I stated above that the writers are working hard to make the best show possible, what I SHOULD have said was that everyone on the show – in front of and behind the camera – is obviously working hard to make the best show possible… sorry cast and crew, my bad.

There, now I’m done (*said in a Bauer-esque menacing whisper voice*).

Unbelievable to read all the criticism- as if writing a real time action drama is an easy and flexible thing to do. There will always be mistakes, that goes without saying, whatever show you’re assessing.

I do not have a particularly hard time ignoring them though when, even with some errors, ’24’ is still by some distance the most entertaining series on TV today, as well as being hands down the best show I’ve ever come across. EVER!

I’ve loved every episode of every season, and I much prefer to just laugh off or frown at the odd misplaced incident instead of complaining and trying to rewrite the scripts!

Enjoy it for what is and promote the show in a way that makes them come back for more :)

Every single criticism this season is getting has been already done on this show before. Stop complainging. You knew what you’ve signed on the second this “limited series” was announced.

Also: when are they going to skip 12 hours?!

For the record, I think everyone clearly has a right to voice their opinions, good or bad. I even agree with some of the complaints, but I still haven’t ended an episode of this season and been disappointed in the slightest. That hasn’t happened to me in a long time with 24, to be honest.

But I also agree that some of the complaints are a little too much…this is a TV show. I know some people say they expected new and fresh things and that is totally acceptable, and in my eyes, we have gotten some of those things, mixed in with some classic 24. Also, a common comment has been that they expected things to be on par with season 5 with how Live Another Day was promoted as being some of the best 24 ever, etc. Day 5 was great, don’t get me wrong, but it had its share of boring…the Rossler episode, for example? Or saving snot nosed brat Derek Huxley? Lynn McGill’s loser sister? Kim “Awful” Bauer’s return? Annoying moments in a great season, much like you are going to see with Day 9. Nothing’s perfect, but the important thing to remember is that it is TV, and especially the time element has probably not been adhered to strictly since Day 1.

I think it’s funny that everything you hated about Day 5 were some of my favorite moments of the season. :)

Me too! Season 5 was my favorite season of any TV show I’ve ever watched (slightly ahead of Breaking Bad Seasons 4 & 5)

I still think Season 1 is the best of 24. I love it all, but Season 1 is just fantastic. And the most realistic, I feel.

Kiki Vanderway
May 29, 2014 at 10:36 am
I think 24 LAD has been incredible. It has delivered way more than I expected. I love the fact that people care so much about it even now.

Also, keep this in mind, folks. We have 7 hour left, and then 24 will be history, never to return. I know this to be true because a TV writer friend told me that Howard Gordon said that this is absolutely it. Also, keifer said the same thing at the beginningof May on a talk show. We allwant to see more, but logically ,9 seasons is beyond the max for any TV show. The ratings are good but not fabulous, so get used to the idea that this is it. That being said, I hope everyone (or most everyone) can take a positive attidude, sit back and enjoy these last 7 hours, and be thankful that season 9 is the cherry on top of a fabulous sundae.

I’m still confident if ratings are maintained that there will be another event series of 24.

I think this is it for Kiefer. This whole day is a test run for a Kate Morgan-centric 24, I think.

I think that if the show continues without Jack, then the show must present kaos and anarchy in the 24-world. Please don’t replace Jack with another character. Do something else.

I think the only way Jack gets to find some peace is if he can pass the torch to someone like him and Jack getting to retire for awhile seems just. I can’t think of a character who has earned some time with his family more.

Mary, you asked what does unrealistic time passage mean…an example of that, brough tout in an earlier complaint on this board is how quickly Simone traveled by taxi from the city out to her mother’s country estate. This bothers some viewers…as for me, I could not care less. I love the show for what it is.

RonnieTheC: Ah, I see what you’re saying now. I don’t really care about that, either. I think the same people who complain that car rides don’t take long enough would be the same people then complaining that a character they liked spent the whole episode in a car…

I have heard many people say that in previous days there was so much unnecessary filler. Of course this is subjective. But keep in mind that the difficulty in writing 24 is that for any given season, there is about 16 hours of story that is meant to take place in one 24 hour period. The difficulty involved in writing a season is staggering. Compare it to writing a 2 hour movie whereas the timeframe is usually days, weeks, months or years. This is the main reason that LAD was cut in half as far as the amount of needed story telling.

I agree. How they make this all come together is really an amazing feat of plotting. I also think that some of the complaints here are actually a result of less of what people call ‘filler’. In the past, the reactions to the filler are often what develop the characters more and one thing I’m finding lacking is that outside of Kate Morgan, I’m having a really hard time connecting with any of the new characters because none of them have any actual stories yet. I think this will change going forward but I find myself wishing for, say, Erik Ritter, to also be taking care of some annoying personal problem while he’s trying to help Kate stop this threat, just so we can get a better sense of who he is. What others saw as filler were things I always liked on 24 because it brought a balance to the crazy stakes and made the characters more complex and easier to get invested in. Right now, I’d take a subplot about Jordan Reed trying to help his landlord after she locked her keys in the car if it meant we could get a better sense of who he is, instead of just saying oh, he’s the MiloChloeArlo with the crush on NewJackTony, whose partner is the CurtisDoyle, and whose boss is ChappelleLarryPosingLikeDay2to3Tony.

One thing we should all keep in mind is that anybody posting their comments or criticisms obviously cares about the show enough to discuss it with others.

Hardcore fans like us will always be a little bit tougher on the show than casual viewers. We’re the type of people that’ve watched every season multiple times, so any reused or similar plot lines stick out more. We’re also the type that gets invested in these characters enough to defend our favorites and get into debates over them. That’s a good thing!

The poll results show that most people (94%) enjoyed the episode. Someone could’ve voted that the episode was “awesome” yet still point out that a CGI explosion looked unrealistic, and it doesn’t mean they’re being negative about or trashing the show.

I understand many of us here are big fans, but let’s not get overly defensive about minor criticisms or observations that others might have. And maybe we can all do a better job of posting more balanced impressions too instead of focusing on mostly on aspects we didn’t like.

Kiki Vanderway
May 29, 2014 at 4:40 pm
Amen!

Seconding the Amen.

’24 Spoilers’, I agree with you completely. ’24’ is far and away my all-time favorite TV show. I have seen every season multiple times (I cant even count how many times i’ve watched seasons 2 and 4 which are my favorites). And because I’m such a hard core fan, I feel I have the right to criticize the show at times when its not living up to expectations. Even my favorite seasons had stuff I didnt care for. Season 2 obviously was dragged down by the idiotic Kim sub-plots. Season 4 had the weak character of CTU Director Heller (and the annoying sub-plot with her bipolar daughter). There is no ‘perfect’ season and thats ok.

I enjoy coming to this kind of message board to discuss what I like and don’t like about each season and each episode of season 9. I know some people just like being cheerleaders of their favorite team, TV show, etc. and never dare to criticize anything about their favorite stuff. I’m just not built that way. And I dont think there is anything wrong with that.

oops, I meant to say CTU Director Erin Driscol. I never liked her character and thought she was the weakest CTU director of the series. Thank goodness, ’24’ wrote her off the show about a third of the way into the season.

24marathonman
May 30, 2014 at 11:28 pm
Erin Driscol was the most irritating character in all 8 seasons. Second to her was Miles Papazeian from season 5.

Because season 5 was the gold standard for 24 villainy, the actor playing Miles just made himself look like a twat in such company by hamming it up too much.

I disagree, I think he was gold because he was such a wimpy little weasel. Especially when he told Chloe that line about her thinking she’s smarter than “the rest of us”. His tone was hilarious, in a good way.

i loved episode 5 of 24 especially Jack and Audrey reunion was so intense and that explosion was amazing,i was also suprised Simone betrayed Naveed again

Ermagherd why havent FOX put any sneek peeks up yet :(

24marathonman
May 30, 2014 at 10:06 pm
Dammit! 24 LAD encore was not on today. They showed some show called “master chef”. I am pissed. Will have to watch it again online.