Jack is Back!!!

Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beebeebeebeebeebeebeebeebeebeebeebeebeebeebee....

Those sounds just send shivers of pure excitement and happiness down my back, as it means that my favorite TV show, 24, is about to begin.

I know I'm not the only one who was counting down the days until Sunday night's 24 Season 8 premier. And I can happily say that Sunday's night's ep along with Monday night's ep, both didn't disappoint.

In Sunday night's episode, there was just something about Jack bursting back into CTU after getting the ok from his daughter (Kim) to save the world, and barking orders at Chloe that just felt so exhilarating and somewhat comforting, that Jack was back on the job.

And it also almost felt "like home" when the new CTU Director (Hastings) automatically dismissed Jack's opinions and consultation on the current dire situation, and the viewer felt like, yet again, another idiot who will have to learn a lesson that Jack is always right. It's funny how his superiors always discount him (except the President of course), even though he saves the world everyday against almost everyone's wishes (who inevitably end up apologizing to him, if they're not dead).

Anyway, this Season burst right out of the gates in full force. Non-stop action! It was soooo awesome! Wow, how I've missed it. I won't go deep into the storyline, as that's not my intention here. But, I will discuss some of the things that happened in the show, and will probably do so whenever I feel the need after an episode.

In this episode, we saw Freddy Prince Jr. (I mean, are you serious???) filling the role of the CTU hero (formerly Jack's role), and I just don't know if I can accept him as that. Every time I see him, I think of him in those girl-movies like that "she's all that" crap and it's just so hard for me to take him seriously. We'll see if he can convince me as the season progresses.

Also, I found that Anil Kapoor was good as the President of that fictional Country that has yet to be named, but I'm sure it is the equivalent of Iran. My only issue with him was that the way that he spoke didn't sound perfect all the time. I mean, the words he said were correct, it's just the way that he said them, like the timing and pausing, was off. Maybe they did that on purpose as I guess English is suppose to be his 2nd language in the show, but hey, maybe I'm just a stickler for the details...

There were a couple of things that did stick out to me in the 2 premier episodes:

1. Last season ended with Jack bed-ridden and dying from an incurable Radiation Poisoning that he got while saving the world. There was a chance that Kim might be able to save him (via a bone-marrow transplant or something like that), but it would require a dangerous procedure for her, and also Jack was completely against it as he didn't want her to see him dying.

Then, this season begins with him being completely recovered, with 1 quote stating that he's finally completed his treatments, and that's about it??? Nothing about whether Kim helped him. Nothing about how the treatments worked. Nothing. Just, he's better now, and lets move on...

Personally, I hate it when these TV people do shit like that. I'm a person who needs that continuity for me to take a show seriously, especially a serialized one. Anyway, I'll let this go for now (since it is 24) and hope that it's touched on later in the season.

2. When Kim gave that speech to Jack telling him that it was ok for him to go and save the world, I found that to be very unlikely as well. After all of these years and all of these Seasons, Kim has never been understanding enough to allow for Jack to go and risk his life to save the world. Especially given that in the last season, he got that radiation poisoning and was most certainly going to die. And it must have been through some miracle that he survived, and now she's ready to send him in to risk the same thing happening again, all because she feels that -and I quote: "But if something terrible happens, and you could have done something to stop it, I don't think you'd be able to live with yourself."????

I don't believe that for a second. I mean, don't the terrorists always end up kidnapping Kim at some point in order to blackmail Jack?? (BTW, watch for that to happen around episode........hmm......I'll put my money on episode 14, lets say).

Anyway, since it is 24, I'm willing to accept these 2 things. It is the best show on Television after all.

Moving on, in last night's episode I found myself somewhat depressed as the episode went on. It wasn't the episode itself, or the story, they were both awesome. It was just the fact that we have to wait week after week to see the next episode. Those crazy cliff-hangers, they are just so evil...

I guess others may be use to this by now, but my girl and I watched the first 5 seasons via DVD, each episode one after the other after the other. There were times where we would watch more than 10 episodes in 1 day. And we never really felt the pain of having to wait until the following week for the next episode..

I guess this is why many of my friends are telling me that they are just going to wait until the end of the season and then watch it all over a 5 day period. Boy do I envy them... And even though I did similar things for both Entourage and Weeds this year, I just don't think that it's possible for me to do it for 24. I am just so addicted.

Anyway, now that Jack is back, I am sooo happy. This show is definitely the best show on television ever. Definitely my favorite.

Until the next episode, I'll end this entry with a quote from Jack:

"If you don't tell me what I want to know, then it'll just be a question of how much you want it to hurt."

Classic Jack!!

--jackandcokewithalime


(Image taken from:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/77/24_Season_8_Cast.jpg)