24 Season Finale: Final Thoughts

First off, thanks to everyone who came by during the finale last night. It was my first attempt at live blogging, and as hard as it was to write and watch at the same time, it was fun. I just want to do one last wrap up before we put 24 away for the summer now that we’ve had a chance to digest what happened last night.

Overall I think season 7 was a success. It may not have been the best of 24, but it was far better than the failure that was season 6. We got introduced to some great new characters like Renee, and President Taylor, who may go on to become favorites. We also had to say goodbye to some great characters. Bill had been around since season 4 and had become a fan favorite. Larry Moss was the new George Mason, the guy everyone loves to hate. But he turned out to be a great character that I wish could have been around a bit longer. The move to Washington D.C. worked really well. About mid way through the season, I found that the location became irrelevant, which I guess means the story was good enough that it didn’t matter where everyone was. With all the changes that were in store for this season, it turned out really well.

When I think back over the season, I wonder if it had too many mini-plots. I’m not sure we needed Dubaku, or even Jonas Hodges for that matter. It might have been fun to follow this Alan Wilson character through the whole thing, and then find out who he really is at the end. We all knew Dubaku, and General Juma, weren’t the main bad guys for the season so that felt a bit like filler, even though there were some great episodes in the first half. And even though I thought Hodges was the main bad guy, he was still an unsatisfying villain.

I went into the finale with low expectations. The episode leading up to it made me think we were in for a Kim centered ending which I thought would be a disaster. Thankfully I was wrong. For what might be the first time in 24 history, Kim’s plot line didn’t bring the show down. They brought the airport situation to a quick end and moved things along nicely.

The White House seemed to be a low spot in the overall story of season 7. More often than not it was really hard to care about what was going on there. But the finale did a great job of bringing it all together in a way that was suspenseful, emotional, and fun to watch. Seeing Olivia being brought down by Aaron and Ethan was one of the most satisfying moments of the season, not just the finale. I couldn’t believe it when Mr. Taylor suggested a cover up, but thankfully President Taylor did the right thing.

Speaking of the right thing, that’s exactly what Renee was looking for advice on. Jack’s speech to her about why he does the things he does was a great moment for the show. In seven years we’ve never really seen inside Jack’s reasoning for his actions. We’ve seen Renee struggle with what is right and wrong all season as she has watched Jack do what is necessary to get the job done. Now she is faced with making her own decisions while she is no longer working with Jack. While I found the scene where Jack meets with the Imam from Jibraan’s mosque a little odd, it was good to see him trying to make peace for the things he has had to do.

Now for the centre point for the whole season, the thing that was hyped to bring us all back, and the thing that was equal parts exciting and confusing… Tony. When Tony died in season 5 I was one of the people who said that although his death was clumsy at best, it was time to move on because he was dead and wasn’t coming back. Well I was wrong. I thought they handled his return alright, though the explanation for why he wasn’t dead was a little weak. The biggest problem, which makes sense looking back, was how Tony didn’t seem to make any sense. One minute he was bad, the next he was good, and then he was bad again. And we were never given very much information on his true motives. I honestly thought that they brought him back and then realized they didn’t know what to do with him. That might have been true, but they covered it up well with this ending. It explains every action Tony has taken throughout the season. He wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t good. He was playing both sides. Everything he was doing was simply to track down the man who killed his wife. Looking back I think the situation with Tony got more closure than I initially thought as he was taken into custody. But Alan Wilson needs to be revisited. That’s a story line I really hope they pursue. Finding out that Alan Wilson was the one ultimately responsible for so much that has happened in the show was huge. I can only hope that next season they pursue this guy further to get more answers from him. The way they revealed who he was and then just left it hanging really left the door open for more of the character. I’ll be really disappointed if they don’t mention him again.

For the second year in a row, the final moments of the season were very low key. That isn’t always a bad thing, but I felt that the situation with Jack’s health got wrapped up far too easily. They were playing it like Kim wouldn’t do the treatment to save Jack for a long time, and I liked that. But in the end, while it was good to see that Jack isn’t invincible, they took the easy way out.

So in the end I thought the finale mirrored the season really well. It had some amazing moments, but it also had some flaws. I’m glad that although the show doesn’t have the same freshness that it did in the first three seasons, it is still going strong and trying new things.

Thanks to everyone for reading my recaps and reviews every week. It’s been a lot of fun. Hopefully you’ll come back through out the summer to see everything else we have on Real Life Sitcom. See you back here in January for the next season of 24!

24: Episodes 23 & 24 (Season Finale)

Welcome to the 24-Season 7-finale-live-blogging-extravaganza! I’ll be posting my thoughts on each commercial break during the two hour event and then tomorrow I’ll post a big overview of my thoughts on the finale and the season in general. After each commercial break just hit refresh while you’re on this page and you’ll see any new updates. Here we go!

8:26 pm – TV is on, snacks are prepared, people are arriving. It all starts in about a half hour.

Commercial Break 1:

• The credits are over, Olivia is in the hot seat, and Tony is in transit.
• Here we go with Kim. Hopefully this doesn’t get too ridiculous.
• Jack’s taking over the van with two guns!
• Chloe’s biggest surveillance nightmare, a tunnel.
• At the first commercial we’re off to a good start. It looks like this one is going to be action packed right from the start. The bad guys don’t have a canister, but they have Jack, this should be interesting.

Commercial Break 2:

• Aaron and Ethan make a great old guy team. I’m loving watching them bring down Olivia. Ethan’s on board, no surprises there.
• Does Olivia really think that giving the investigators attitude is going to help her cause? She’s is just begging to be found out.
• She found the recording device!! I love Aaron’s reaction.
• Speaking of great teams, it;s good to see Chloe and Janis working together again this week.
• We all know the situation with Kim is going to go bad, right? The guy with the long hair is too creepy.
• …and it’s gone bad. The woman is down, the creepy guy is injured and on the run, and surprise, surprise, Kim’s gone after him. IDIOT!!

Commercial Break 3:

• Ethan + strip search = no thank you
• This cant be over, Ethan and Aaron will find another way to get to Olivia. She needs to be taken down!
• Yes!! Etban had an extra memory card. Looks like it’s not so hard to out smart Olivia after all.
• It looks like Jack is being led to an execution…
• While Tony tries to get a job promotion, Jack’s getting a spinal tap.
• I wonder what kind of condition Jack will be in after this situation. The spinal tap and the drugs seem like they could take him out of commission. So far this first episode is going really well.

Commercial Break 4:

• Olivia’s house of cards is crumbling fast. It looks like almost everyone in the White House is suspicious.
• Kim would make a great ninja with her running in high heels, heavy loud breathing, and being in plain sight.
• Creepy long haired guy got shot, but now he, nevermind, he’s dead.
• What are they going to do with Kim now that she’s no longer in danger in the airport?

Commercial Break 5:

• I love how Ethan just happened to fast forward the recording to the exact spot where Olivia confessed to the assassination. I guess that’s TV magic for you.
• They need Jacks organs? Not good.
• Ok, this whole thing about Tony’s promotion is kind of silly considering the circumstances. Doesn’t everyone have better things to do?
• Looks like the big boss will either promote Tony or kill him. This could get messy. Will Tony die twice?
• JACK’S AWAKE!! THERE WILL BE BLOOD!!1!!one!!
• So now Jack is on the run, which usually leads to good things. There’s a lot of things up in the air, hopefully they can juggle it all and make this all come together. On to the second hour!

Commercial Break 6:

• That was a pretty epic fail on Jack’s behalf, just laying there as Tony takes control
• Olivia just got owned, and it was sweet.
• Sometimes I think Aaron is just as cool as Jack, maybe even cooler. Sometimes.
• Tony just dropped one of the biggest bombs in 24 history! Alan Wilson, the guy behind everything this season, was also behind President Logan, Palmer’s assassination, and Michelle’s death. Everything Tony has done has been to get a chance to take this guy down, not to get a promotion. Not only that but he’s using Jack to do it. I could not be happier with how this is going. So epic. I was really worried that this finale was going to be bad, but so far it has blown me away.

Commercial Break 7:

• If Tony is so upset about Michelle, why is he with another woman?
• Here comes a showdown. Cue the tumbleweed and the western music.
• Ok, the FBI helicopter entrance was kind of lame.
• Renee is owning the baddies, she found Jack and disarmed the bomb strapped to him. This is moving at break neck speed.
• Tony’s got the man who killed his wife in his hands.
• Another bomb dropped, Michelle was pregnant. This is nuts…so much is going on so quick. Carlos Bernard is doing a great job as Tony. He and Michelle were expecting a little boy and Alan Wilson took it all away.
• Jack closed one eye to shoot Tony just like he did with Curtis, except Tony only got shot in the arm. I’m actually glad he didn’t get killed again…yet.
• There’s still a half hour left, what could possibly happen next?

Commercial Break 8:

• Is this guy bluffing when he says he doesn’t know what conspiracy they are talking about? I can’t really tell
• That was a great moment between Jack and Renee. It was great to hear how he justifies the decisions he makes, and that he can’t tell Renee what do.
• This was a really short segment. We’ve had our slow, emotional time. Time to pick it back up again as things hopefully get wrapped up in these last few minutes.

Commercial Break 9:

• Olivia has finally confessed, and to her parents at that. I was hoping that Aaron and Ethan would corner her in front of everyone, but at least she has finally come clean.
• Mr. Taylor is nuts. This sucks. I really don’t want to see them try to cover up this whole assassination. Please let the President do what is right! After everything that has happened today, she can’t let her husband push her around.
• I really hope this is the calm before the storm because things are slowing down quick when they should be ramping up.
• Ok, is Jack a muslim now? That’s quite the interesting turn of events. Kind of an odd scene.
• It is time for what? For Jack to die? That just brought up a bunch more questions that I dont know will get answered before this is over.

Commercial Break 10:

• Here comes justice to Olivia…YES! The President did the right thing and put her daughter into custody! BOO YA! She is done for. That was easily the best move that President Taylor has made all day.
• Enough with the sappy moments, let’s get back into this.
• Alan Wilson is in for questioning, but Jack won’t be there to push him around. Time for Renee to take his place. Here she goes…
• Kim’s back, guaranteed she’s going to be the key to save him. Yup, she wants to go through with it. They really dragged this out until the end. I was hoping there would be some other conclusion to the whole story of Jack’s health. This seems like the easy way to keep him alive for next season.
• And that, its over. This finale really had some problems. Tony’s story wasn’t totally wrapped up, nothing happened with Alan Wilson, and Jack’s situation fell apart at the very end. Come back tomorrow for a recap of the season as well as a more detailed review of the finale. Thanks for reading this live blog. Hopefully you enjoyed it as much as I did.

The Office: Company Picnic

Just a little warning, if you haven’t seen the season finale of The Office yet, please go watch it and then come back and read this. There are some pretty major spoilers in this review.

Now back to your regularly scheduled review.

A lot of shows tend to start great and then slowly fall apart over the course of a season. This season of The Office did the exact opposite. It struggled to find it’s way throughout the first half, but once it hit it’s stride it was amazing. Last night’s season finale, Company Picnic, was the perfect way to end things for the summer.

The episode revolved around, you guessed it, a company picnic. It was fun to see everyone out of the office having fun together. The big surprise (or so we are led to believe) is that Holly is back. Awesome. Seeing Holly and Michael back together is like seeing Jim and Pam at their best. They just work so well. Holly never once makes Michael seem like a crazy person the way that Jan did. They bring out the best in each other. The way Michael talked about not being in any rush to tell Holly how he feels about her was great evidence of that. Anyway, their performance of Slumdunder-Mifflinaire was full of awkwardness, though I’m sure they thought it was great, which is what makes it so funny.

Of course we also got some good ol’ fashioned silliness. Andy seems to be falling for the new receptionist which should be interesting to watch next season. Meredith’s inappropriate attire was revolting and funny at the same time. And Dwight’s game stalling techniques were hilarious. Why was he stalling the company volleyball game? Because Pam (who we found out is awesome at volleyball) twisted her ankle and had to be brought to the hospital. We thought Holly coming back was the big surprise of the episode until Pam finds out she’s pregnant. Jim and Pam’s reactions were absolutely wonderful. While they didn’t come right out and say it, we all know that’s what was going on. I loved the way they were in a separate room with the door shut so we couldn’t hear what was being said.

The best finale’s are the ones that make the long wait for the next season worthwhile. This one did exactly that. So what did you think of the finale and of the season as a whole? Let’s hear it.

24: Episode 22

Recap: As Jack tries to get Tony’s location out of the guard back at Jibraan’s house, Jibraan follows orders and gets on the subway headed to Washington Center Station. His one attempt to alert the authorities about his captors fails, so he reluctantly moves forward without completely knowing what he’ll be asked to do. A few minutes later, Cara gets on the same subway car and hides a bag containing the last canister of the bio weapon. She catches Jibraan’s attention and he becomes increasingly nervous.

Back at the White House, Aaron Pierce starts to wonder where Olivia is. He calls her and tells her to come back as soon as possible if she wants him to continue to run her security. She of course is meeting with Martin Collier to get an explanation for why Jonas Hodges was killed. He says that he gave the go ahead because she seemed so sure that she wanted Hodges dead. He warned her not to go down that path unless she was sure. Now Olivia must transfer the funds to the assassin, as well as cover up any tracks that might implicate her in the assassination. The White House is beginning an investigation as only a handful of people knew about Hodges’ whereabouts.

Janis and Chloe are locking horns at FBI headquarters as they try to help Jack find Tony. Based on the phone call that the guard at Jibraan’s house made to Tony, they are able to track him down. Tony is in Jack’s sights, so he runs into his van, then a whole team of FBI agents swarm the van and apprehend Tony. After giving Tony a beating, Jack tries to get him to talk by saying he has nothing left to lose and will shoot him if he doesn’t say anything. Then Tony says he doesn’t have anything left to lose either, so Jack lowers his gun and walks away. Meanwhile, Janis is able to find information on the computer that Tony tried to break when they arrested him. They find Jibraan’s location and contact him about the bio weapon.

Once Olivia returns to the White House she goes to her office to begin deleting any evidence that might link her to Jonas Hodges’ assassination. After telling Aaron that she just needed to get away, he calls Ethan Kanin. He asks Ethan about the voice activated recording system that was installed into the office that Olivia now has. Since Aaron doesn’t want to say much over the phone about why he wants to know about the recording system, Ethan says he will meet Aaron in 30 minutes.

Jibraan finally gets contacted by Jack through his earpiece and is instructed that the bio weapon is on the subway. After some searching he finally finds it and realizes that time is running out so he must carry it up to the Hazmat team. Once people start becoming suspicious of him carrying the bag, he starts yelling that he has a bomb and gets to the surface amid the confusion. Jack grabs the weapon and takes it to where it can be contained just as it goes off. Renee tries to comfort Jack now that the threat is over, but his sickness is getting worse as the injections are no longer working.

Meanwhile Kim is at the airport waiting for a flight home. She thinks she is being followed by someone but it turns out it is an agent sent by Jack to keep an eye on her until she gets on the plane. She meets a married couple who are also traveling and tells them about the man she thinks is following her. The husband says he is going to get coffee for his wife, but instead kills the man keeping watch over Kim. An image of her, taken from the man’s laptop, is transmitted by Cara to Jack’s phone. She threatens him by saying if he doesn’t help Tony get away, they will kill Kim.

Review: In and of itself, this was a solid hour of 24. My issue is that I don’t think it set up for a compelling finale. I’m glad the last canister is destroyed, and Tony is captured, but what’s next? I just don’t think putting Kim in harm’s way is a great way to end a season. Do long time fans of the show really care about Kim? She ALWAYS gets herself in trouble. It’s the same thing every time with her. I’d rather see the season end by dealing with Jack’s health, or with a confrontation with Tony that actually gave us some answers as to why he has done what he has.

That’s not to say it was all bad. When Jack found Tony they had a pretty intense encounter. I wasn’t sure if Jack would kill him or not. Tony is driving me nuts with his little silent treatments though. Also, the story line with Aaron getting suspicious of Olivia is turning out to be great. I would love nothing more than to see him take her down. Bringing back Ethan was a great move too, especially with his past connection with Olivia. I’m really excited to see where that goes. And the face off between Chloe and Janis was wonderful. Naturally, Chloe drives Janis nuts, and it was great.

Though the ending of the situation with Jibraan was nothing new (remember Curtis running out of the hospital with a bomb set to go off in season 4?) it was a decent conclusion to his story. I’m glad him and his brother are safe.

If the show can make me care about Kim, it better move fast. This doesn’t feel like the setup for a finale at all. There must be something else going on that we just don’t know about yet, so I’ll be waiting for some big surprises next week. What did you think? Do you agree or disagree with me? Next week is our last recap/review of the season so come back next Tuesday morning to talk about  how it all wrapped up.

The Office: Cafe Disco

If only this season had started with the Michael Scott Paper Company plot line and continued from there, I think it could have been my favorite season so far. Cafe Disco (and don’t you dare call it a disco cafe, because it’s totally different) was a slow burn, but it managed to be a great episode of The Office.

Since Michael is still paying for the room that held his own paper company, he has taken to going to it during the work day to de-stress. He puts on some soothing music (”Everybody Dance Now” by C&C Music Factory), drinks some “expresso” from a tiny cup, and dances his troubles away. At first it seemed like just a silly thing that Michael did on his own, but then he tried to get everyone to join his party. By the end of the episode, everyone was there having a great time, and it was a lot of fun to watch.

I love it when a show seems to know exactly what you want from it. My only complaint with the Michael Scott Paper Company episodes was that I missed the supporting cast back at Dunder Mifflin. Well I’m pretty sure every single one of them got at least a small part in this one, and it worked.

There were two smaller stories going on as well. First, Phyllis became worried that her husband Bob Vance was cheating on her with his secretary. So she decided to check out the Cafe Disco and almost immediately threw her back out when she started dancing with Michael. This led to a really awkward time between her and Dwight as he tried to fix her back problems. Of course this show wouldn’t be what it is without a good dose of awkward, so that was alright.

The second side story was that Jim and Pam were going to get married. What? They were planning on heading to Ohio for a small wedding at a court. I actually thought it was really cool. I was into the idea of not making a huge deal out of them getting married after all this time. But the power of the Cafe Disco had a firm grip on them as they decided at the last minute that they want a normal wedding. As much as I liked the original idea, I’m still excited to see where it all will go. I’m glad the writers have backed off of the Jim and Pam thing a bit this season. It keeps it fresh and exciting whenever we find out more about them.

• I may have said this before, but does anyone else find the new receptionist really weird and creepy?
• Also, it was really cool to see Pam out from behind the receptionist desk. I can’t wait to see how her, Jim and Dwight all interact now that they are so close all day.
• What do you think, is Bob Vance cheating on Phyllis? I don’t think he is, or at least I really hope he isn’t because Phyllis will fall apart. She seemed really torn apart at the thought of it.
• Andy and Kelly’s dance off might have been one of the most awesome moments in The Office history. I think there might be a little romance brewing there. Go Andy!

Let me know what you thought, if you agreed with me or disagreed. What was your favorite moment or line from the episode?

24: Episode 21

Here we are again with a new hour of 24 to talk about. Things continue to move along as the season comes to a close so let’s get right into it shall we?

Recap: Chloe is having trouble finding anything useful with the CTU servers so Jack advises her to widen the search to anything to do with Muslims in the area. Though Janis confronts Jack about it being racial profiling, Jack insists that it’s their only option. After forgetting what he’s talking about mid-sentence, Jack is forced to tell Chloe about his sickness, telling her that they need to get back to work and find Tony because he has accepted what has happened to him.

After breaking into the home of Jibraan Al-Zarian last week, Tony and Cara begin to lace his apartment with Jihadist propaganda. Tony tells Jibraan that if he follows orders, him and his brother will make it through this alive. He then tells Jibraan to read a statement to a camera that will be used as evidence of his guilt once the attacks are carried out. Jibraan reluctantly agrees after Tony threatens his brothers life.

Once Chloe gets back to work she comes across some suspicious information about Jibraan. Jack and Renee are sent to question a contact who may have more information on Jibraan’s whereabouts. After the contact comes up empty handed for intel and is taken into custody, Chloe informs Jack that it looks like Jibraan has been set up. They find his address and prepare to enter his home.

At the White House, Olivia meets with Martin Collier about Jonas Hodges. He tells her that she must be sure that getting rid of Jonas is something she really wants to do because she will have to live with it. After they agree to move forward he advises her that she will be contacted shortly with more instructions. At the same time, Jonas is being briefed on his new identity in the witness protection program. He is not happy about having to give up everything he has worked to build, including his name.

Back at Jibraan’s apartment, Tony tells him to speak to his brother and convince him that he is a terrorist and plans to carry out an attack. His brother is confused, but they decide that what they’ve said is enough so they take Jibraan and leave.

Olivia receives a phone call from an assassin who is able to take out Jonas Hodges. All she has to do is transfer funds into an account and the deal will be done. After coming as close as possible to going through with it, Olivia decides to not go through with it. She then calls Martin to tell him she can’t do it. 

After Jonas is asked to give up all his personal belongings that might tie him to his old life, he is taken to an SUV for transport. As the agent in charge of the transport fills out some paperwork, the truck explodes. Once word reaches the White House, Olivia immediately calls Martin trying to explain that she didn’t go through with the assassination. They agree to meet in Pershing Park to talk about it.

As Jack and his team approach Jibraan’s apartment, they find out that there is one guard and Jibraan’s brother, Hamid, inside. They need the guard to be kept alive since he is their only link to Tony. As they enter the apartment, Hamid breaks a mirror and stabs the guard in the neck. Jack yells for a medic as he frantically tries to keep the man alive.

Finally, Tony escorts Jibraan into a truck where we find out the attack will be ready to unfold in ten to fifteen minutes. The target looks to be a subway station where many innocent civilians go about their business.

Review: It looks like the season is shaping up to end the same way it began, in a man hunt for Tony Almeida. Now that Jonas Hodges is dead, there is no chance that he will be involved in the final hours of the season. I found Hodges’ character unsatisfying overall as a villain. He had his good moments here and there, but I felt like I should have been happy to see him go. Instead I didn’t really care one way or another. He just seemed like a crazy old man who should have been left alone, even though I know he did a lot of bad things.

I really enjoyed the scenes with Olivia this week. She seemed really terrified when she found out about Hodges’ death. I don’t know whether to feel bad for her or not. 

Watching Jack break the news to Chloe about his sickness was tough. I can’t think of very many times where Chloe has gotten emotional, but she seemed really affected by the news. This will all add an extra layer of intensity to their partnership in these final hours. 

• It was nice to see Henry Taylor again. He seemed a little less crazy than he did in the beginning, probably because he knows everyone believes what he did about his son’s murder.
• Other than the brief exchange with the police at the door, I felt like the whole situation with Tony and JIbraan was just filler in this hour. Next week that plot line should pick up.
• Do you think Jonas was killed because of Olivia even though she didn’t go through with transferring the funds, or was there someone else behind the assassination?