Friday, December 19, 2003
Did he or Didn't he?
There seems to be a lot of debate as to whether Jack could have known the gun was loaded when Ramon told him to shoot Chase. Everyone from your average housewife to top gun experts are chiming in on the matter.
According to some people who have some extensive knowledge of guns (as we would think Jack Bauer does as well) it is possible to tell from the weight of a gun whether it's loaded or not. I can believe that. Well I'd have to really since I know jack about guns. Last time I fired a weapon it was a 12-gauge shotgun and it knocked me on my ass, much to the amusement of PotentialBoyfriend who wasn't Potential after that little trick (he failed to inform me on the proper way to hold the shotgun, so not only did I fall over, but I had a horrible bruise on my cheek and shoulder. Asshole.)
What I wonder though is, even if you are considered an expert on a multitude of weaponry, as Jack most likely is given his training, how can anyone, even Jack, know the proper weight ratios for every loaded and unloaded type of gun out there? What if a gun only has one or even two bullets left in a clip? Would you know that right away as well? What about imagining being in a similar, tense situation where you're asked to kill someone close to you in the same manner. Imagine you're a smackhead going through withdrawals. Imagine that only a few of hours before you fought your way out of a prison riot and inadvertently became responsible for a bystander's death in a pretty horrible manner.
No, I just can't buy into the theory that Jack went through with it knowing the gun was empty. I believe The Powers That Be deliberately left it ambiguous so geeks like me can debate and ponder it to death, but for my part I'm choosing to believe that Jack had no clue whether it was loaded or not. In keeping with Jack's underlying theme through each season, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one - even his own needs.
The repercussions of him killing Chase would have been enormous. Whatever relationship he had rebuilt with his beloved daughter would have been shattered, especially after all of the earlier betrayals of the day (lying to her about the prisoner transfer order, finding out he's a junkie). I don't think their relationship could have survived such a blow and that would do more damage to Jack emotionally than anything else he's been through.
Besides, it makes for better drama if he doesn't know the gun's empty :)
According to some people who have some extensive knowledge of guns (as we would think Jack Bauer does as well) it is possible to tell from the weight of a gun whether it's loaded or not. I can believe that. Well I'd have to really since I know jack about guns. Last time I fired a weapon it was a 12-gauge shotgun and it knocked me on my ass, much to the amusement of PotentialBoyfriend who wasn't Potential after that little trick (he failed to inform me on the proper way to hold the shotgun, so not only did I fall over, but I had a horrible bruise on my cheek and shoulder. Asshole.)
What I wonder though is, even if you are considered an expert on a multitude of weaponry, as Jack most likely is given his training, how can anyone, even Jack, know the proper weight ratios for every loaded and unloaded type of gun out there? What if a gun only has one or even two bullets left in a clip? Would you know that right away as well? What about imagining being in a similar, tense situation where you're asked to kill someone close to you in the same manner. Imagine you're a smackhead going through withdrawals. Imagine that only a few of hours before you fought your way out of a prison riot and inadvertently became responsible for a bystander's death in a pretty horrible manner.
No, I just can't buy into the theory that Jack went through with it knowing the gun was empty. I believe The Powers That Be deliberately left it ambiguous so geeks like me can debate and ponder it to death, but for my part I'm choosing to believe that Jack had no clue whether it was loaded or not. In keeping with Jack's underlying theme through each season, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one - even his own needs.
The repercussions of him killing Chase would have been enormous. Whatever relationship he had rebuilt with his beloved daughter would have been shattered, especially after all of the earlier betrayals of the day (lying to her about the prisoner transfer order, finding out he's a junkie). I don't think their relationship could have survived such a blow and that would do more damage to Jack emotionally than anything else he's been through.
Besides, it makes for better drama if he doesn't know the gun's empty :)
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Thursday, December 18, 2003
Golden Globe Nominations
Congratu-bloody-lations to Kiefer Sutherland and 24 as a whole on their Golden Globe nominations! Best Actor and Best Drama - whahey! Clickity-click for the full nomination list for the 2004 Golden Globes which will be broadcast on January 25th, 2004 on NBC at 8pm EST.
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Wednesday, December 17, 2003
Pull the trigger Jack
I'm still thinking about that scene from last night when Ramon tells Jack to kill Chase to prove he can be trusted. That was powerful stuff. I can't wait to watch it again. If Jack kills Chase he's effectively destroying any remnant of a relationship he had rebuilt with Kim and we all know how much Jack loves his daughter. I think it would truly send him toppling over the edge if Kim shut him out for good.
Ugh I want to write more but I'm so damn tired right now I can't think properly. The kidlet and I went to the midnight showing of Return of the King and I've now been awake over 24 hours. I don't know how Jack does it because I'm a freaking basketcase. On the other hand, 24 and ROTK in one night... perfection :)
Ugh I want to write more but I'm so damn tired right now I can't think properly. The kidlet and I went to the midnight showing of Return of the King and I've now been awake over 24 hours. I don't know how Jack does it because I'm a freaking basketcase. On the other hand, 24 and ROTK in one night... perfection :)
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Tuesday, December 16, 2003
8pm - 9pm
An end (?) to the dull Palmer/Anne thing. I'm sorry. I want to love every tiny detail about this show but as much as I love me some Palmer, I haven't been able to entrench myself in this storyline with Anne. So, while I felt bad when Anne dumped him during this hour, I also felt relief, much like I'm sure Wayne will feel when he finds out Anne is gone :) it's just that I never cared at all about Anne's ex-husband so his suicide wasn't shocking or gasp-worthy to me. I don't feel that their relationship was developed enough for me to give a shit about them. Nor do I believe Wendy Crewson (Anne) was used to her fullest potential as a catalyst for Ted Packard's eventual demise. Having said that, I have faith in the writers and well, they know more than I ever will about what's to come so I don't want to diss the whole Anne thing too much :) Yes I am a weenie.
So yes, Anne was called by her ex to his office to get the papers that supposedly exonerate her from the scandal that was about to screw the Prez. When she arrived, he apologised for the mess he created and then in a not-so-subtle move went to get the papers which, surprise surprise, were near a gun that was not hidden very well under a jacket or something. So of course, Anne sees it and realises that Ted means to off himself. Her half-hearted attempt to talk him out of it was amusing to watch. I think she really felt relieved about his decision because honestly, she just didn't try very hard to stop him.
Whle Anne was off watching some brains splatter, Palmer receives an urgent call from Almeida who then proceeds to explain that everything from the infected body, to Kyle Singer, to Jack's jailbreak was an elaborate sting operation to get Jack back undercover with the Salazars (oooer!). Actually, Jack explained it to Palmer via a pre-taped video. And man was Palmer ever pissed off at Jack and CTU. I smell less funding for CTU in the future... Apparently, and I may have this wrong, but the Salazar's never had the Corwhatever virus. That was just a ruse to set the prison break in motion because Jack had to make Ramon believe he'd flipped sides and the only way to do that is for him to believe Jack's a criminal in his own country now. It almost didn't work but I'll come to that in a minute. The virus is real though and in the hands of some Ukrainian scientists who want to sell it to the highest bidder. Jack/Tony/Gael worked under absolute secrecy to bring this together and use the Salazar money to fund a buy for the virus. I'm lost already but hopefully I'll cop on to it better when I watch the ep again.
So that's what's going on, and now all of CTU knows. Michelle is a little pissed at Tony for keeping such a big secret from her... I've already seen some people online saying 'honey, it's the JOB - duh!' but I see it more as Michelle not realising what a good liar Tony might actually be and if he's that good at something that big... what else could he lie to her about? It's a trust thing. I don't think she's mad so much about the sting op secret so much as she is about how well Tony concealed it from her. Anyway, CTU knows and is now concentrating on helping Jack. Tony asked where Chase was and Kim actually was honest about what he was doing. See? Kim has always been forthright and honest and all about doing the right thing and mad props to her for speaking up about Chase heading down to old Mexico to save Jack.
So now Tony has to worry about stopping Chase before Chase gets there and blows Jack's cover and pretty much ruins everything. Blimey. Shot (in the NECK), major sting going down and now a dumbass rogue agent to worry about. No wonder he fell down in his office.
Hey I just realised this episode was Chloe-free :(
It was also very Palmer/CTU-intensive and not so much Jack/Ramon/Hector. But damn damn damn what little there was was fantastic. Back at the ranch, Ramon is stomping around bellowing about how stupid Hector is to trust Jack. And this is where the whole thing might have gone to the dogs. Even after he learns the plan to buy the virus and potentially make themselves a cool billion dollars selling it to dodgy third-world countries, and that Jack's flipped and 'tired of putting his ass on the line for nothing' and is in this for 50 million dollars for negotiating the virus buy, Ramon is still unsure. Most of the episode in this plotline centered around Jack waiting to hear whether Ramon will let him do the deal or kill him.
So Jack's off in some dingy room under guard and beginning to succomb to the stress of the day coupled with some serious withdrawals. He's curled up in pain on a cot, sweating, shaking and just plain suffering when Claudia walks in. And here we learn that Claudia and Jack were together while he was first undercover with the Salazars. This was somewhat predictable (even by me!) but still nice to see played out. And we learn that Jack promised to get Claudia and her family out of there - but didn't. Now Claudia is pissed as hell and she taunts him. "You used to be a man Jack. Now look at you." Or something like that. Jack looks really sorry and you could see that he had some feelings for Claudia and I think he honestly felt bad for betraying her. It will be interesting to see where that goes. Maybe at the end of the day Jack will be able to find love again. Or not since he doesn't think he can be an agent and have a personal life. Who knows. Oooo but maybe Claudia is the reason he couldn't be with Kate anymore. Hmmmmmmm.....
So Chase lands near the Ranch and CTU has a Mexican Intelligence agent there to intercept him. But Chase intercepts him instead but manages to comprehend that the Mexican agent in there to stop him. So he calls CTU just as the Mexican agent is killed by a sniper and the chase (ha!) is on. Chase jumps in Mexican agent's vehicle but soon crashes before Tony can fill him in and then he's taken back to the Ranch right after Jack makes the call to the Ukranians. (Are you lost yet?)
Chase is gobsmacked when he discovers Jack has flipped and Ramon sees an opportunity for Jack to prove he can be trusted - he tells Jack to kill Chase. All I could think during this 'Oh Shit' moment was 'needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one' and I fecking knew Jack was going to do it. He was going to kill the man his beloved daughter loves and further fuck up his own relationship with her in order to potentially save millions of lives. What a guy! Jack grabs the gun, tells Chase he shouldn't have followed him down there, Chase spits on Jack, Jack holds the gun to Chases head and.... pulls the damn trigger! I think my heart stopped just then - at least until I heard the click. The gun was not loaded and Ramon had a big old laugh at that and seemed to buy Jack's loyalty.
Then they all headed off to a safe house somewhere just in case - oh yes, and Jack's sensor/tracker watch thingie got broken in a scuffle with Chase and now CTU does not know where Jack is going.. Tick-boom, tick-boom, tick-boom.
24 returns on January 6th. Wtf am I going to do until then?
So yes, Anne was called by her ex to his office to get the papers that supposedly exonerate her from the scandal that was about to screw the Prez. When she arrived, he apologised for the mess he created and then in a not-so-subtle move went to get the papers which, surprise surprise, were near a gun that was not hidden very well under a jacket or something. So of course, Anne sees it and realises that Ted means to off himself. Her half-hearted attempt to talk him out of it was amusing to watch. I think she really felt relieved about his decision because honestly, she just didn't try very hard to stop him.
Whle Anne was off watching some brains splatter, Palmer receives an urgent call from Almeida who then proceeds to explain that everything from the infected body, to Kyle Singer, to Jack's jailbreak was an elaborate sting operation to get Jack back undercover with the Salazars (oooer!). Actually, Jack explained it to Palmer via a pre-taped video. And man was Palmer ever pissed off at Jack and CTU. I smell less funding for CTU in the future... Apparently, and I may have this wrong, but the Salazar's never had the Corwhatever virus. That was just a ruse to set the prison break in motion because Jack had to make Ramon believe he'd flipped sides and the only way to do that is for him to believe Jack's a criminal in his own country now. It almost didn't work but I'll come to that in a minute. The virus is real though and in the hands of some Ukrainian scientists who want to sell it to the highest bidder. Jack/Tony/Gael worked under absolute secrecy to bring this together and use the Salazar money to fund a buy for the virus. I'm lost already but hopefully I'll cop on to it better when I watch the ep again.
So that's what's going on, and now all of CTU knows. Michelle is a little pissed at Tony for keeping such a big secret from her... I've already seen some people online saying 'honey, it's the JOB - duh!' but I see it more as Michelle not realising what a good liar Tony might actually be and if he's that good at something that big... what else could he lie to her about? It's a trust thing. I don't think she's mad so much about the sting op secret so much as she is about how well Tony concealed it from her. Anyway, CTU knows and is now concentrating on helping Jack. Tony asked where Chase was and Kim actually was honest about what he was doing. See? Kim has always been forthright and honest and all about doing the right thing and mad props to her for speaking up about Chase heading down to old Mexico to save Jack.
So now Tony has to worry about stopping Chase before Chase gets there and blows Jack's cover and pretty much ruins everything. Blimey. Shot (in the NECK), major sting going down and now a dumbass rogue agent to worry about. No wonder he fell down in his office.
Hey I just realised this episode was Chloe-free :(
It was also very Palmer/CTU-intensive and not so much Jack/Ramon/Hector. But damn damn damn what little there was was fantastic. Back at the ranch, Ramon is stomping around bellowing about how stupid Hector is to trust Jack. And this is where the whole thing might have gone to the dogs. Even after he learns the plan to buy the virus and potentially make themselves a cool billion dollars selling it to dodgy third-world countries, and that Jack's flipped and 'tired of putting his ass on the line for nothing' and is in this for 50 million dollars for negotiating the virus buy, Ramon is still unsure. Most of the episode in this plotline centered around Jack waiting to hear whether Ramon will let him do the deal or kill him.
So Jack's off in some dingy room under guard and beginning to succomb to the stress of the day coupled with some serious withdrawals. He's curled up in pain on a cot, sweating, shaking and just plain suffering when Claudia walks in. And here we learn that Claudia and Jack were together while he was first undercover with the Salazars. This was somewhat predictable (even by me!) but still nice to see played out. And we learn that Jack promised to get Claudia and her family out of there - but didn't. Now Claudia is pissed as hell and she taunts him. "You used to be a man Jack. Now look at you." Or something like that. Jack looks really sorry and you could see that he had some feelings for Claudia and I think he honestly felt bad for betraying her. It will be interesting to see where that goes. Maybe at the end of the day Jack will be able to find love again. Or not since he doesn't think he can be an agent and have a personal life. Who knows. Oooo but maybe Claudia is the reason he couldn't be with Kate anymore. Hmmmmmmm.....
So Chase lands near the Ranch and CTU has a Mexican Intelligence agent there to intercept him. But Chase intercepts him instead but manages to comprehend that the Mexican agent in there to stop him. So he calls CTU just as the Mexican agent is killed by a sniper and the chase (ha!) is on. Chase jumps in Mexican agent's vehicle but soon crashes before Tony can fill him in and then he's taken back to the Ranch right after Jack makes the call to the Ukranians. (Are you lost yet?)
Chase is gobsmacked when he discovers Jack has flipped and Ramon sees an opportunity for Jack to prove he can be trusted - he tells Jack to kill Chase. All I could think during this 'Oh Shit' moment was 'needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one' and I fecking knew Jack was going to do it. He was going to kill the man his beloved daughter loves and further fuck up his own relationship with her in order to potentially save millions of lives. What a guy! Jack grabs the gun, tells Chase he shouldn't have followed him down there, Chase spits on Jack, Jack holds the gun to Chases head and.... pulls the damn trigger! I think my heart stopped just then - at least until I heard the click. The gun was not loaded and Ramon had a big old laugh at that and seemed to buy Jack's loyalty.
Then they all headed off to a safe house somewhere just in case - oh yes, and Jack's sensor/tracker watch thingie got broken in a scuffle with Chase and now CTU does not know where Jack is going.. Tick-boom, tick-boom, tick-boom.
24 returns on January 6th. Wtf am I going to do until then?
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Off topic
Ok this has SFA to do with 24, however it is Kiefer-related. But feel free to skip this entry if you're just looking for 24 stuff :)
So I rented Truth or Consequences, N.M. recently and enjoyed it immensely and added caps from it to the Kiefer movie gallery, blah blah blah. But I couldn't get that bloody weird dance Kiefer's character, Curtis, does in the film out of my head. I literally spewed my coffee all over the place the first time I saw it. It was such a classic, standout thing and fit the character so perfectly. So anyway, I have to return the film soon but I wanted to capture those oh-so-groovy moves until I can manage to buy the DVD.
Well I'd made animated gifs before from other movies so I figured that would be my best bet. The first attempt was horrible. Then I figured out what I did wrong and 90 frames later, I had a good gif. But the problem with that was it took feckin' ages to load for people who also dig the Curtis moves. So last night there was nothing on telly and it was too cold and snowy outside to go anywhere. Then out of the blue it hits me that I have some kind of movie making program buried somewhere on my computer and I begin to wonder if it's possible to turn my gif into a little movie that might load faster. Sho' nuff it is possible. So I taught myself how to use the program, and an hour later I have The Curtis Boogie complete with Foghat tunage :) (It's about 1Mb, and a Windows Media file that should pop open the Win Media Player when you click it. If you're on a Mac though, I have no idea what it will do.)
So yeah, I'm quite chuffed with myself actually, that was hella fun to make.
And to get back on topic - Woohoo 24 tonight!!!
So I rented Truth or Consequences, N.M. recently and enjoyed it immensely and added caps from it to the Kiefer movie gallery, blah blah blah. But I couldn't get that bloody weird dance Kiefer's character, Curtis, does in the film out of my head. I literally spewed my coffee all over the place the first time I saw it. It was such a classic, standout thing and fit the character so perfectly. So anyway, I have to return the film soon but I wanted to capture those oh-so-groovy moves until I can manage to buy the DVD.
Well I'd made animated gifs before from other movies so I figured that would be my best bet. The first attempt was horrible. Then I figured out what I did wrong and 90 frames later, I had a good gif. But the problem with that was it took feckin' ages to load for people who also dig the Curtis moves. So last night there was nothing on telly and it was too cold and snowy outside to go anywhere. Then out of the blue it hits me that I have some kind of movie making program buried somewhere on my computer and I begin to wonder if it's possible to turn my gif into a little movie that might load faster. Sho' nuff it is possible. So I taught myself how to use the program, and an hour later I have The Curtis Boogie complete with Foghat tunage :) (It's about 1Mb, and a Windows Media file that should pop open the Win Media Player when you click it. If you're on a Mac though, I have no idea what it will do.)
So yeah, I'm quite chuffed with myself actually, that was hella fun to make.
And to get back on topic - Woohoo 24 tonight!!!
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Sunday, December 14, 2003
There. I said it.
I love Chloe to bits. Not that I'd want to work with her mind you because well, she is a pain in the ass. Anal, neurotic, always says exactly the wrong thing... But I adore her character on 24. Mary Lynn Rajskub, who plays Chloe, is perfect for the part in that she's everywoman as far as her appearance goes - she's not a stunning and gorgeous agent nor is she meant to be - but she's got the technogeek persona nailed. I'm not sure exactly what her 'job' is at CTU. Someone described her as Jack's secretary but I think there's more to her job than fielding phone calls and filing papers. The thing about 24 is that everyone's job is so ambiguous. I don't spend a lot of time trying to figure out the hierarchy anymore because it was driving me nuts. One theory I've heard is that the writers purposely keep everyone ambiguous like that in order leave themselves some writing room. Works for me.
Anyway back to Chloe. I don't want to compare her character to characters from previous seasons because I don't want to believe The Powers That Be cast people based on which dead characters from Season 1 and 2 they can duplicate in some way. She's not Paula, she's not Milo. She's not there for humour the way George Mason was. Not that I feel Mason's only purpose was for some levity mind you. But he did have some cracking lines, just as Chloe does this season. And one thing all the Chloe-haters have to admit to is at least you remember her after every episode. Paula's remembered for the way she died and well Milo I remember for the earrings for some reason. But Chloe... hehehe. "He was shot. IN THE NECK."
She just wants to be accepted and no one is willing to do that. Kim is dismissive, Adam hates women, Chapelle thinks she's a pain in the ass and Jack wanted to fire her. But the sad/funny thing is, I don't think Chloe realises any of that. She's in her own little world of order amongst the chaos and she's oblivious to how she's perceived except when she believes she's made a blunder of some kind. Then she seems to care desperately what others think of her.
I hope she lasts the season and that Jack gives her a raise when this is all over.
Anyway back to Chloe. I don't want to compare her character to characters from previous seasons because I don't want to believe The Powers That Be cast people based on which dead characters from Season 1 and 2 they can duplicate in some way. She's not Paula, she's not Milo. She's not there for humour the way George Mason was. Not that I feel Mason's only purpose was for some levity mind you. But he did have some cracking lines, just as Chloe does this season. And one thing all the Chloe-haters have to admit to is at least you remember her after every episode. Paula's remembered for the way she died and well Milo I remember for the earrings for some reason. But Chloe... hehehe. "He was shot. IN THE NECK."
She just wants to be accepted and no one is willing to do that. Kim is dismissive, Adam hates women, Chapelle thinks she's a pain in the ass and Jack wanted to fire her. But the sad/funny thing is, I don't think Chloe realises any of that. She's in her own little world of order amongst the chaos and she's oblivious to how she's perceived except when she believes she's made a blunder of some kind. Then she seems to care desperately what others think of her.
I hope she lasts the season and that Jack gives her a raise when this is all over.
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