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RSS'24': Kim Bauer is back, but Tony Almeida crosses back to the dark side
You may think the biggest five minutes of this season's "24" comes when Elisha Cuthbert hits the screen, except that ranks only third on my list. Jonas being pwned by the President only counts as the second-most awesome moment... it's (of course) the final five minutes that confirms what I've believed all season.
The Spoilers approve of Elisha Cuthbert's cameo now and forever more... so long as they stay exactly that short.
The entire government has been reduced to a bunch of rabble-rousers over the President's decision to call off the airstrike. Even in his weakened state, Jack steps up to the plate, suggesting to Tony (still on the Starkwood campus) that he litter the missile bunker with the remaining C-4. They take enough time to get the President's (wink wink) approval for the mission, which Tony carries out with relative ease. Yes, Señor Almeida single-handily took down two Starkwood operatives, planted the C-4, fought off their later attacks and managed to blow the rockets up even after dropping the detonator into a drain. Perhaps he'll one day submit his story to Reader's Digest.
Back at the White House, Jonas arrives for his meeting with Greg in tow. In the simplest terms, he demands Starkwood become the next major branch of the U.S Armed Forces. While Taylor wishes she could just dismiss the crazy old man, she begins to thumb through his FedEx Office-produced just long enough to receive word that the "mission" was accomplished. Jonas seems genuinely surprised when he's arrested in the Oval Office. If we are to believe his, he's only a "small cog in a very big machine," and that she'll find out what he means if she continues to act out.
Once he receives yet another congratulatory call from Madame President, Renee tells Jack that (gasp!) Kim is in the house waiting to see him. At first, he's all pissy... how dare she go behind his back and alert his daughter that her father is dying! The nerve! Except he changes his tune when he finds out she's been seeking him out for years, even going as far as attending his Senate hearings earlier in the day. When we do get to the emotional reunion, Kim is rocking the bleach blond hair, yet still full of emotions. Jack begins to understand that their father/daughter relationship might (in the end) be healed after all. On the topic of her saving him, he's not budging one bit. In any other season, an epic war of words would have ensued... tonight she leaves quietly, hoping her resilient father will change his mind.
All seems quiet on the eastern front. That is until a random operative takes out two FBI agents on security patrol. Before he's shot, one of the agents alerts Moss to the goings-on. He and Renee coordinate all available agents to converge on the quickly escaping operative, who is in possession of a mini-weapon (capable of taking out a small town). With help from Janis(!), the government vehicle is quickly located. The helicopter lands with Moss and the operative engaging in quite the firefight. Moss is distracted just long enough for the guy to pump him full of lead.
Surprisingly, not only is Moss not immediately dead, he tries to warn Tony that he's next on the hit list... except Tony has the operative stand down! Tony then does the unthinkable and suffocates Moss on the spot. Hey, that's no way to treat the guy trying to save you from a traitor's death! The world will go on, but Larry Moss meets his end by the ever evolving Tony Almeida.
Somehow I just knew Tony couldn't stay on the side of good.
Related Story:
'24' Carlos Bernard talks about Tony Almeida's turn for the worse
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Zap2it Twitter Talk 
Bleh ... I still watch it ... but huh? They better have a good explanation for this, because as it stands, the little things don't make sense. For example, why let the other agent (the one that eventually stole the WMD) take him down and hinder his chances at blowing up the weapons? Clearly, he wanted to blow up the facility. If he didn't, he could've simply failed, and let's be honest, no one would've faulted him.
Ugh, this season has been choppy. Has it been better than recent years? TO be honest, this show isn't one that sticks in mind. I watch it and I move on, so I don't know. But for all the time they've had, the show hasn't been able to smooth things out and a lot of small oddities have occurred.
Well, let's see how this finishes. I was laughing the whole time when Voigt said he wanted a seat at the table. Um ... we've had shadow governments, corrupt Presidents, and so forth, and this year, the big villain is a guy that wants to be invited?
Dunno if I really buy this. I know you have to suspend disbelief to watch this show in the first place, but there are limits.
The odds that Almeida would be in the position of being able to steal one of the bioweapon containers after all that went down in the Starkwood compound are simply astronomical.
The '24' crew are in danger of insulting the intelligence of their viewers once too often.
Poor Larry Moss. What a dope. Once again, I kind of figured he was a goner, sooner or later, once he told Renée that he was finally OK with not doing everything by the book.
I dunno, seems like 24 has shot its wad. The double, triple, quadruple cross just no longer impresses. The idea that Tony is now, officially, one of the most amoral and ruthless charcters in the history of the show is truly disappointing, particularly considering that Bill Buchanan gave his life to stop whoever it is that Tony is working for.
And the idea that Jonas Hodges is not the criminal mastermind, just a mere foot soldier in a larger conspiracy, well, that just doesn't ring true. Can anyone here image an insane megalomaniac like Jonas to be content with just being somebody else's errand boy? If Starkwood(i.e Jonas) isn't at the top of the food chain of villains, who is? The show is now going to introduce a whole new set of characters???
The initial conspiracy (African warload teams up with U.S. guns-for-hire company to undermine U.S. govt.) was good. But now they're trying to say that the conspiracy goes wider than that. Who's left to conspire with? Osama bin Laden? Madonna? The animated characters of Family Guy???
I'm hanging in there until the bitter end but right now it seems as though 24 has gone one conspiracy/double-triple cross too far. It's a shame really, since the first half of the season was very strong.
Sorry, folks, for all those typos in my post. I must be tired. Should've written "characters" "imagine" and "African war lord."
24 just lost a viewer. I am sure I will not be missed.
Wow, this site really wears the "spoiler titles" criticism like a badge of honor, doesn't it? First the House suicide spoiler, now this one. It doesn't really care, does it? Oh well, Ima let my fingers do the walking and delete from my RSS feed and never visit here again. You bunch of dummies.
This is the biggest triple cross since Nina Meyers. I don't know what everyone's so uptight about? An African Warlord breaks into the White House... THE WHITE HOUSE for God's sake, makes the President read demands that are broadcast on the internet, planes are crashed, car accidents, the First Gentleman gets stabbed, heck there's even a Woman President (har har), yet Tony being a bad guy like he was in the first place is jumping the shark? 24 has always been about suspending disbelief and just enjoying the ride. I love Carlos Bernard, and now I officially HATE Tony Almeida.
Oh, and leave Kim alone. Elisha was very good with the emotion tonight.
Best season of 24 since season 1.
I have a sneaking su****ion that there will be a season ending cliffhanger where we find out that President Logan (or perhaps presidents Logan and Daniels) is the man on the top of the food chain responsible for everything that went down over the past 24 hours. I'm not sure exactly how they are going to do pull it off, but I just feel that Logan's creepy mug will be the last face we see going into next season.
Am I watching the same 24 that all of you naysayers are watching? I think this season is fantastic. It's cl***ic 24 - you think Tony's bad, then you start to think, well, he's risking his life a lot, maybe there's still a touch of good left, then BAM - he's evil as all get-out. I'm loving this year. Kudos, 24! Keep it up.
Jack versus Tony - it is so on!