24: Season 2 - Hour 16 - 3/25/03 (1 Viewer)

[Joe Bernardi]

I think there was a big difference. After he let Kim into the store, he had his face close to the glass and "suspiciously" (sorry) looked both ways before locking the door. I think he had a bit more in mind than just being kind to Kim.

 

[MickeS]

I didn't think the war scenario was that implausible.

There wasn't just one piece of evidence, there were several: Ali is from one of the countries, the bomb was real, and then the tape. We also don't know what other things might have been going on "off screen". A smaller missile attack, like a warning shot almost, would seem like something the US could actually do (remember the missile attacks in -98 after the embassy bombings, for example).

The troop losses seemed overestimated, but not entirely implausible. Remember, they're not even telling us which countries they're talking about, so don't base anything in the show on the current war in Iraq (which has been monitored and has had most of its arsenal destroyed over the past decade).

/Mike

 

[Steven Simon]

Yes. Let's not.... No politics are allowed accept fictional 24 plot....

 

[GlennH]

I think there was a big difference. After he let Kim into the store, he had his face close to the glass and "suspiciously" (sorry) looked both ways before locking the door. I think he had a bit more in mind than just being kind to Kim.

Yes, that's what they made it look like at the time. But then the subsequent action showed that maybe the storekeeper was just nervous about all the "freaks who come out at night" or whatever he called them. Who knows.

Kim's continuous run-ins with the slimy underbelly of society do strain credibility though. How many scumbags could one person run into in one day, even if they were trying?

 

[Qui-Gon John]

Also, the store owners suspicions when the guy showed up may have been, in part, that Kim was working with this guy as an accomplice to a robbery, that may have made him more nervous than he would have otherwise been.

 

[BrianW]

Since it’s just TV, I’m willing to give the show some slack, but there are a couple of things that really bothered me about this one.

I’m totally befuddled as to why Jack wouldn’t tell Tony or anybody at CTU about the phone call. If CTU isn’t equipped to handle that sort of thing, then why do they even exist? At least last year, they had the bad guy watching Jack on surveillance video to ensure his cooperation. (I know, of course, that Jack’s silence was a plot device to once again establish his suspicious “rogue” status as far as the good guys are concerned, but it still bugs me.)

The evidence against The Three Countries hasn’t been well corroborated. Because of this, along with the fact that elements within the US government clearly worked to import the bomb and acted independently to prevent it from being found, retaliation plans should be put on hold. At a minimum, they should investigate the extent of rogue US involvement, and they should try to determine where the three dignitaries were at the time the recording is believed to have been made. If their whereabouts can’t be determined, then fine. But it would be quite embarrassing if we were to launch a retaliatory attack on a country only to discover days later that CNN had footage of the suspected dignitary shaking hands with the President on the White House lawn when he was presumed to have been in Cyprus talking to Ali. Conducting further investigation cannot possibly pose more risk or be a more unthinkable alternative than starting WWIII.

 

[WayneG]

I too am confused as to why Palmer is considering war when it seems very apparent that pockets of his own government are behind this.

They blew up Jack's plane, they killed those special forces - and then there's Sherry Palmer. This week it seemed as though those aspects had been forgotten. Perhaps it will be cleared up.

 

[David S]

"I’m totally befuddled as to why Jack wouldn’t tell Tony or anybody at CTU about the phone call"

Cause the caller gave Jack 30 minutes to arrive with Kate at specified location. Not much time for explanations. Besides, maybe he'd call in on cell on the way??

MikeS - like your explanations as at first I had same thoughts as the lone special forces assasian, but totally forgot about the time/hours of show.

 

[MickeS]

I thought it was fairly well established that those "pockets" were not doing any "active terrorism". They found out that a nuclear bomb was being taken to the US, and they dispatched the group of 7 mercenaries to track the bomb, planning to have them intercept it in the last minute and making Palmer look bad.

The man behind the bomb was still Sayed Ali, and they had no contact with him (as far as I remember).

/Mike

 

[Qui-Gon John]

Maybe it's time to take the electric paddles to Sherry and get her to tell David everything she knows about the efforts of people to disredit his presidency!

And on Jack and Tony, hell, Jack could have told Tony, he doesn't have time to explain it there, but come with us and I'll fill you in on the way. I think Tony would have gone for that.

 

[WayneG]

They found out that a nuclear bomb was being taken to the US, and they dispatched the group of 7 mercenaries to track the bomb, planning to have them intercept it in the last minute and making Palmer look bad.

But that group was killed, and not by Ali, but by a member of their own squad. Doesn't that raise a red flag? And Palmer still doesn't really know the extent of Sherry's complicity.

I may be forgetting some details since the show has been spread out over so many weeks (I watched Season 1 on DVD in a couple days - whew!) but didn't Sherry make it obvious to Palmer's assistant in their clandestine meeting that there was more going on?

 

[Keith Mickunas]

I also find it odd that the president is considering going to war on what little evidence he has. Just because Ali is from one of those countries doesn't mean anything. The recording is the only real evidence, and they're all ready to jump on it, that's ridiculous.

I disagree that the general is trigger happy. I've seen no evidence of that. Having war plans means nothing, the US used to keep war plans for invading Canada when it was under British control. We probably have plans for attacking any country that could potentially be a threat to us or our allies. That's just being prepared, not being trigger happy.

Couldn't Kim just find a place to go to sleep for the next 8 hours? I mean at this point she should be pretty tired. She deserves a good rest.