I think Janeane Garofalo has been appointed the official poster child for the weak, by-the-book tactics of our fictional FBI. This would be appropriate, given her way liberal outlook on life. First, after putting a couple of those vital-sign readers on Tony's chest in the interrogation room, she asked him, "Is this comfortable for you?". I'm sure terrorist suspects get asked that a lot. Later, in the hospital with another suspect, she complained that Agent Walker was "breaking like 50 laws" by being in the room. Rather than explore harsh interrogation in a nuanced manner, 24 so far is setting up a dichotomy between those who are protecting the country and those who are ninnies. But Agent Walker is coming over to Jack's side, with her pinch-the-breathing-tube bit. Looks like those 2.5 hours with Jack made an impression on her.
It is interesting to wonder why someone like Garofalo would come to this show, which is seen as a rather right-leaning operation. Could unemployment have been her reason?
I was reminded of another 24 truism today: never go to the server room alone. Bad stuff always happens down there. In fact, stay out of basements in general. However, Sean left Garofalo's character, Janis, unharmed. This time.
We had a good little cyber-duel between Janis and our old friend Chloe. Chloe was hacking into the FBI, Janis was trying to keep her out. Janis won round one, but Chloe came back strong in round two. It seemed to me that Janis was acting a lot like Chloe, but maybe all female IT people are socially awkward in 24 and/or in real life. Also, wasn't Chloe pregnant at the end of last season? Where are we on that?
Is that Keifer Sutherland doing the narration on the Bank of America ad? I think it is.
The show is hinting that the President's Chief of Staff, Ethan, is in on the evil conspiracy. This show seems to try to fake us out a lot, though, into thinking good guys are bad. I think that's what's going on here. He's not evil, just weak on foreign policy.
Finally, I get a bad feeling about this Tony-Bill-Chloe operation. It just seems kind of fishy. I also think it was dumb to try to turn Jack into a fake terrorist. He is too well-known to pull this off. Doesn't Dubaku know that Jack was one of the guys that killed his brother in Redemption? I guess we'll find out next week when they meet face-to-face, assuming Jack and Tony successfully capture the Sangalan PM. I think that's a pretty safe assumption.
If you are hungry for even more 24 commentary, check out The (Unofficial) 24 Blog.
Craig, I meant to thank you for the shout out!
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