24: Subway Hero

I f---ing knew it.

About a month ago, when it became clear that Kim Bauer was going to grace us with her presence once again, I worried that she’d be positioned as the helpless victim for Daddy Bauer to save ONCE AGAIN. So when she was actually re-introduced as a potential hero - her DNA could save Jack’s life - I applauded.

Now, as we head into the final two hours of the "Don’t call it a comeba - wait, DO call it a comeback!" season 7, D.C. is finally safe from the threat of the bioweapon, but Kim is in trouble. Of course, there’s always the chance that the writers will keep their promise about not making Kim a victim this time around. So maybe she’ll surprise us and end up kicking (fake)married couple butt.

But I don’t want to get ahead and myself and start blabbing about the season finale - especially not when the latest episode of "24" was so damn exciting.

This episode had it all - bombs, explosions, verbal jabs, actual punches, clandestine meetings in parks, a guy peeing REALLY quickly before being murdered.

The main storyline of the episode, of course, was Jack and Co. trying to stop Tony from scapegoating Jibraan Al-Zarian (pictured, left). At the start of the hour, we learned the plan was to release the bioweapon via subway at the Washington Center Station. Alan and the Moderator (whom we’d learn is named Cara, but who I will continue to call "Moderator" because it’s MUCH cooler) estimated that the bioweapon would kill approximately 10,000 people. (Would there really be THAT many people up and about at 5:30 a.m.?!)

I still thought the plot was relatively weak sauce (at least when compared to an attack on the White House!), but everything ended up playing out in a brilliantly tense way. Tony was talking to Jibraan via earpiece and if he didn’t comply with all of Tony’s commands, his brother would be killed. We all knew Jibraan’s attempts to warn a subway worker would NEVER work (though the "Save the World" poster in the background was a nice touch), but it was still pretty terrifying hearing the (fake) officer order Jibraan to "put the earpiece back in." Eventually, the Moderator - in a silly/fetching dark wig - slipped the duffel bag with the bioweapon into the same subway car as Jibraan and departed, but not before being recognized by the poor sap. (Sidenote: Yeah, right.)

Poor Jibraan. If only he knew his brother was safe and recovering from almost killing the only lead Jack had in tracking Tony down. In a replay from earlier in the year when he coaxed information out of a severely-wounded Dubaku, Jack gruffly ordered the EMT to back up, pressed down on the stab wound, and eventually got the man to call Tony, so that Chloe and Janis could track him down.

Ah, Chloe and Janis. I have no idea what a DMA node or a UMPC is, but it doesn’t matter because Mary Lynn Rajskub and Janeane Garofalo are TOTALLY selling this rivalry. I actually liked seeing Janis stand up to Chloe for her constant condescension, and it was pretty sweet watching Janis shine for a bit. However, the best part was Chloe telling Janis what we in the audience already know - if she was looking for some sort of validation, she was looking in the wrong place.

With their help, Jack eventually found Tony, crashed into his van and pummeled him before bitterly calling him a piece of crap. Tony had tried to destroy his portable computer, but the FBI was able to get the information they needed (thanks Janis). On top of that, Jack was able to directly communicate with Jibraan and tell him to locate the duffel bag with the weapon.

This led to (maybe) the most exciting sequence of the season. Jibraan grabbed the bag and had 90 seconds to get outside and meet up with Jack. A fellow passenger (am I the only one who thought he was part of Tony’s crew?) pointed Jibraan out to a cop, so Jibraan had no choice but to whip the bomb out and brandish it as all hell broke loose. As he made his way outside, I thought anything was in play. I thought he might get tackled. I thought he would be shot. I thought the bomb would go off. Instead, he made it outside and met up with Jack, who stopped the authorities from blasting Jibraan and safely tossed the bioweapon in the Hazmat truck just before it detonated. Great job by the "24" team in staging a terrific action sequence that somehow didn’t feel exploitative. And, SIGH.

Except that now Jack has to break Tony out of custody because the Moderator and her people have Kim in their sights. The little Bauer was about to hop a flight back to L.A., but it was delayed. Her doctor boyfriend told her to maybe take it as a sign that she was supposed to save her dad, but Kim still seemed hesitant.

As she waited, Kim spied a creepy guy who was not-so-discreetly keeping an eye on her, so she went and sat with a friendly married couple. This being "24", you had to figure the guy watching Kim so overtly wouldn’t be a bad guy. He turned out to be in the employ of Jack, who wanted to make sure Kim got on her plane ok. By contrast, the friendly husband murdered Jack’s guy (who went from playing one of the big villains on "The Shield" to being murdered in five minutes on "24") in the men’s room, and returned to keep on eye on Kim.

I know I complained about Kim once again being in peril. However, I’ll give the show some slack because maybe Kim will surprise us and kick some ass (for the first time) next week. (She IS a former CTU agent.) On top of that, saving Kim’s life isn’t just about Jack saving his daughter this time around - she might be the only one who could keep our hero going.

One of the most impressive things about "24" this year is that the subplots have (mostly) been as gripping as the main storyline. Bringing Aaron into Olivia Taylor’s ongoing meltdown was a brilliant move and a great way to connect her plight to the show’s past by involving a beloved supporting character.

Turns out that Olivia’s contact Martin (I like this character) was the one who had ordered the hit on Jonas Hodges, despite the fact that Olivia never wired the money to the hitman. Martin told the hitman to go through with it because Olivia had so thoroughly convinced him she was capable of murder and because he knew she was good for the money. Oops. So to recap, Olivia is responsible for a murder she ended up not wanting to commit AND she still had to pay the $250,000. Not a good night for Jr. Ms. Taylor.

Aaron was annoyed that Olivia had once again slipped through his clutches, especially when she and the other 10 people who knew Hodges was alive were being questioned. She gave a thoroughly convincing speech (seriously, I bought it and I KNOW she was full of it) about needing to get away for a few minutes because of the pressure. Fortunately, since Aaron is awesome, he smelled a rat and called former Chief of Staff Ethan and asked him if the recording device in his office was still active. Now Ethan is on his way to the White House to uncover the damning evidence. Again, not a good night for Jr. Ms. Taylor.

So what’d you think of this episode? What does Jack have against EMTs? (He could be firm, yet respectful.) What’s going to happen to Olivia? If this evil organization is so smart, why did they only leave themselves one bio weapon canister to play with? (And now THAT got foiled.) Finally, is Tony, really, for sure, 100% bad? (My heart says no, but my brain and common sense says, HELL YES.)