Jack Bauer Vs. The Old Car In The Tunnel Trick

The Old Car in the Tunnel Trick – 2

Jack Bauer – 0

It’s not often that Jack Bauer has a losing record, but the guy who has beaten back terrorists, goons and other ne’er-do-wells time and time again can’t seem to figure out that when a bad guy drives down a tunnel, he isn’t coming out the other end.

It first happened way back on Day Four, where some professor who CTU was trying to track for some reason or another evaded the watchful eyes of CTU by ducking into a tunnel to pick up a bomb with which to blow himself up.  And we saw the trick used again tonight, where Tarin, holding the IRKian President’s daughter hostage drove into a tunnel to escape with his catch.

At least tonight, the situation resolved itself in a manner that isn’t as prominent as driving into a tunnel: the old let the hostage escape trick.

Although, to be honest, I saw that one coming too.

Not a horrible episode tonight.  Most of the plot revolved around the search for the president’s daughter, her being held hostage and eventual escape.  Jack and company probably would have stopped Tarin from escaping the hotel had it not been for the interference of the NYPD, who as a whole, are not being portrayed in the best light this season.  First it was a moron cop taking police brutality a little too far.  Now tonight, they try escalating a turf war against a federal agency.  What’s next, cops stealing candy from babies?  If I had to guess, I’d say the producers haven’t been treated too well by the NYPD this season.

After being frustrated by the events in the tunnel, Jack and Agent Freddy took to the streets, following around leads on the location of the terrorists.  Unfortunately, it was more of a Jack-in-the-car episode than a Jack action episode.

The rest of the action took place tonight at CTU, where Stephen Root, playing a small-time parole officer from the hills of Arkansas is calling the shots at a federal facility during a major terrorist alert.  I don’t know if they’re trying to pull out all the stops in what could be the show’s final season, but I think Root’s character is more than a two-bit bounty hunter.  I’m not saying he’s involved with the terrorists, but I think there’s more to him than meets the eye.  He’s not the owner of a radio station or a disgruntled employee who fled the country with hundreds of thousands in bearer bonds, but he will play an integral part in the rest of the season.  At least that’s what I think.

The most exciting thing in tonight’s episode happened in the episode’s closing minutes at CTU, where the car driven by the president’s daughter who had just escaped was actually carrying an EMP bomb.  If you’re a die-hard watcher of 24 (or other action/sci-fi movies or TV shows), you know what an EMP is.  You may have even seen one way back in Day 4 when some defense contractors set one off to erase records of their involvement in terrorist activities (if the producers were going to steal multiple ideas from past 24 seasons, the least they could have done was choose different seasons).

The bomb going off effectively takes CTU out of the game for at least the next few hours.  Maybe we’ll see the return of the mysterious Division which lorded over CTU back in the early days.  But as far as the next few hours go, it’s pretty safe to say that Jack is on his own.

A few other things:

-Was there only one security camera in the hotel?  Once Tarin shot out the camera by the elevator, it seemed like CTU had no other way to see what was going on inside the hotel.

-Like I said, the EMP was so season four.  But there’s something else that bugs me about it’s use.  It seems like it’s relatively easy to shield computers and their memory (not to mention other electronic devices) from an electromagnetic pulse.  At Stephen Root mentioned, CTU is the depository of a whole lot of surveillance.  You would think they’d go to the effort of shielding the facilities from any form of attack.  But as seen above, the device went off and it wasn’t good for CTU.

-One beneficiary of the electromagnetic pulse may be CTU’s resident hunchback Brian Hastings, who took what appears to be a direct hit from the blast.  As seen in the pictures above and to the right, Hastings is getting some pretty good back extension after being hit by the shockwave.  This may be what it takes to cure his ongoing case of scoliosis.  It’s probably better than traction.  The road to good posture isn’t easy, but it will be well worth it.

What did you think?

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7 thoughts on “Jack Bauer Vs. The Old Car In The Tunnel Trick

  1. Lol @ hastings’ case of scoliosis being cured !

    Over all not a bad episode,the last minute was awesome.

    Btw why did the security guard get into the car at the last moment even though the timer was ticking 0:02 … 0:01 … 0:00 ? Was he going to drive it out of the tunnel ? One more pointless death ! Or am I missing out something ?

  2. The last minute was undoubtedly the best part of the episode. If only the ideas of an EMP bomb and attacking CTU hadn’t been done before. True, they haven’t used that particular combination, so I guess that’s a bonus.

    Not sure how the security guard thought he could get that car out of there safely. Maybe he mis-read the timer. That would explain why he’s just a security guard at CTU and not a field agent.

  3. So, CTU has been attacked repeatedly in past seasons…and random creepy guys wander the halls unnoticed and three security guards who look like they’re 20-year-old mall cops are protecting the place? Seriously? Chloe with a machine gun would have been much more effective. ; )

    Please let the blast kill Hastings and Dana. If you are going to lose your job and/or go to jail, at least you could try to stop the dirty bomb first.

    “Perimeter” equals bad guys get away.

    Jack hasn’t tortured anyone in at least a few episodes – I’m hoping things get interesting next week.

    I think Stephen Root will now blackmail Dana. No parole officer is that motivated. Real ones have failed to notice kidnapped children in the backyard or bodies in the basement when they only have to travel a few miles away.

    Kayla could at least have tried to slow Taryn down as he dragged her around. my 1-year-old recommends the methods of “throw my arms in the air and fight” and “throw myself on the ground and becoming dead weight.” No reason to rush to your torture/execution.

  4. Still annoyed at the Dana plotline. Seems odd to me that Milton can just enter the facility beyond the visitors room and no one bats an eye. And hey! Look at the time! It’s 3:00am, and no one thinks it’s strange that a unkempt man wearing a Member’s Only jacket is roaming the halls. Let’s just start calling him Columbo: “Ah, very good, very good Miss Walsh. I just have one more question…”

    With the way the NYPD is being portrayed, it’s not likely that the producers will get permits to shoot in NYC anytime again EVER. I’m surprised Mayor Bloomberg or NYPD Commish Ray Kelly haven’t released a statement.

    Wendy, my (almost) 2-yr old agrees with your 1-yr old’s tactics. Although he might also add in screaming and wailing. Apparently, Kayla wants to be respectful of the other hotel guests. How considerate.

    Good move by Tarin, with the “I’ll sacrifice myself to help you escape but not really” plan. I didn’t see that coming.

    I’m curious as to why CTU wouldn’t have a vehicle inspection, guard station or explosives detectors at the entrance to the tunnel.

    Speaking of that tunnel, reminds me of the entrance to APO.

  5. Wendy- I would never have pegged you as someone who enjoyed the Jack torture scenes 🙂 As much as his lack of proper posture bothers me, I wouldn’t mind seeing Hastings survive till the end of the day. Sure, he was a wimp early on, and he has his pervy side, but lately, he’s been growing on me.
    I am starting to think, however, that Stephen Root may just be a normal parole officer. Think about it- everyone thinks something is up with him. What bigger twist could there be than having him just be a normal bumpkin parole officer who’s super dedicated to his job?

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