24: 7:00 a.m.-8:00 a.m

Thoughts:

-- Uh...was Jack really about to set himself on fire to avoid being recaptured? This was not one of his better plans. I'm glad Tony was there to stop him.

-- Okay, see? This is what I'm talking about. There's no way Ethan had time to copy the tape. So why the hell does he smugly put the player on Olivia's desk and smugly walk away? And why doesn't Olivia rip it out and destroy it?

-- Wait. I thought Graem Bauer was the guy behind Charles Logan. And I thought Phillip Bauer was the guy behind Graem. So now Alan Wilson is the guy behind all of it? This is getting too convoluted. Besides, I was hoping this season would be a clean break from the last one.

-- Damn, Tony. That was fucking cold.

-- Wait again. If Michelle was pregnant when she was killed, there was no way she was far enough along where they could have determined the sex of the baby. And really, it's such a stupid retcon. I think we all would have believed Tony was pissed about Michelle being killed without also tossing in the melodramatic bit about her being pregnant, too.

-- For the record, the girl in the new HP Netbook/Verizon Broadband commercial (the one on the pier) is my idea of the perfect woman. So if you look like her (hair color is negotiable, but the glasses are a deal breaker), I'm taking applications.

-- Speaking of women, I'm back to finding Renee's freckles adorable.

-- I like seeing Jack passing his wisdom down to Renee. If Kiefer ends up going to jail for assaulting that fashion designer, I wonder if she could take over the show.

-- I hate that Fidelity commercial. Hey, dude? Fuck your investment advisor and her stupid green line. If you want to buy one of those expensive roadsters, you fucking go ahead and do it. It's your money.

-- It seems like we're spending an awful lot of time with the Taylors. Isn't there something better they could be focusing on in the last twenty minutes of the season? Like, why isn't someone torturing Alan? Or finding a cure for Jack? (I get the feeling we're going to be in for a major deus ex machina in regards to that second one.)

-- After briefly checking in with Jack and his new Muslim friend, still more stuff with the Taylors. I swear to God, this is the worst West Wing episode ever.

-- Ugh. Not as bad of an ending as last season, but still pretty bad. Interestingly, if Kiefer does go away for a really long time, the producers unwittingly gave themselves a huge out. "Agent Walker? It's the president. Jack Bauer's dead. His stupid daughter, too. I guess you're in charge now."

Jack's confirmed kills: 0 (28 for the season)

Jack's Words of Wisdom: "I can't tell you what to do. I've been wrestling with this one my whole life. I see fifteen people held hostage on a bus, and everything else goes out the window. I will do whatever it takes to save them. And I mean, whatever it takes. I guess maybe I thought if I save them, I'd save myself."

Overall grade: B+