24 Faithful Podcast Joshua Rivers
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- TV & Film
Reviews of every season of Fox's show 24 (at least twice).
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Gregory Itzen Special Tribute
With the recent passing of Gregory Itzen (President Charles Logan), we decided to put together this special tribute in his honor.
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24 Series Review - All 9 Seasons
Brad and Joel discuss the entire series of 24 (minus the so-called 24: Legacy). They discuss:
The order of seasons from best to worst (comparing the ranking now vs. when they started this rewatch)Some of their favorite (and least favorite) characters, quotes, episodes, cliffhangers, etc.Feedback from a faithful listener -
Jack Gets Revenge at Last [Season 9, Episodes 9-12]
Key plot:
Jack takes down Margot
Ian sees through Chloe’s deception and realizes Heller is still alive, so Margot decides to attack Waterloo StationJack tracks down Margot and saves the station, then throws her out of a window
Steve the traitor
Jordan’s death becomes knowledge of the police and latterly the CIAJack has the hitman identified as a former covert ops assassin who once reported to NavarroNavarro takes off and leaves the override device for Adrian Cross, who betrays him and Navarro is caughtTo get the tracker code Kate and Jack perform a ruse where Kate threatens to kill Navarro, and it works
Cheng returns
Adrian decides he wants to use the override device to let every country expose holes in the defenses of every other countryOriginally he designed the device for Cheng who returns and kills all of Open Cell’s membersChloe reconfigures the device for him, he kills Adrian, and then gives a fake order to a US sub to sink a Chinese carrier ship
Jack’s Revenge at the Docks: Part 2
Cheng has a sniper on Audrey after she went to a contact who could push the US case that it wasn’t them who gave the order on the Chinese carrierKate goes to save Audrey and kills the sniper, but as they’re leaving a second shooter arrives and Audrey is shot and killedJack goes after Cheng at Southampton Docks and is strategic in his assault until Chloe loses her feed and communications and Kate tells him about AudreyJack goes on a rampage and kills all of Cheng’s men, capturing Cheng and then beheading him after providing CIA with the proof he’s alive
Ending (again)
Kate leaves the CIA, Mark is prepped for transport back to the US where he faces treason charges, Heller laments his fading memory as he boards a plane with Audrey’s bodyChloe was kidnapped by the Russians from the docks and Jack agrees to a trade: her return for his captureChloe is safe and Jack is taken away by helicopter to face punishment for his acts in season 8
Contact:
@The24Podcast
24faithful.com
405-771-0567 -
Jack is Reunited with Heller and Audrey [Season 9, Episodes 5-8]
Key plot:
Jack reunites with Heller and Audrey
An arrested Jack is taken to Heller and asks to go back into the field to help stop MargotWhile there Audrey goes to see him and they have a heart-to-heartCIA follow a lead on Margot’s video demands which Naveed planted, but it’s a trap and the CIA team are ambushed by an explosive
Undercover with Rask
Heller agrees to let Jack go undercover and see Karl Rask, an arms dealer Jack has been working for to sabotage his operations, and he’s also a contact of MargotThe play: Jack killed Nils, another of Rask’s men, for being a CIA contact and has captured Kate, who was Nils’ contact. Jack needs Rask to complete a bank login so Chloe can access his systemKate opts to inject herself with a drug to knock her out, shocking JackPrime Minister Davies tracks Jack’s operation after hearing of Heller’s condition and sends in MI5, who interrupt the missionJack manages to get Chloe access and Kate survives her torturee
Simone betrays Margot
Naveed is killed after trying to lead the CIA to their location, in front of SimoneNaveed’s sister has heard of plans to leave London and Simone is sent to find out what she and her daughter know, which is nothing, but is told to kill them anywayShe tries warning them but accidentally stabs Farah and while chasing Yasmin is hit by a busJack questions her as Margot sends a drone to kill her, which they narrowly escape
Heller sacrifices himself
Heller offers Margot a trade: give himself up for the destruction of the dronesHe reveals to Jack his Alzheimer’s diagnosis and enlists him and Mark to help make the exchange go throughJack gets Heller to Wembley Stadium where he’s asked to go, and Margot fires a missile at himBut actually Chloe cloned the feed with Heller in the middle of the pitch and Jack saved Heller - she told him she didn’t know if it would work
Jordan uncovers the truth
Jordan finds that files related to Adam Morgan were deleted but Navarro tells him not to pursue it until after the crisis has passedHe doesn’t give in and so Navarro, who framed Adam, on the direction of Adrian Cross, has Jordan go to what he says is a dead-drop that will help lead to MargotIt’s actually a set-up for an assassination, which Jordan initially survivesHe figures out Navarro sent the hitter but having gained the upper hand, is stabbed and dies
Contact:
@The24Podcast
24faithful.com
405-771-0567 -
Jack Gets Caught on Purpose [Season 9, Episodes 1-4]
Key plot:
Jack returns to save Chloe
It’s four years after Day 8 and Jack has been on the run, but he’s found by a CIA station in LondonThis was actually a plan by Jack to get captured so he could break out Chloe, who’s been captured and is interrogatedShe works for an organisation called Open Cell which is devoted to uncovering and publishing government secretsJack needed to get to Derrick Yates, who worked for Open Cell, as he was involved in someone trying to take control of the US drone programmeYates managed this and took control of Chris Tanner’s drone, killing a squadron in Afghanistan
Kate’s return to the field
Kate Morgan is being transferred back to Langley from the CIA’s London station after her husband Adam was indicted for selling US state secrets to the Chinese, albeit she was clearedShe identifies Jack’s plays throughout - confusion over his escape route, is the one to work out why he’s at CIA, tracking him after Yates and to the US embassy
Jack takes over the embassy
Yates is killed by his ‘girlfriend’ who actually is Simone Al-Harazi, the daughter of Margot who Yates is selling the drone’s override device toJack decides Tanner’s flight key is the best lead for finding the person involved and breaks into the US embassy where he’s being held to take itWhile doing so he has to lock himself in a communications room to transmit the dataPresident Heller sanctions him to be taken down but Kate intervenes, saves Jack and recovers the flight key
President James Heller
Heller is President and in London to get the UK parliament to extend the lease of a military base and support the use of dronesHe is suffering with some (as yet unknown) illness which is affecting his mental functionsAudrey is with him and married to Mark Boudreau, who vows that she will not hear Jack’s name when he discovers he has resurfacedAfter Tanner’s drone incident Heller decides to address parliament directly, taking heat from Mark in a prep session when he forgets a name, but miraculously succeeding
Margot shows her commitment
Margot planted Simone undercover with Yates, much to the frustration of her husband NaveedNaveed is going to pilot the drones in her attacks later that day but he has his own plan to try and escapeMargot learns of this plan from Simone and when he refuses to help her kill innocents, Margot has Simone’s finger removed to coerce him into agreeing
Contact:
@The24Podcast
24faithful.com
405-771-0567 -
Season 8 Overall Review
Wrapping up Season 8 and what seemed to be a wrap to the series...
Key plot pointsChloe’s rise through CTUChloe at CTU is often not ideal this season: setting it up that she works there only because she has no choice, the perception at the beginning of the season that Dana is really smart but it’s because Chloe is made to seem more incompetentShe’s often really great though: her debrief with Renee is so good, as is her threatening Frank HaynamIt’s insane that she goes from being the unwanted staff, to being de facto lead on the floor, to being interim director in the space of 17 hoursChloe as director doesn’t work because so much of the reason we love her is her loyalty to Jack and her seeing beyond the bureaucracy to do what she knows is rightAs director she loses a lot of that - see trying to capture Jack instead of helping him get to Dana - and while her shift back to exposing the Russians is good, it’s still a fairly meh version of Chloe
A satisfying end to the series?I certainly remember feeling fairly content with the ending when it first airedReally important that the final 8 episodes were as good as they were because if they had continued like the first two-thirds, it would’ve been a really low point on which to endI’m still firmly in the camp that season 7 (also 4) would’ve been a better ending than this season, but I’m a fan of this one
Season 8 overallSeason 6 felt tired, as though there was a structure they tried following and there was a monotony to it, and like it needed to take a break to reset (which obviously it got from the writer’s strike)Season 8 feels for so long like they’d run pretty much out of ideas and opted for a lot of repetition in a lot of placesAgain, possibly a bit of the tired factor but also it suffers from an issue where it often feels like the show is trying too hard to surprise viewersDespite the final run this is undoubtedly the second weakest season