24 Review:
"10:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m." (Episode 8.7)

Don't say I didn't warn you a week ago. Poor unstable Renee was due for an explosion of unruly proportions. You knew she was a bit unhinged when she sliced off the thumb of that goofy low-level guy at the end of the fourth hour. Then, after she infiltrated Vladimir's crew and she was forced to endure his drunken violent bouts of sexual aggression, you could just see it in her eyes. Sadness, depression, recklessness--yes, but with a pinch of pride. And there it is. About three quarters into the episode, the action and intensity begins to pick up after a couple slow hours.

After Vladimir calls all of his contacts trying to discover which, if any, are dealing the rumored nuclear rods (one of them, Sergei Bazhaev, does but doesn't fold--more on that later), he gives up, much to the dismay of our heroine, or better yet anti-heroine. So she nags him a bunch, he whacks her a couple times in the face... what's a girl to do but stab him in the eye and then five or six times in the chest with a nearby knife? Excessive, perhaps, but he had it coming. Who didn't have it coming? Jack, who maybe should've waited a couple more seconds so she could simmer and not stab him, too. Thankfully, he can walk it off because, obviously, he's Jack Bauer.

Oh, but boy does he have his work cut out for him next hour. Sergei Bazhaev, better known as the "compassionate" (douchebag) father who killed his son, has sent some henchmen to do away with Vlad and his already-disposed-of gang. Jack's bright idea: still pretend to be the disgruntled German buyer and surrender. CTU will surely notice a vehicle leaving the premises and follow. Or not, because these guys take the sewers back to their van. Crap. Looks like Jack is going to get tortured for the second time in one day. And he has yet to be on the other side of the fun. What is this--the Bizarro World? You can look at it anyway you'd like, but he definitely hasn't been himself this season. With viewership dropping and a ninth year still up in the air, it's not completely crazy to wonder if Jack is going to go back to family in L.A., call it a day and make his last stand in the movie.

In other news, President Omar Hassan of the Islamic Republic of Kamistan is losing it, initiating an all-out witch hunt to discover all who were involved in the failed attempt on his life. Unfortunately, as time goes on, the more paranoid he appears and the less patient U.S. President Allison Taylor becomes in reaction to his antics. The once calm and courageous leader who was (and by all accounts still is) ready to make peace with the United States and the rest of the world is endangering the treaty and slowly turning to the dark side, arresting close aides and their families.

Finally, we have dumb and dumber, the two trailer-park hillbillies blackmailing Dana Walsh into giving them a six-figure payoff. Personally, I'm hoping last night was the beginning of the end of this sideshow. Basically, we have Dana running point on an operation for these losers to steal $120,000 from a police evidence warehouse. Yeah, it's that ridiculous. When she finally leads them to the money, they decide to stick around and raid the place while the next patrol looms on the horizon. Naturally, they stay too long, roughing up a cop in the process. My only hope now is that they bag these turkeys and tell Dana, "Hey, the jig's up, honey." But I say this hangs around for at least a couple more episodes.

Other observations: When is Freddie going to get some real screen time? Chloe needs to get more involved, too. How is the other tech geek besting her "something's wrong" instinct on the Dana matter? While you think about that, think about this: The other tech geek isn't Janis Gold. Thank your lucky stars.