24 Review:
"10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m." (Episode 8.19)

Question: What happens when TV's most BA renegade seeks out one of modern film's most gleefully psychotic cool guys?

Answer: A seamless, happy exchange of guns and field equipment, apparently.

After Jack escapes CTU and a couple choppers, it's time to regroup. He calls an old friend, Jim Ricker, played by Mr. Blonde himself. I hate to typecast Michael Madsen—he's a wonderful actor—but especially when he's appearing in a show that's become infamous for its scenes showcasing coercive interrogation, it's easy to hark back to one of the most painfully unforgettable torture sequences ever filmed. An empty warehouse. A captive police officer. A cool, calm, razor-wielding psycho dancing to Stealers Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle With You." Of course, Jack never had quite as much fun with it. He's all work and no play. Still, it's kind of funny to see these two screen luminaries of the, umm, "pastime" meet up some 18 years later.

Moving on then.

Jack's primary goal: Reestablish contact with Chloe and pressure her to let him speak with Dana Walsh. Sounds easy enough, except Chloe now feels some sorta sense of responsibility to like, follow presidential orders or something. I know. Lame, right? OK, I'm joking, but at the same time, I'm not. I understand Chloe's dilemma. She's been thrown into the top position after so many years of being right that she now feels the need to play it by the book. Never mind she did anything but to get to where she is now. And let's not forget who helped her get there: Jack! All of the sudden she has the nerve to say things like, "Jack, you're not thinking clearly." Really? For the past five seasons or so, whenever it looked like Jack was alone, there was always Chloe. Now, there's Michael Madsen. Not a bad trade off, though.

While no episode of 24 is ever without some action, this is one of those hours that again, like last week, focused more on the behind-the-scenes political dealings. In a last-ditch effort to keep the administration's legacy untouched by scandal, Ethan Kanin temporarily convinces President Taylor to drop out of the peace deal and expose the Russians. Not to be outdone, ex-president Charles Logan offers a pragmatic solution that will save the deal. Simply relocate Dana, presumably the only person who has hard evidence linking the Russians to the day's attacks, and proceed to extract and control her side of the story. Again, as with the last hour, Logan is so hypnotically convincing you begin to mentally nod in agreement when he tells the president the only way sweeping change can be attained is through lies and cut corners. I actually began to wonder if that was the case every time. Are any of them really clean? Probably not. Oh, yes. He's that good.

Of course, none of this will go down if Jack has anything to say about it. But just when you think Chloe is on board with giving him Dana's new location (which she secretly steals from a phone), she instead calls Cole to set up a sting operation to take Jack down. Jack goes along with it, outsmarting her and recruiting Cole in the process. Jack Bauer, Mr. Blonde and Freddie (OK, it's not Krueger, but still) all on the same team. Seems like a swell plan to me.

Meanwhile, the president goes forward with her joint press conference with the clueless Dalia Hassan. You begin to think of Logan's words and if they hold any truth. President Taylor appears nothing less than presidential, and the country is rallying behind her. Yet, at the very same time the presser is going down, we see the ugly side of it. Dana is dragged into a torture chamber full of straps, tables and pointy tools. It's a nice side-by-side contrast. What means justify "greater good"? And does anyone else think the president is beginning to sound like those wacky English countryside villagers in Hot Fuzz? We all have questions. Only four weeks remaining.