24 9.10

Best Show on TV!

This episode illustrates not only what is great about 24, but spotlights all the things that it can do that no other show can even touch. The tapestry of storylines suddenly converge in this chapter with devastating effect. It’s a powerful, violent episode. Remarkably it bears almost no resemblance to the show that aired for the first nine episodes of the season. Effortlessly the show reinvents itself, brings new villains into the fold and makes (former) subplots the whole raison d’être of the season.

Clever, exciting, extraordinary. Nothing equals 24. 10/10

Hostages 1.12

Nick Chinlund. More enjoyable twists and turns in the conspiracy story. with various people apparently planning to double cross some of the the others. Gonna be fun to watch this play out. Really loving the Tate Donovan character now. Probably the only truly heroic character in the show at this stage. 9/10

Hostages 1.10

Best episode so far. Possibly the first time the show has delivered an episode with a real palpable conspiracy feel to it, with many exciting events in play and the tension of a ticking clock running underneath everything. This is much closer to 24 than they have ever come before. Plus the father-daughter conversation about being hostages and helping their captors was perfect, and adds much needed depth to the show. Hopefully more of this in future episodes. This may have been the best use of the Brian character so far. 10/10

Hostages 1.6

Nina Arianda. Sometimes the show veers dangerously close to being farcical. The “wacky sister” plot could be from a sitcom, and some of the early scenes are unintentionally amusing, but the cleverly-foreshadowed twist ending is quite shocking. And keeps the series’ grim tone intact.

The robbery b-story is another example of the show painting the hostage-takers in a sympathetic light: one of them has a kid, etc. I’ve never seen a show so eager to keep everyone likeable. 9/10

Hostages 1.4

Escape! Very exciting, with some great moments for Tate Donovan and his character. Surprised they did an episode like this. And that it worked so well. Indeed, pretty much everything in this episode (excluding the visit from the supposedly dead nurse’s mother) worked exceptionally well. A fun show. 9/10