The following are verbatim copies of e-mails exchanged among AIG site staff. They really follow no pattern and occured just ... whenever. They cover mostly the earlier episodes of Season 3.

From Kat
To Kasia + Matt
February 7, 2005 - 10:40PM
THE CUBS MUUUGGGGGG

ok. We have the cubs mug. We have the soulpatch. we have Tony saying he'd like to forget, which is completely bogus, especially since the Cubs mug (and the soulpatch)- is not only PRESENT in the scene, but repeatedly front row center!

Esoteric rambling: Tony IS. He is more than CTU, and no amount of running can take him away from his essence. The past is behind him, but it IS him. And he knows his future lies in seizing that past, his essence, what he IS, what he's done, and who he loves, and surrendering to necessity. The ridiculous junk brunette he has in his bedroom shall be shed as fast as his hangover. He's dealing with yet another thing that bring him and Jack closer... an addiction. As painful as it is, the brotherhood deepens. Dudes. The Cubs mug. COuld you even take your eyes off of it? "...a past i'm trying to forget..." *sip* out of the mug. I mean really, Tony. Who are you trying to kid? Tony is a constant. I love seeing Jack and him working as one. Jack knew Tony wouldn't be able to sit and watch him walk out the door and not come with him. Tony knew Jack needed him. Tony's the man. Almeida is...

ok... and how weird was it seeing the inside of Tony's house? I felt like we were peeping in a place we weren't allowed to be. The private life we were never ever privy to in past seasons laid out like that... I felt awkward watching it. The sleepy hue of memory was still clinging to it. I couldn't watch and not think of Michelle walking around the corner, or hear the line about her cooking being bad. I couldn't help but feel possessive and protective ire when that Jen popped out and wouldn't quit whining. "No it's ok. She's sweet." HAHAHAHAHAHAA. GOLDEN! Who the fuck is SHE to address Tony in the manner she does? Saying "I have a job. he doesn't" As she tosses a look over her shoulder at him. Fuck. I wanted to smack her. You never refer to Tony as "he" like that.

Michelle Dessler, Division. That's WICKED. I knew she couldn't let go of the leather pants. I can't wait to see her!

I love Heller. I love Edgar. I love how Heller is completely in league and step for step with Jack. He has the kind of essential, non-expository bond that has made all previous 24 writing so priceless. And now, with Edgar, our replacement Chloe, he's a powerhouse. I love how Edgar just sidestepped Marianne and went straight to Driscoll like that. That was priceless. her desperate, weak attempts at intimidating him falling flat just like that. It was so lovely watching her get deflated. She was too weak and sissy to last much longer anyhow. High time she had an Amadorian car explosion in her face. I have to say, I knew she'd be rooted out right from the beginning, seeing as how they kept cutting from her face to to Edgar's, hers to everyone else. But it was supremely satisfying watching Edgar stand up for himself and go straight to the tower. And I love how (oh shoot.. what's his name again? forgive me.. black dude at CTU), was soooo satisfied when he apprehended her. "I've got her". It was pure gold how he delivered that line.

I have to say, I think 24 is heating up again. it felt like things were back on track. Driscoll is constantly mistaken, misled and misdirected a-la Chappelle, which is great to watch. The dialogue was better in this ep and the editing was way better. Tony has bestowed 24, once again, with purpose and depth. I mean, seriously! Don't you think that as soon as the subtext, the tension, the love, the pain, the intimacy of T/J is back, everything has gotten WAY better? Tony IS 24.

Dina's pain is exquisite. I have to give Shohreh a holler here, because her husky, languid, pained voice makes me melt. She's so beautiful. I love how Behrooz was all badass there. It didn't matter who knew now, shit was going down and they needed to leave and they'd all find out anyways, so let's get the fuck out, mom! He's got a spine, and I love it. He's taking risks and using all his resources, just like Rick did, to get him and his loved mom out. He's wholly committed. I just like how his character is playing out.

The Cubs mug! dude! I mean, they must have shown it like... what, like 7-8 times? I want to rewind and check, but I'm too tired. I mean, it was screaming out from the screen! And oh. how painful the T/M reunion will be. Oh, it couldn't have been better and worse. it all makes so much sense. That dark, attacking Tony we saw in s3, attacking Michelle all the time, even through his love. The scowling, brooding, dark Tony that loved to his own detriment, yet lashed out in his emotion, stress, and mission, had no choice but to become magnified after becoming imprisoned and called traitor after risking all to save his love. And Michelle. Oh, how will she react? ooooh, I'm just yearning to see her melt, just a little! Every season we've seen Michelle and Tony, they've been apart, yet fervently linked in their love. They've been forced into some sort of separation, yet the flaming heat between them has always been palpable. I can't imagine that would change. Different kind of separation now, same kind of heat. Love. The whole time they'll be on screen together, whether it be in a split-screen sequence or in the same room (will that happen?) we'll be aching to see the barrier removed in a flood of need and the third and most important FHTMA scorch the screen. How painfully perfect. Oh Almeida, I hope they give that to us.

I know we'll talk about all this soon. Looking forward to reading your debrief and commenting... Hail Almeida!! I love you both...

ABWY
Kat

From Kasia
To Kat
April 13, 2004 - 10:07PM
State of the where the fuck is tony

OMA i am sooooooooo pissed off right now

i got so scared at first. "that 70s show" comes on on global at 10, so in a panic i switch to fox and king of the hill is on fox and i am like WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. so i am checking the entertainment listings, to see if it was on at a different time, then i notice the scrolling text that says "due to the US presidential speech 24 will not air tonight. it will air on sunday at 10 pm." do you realize that this is the FIRST time that 24 will not air an original episode on tuesday night. OMG i am so pissed, i was so fuckin excited all day. this sucks. especially so soon after the hiatus. so what i wanna know is wtf bush was on about. please give me some insight. i can't believe i smoked myself up in advance for this bullshit.

however, to close on a positive note, i found some software that will actually make t/m music video. more details later.

xoxo
Kiki Saunders - Chappelle's Revenge!

ps - i am supposed to help my dad at the pop culture show on sunday, so i better be home by 10.

From Kat
To Kasia
April 14, 2004 - 7:13AM
Re: state of the where the fuck is tony

Bush was engaging in a q&a session. It was ridiculous. And we wound up waiting and getting all excited to find that we had recorded That 70s Show. Which I like... but NOT TUESDAY AT 8!!!! Why Tues??? Why does Bush always choose Tuesdays to do this? ANY OTHER FUCKING DAY. Please. I mean, I saw nothing in advance, I saw no warnings or anything. I got an e-mail from Fox this fucking morning.. like... THANKS. That really helps.

yesterday was so freaking hard... I was so sore and SO tired. All I wanted was some Chappelle and some sweet sweet Dessler. What did I get? We were all royally gypped. I hate Bush. He feels like he needs to talk too much, when he has absolutely nothing to say. I mean, he should broadcast on PBS or something.

Anyhow, I'm excited you found cool software... that's really exciting.

Love you and catch you later today...
Kat

From Kat
To Kasia and Matt
February 17, 2004 - 9:54PM
just a short one

I can't stay up, and i hate me for that.

I just wanted to mention that I was nearly in tears this ep. And I felt literally sick to my stomach when Nina (abwh) walked into CTU and saw Kim.

I also just wanted to say that was thunderstruck when I realized that Bryan Spicer was the director for BOTH Jack shoots Nina episodes. Interesting.

" no you don't" BANG BANG BANG. It was the most loathsome line. He shot her and the look on his face was like he was disposing of the junk in his veins, directly into her.

K, this is too much. I wish I could talk to you guys. Please think of me in your debrief.

Wow, Spicer.

Love Kat

From Matt
To Kat
February 18, 2004 - 7:00AM
Re: just a short one

hey hun!

what a monumental experience. never thought it'd happen until the final cock of the gun! I feel overjoyed for Jack and ultimately spiritually validated by the whole incident... I think Kash is more disturbed and depressed by it, but that's understandable.

WOW.

- Matt

From Kat
To Kasia
February 10, 2004 - 10:57 PM
omFFFFFFAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

OK. SHERRY. MILIKEN. JAAAAACCCKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!

When have we EVER seen Jack smile? Every victory he's ever experienced has been bitter! He just checkmated Nina, the ULTIMATE opponent, in a pure and triumphant move of sheer brlliance! Yay CTU! He won! CTU won! He smiled! He's feeling pure and unobstructed jy and triumph, in a long and sordid history of half wins, of scraping through Nina's power. She's nearly always had the upper hand. Even though he's had her tied in the chair, under his gun, choked under threats, she's always had the calm and smug smile of KNOWING she has power. And now Jack does.

"We can't keep giving in to her", he says to Tony. That was the best, most adrenaline-laced line of all-time. Now or never. The world would never be the same if Nina were to win. Nina would kep playing them till she got her victory. He knew this. He knew there was no win but this. The WORLD was at stake. "hold that in front of you", he said to Chase. There's some perspective.

That's the name of his whole game.

I could talk about this for a hundred years. We will have the debrief of a lifetime.

VICTORY!!

And this Miliken thing will bite David in the ass. OMG, Sherry KILLED someone. :o

Talk later.

From Kasia
To Matt
analysis confirmed
January 27, 2004 - 11:54 pm

my dearest agent mccormack,

howard gordon is a brilliant man. i just watched the 24 inside webcast and i have a few comments to start off with, then i'll move on to the episode. first of all, the webcast was kinda shitty. they promised fan questions and only accepted like 4, because the stupid bimbette hostess who said the most inane and sacreligious things kept prattling on about fucking the most retrded shit, but anyway ...

one fan from the studio audience asks howard gordon after all that she's done to him, how can jack kiss nina? howard's response was sheer genius and completely validates everything we have ever believed in about jack/nina. he basically said that the scene was there to illustrate that jack will do whatever it takes to get the job done and that it shows a glimpse from nina that everything that happened between them 5 years ago wasn;t just pretend. he also stated that there is a little piece of jack that enjoyed it. when i was hearing all this, i was mesmerized.

the bimbette host's response to this is the most idiotic thing i have ever heard in my entire life and the look on howard gordon's face afterwards is fucking priceless. he's just like "who the fuck are YOU?" it is also clear in her exchanges with PJJ about the character of sherry that she has NO CLUE.

anyway, go watch it.

so, moving on to the episode.

tony's personal and private apology to kim for having to find out about nina from adam's great big larger than life photo on the monitor was vintage almeida. once again, the bauer-almeida bond is strengthened. when they had their little exchange in his office about tony helping do what he can to bring nina to justice was a greta scene. the wonderful thing about kim this season is that she's not just a throwaway character. her actions and reactions have huge implications on the stories and themes running through the show.

she says "there is nothing that could make my father work with her" or something ot that effect, cut to jack and nina making out, and you realize THEY'VE BEEN KISSING FOR FIVE WHOLE MINUTES WITHOUT COMING UP FOR AIR AND WE WITNESSED NONE OF IT!!!!! but it made me think that, despite doing what he had to do for the job, there must have been the release of a whole lot of SOMETHING in that kiss. the kind of fucked up relationship jack and nina have, all the power of the rage and the betrayal and the anxiety and the moments where they've held each other on the receiving end of a gun, has to go somewhere in a moment like that. i believe, without a shadow of a doubt, that jack gave it all he had. and when it was all over, nina could feel the truth inside of her. that's how well she knows him.

cut to jack going all badass and turning the tables yet again, pinning her down with a 2x4 to her throat, telling her how it's gonna go down, and then offering her a hand up afterwards. it's sheer genius.

that reminds me of something else HG said. the bimbette hostess asked him if jack was EVER gonna kill nina, and HG replied "what's interesting between jack and nina is the wanting to kill. if it ever actually happens, it would be anti-climactic." this seemed to go way over her head.

the kim/chloe's baby storyline was lame, but at least we got some good kim action with tony before that. chappelle handing the baby over to kim was awesome, though, so smug and dismissive. hopefully almeida will yell at him for that.

i am dying to know what it is that sherry has on milliken. but more importantly, i loved the first scene between sherry and david. gettin down and flirtin! no but seriously, i liked how the entire scene was an exercise in them trying to re-establish where they stand with each other and then cutting off just as palmer is going to fill her in.

hector has officially been gainsed and added to the list of pending famous last words entries. i rewatched the first ep of s3 over the weekend and when jack says "he doesn't care about another living soul including his own children" it stuck with me. when ramon shot hector, that was cold, man. colllllld. but i love how jack has ramon so convinced that he'd be willing to murder his own brother in cold blood, when only 6 hours ago, ramon very nearly blew his head off. the drazens were family first, but ramon is all business.

amador spoke ukranian. DRINK.

i love how palmer tels sherry he needs her to be a shark and she tells him she'll be whatever he needs her to be. vintage sherry.

that's about all i've got for right now, i need to write some serious JNPA (figure that one out for yourself).

almeida be with you!
always,
CTU Myers

From Matt
To Kasia and Kat
December 6, 2003 - 2:13 PM
the review

hey kiki. I must share my thoughts on episode 6 immeeediately.

1) chaapppppeellle. This episode had unprecendented levels of Ryan. I was blown away. His entrance was awesome though I was hoping there would be a low-level person like adam by the door to say "mr. chappelle!" like Tony season 1 / Michelle season 2. It was classic regardless, he walks in on the phone, surrounded by his peeps, like caesar returning to Rome, and they show everyone's reaction: Gael, Kim, then Michelle. I love how it doesn't even occur to him to acknowledge michelle's situation, he's just like "I'm here to take over for Tony, division wants a senior officer in charge." Anyway, Chase appealing to Chappelle's political nature was gold, I love how everybody knows the rulebook for dealing with Ryan: just show him how an action will benefit his status and he'll go for it every time, despite any kind pride or personal opinions. But the biggest Ryan moment, and one of the best moments of the season thus far, was definitely THE HUG. I laughed so hard at that, you wouldn't believe. It was kind of as we predicted, sympathy but with obvious effort, except multipled by a thousand...who woulda thought Chappelle would initiate any kind of affectionate human contact? Though it could be seen as meaningless, I think it actually adds a slight new level to chappelle. I mean, if he just wanted to make the political move and show that he cared about Tony or Michelle, he would've just mustered up a few reptilian words of faux compassion. The fact that he actually tried to hug her makes me think that a small, tiny part of him actually wanted to make Michelle feel better, but he's just so socially awkward he had no idea how to follow through. I think it shows a weakness in the Ryan character that we haven't seen before... he is terrible at dealing with non-work issues. Any way you interpret it, iit was definitely hilarious: she tells him that Tony's gonna be okay and it dawns on him that this is an issue for her. He has a long moment of expressionless hesitation where you have no idea what he's going to say, then it has the long shot of them facing each other... his arms go up and he lurches over her, and she's like wtf?? Then it's right back to business. So funny! I heart chappelle. They're definitely gonna delve more into his character this season, I can tell already.

2) Holy fuck, the kyle singer thing was all a scam! I had this thought briefly when I was re-watching the first few episodes and noticed that they never really had any logical reason to assume that Kyle was infected with the virus. Jack just comes up with this theory and they all go with it! So I'm guessing that Hector just tried this hoping that the government would fold and release Ramon, and paid Kyle Singer 10 grand to deliver cocaine as a big wild goose chase... they knew that CTU would easily connect the body they dropped off at health services to Singer and then go after him. I didn't think it could be a hoax because they had that big containment unit they held Kyle and his girlfriend in, but that could've just been a setup, and maybe Gomez and the other bad guys were told that he actually had the virus too, hence them hosing off. Hector could never have known that Jack would go rogue, though, so getting Bauer was definitely an unforseen bonus for them. I dunno exactly how this all played out but I can't wait to find out more. The dead body from the beginning did have the virus so maybe the Salazars have access to it but in a limited manner, enough to bluff the US government but not enough to release a widespread contagion. In any case, the twists just keep on comin'! Kyle's scenes with his parents slowed things down a tad but they were extremely well-acted, I think he was cast brilliantly.

3) Kim uncovers Gael's skeletons and is held at gunpoint once again. We all knew this was coming so it wasn't the best preclock, in my opinion, but still, it shakes up the CTU plotline considerably. Obviously Kim's not gonna get hurt but I think this spells bad news for.... Adam? Somebody's gotta die, and they've been making his character more of a sweetheart big-brother type in the last couple of eps. I don't think Chloe dying would have any impact on the audience except for relief, though she was less annoying this ep. I don't really hate her anymore. I think Kat put it best, she's just someone who thinks everything has to do with her personally, when in reality nobody's even giving her a second thought. Anyway, back to Kim, she's been awesome this season! Elisha is such a great actress and they're finally involving her in a central way. I know you appreciate this even more than I do, so I'll move on.

4) Is wayne on a power trip or what... he's reminding me more and more of sherry every episode! Especially when he's like "Yes, david, I do care about your campaign, even if you don't!" He's getting more insistent now and spelling out decisions for palmer in a way that borders on patronizing. Personally I love him, good to see someone with an edge, but who's still on Palmer's side ultimately. I don't really mind Anne either, as long as there's not too much focus on her specifically. I think she and palmer play well off each other though it's weird to see him in this flirty, almost giddy state when they're being affectionate, like "I'm fine." "Oh yes you are." Too funny. It adds a dimension to david that we haven't seen much of, especially last season where it was all strictly business in the palmer camp. But still, I miss Lynne... why couldn't SHE be the love interest?

5) This episode did not have quite enough Bauer face-time for me, it was definitely an action sequence show for him, but they did get in that one little scene in the car when Ramon is talking about when Jack was undercover and on heroin, so it's all good. A few more performances and Ramon may just become my favorite 24 villain of all time, he's outstanding. He even did patented Victor Drazen move: putting the gun to Jack's head with the clear, bloodthirsty intention to pop him, but being stopped by his henchmen at the last second. amazing! Gotta love the little satisfied laugh he gives as the plane takes off.

6) Tony scene next episode. My god I miss that guy.

All we need is Nina, Sherry and Milo and we'll have the *perfect* season of 24.

Out for now, gimme a shout sometime with your much-needed insight.
Matt Chappelle, CTU.

From Kasia
To Matt and Kat
Re: the review
December 9, 2003 - 11:40 PM

i apologize for my negligence of the proper practice of almeidaism this week. i received your e-mail while i was at work today. they still haven't given me my own computer yet, so i was working from my boss's machine all day. she had an hour long meeting around 2 and i was able to log on to someone else's terminal to do a few things, during which time i received and replied to your e-mail, but it was doing it in between bouts of working and unfortunately my stupid webmail client timed out and i lost the e-mail. it was probably a sign from almeida, though, because i kind of rushed through my reply and didn't give it the attention it deserved.

so now i am here to reply with my full attention.

ok, my impression at this point is that i did not fully appreciate this episode until i watched it the second time. the first time i thought it was awesome, but so much happened and it moved along at such a frantic pace that i was trying to keep up and wrap my head around what was happening. i think having chappelle show up so early in the episode with, as you mentioned, little fanfare, really threw me for a loop. i mean it was gratifying to see him but it was like BOOM chappelle and i was thrown off from the start. however, upon second viewing, this is one of the tightest episodes of the series i've seen. the main sequence in the episode was the helicopter chase, and i was amazed at all the tight cuts and how every single character all over the city was immersed in it and each played a vital role in how it all turned out.

i agree that this was unprecedented chappelle greatness. ryan has only been in one episode and already they have delved deeper into chappelle than ever before. the main reason for this effect of feeling closer to chappelle's true self on the audience is because, for the first time, chappelle is not a secondary character. up to this point, chappelle's scenes have always come about as a result of someone else's storyline, and he was rarely if ever on screen with someone who wasn't a MAJOR character, playing a part in their day. in this episode, we see chappelle functioning as an entity unto himself. i certainly hope this is an indication of what's yet to come. as a chappelle anecdote, while i was watching survivor tonight, i was watching an old episode of lawa nd order during the ommercials and i saw chappelle as a beat cop circa 1992. i was like CHAPPELLE!

upon further consideration, i no longer believe that chappelle's embrace was completely meaningless, but it was just such a completely alien response for chappelle, in the eyes of EVERYONE concerned. when michelle told him, it was like he got this look in his eyes that said "i don't think a handshake is gonna cut it this time" and then this other look like the thought was going to overload his brain. then he gave her this hunched over little hug that said "i know you hate my guts and so does your wounded husband, but hey, i guess attempting to be a human being just once won't kill me." i too rolled on the floor laughing my ass off. chappelle is a brilliant character played by a brilliant actor.

another thing i noticed is how much michelle's character has matured. in s2, she was this very smart, very capable agent who, despite that, still came off at times a unsure of herself and subject to letting her emotions get the best of her. this season, especially when she is dealing with ehr colleagues, she is like this rock, totally in control, totally sure of herself, much more able to compartmentalize her life. as soon as she took command, she dug in and completely shut down vulnerable michelle in front of everyone, focusing on the task at hand. at points she has had to be careful of sounding insensitive, as evidenced by convos with kim. but when she is alone, suddenly all that falls away and she is old michelle, with those big teary eyes. reiko is wonderful.

regarding kyle singer, yes, those scenes kind of slowed things down but i didn't really mind, because everything else was making my head spin. beautifully acted and wonderfully cast, as you said. those scenes made me feel a lot of emotion for a character with no history, which is no small feat in the 24 universe. riley smith did an amazing job.

as for the virus scam, i'm not so sure that jack busting salazar out of prison and then captured was merely a convenient coincidence. perhaps ramon believed the plan was to kill him, but either way, i think jack was a part of their plan all along, especially now that there is no virus threat. remember, in the premiere, ramon stabbed his lawyer and then said "what happens next is on you jack." they knew all along that bauer would play a major role in the investigation of a serious terrorist threat like a weaponized virus in los angeles, and once the salazars realized that jack betrayed ramon, i'm sure they did their homework on him. they are aware that he will not hesitate to stop the spread of the virus by ANY MEANS NECESSARY. they are aware of his history at CTU. they are aware of his eprsonal relationship with the president. the salazars knew that the government woudl never agree to release him, which is why the threat was never real. they were banking on jack's impulsiveness and recklessness to try something like this, and his ability to carry it out. even ramon knows he's the best. i think this was all an elaborate plot preying on jack's weaknesses. perhaps ramon never planned for jack to live, but when hector told claudia about jack, he didn't sound the least bit surprised.

perhaps the preclock was slightly weak overall, but the final shot of the expression on kim's face was amazing. her reaction to seeing the footage of jack being knocked out and kidnapped was perfect. first confusion, then it sinks in, then panic. i can;t imagine what she must of been thinking having a gun pulled on her by a CTU employee down in the bowels of CTU, just like mom. elisha cuthbert is indeed a brilliant actress and kim's role in the story is excellent. the perfect choice.

the best scene of the episode was jack and ramon in the car on the way to the landing strip, talking about why junkies put the needle in their arm. i realized in that moment that jack is grieving for two women, the bride of his heart and the bride of his mind. he had to grieve for his dead wife, and the loss of his most trusted ally and closest confidante, the only person who ever TRULY knew him, not to mention the reconciliation of that betrayal. that's pain, man.

From Kasia
To Matt and Kat
November 18, 2003 - 11:55PM
I Am Jack's Pivotal Plot-Hatching Phonecall

man, did i have a hell of a night. in a sense of timing worthy of the holy hour, i made it home from the hockey game (which we won 5-2) after taking the LRT from skyreach to the university, picking up my car, and then driving back downtown in 21 minutes. i arrived home during the opening credits, unsure of how much i missed, but upon further inspection, only missing like the first 30 seonds of new footage. however, the new footage i did miss was the only footage containing almeida. anyway, more on this later. so my point is that i was so pumped that i made it home in time to watch it during broadcast so we could FINALLY do a proper debrief. and i find neither of you here. i am very disillusioned.

so anyway, i am sending you a blissfully self indulgent e-mail to punish you for not showing up to debrief since the season began. dude, i am in debrief withdrawal, which is not as dire as actual show withdrawal, but it ain't pleasant! we've gotta get a few in sooner or later!

so let me start off by going back to my earlier point about tony, before i forget. given that i missed the very scant almeida footage that was present in the episode, i wasn't sure if he was in it at all, and i was thinking that even though it totally sucks balls that there was virtually no tony, it was kind of interesting how that choice put the viewers in the same psition as everyone else in CTU, especially michelle, wondering what's happening with him while trying to follow everything else that is going on. and given that this happened, it made it even more awesome when michelle was all fucking stone cold bitch when gael was all like "oh here, you poor baby, let me take all these difficult responsibilities and choices off your hands for you so you can go off into the corner and cry about your man" like there was actually a chance she would go for it. she couldn't put her finger on it but she sensed him trying to manipulate her using her gender and she smacked that shit down. it's great to see some tits in the big chair again!

i wonder if jack ever considered the whole "having someone on the inside i can absolutely trust with my life no matter what" when he guided kim into working for CTU. i mean, not like he ever wanted to involve her in anything that could hurt her or whatever, but given some of the betrayals he's faced there, not just by nina but by his superiors who tried to hang him out to dry many times, it's no wonder that he wants the only person in the world he can really trust completely close to his chest. not that this would be a conscious desire. that scene was so brilliant. almost worthy of jack/kim s2 ep 1, simply because it is augmented by kim pulling some covert action and answering the phone "CTU Bauer."

i am curious to know whether chase and jack will remain at odds. it is well known that the producers said in interviews that tony and jack will face a situation in season 3 that will put them at odds. my feeling then is that tony will recover enough to have some sort of impact on this last rogue mission of jack's, albeit probably not very physical. with tony and CTU working against jack, he'll need an ally. i think chase is a prime candidate. it would be a good way to complicate that bauer triangle, with kim chase and jack all working otgether in some capacity.

obviously, the implications of the conversation jack had with david palmer are huge. jack will have no official support from the government or any of its agencies. it is apparent that the president's support of jack's actions is never to see the light of day. once this operation is over, jack will be a fugitive from justice, and it is only palmer's faith in jack's superior abilities as an operative to get himself out of this situation that allowed him to agree to it. and seriously, who would be better to assist him in his escape than someone with a lot of underground contacts ... someone he has worked with in the past ... now THAT would be some good TV. i wonder if he's been keeping tabs on her.

anyway, jumping back for a second, a palmer/jack scene was long overdue and awesome. this episode was like a hangover of last week, and was so awesome.

anyway, it will also be interesting, with michelle in command, and chappelle waiting in the wings, to see how key players at the agency respond to jack going rogue like this. michelle is going to know why jack did what he did, but neither her nor tony are going to be able to protect him from this. the best they could do would be to try to hinder his capture in small ways, but even still, they'd be under enormous scrutiny from their superiors (ie ryan) after the events of last season. there will be no place for anyone to hide. think about it. it will be some crazy moral shit happening.

hector salazar is one fucked up motherfucker. and i think claudia's "little brother" is not quite her little brother. saying "you're not his father" while pointing a gun at hector paints a different picture. when the camera panned on that gun, i suddenly wondered if maybe hector wants ramon out of prison so he could have him killed. the only scene form there last week was claudia saying how "things won't be the same" blah blah.

the sherry name-dropping continues. she is going to make an appearance very soon, believe me. i am dying to find out what happened to her after last season. i like how wayne described her as going "off the rails". but i also liked how he rubbed it in how talented and smart and savvy she is to anne, who, i hate to say it, but seems a bit drippy to me. i really hope she's bad.

speaking of drippy, the whole chloe-gael scene at the beginning - all that conversation seemed a little sketchy to me. it seems far fetched to have 2 moles in CTU (at least until gael brings in his crew), so i think chloe is clean. i vote to bring in milo pressman.

what is wayne's agenda? the man's his brother, doesn;t he know by now how david operates? i find the whole thing how wayne is constantly referring to the prez by his first name makes things between palmer and the audience a little more personal again, like in season 1 with sherry and mike.

i really need some word on tony in the next episode or i'll go nuts.

i think that about covers everything. please send your own responses and comments. i eagerly await your razor sharp insight and analysis.

Kiki Dessler, CTU - I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar

From Matt
To Kasia
Re: I Am Jack's Pivotal Plot-Hatching Phonecall
November 22, 2003 - 1:17 PM

good afternoon agent myers.

even though it totally sucks balls that there was virtually no tony, it was kind of interesting how that choice put the viewers in the same psition as everyone else in CTU, especially michelle, wondering what's happening with him while trying to follow everything else that is going on.

The episode was definitely lacking in almeidaesque charm, but as I said before, I think his subtle presence was still felt by everyone, even in his absence. (Much like another CTU superior....coughchappellecough...)

i wonder if jack ever considered the whole "having someone on the inside i can absolutely trust with my life no matter what" when he guided kim into working for CTU. i mean, not like he ever wanted to involve her in anything that could hurt her or whatever, but given some of the betrayals he's faced there, not just by nina but by his superiors who tried to hang him out to dry many times, it's no wonder that he wants the only person in the world he can really trust completely close to his chest. not that this would be a conscious desire. that scene was so brilliant. almost worthy of jack/kim s2 ep 1, simply because it is augmented by kim pulling some covert action and answering the phone "CTU Bauer."

I thought Kim referring to him as "Jack" in the first minute was also great, it sounded so out of place. The conversation was reminiscent of the season 2 jack-piloting-the-nuke scene, he again knows he has a good chance of dying once he delivers ramon to hector, so he wants to set things right. I'm glad they're giving bauer a lot of depth this time around, I found his only really brilliant struggle in season 2 was when Nina was around. I can't wait for nina.

i am curious to know whether chase and jack will remain at odds

I love the jack-chase conflict, but it's coming pretty early on in the season, which probably means they'll be on the same side later on. james badge dale is a great actor, I enjoy all of his scenes thoroughly...he definitely has a young jack vibe going on, I think you were right when you said he is the only one who has potential to possibly take the place of bauer should he fall. regardless, I always get such a kick whenever jack assaults an agent. There should be a count of how many good guys Jack has taken down.

1) george mason, tranq dart
2) mason's lacky... I'm just getting some work from my car..
3) secret service escorts at the plant
4) ed miller, have some more water, sucka
5) tony almeida, the ankle-twisting punch
6) chase edmunds, sleeeep my son
7) the prison guard

who else?

obviously, the implications of the conversation jack had with david palmer are huge. jack will have no official support from the government or any of its agencies. it is apparent that the president's support of jack's actions is never to see the light of day. once this operation is over, jack will be a fugitive from justice, and it is only palmer's faith in jack's superior abilities as an operative to get himself out of this situation that allowed him to agree to it.

I'm not sure how he could get out of it either, he broke a high-profile murderer out of a maximum security prison (well, I assume they get away) and released all the inmates in the process. personally I thought that was a great end, by the way... the shot of the hallway with all of the cells opening, and the heads poking out in confusion... pure genius. anyway, I think it'd be great if Jack was a fugitive for this whole season, it would echo back to season 1 when he escaped from the secret service, and contrast heavily with season 2 where he had everyone's full support for almost the entire run. In the long run, though, I dunno if he's in for serious punishment. Palmer could still pardon him from conviction on the grounds that he was such an assistance to the nation during the nuclear crisis. it's a stretch, but I just don't think david would ever let jack go to jail long-term.

when the camera panned on that gun, i suddenly wondered if maybe hector wants ramon out of prison so he could have him killed. the only scene form there last week was claudia saying how "things won't be the same" blah blah.

I totally think hector wants to kill his brother and take over the cartel. he's one twisted fuck. if he tried though, I hope ramon would still prevail and take out hector first. He's a much better actor and character, and has potential for supervilliany greatness. unfortunately I think they'll both be "gaines'd" before the second act begins.

the sherry name-dropping continues. she is going to make an appearance very soon, believe me. i am dying to find out what happened to her after last season. i like how wayne described her as going "off the rails". but i also liked how he rubbed it in how talented and smart and savvy she is to anne, who, i hate to say it, but seems a bit drippy to me. i really hope she's bad.

yeah anne sucks! one of the only new characters without much to admire. very bland. but maybe david wants a little blandness after his last woman. if she's lying about this whole ex-husband thing, palmer's going to have to start going to therapy.

speaking of drippy, the whole chloe-gael scene at the beginning - all that conversation seemed a little sketchy to me. it seems far fetched to have 2 moles in CTU (at least until gael brings in his crew), so i think chloe is clean. i vote to bring in milo pressman.

I've never thought chloe was dirty, I just think she's going to be paula'd off. Go gael go! It's so different knowing who the mole is from the beginning, the tension lies in wondering when they're going to discover him. or maybe he'll be fakebelkin'd - pulls some professional badass shit then escapes without a trace. as long as he kills the annoying girl, I'm happy. I love that the focus is so much more on CTU in this season, whether in the field or back at HQ.

i really need some word on tony in the next episode or i'll go nuts.

fully agreed.
-matt bauer, CTU.

From Kasia
To Matt
November 22, 2003 - 2:06 PM
Re: I Am Jack's Pivotal Plot-Hatching Phonecall

I thought Kim referring to him as "Jack" in the first minute was also great, it sounded so out of place.

it did, it was weird, but i guess she can;t run around thw workplace calling him "my dad" and expect everyone to know who she's talking about. the one time she does do that is when shots are fired and no-one at CTU knows if anyone was hit or who it was, and she says "i can't reach tony or my dad" because she is worried baout jack, so in that moment, it's just "my dad."

i forgot to mention it before but i thought that one shot when adam says "it was either tony or jack" and michelle and kim kind of look at each other was brilliant. the expressions on their faces were perfect. both of them are thinking "gee i hope it's not my man" and they both hate themselves for wishing the worst for the other, but of course they can't help it.

The conversation was reminiscent of the season 2 jack-piloting-the-nuke scene, he again knows he has a good chance of dying once he delivers ramon to hector, so he wants to set things right. I'm glad they're giving bauer a lot of depth this time around, I found his only really brilliant struggle in season 2 was when Nina was around.

is hector actually going to be there? i got the impression he and claudia are in mexico and gael is his go to guy. i agree about the brilliant personal struggle of season 2.

I can't wait for nina.

you already know where i stand on this.

I think you were right when you said he is the only one who has potential to possibly take the place of bauer should he fall.

i actually didn't say that, kat did. but if jack dies, the show will end. there is no one who could carry it without bauer. even the most brilliant, complex character foils such as tony are still foils and can't exist without the protagonist.

regardless, I always get such a kick whenever jack assaults an agent. There should be a count of how many good guys Jack has taken down.

hmmm. he takes down that cop, jessie hampton's partner, to break penticoff out. he shoots nina in s1 ep 6, who at the time was acting as a good guy, but i guess that one doesn't really count. he takes down sherry's personal bodyguard, but i dunno if he counts as a good guy.

In the long run, though, I dunno if he's in for serious punishment. Palmer could still pardon him from conviction on the grounds that he was such an assistance to the nation during the nuclear crisis. it's a stretch, but I just don't think david would ever let jack go to jail long-term.

yeah, if he's caught, palmer could pardon him, given that he did what he did to save lives, but palmer seemed to imply it would be best if jack "disappeared". plus, any casualties that result form the prison break are on jack's hands too.

i think jack and nina will end up facing each other in a situation where they will have to work together again. that makes for the best jack/nina conflict, because the whole thing is about their history and her betrayal and his rage and desire for vengeance weighed against any assistance she can provide.

I totally think hector wants to kill his brother and take over the cartel. he's one twisted fuck. if he tried though, I hope ramon would still prevail and take out hector first. He's a much better actor and character, and has potential for supervilliany greatness. unfortunately I think they'll both be "gaines'd" before the second act begins.

agreed and agreed. jack isn;t just going to be like "here you go, have fun". he has some plan to take them both down.

yeah anne sucks! one of the only new characters without much to admire. very bland. but maybe david wants a little blandness after his last woman. if she's lying about this whole ex-husband thing, palmer's going to have to start going to therapy.

i also noticed that pretty much every other actor on the show, whether highly attractive or not so attractive, is nonetheless very striking and unusual looking. anne is not. she's not unattractive, but she's just so plain vanilla, in looks and personality. i guess after the chocolate goddess diva sherry, david wants some plain vanilla, like you say.

I've never thought chloe was dirty, I just think she's going to be paula'd off. Go gael go! It's so different knowing who the mole is from the beginning, the tension lies in wondering when they're going to discover him. or maybe he'll be fakebelkin'd - pulls some professional badass shit then escapes without a trace. as long as he kills the annoying girl, I'm happy. I love that the focus is so much more on CTU in this season, whether in the field or back at HQ.

i think chloe will end up discovering that gael is dirty and he'll kill her. she's already seen 2 suspicious thigs, when he refused to do something she needed done right away, and the personal cell phone. i think gael will go down.

i love the fpocus on CTU too. the story is so much more cohesive and intense with everything revolving around CTU. the kim character s awesome at CTU. i knew it was only a matter of time before they integrated her into CTU, because having her own storyline pulls so much focus away from the most important shit. kim is awesome.

ok, i gotta go, i have to get ready for the heritage classic!

always the black queen,
ctu myers

From Matt
To Kasia
November 22, 2003 - 7:21 PM
Re: I Am Jack's Pivotal Plot-Hatching Phonecall

i actually didn't say that, kat did. but if jack dies, the show will end. there is no one who could carry it without bauer. even the most brilliant, complex character foils such as tony are still foils and can't exist without the protagonist.

oh hell no. I didn't mean television-wise. 24 is pointless without jack, and chase is a far cry from being the protagonist. I just meant universe-wise. Jack dying and Chase becoming the cowboy field agent who gets results.

i think jack and nina will end up facing each other in a situation where they will have to work together again. that makes for the best jack/nina conflict, because the whole thing is about their history and her betrayal and his rage and desire for vengeance weighed against any assistance she can provide.

I agree, but I don't see jack working with nina just to help his own survival/cause. It's only realistic if he's doing it to save other people's lives. He still hungers for revenge.

i also noticed that pretty much every other actor on the show, whether highly attractive or not so attractive, is nonetheless very striking and unusual looking. anne is not. she's not unattractive, but she's just so plain vanilla, in looks and personality. i guess after the chocolate goddess diva sherry, david wants some plain vanilla, like you say.

good point keek, they are all pretty striking, even chloe/adam. down with vanilla!

btw, I hereby vote Luis into the "Cool Characters Killed Off Before Their Time, Oh The Minor Tragedy of It All" category, along with Kevin Carroll and Yusuf Auda.

peace out babe.
-white knight

From Matt
To Kat
November 12 - 3:22AM
OH MY FUCKING GOD

fuck fuck fuck.... almeida is down...msn's not working....keek won't see 24 for three hours...I'm going insane....I'm physically ill.... I need drinks now...

fuckfuck fuuuuuuuuck

From Matt
To Kat
November 12, 2003 - 4:43PM
Siiiggghhh

kat! I should have stuck around but I just couldn't deal with it, I took some drowsy cold pills and hit the sack immediately. unfortunately we have no transcript, kash woke me up with a phone call instead.

you're right about wayne palmer's "good intentions", it is all too familiar. I can't believe they killed Luis - the character was just invented to show how badass the Salazars are, and it worked! I have a hard time thinking about anything except the last minute of the show... but keek eased my mind with her confidence that there is no way almeida could die. Still, I worry.

-Matt

From Kasia
To Matt
October 15, 2003 - 10:15PM
CTU4LYF

the subject line of this e-mail is another idea for a vanity plate. i will be CTUMYRS and you will be CTU4LYF. or you could simply go with a classic approach, ALMEIDA.

i am so fucking pumped for season 3. i'm itching with it. i can't wait to see if michelle and tony are engaged or broken up or what. i read an interview with reiko and she said something like "their relationship has progressed. i'm excited to see what happens next between them." michelle and tony are the best on-screen couple ever. well, that are still together (are they still tgether? they better be!) actually it would be okay if their relationship has ended because of some kind of horrible travesty but you can tell they still want each other and are still in loooove, because then it would be painfully romantic to watch, which would be very conducive to my current frame of mind, and i think the brilliant writers, directors, producers and actors of this fine fine show would do a hell of a job with a secondary or tertiary storyline like that. the thing i love most about the characters' interpersonal relationships on 24 is that they never insult the viewer's intelligence. they realize is it all in the way they convey basic plot driven information to each other, and don't need any elaborate dumbed-down exposition style declarations of the state of their relationships. the subtleties of the relationships are just so fucking tight. maybe the writers could have tony break up with michelle shortly before season 3 starts because of some residual nina/work-personal issues, and she's really messed up over it so is giving him the cold shoulder only talking to him about work shit (though you can see the pain and loss in her eyes when she looks at him as he walks back upstairs to the big chair), but then tony gets into a situation where michelle is the only person he can trust to save his ass. yeah.

ok top 5 24 couples ever (past or present)

5. kim and rick. i know you're not as a big a fan as i am of this one, but it merits a #5 placement. it had a consistent story throughout, the relationship between them developed at a nice pace and i felt that this relationship was what really made the audience care about rick enough to have him in the story as long as he was. there were some really great moments between them, both actor wise and directionally. i realize rick was never truly redeemed for you, but i would like to see these two meet again and that alone makes is top 5 worthy.

4. jack and teri. this one feels like it should be placed higher, but when i had to think of the ones i wanted in the list, it is overshadowed by greater relationships. jack and teri's relationship i felt was overshadowed by his relationship with another certain waiflike brunette, which simply mirrors the fact that the writers ultimately find tragedy more interesting than the happy ending. that said, obviously it makes top 5 because teri's presence was always there pulling at jack, even post mortem, and in their relationship the writers made us care about the ultimate sacrifice jack made.

3. tony and michelle. almeida is just so awesome as it is, and i felt that the relationship between tony and michelle was the only real acknowledgement made in season 2 regarding the impact nina had on tony, as well as the impact he incurred from the events of the entire first season. that must have been some fucked up shit for him. given that this whole season was about redemption from your bloody past, i felt that michelle was tony's redemption. i can't wait to see where they are 2 years later.

2. david and sherry palmer. this one speaks for itself.

1. jack and nina. the fact that this one is not only on the list, but at the top of the list, also speaks for itself. but i'll speak for it anyway. each is the other one's downfall, fatal flaw, sweaty 3 am nightmare, deviant fantasy. they are the light and dark side of the same creature. and they shall meet again.

hurray, you're logging on.

From Kasia
To Matt
September 22, 2003 - 11:23 AM
i HATE the West Wing. it needs to DIE!!!

why did i sit through the emmys again this year only to be disappointed by an academy that kisses boring blue plate conservative ass? why? whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?
kiki

ps - long live almeida. long live kiefer. once again robbed. will likely still be drunk after a second consecutive robbery. i am thinking of joining him. in fact the entire cast is probably drunk. as well they should be. what a fucking farce.

From Kasia
To Matt
February 25, 2003 - 11:31 PM
almeida is god ... of ctu

i tried to call you a couple hours ago, but it was busy and you weren't online. it's gotten kind of late now, so thought i'd send you my thoughts.

first off, i believe sherry. despite how messed up and manipulative her plan was (vintage sherry) with covertly getting in bed with stanton for the purposes of calling him out and making herself look like the redeemed martyr after his disloyalty was finally revealed, she certainly didn't know about the bomb and i think this time she really did have palmer's best interests at heart. i also think that something will happen which will cause palmer to bring her back.

the bomb shelter guy is a psycho. the writers really fucked me up with that one ... is he going to mess with her or isn't he? yeah, she's gonna come back for a friendly tea and a chin wag with a psycho who tried to lock her in an underground cement hole after the whole thing is over. lunatic.

torture tactics on marie ... excellent. loved the part where they shot her and grabbed her and her wig flew off. highly disturbing image for some reason. liked her as a brunette. evil dark marie vs good marie. yeah.

is this the end of mason? i just can't believe it. i hate to see him go so soon! the silent clock there was a nice touch ... and also unfortunately leads me to believe we won't see him again ... a la teri.

as a side note i realized this morning that jack and palmer's wives have rhyming names ... coincidence or more evidence to jack and palmer's parallel struggles?

i quite nearly had an orgasm after tony was named director (and god) of CTU. the scene where he sets up his shit in the prime office and the camera follows him down the stairs ending with an identical shot to the oe of mason calling everyone around in episode 1. sigh. tony in power. tony and jack fighting side by side ... brilliant.

what is the deal with this carrie chick and michelle. if carrie tries to mack on tony we will see some serious catfight action. what was with the "you look great by the way?" did michelle used to be ugly or sommat?

very CTU centric episode. hurray.

send me your thoughts.
k.