24 Live Another Day: 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.

That was fun. 24 is nearly always fun to watch. It moves so quickly, too. I looked up at the clock and it was almost over. (I meant my clock.)

"What we're doing is necessary and just. You know it is."

Margot is freaky scary. Nothing matters to her but The Cause, and she is using her entire family as cannon fodder. Any woman who could pimp out her own daughter, order her to kill, and then torture her while stitching a wound is a total psychopath. That scene with the stitches made me cringe; I had to look away.

The thing is, Simone of the amazing eyes did exactly what she was told. She even had the brains to get away from Jack Bauer in the subway, no small feat. Simone didn't deserve what Margot did to her. How would she feel if she knew Margot was watching her with her husband Naveed, who was way put off by his wife having sex for the cause?

Naveed, you idiot, Margot is going to eat you for breakfast. His days are numbered. No, wait -- this is 24. His hours are numbered.

"Has anybody ever mentioned your rather rude habit of asking for favors accompanied by the threat of a gun?"

They didn't cast Michael Wincott for nothing. Adrian gave us some Olympic-level sarcasm, sabotaged Chloe's faked credentials for Jack, and left Jack with no choice but to shoot innocent protestors (in the leg) and incite a mob attack on the embassy, which was this episode's cliffhanger.

The big scene, though, was Chloe's reveal to Jack that Morris and Prescott were killed, and Chloe believes it was her fault; no wonder she dropped off the grid and went with the new black. (Actually, it was Jack's fault. Everyone associated with him dies. He's like the grim reaper.) The Jack/Chloe scene in the car was nice and a reminder of how much these two mean to each other. Even though I was slightly distracted because Kiefer Sutherland in close-up is starting to look an awful lot like his father.

I just realized that she's a female Jack Bauer.

Meanwhile, Erik has realized that Kate Morgan is very good at her job and even told her so, which elevates his character out of the "jerk" category. The scene where Kate needed intel from Basher, knocked him out and found a way to get it out from him (thankfully, without torture) made me wonder -- are they setting up Yvonne Strahovski's character for a possible spinoff? She's certainly an excellent candidate. She's played a spy before as well as a killer, and she has a believable American accent. You know what? I bet they are.

"Having enemies means you stood up for something."

Chief of staff Mark Boudreau is absolutely slimy, what with trying to trick Heller and forging his signature. They're making him so negative that I'm starting to think maybe he's sincere. Will Heller blow his address to the M.P.s, after all? I so don't want him to fail; I've always liked Heller. At least Audrey has already chosen sides, even if she hasn't realized it.

Come on, Audrey. You need to drop this guy, already. Jack is going to show up soon.

Bits:

— The "previously on" sequences on 24 have always been excellent, and Live Another Day is continuing the tradition.

— In Pennsylvania, we lost the first three minutes of the show. Did Fox screw up? Was it just us?

I've just realized that it's hard to rate individual episodes of 24 because they're all arc. So I'm going to pass on a rating. But I was definitely into it, and very entertained.

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

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