Previously On 24: Jack, Looking For Love in All The Wrong Places

Relying on a previously successful gambit, the Chinese have reached out and touched Jack at possibly his most vulnerable. After all, he has showed a disappointing lack of imagination by killing Fayed in a hackneyed imitation of a Tarantino whacking; he has also saved the world from the remaining 3 suitcase nukes. And now the Chinese are now making their nefarious demands.

They tell Jack that they'll exchange AWWWdrey for a circuit board from one of the suitcase nukes. There was some techy explanation for why they couldn't just build their own, something about the old technology used in these Russian nukes not requiring encryption. Or something along those lines.

Implication: Russian technology is old, and inferior. Chinese technical expertise is inferior, so they're reduced to hiring makeup artists who haven't worked since Quest For Fire and blackmailing the guy who has killed CTU bosses (Chapelle) and his own good friend Curtis -- not to mention having " interrogated" his own brother, and the aforementioned Awwwdrey.

Ok, so the Russian technology is old and inferior. Chinese expertise is inferior. But they can shop, can't they? Instead of walking into any Radio Shack and helping themselves to a circuit board, the Chinese must rely on getting Jack to value Awwwdrey's life over the safety of the American public.

And by extension of the same implication: the US of A rocks the house on technology. (But don't tell that to people who suffered a world of faux hurt when they had to unexpectedly detox from Blackberry addictions last week. But I digress.)

Much to the distress of any True Believer in Jack: the next scene has Jack whining on the phone to TEYOP that he needs this circuit board, and that TEYOP owes him. Big time.

See the rest of the blogosphere for reaction to what the 24 writers have done to Jack. We're just here to report what happened.

TEYOP tells him that he can have the circuit board, and then has a stroke on national TV. The Evil Veep is now in power, Blonde Toady is back (and EEEEW there was some additional evidence that only Condoleeza Rice is woman enough to have a public service job without having the requisite government-issue boyfriend.) Veep doesn't want Jack to have the circuit board.

Jack has an improbable interaction with the Marines guarding the nukes and it is funny, I can't even remember if he got the circuit board or not. And The Hubby points out, Navy or Air Force would be guarding nukes, not Marines! And sorry, but in Jack's apparently weakened state, even a Girl Scout troop would have kicked his @$$.

(Leading The 24 Blog to wonder, is Jack the Whiner a ruse? We can hope.)

But who cares. Jack has gone rogue (yawn) and everyone from Doyle to his own daughter Kim is gonna be gunning for him.

Except for maybe Chloe, who showed some encouraging signs of life, when (finally) she gets a call from Jack asking for covert assistance. Frankly, I think he should have sent her to Radio Shack to buy the darned thing. Don't worry: even in the aftermath of the Valencia blasts, they're open!

And Jack, next time the phone rings after you've saved the world? Let it go to voice mail, babe.