Previously on 24: 8pm - 9pm

OK, first of all, I don't know if the blog will be attended "live" tonight. (Head on over to Dave Barry's for that whole thing.) "A" has book club, and "M" often is reading to her son, "J"...

The improbable siege at the White House ended in an equally improbable but predictably bloody manner. Sob, Bill has gone on to his inevitable next life, obviating the need for us to wonder about what happened to Karen...and giving Jack one more thing to add to his World Of Pain.

Madame President and her potentially evil (and proven to be nasty and not all that resourceful) daughter have come to a siege-induced rapprochement (spell check, please!?) Possibly evil Ethan has been forced to offer Olivia a job as a "special advisor." She makes no bones about the fact that she's out to get him.

In all of the siege ending, Juma is killed. (Another handsome, if evil, black man down for the count.)

Aaron is injured, and possibly getting the hots for the nasty and age-inappropriate Olivia. (Or maybe he's feigning affection, because he knows that she's nefarious.)

We love Aaron, and hope that he won't fall into Olivia's thrall.

It turns out that Jon Voight (aka Daddgelina) is an evil mastermind behind this whole thing, and is in cahoots with the ex-Goldman bankers and whoever else.

No sign of Angelina. No sign of the First Man, either. He's still at the civilian hospital, although they did seem to have set up a MASH unit in the East Wing to deal with siege casualties -- maybe they can transfer him over.

Agent Moss -- yes, someone with the rank of "agent" talks on the phone with the President, and while I'm no expert, I can rely on my knowledge of the Bureau's org structure gained by repeated viewing of the X-Files (and not the later season when the Terminator guy tried to replace Mulder): wouldn't you have to be at least a Director?

But I digress. Moss and Renee have at least one more conversation revolving around Moss' incredulity about Renee's affiliation with Jack.

Larry, believe it and let it go.

Then, Moss suspends Renee indefinitely, setting the stage for her to re-rogue.

Jack is secretly approved to interrogate the ex-Goldman banker, now hospitalized. For some reason, he's allowed in the room without any backup, though he is being watched on TV. (Is that what they mean by post-modern?)

It is not a medical interrogation. But of course, Jon Voight has sent over another guy (do I recognize him from one of the soaps I watched last year when down for the count with a cold?) who crawls through the ceiling, shuts down the video feed, disables Jack with knockout gas, and whacks the banker, leaving the door locked from the inside.

Leaving Jack looking like he had really done it, now!

(Of course, Jack has no blood on him, which I assume might lend credence to his claim that he hasn't slit anyone's throat. But the soap opera guy is also bloodless, and sneaks off into the ceiling friction-free, no bothersome blood gloveprints,droplets or other forensic signs of his nefarious actions.)

Jack's only choice? Of course, he's gotta go rogue. He calls Moss to tell him that he's not guilty and still on their side.

But he forgets to ask for Renee's personal cell number.

Now, I don't have to leave for book club for another 45 minutes. Is that enough time for me to figure out how my VCR works? Or should I call the neighbors across the hall and ask if their 12 year old can come over and program it for me?

Bloop, bloop?

(And no money has changed hands for the post of, or use of, the image from the Rogue Ale website. In fact, "A" is a Bass Ale woman, and "M", I believe, prefers a lager. However, we'll have to make sure to find and drink a Rogue during at least one of the upcoming episodes.)