Loss Moss

1 am

My head is spinning and I am having trouble remembering everything that happened tonight on 24. Perhaps, like Jack Bauer, I am also feeling the effects of the bio-agent. Or maybe it’s just that so much happened tonight that I am still trying to digest it all.

One of the most pivotal and impactful moments in pro-wrestling is when a good guy turns bad. It rocks your world. You never think it can happen and you feel so betrayed when it does. Even a good guy as popular as Hulk Hogan can go bad. Remember Hollywood Hogan? It’s not just wrestling. Anakin Skywalker is pretty much the poster child for turning to the dark side, and ballplayers like Johnny Damon remind us each year that you just really can never know about someone.
Well, we got one of those moments tonight. But I am getting ahead of myself.

We pick up with the White House preparing for the arrival of Jonas Hodges. Jack and Agent Lohan quickly figure out why Madam President has called off the air strike, because Tony sees a truck fueling missiles on the Starkwood compound. Jack calls out the President for not being straight with him. Then the President drops a hint to Jack to do what needs to be done, without giving a specific order. Just like a woman, huh? Why can’t you just come right out and say what you want? What do you want me to do? Am I supposed to be some kind of mind reader?

Luckily, Jack get’s the hint and Tony proceeds with a plan to blow up the missiles. Tony once again overpowers a couple of guards to gain access to the underground bunker. He knocks one out and forces the other to let him in. Meanwhile, Hodges makes himself at home in the Oval Office. He presents the President with a binder complete with a list of demands and stipulations that include making Starkwood a major power holder in the U.S. government. All the while I am thinking that Jon Voight is proving to be the most entertaining villain in 24 history. Don’t you agree?

When the President finds out that Tony has blown up the missiles, she has Hodges taken into custody, but not before he warns her that he’s just a bit player and the worst is yet to come. Well duh, of course it is. It’s only 1:30 am and this season does not end until 8 am. There has to be more.

Madam President calls to thank Jack, and he begins to ask her to consider Tony’s actions in the day’s events when it comes time to judge him. But Jack forgets what he is saying in mid-sentence, thanks to the effects of the pathogen. It turns out this bio-agent will be messing with Jack’s memory and personality. Then Agent Lohan tells Jack that his daughter Kim is here to see him. Jack takes Renee into a room and nearly bites her head off for disobeying his wishes. It turns out that Jack’s real weakness is not so much the virus as it is his love for his daughter. He did not want her dragged into this. But Agent Lohan reveals that she did not drag Kim into this, she had been in DC all day trying to see him. Visibly moved, Jack is taken to see Kim Bauer.

When we finally see Kim, she is not in the tank top from season two, as I had hoped she might. Jack sits with her and the two share a tender moment. Kim apologizes for pushing Jack away and always blaming him for everything. I kept waiting for an apology for House of Wax, that terrible horror movie she made with Paris Hilton. It should have been called House of Crap. They finally hug but Jack starts convulsing, so he sends her away. And even though Jack did not want her to risk helping him, something tells me Kim is going to drop off a few stem cells before she leaves.

So everything seems fine and dandy. Boss Moss and his crew are cleaning up the mess at Starkwood, Jonas is in prison and Tony agrees to be taken into custody to pay for his past deeds. But then one of the FBI agents discovers a Starkwood operative who has just murdered another FBI agent. The operative looks a little like Tracy Morgan and you may recognize him as God (or maybe an angel) in the movie Bedazzled. The FBI guy calls it in to Boss Moss and informs him that the suspect also has a single serving canister of the bio-agent, just before the operative kills him and takes off in a stolen truck.

Janice Garafalo makes a quick appearance to track the vehicle, as Boss Moss flies in pursuit with Tony in tow. When they land, Tracy Morgan Guy shoots at them and Boss Moss is hit. Tony moves to help him as Tracy Morgan approaches with a shotgun. It looks like this is the end for Tony… UNTIL Tony waives him off. What the hell? Boss Moss, like the rest of us, is stunned when he realizes that Tony is in cahoots with the operative. And then Tony kills Boss Moss, just so there is no doubt.

So if you are like me, you start retracing Tony’s steps throughout the season. Why did he do all the things he did. Could Starkwood’s plans really have been that complicated that they had an inside man thwarting their moves all day long, just to smuggle one canister out of Starkwood, or does Tony have a different agenda?

I guess we’ll have to wait until next week to find out.

Finally, we ended the evening with a public service announcement from Chloe, who asked us to help fight global warming. So we finally get to see Chloe, but not in the way we might have hoped. It was my second unexpected Chloe fix in a week. I saw the movie Sunshine Cleaning the other day and who popped up? None other than Mary Lynn Rajskub.

Next week Jack’s going to have to do some cleaning after the mess Tony is making, and it looks like Hodges may cause some global warming when they try to blow him out of prison.

Let’s end with a moment of silence for Larry Moss.
We’ll miss you, Boss Moss. Farewell.

Questions? Comments? Feedback? Drop me a line at jack@backinjack.com or post a comment below.