I think this might be my second favorite episode of the season. The first third was okay, but the final two thirds of the episode was EPIC. It was fast-paced, and it moved the story forward. The LONG overdue actual "threat" has finally come.
What I did NOT like:
~the CTU scenes -- just didn't do much for me.
~Dana scenes -- Such poor and one-dimensional acting. The looks that she makes with her eyes... UGH! And she can walk right into the open in the hallways on the phone with Samir, and no one is suspicious???
~Undermining the administration AGAIN. Still, it made for some great scenes and one of the best shootouts in the history of the series.
~Rob Weiss -- hate the guy!
~Ethan's out-of-the-blue heart-attack that just so happened to be a very timely plot device.
We all knew something along those lines would happen (given the scene between Ethan and Weiss during Episode 1), but I was hoping for a little more. Maybe that's just me? I actually thought at first that he was faking it. Oh well. Anyway, I hope he makes it out alive. If he does die, Weiss and "Mayor Gray Anderson" can just say that this was all Ethan's doing and they will get off the hook.
What I loved:
~EVERYTHING ELSE!
~Best line was when Jack almost drops the f-bomb: Jack: "I don't give a f... (pauses)"
~President Taylor's scenes were great. Her speech gave me the chills!
~The gunfight was PERFECTION... smart, suspenseful, and unpredictable.
~Hassan saving Jack's ass was so cliche, yet so AWESOME. I also loved the scene where Jack throws Hassan the gun and tells him to protect his family.
Now onto some questions...
Why not just have a helicopter come and pick up Hassan and fly him to McGuire Air Force Base? Why go through all the trouble? Yeah, yeah, I know the answer. It was more of a rhetorical question.
What is Dana in this for? Money? Or is she brainwashed (a la Marie Warner, S2)?
First, wouldn't Farhad have known about Dana when he called CTU when he was trying to escape from Samir and his men? And, wouldn't Dana have informed Samir of Farhad's whereabouts after revealing his location to CTU?
Shouldn't Chloe be able to figure out the source of the satellite feed going down???
If they had been successful in kidnapping Hassan, how did they plan on getting Hassan to Samir when they have no idea where Samir even is???
OK, my fingers hurt. Time for bed. Well, maybe some studying first.