I've been sitting here all morning going through my neverending email half listening to the adult alternative cable station when one of my desert island favorites came on. The name of the song? "Everybody Knows" by the great Leonard Cohen. Folk artist extradinaire from Canada. He's been around as long as Dylan but never has had the accolades or the attention. That's too bad, he deserves more credit. I don't think anyone understands life better. He embraces death with "Who by fire?" and suicide with "Dress rehearsal Rag". Religion with songs like "Hallelujah" and "Joan of Arc", interesting enough on their own but when you throw in the fact that he's Jewish living as a Buddist monk on Mt Baldy, they become even more interesting. Mostly though he is all about the passions of life, the raw emotions. Desparation, loneliness, heartache.



My first introduction was "famous blue raincoat" and "Who by fire?". They were on a compilation tape that a friend made for me. I asked him to make me some tapes to introduce me to new artists. It did that with resounding success as I was made familiar with several groups and artists that either I had forgotten about or had never heard of before. Leonard and the Cowboy Junkies being the foremost of them. Since then, I have acquired the complete catelogue, including 2 cover discs and 2 live discs. (I generally don't do live because quality of the recordings is spotty, one is good the other not really worth much, in my opinion.)



You may not be familiar with the man but I can guarantee you have heard the music or a cover of one of his songs as many have been used in films.



Credits include:

McCabe and Mrs. Miller - Robert Altman's western starring Warren Beaty and Julie Cristie. "The Stranger" runs through the movie telling the story as the movie progresses.

Pump up The Volume - Concrete Blonde (a fabulous California band in their own right) cover "Everybody Knows" on the soundtrack album.

Natural Born Killers - "The Future" and "Anthem"

and a movie I hadn't heard about but will have to check out by the name of Kiss the Sky



His songs have been covered by a whole cross section of artists from Willie Nelson to the Pixies and REM. Even Chris Botti has adapted 1000 kisses deep and Hallelujah for his trumpet, double the love for me.



it's the voice that keeps drawing me back. The smoky pained voice. Every time I hear it I fall in love all over again.



Anyway, if you like Dylan and Brian Eno, you might need to check out Leonard. Start with Essential or one of the other greatest hits. Cohen Live is a desert island favorite for me.



I guess it wouldn't hurt to put a link for a website would it? How about this one?



http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/





Food for thought

8 Branches of 10

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I thought it would be fun to give this a try using one of my favorite old tv shows. The Rockford Files. It’s one of the few shows I watched as a kid that I can still watch today without saying this show is stupid.



Here’s some of the original cast.









Rockford- James Garner. Rocky- Noah Berry Jr. Angle-Stuart Margolin. Detective Dennis Becker-Joe Santos.



And here is my fake cast







Rockford. Bruce Willis. He can be sarcastic, he can be a smooth talker, he looks like he could have been in jail, and he can kick ass if necessary.



Rocky. Rockford’s dad. James Garner. Yeah I know it’s cheesy to cast the guy as his own father and he’s already done it in Maverick but my admiration for Garner is the only reason I’m making this fake movie. So stick it.



Angle. Rockford trouble making friend. Steve Buscemi. You know he’d be great.



Detective Dennis Becker. Good natured cop and a friend of Rockford. He has to arrest Rockford and then let him go after being bamboozled by double talk. William H Macy.



Best thing about this cast is it will work for a straight remake, a gritty remake, or a funny one.



Cary

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Some things I loved and some things that are just too 24 to accept.



Love the whole White House possible shadow government who's the actual bad guy thing. Very well done, especially with Spencer the Mole at CTU. Particularly since it sounds like the imminent attack is to be against Moscow. So is Walt actually working for terrorists, or for a government agency with another agenda? I also enjoyed Spencer's refusal to spill anything until Jack showed him the assassin, and you could see his whole illusion crumble. And who does the nerve gas actually belong to? I'm assuming again that it's some shadowy part of the US Military. Whether it's meant to be used on the US population or not I don't know.



Jack has been good with the CTU scene as well. No bullshit from the Hobbit about whether he killed Palmer. Lots of angst between his two women (though a bit over the top with Audrey doing the interrogation). But Jack seems very calm here and matter of fact. Especially showing Spencer the assassin (wow, he didn't just shoot him in the leg) and at the very end contemplating the situation in the White House. The fight scene was entertaining, clearly demonstrating why you don't run with scissors.



Some issues:



Chloe continues to irritate me, especially in her emotional interrogation of Spencer.



They've got to get rid of that back room server…it causes problems every season.



Don't know about Jack seeing the assassin's reflection in the heart rate monitor.



Why didn't the terrorists at least turn the light off and cover the hole in the hangar?



How come they can track YellowTieMan with the cameras, but never see the fake SWAT truck leaving?



And the worst for me is the continuing non-monitoring of the First Lady. Is it actually possible to slip out of a Presidential compound without anyone noticing?



8 whirrs…

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Fantastic Four/ Iron Man: Big in Japan #1-3

Writer: Zeb Wells

Artist: Seth Fisher



Seth Fisher isn't exactly a household name in mainstream comics. But he's an incredibly imaginative, stylish, surreally creative designer who's work has spanned from Heavy Metal Magazine in the UK to Myst III as puzzle and task desgner in the popular game series. This project really surprised me when it was announced. The Big Two don't usually make these kinds of reaches, and learning that Fisher was doing a FF/ IM project was like as if I was hearing Jim Mafood was drawing New Avengers... interesting, but clearly a boutique book designed to bring the publisher a little bit of left field, indie cred. And after finishing the third issue, my thoughts are still ambivalent on the success of this effort.



On the one hand, Fisher's work is the kind of stuff you just sit and stare out long enough, and you start to swear you smell something burning. His characters are expressive, bug-eyed, cleverly-posed, rubbery in texture, and always bend to the whim of any given panel's layout... which changes just about every panel anyway. His stuff here reminds me of Masamune Shirow's super-deformed mascot characters crawling along the borders of Appleseed mixed with Geoff Darrow's compositional sensibilities. Some of the panels, especially the full-page pieces, show amazing depth of field and sense of massing and perspective. The giant monsters really look BIG, which we rarely see, even with the Fin Fang Fooms and Galacti lurking on the outskirts of mainstream Marvel books. His flow is delightful, much like JH Williams III on Promethia, with a distinct sense of travel from one page to the next as you read (often literally.) The detail and creativity in his wild, random monsters and Japanese billboards and architecture just floor me. Definitely swings wayyyy to the art side of the pendulum for comics.



I think what's throwing me off, here, is the need to position this story in the semi-Marvel U. The script is written ham-fisted seriously, but not particularly cleverly. There's the occasional gem, like Sue insisting on entering another dimension to save the world and Reed muttering "If I had a dime for every..." or Iron Man trying to squeeze into a glistening monstrous pustule orafice: "I need a drink." These semi-amusing moments stand out, not from wit, but because the rest of the script is excessively flat. The mock seriousness of the tone, combined with the factthat the characters themselves are entirely secondary to the story, makes the whole thing feel shoehorned to me, like this was the way this book was going to be published at Marvel, no discussions. Use Marvel characters to help sell the thing, or it won't work. Which is probably true. And I think that's what feels so off about it. With non-branded characters in the title role, maybe stylized adventurers or philosopherers or schoolkids even, the very same book would be brilliant in the small press market. It's strange that the packaging, and the use of these characters, actually lessens the credibility of the project to me.



I will say this, though: as hard as it can be to swallow, I'd give 10 mainstream X-Men titles for another experimental project like this. I'm not pining for Indie Marvel, necessarily, but I'd like to see some of this level of risk and creativity infect the mainstream books. Not since Alex Maleev's pages has Marvel experimented like this. We need more innovative talent stretching the status quo of comics.



Even if it DOES occasionally involve a rubbery Iron Man doing the splits in a vat of bubbling purple eyebal and tendril bugaboos...



7/10 Clicks

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So I read a little something today. Something which disturbed and frightened me, but which did not surprise me. They're making a "Magnum, P.I." movie. I know. I KNOW! Listen, I hear ya. You're right! Couldn't agree more.



For the story, click here.



Now, I liked the show enough. Didn't really follow it, but it was entertaining. However, since I already have a template for R3 Fantasy Film castings on both my home and work computers, I figured I'd just bang one out. Also, I'm light at work today, and we all know I never submit anything but vitriol and ramblings to this fine forum ANYWAYS, so there you have it.



Now, on my other Fantasy Film castings, I take the old show and approach it as if it were actually going to be a halfway serious movie. But for this one, I figured "Fuck it, I'm going with the comedy schlock I know they're going to make it into."



That said, here's my R3 Fantasy Film casting for the upcoming "Magnum, P.I." comedy schlock movie adaptation.



Magnum, P.I. - 1980







Magnum, P.I. - R3 Fantasy Film cast







Thomas Magnum - As soon as I heard of the remake, Earl Hickey came to mind. I love Jason Lee, his character of Earl looks just like Magnum, and if this is indeed going to be comedy schlock -- there's no other choice for me.



TC - Charlie Murphy is fucking hysterical -- just like his brother Eddie used to be. But he retains enough street to be the saviour of the show, just like TC was. Clank!



Higgins - This was tough, so I finally widened my age range and came up with this moron. He has that perfect British straight-man thing going on, which is exactly what Higgins was to the show. Buttoned down, by-the-book, and completely humourless.



Rick - This character was always kind of a second-seat guy on the show, and frankly, I just threw Stiffler in there cause he has the right look and is believable as always needing to be bailed out.



And there you have it. A time-waster of a project.



Enjoy.



IronLung out.

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I was cruising the web this afternoon and found a picture of Hugh Jackman which was SO Michael Knight that it inspired me to have a go at an R3 Fantasy Film for a Knight Rider movie -- famously on-again off-again dream project.



This seems to contradict an old post I put up somewhere in which I found out that David Hasslehoff was producing and starring in a Knight Rider movie project, and I thought that was fucking brilliant of him to reprise the role. In actuality, I DO still think that's the way it should be, but I'm rollin with the "fantasy" aspect of the R3 Fantasy Film, so cut me a break and read on for a laugh.



Knight Rider, 1989







Knight Rider, IronLung Fantasy Film Cast







K.I.T.T. - Purists will DESPISE that I've suggested changing the car, but the Trans Am was fucking lame and they don't make em anymore, so get over it. I tried to think of an American muscle-type car which would be believable as jumping all over the place, driving on- and off-road, and mashing off lights at Mach II. Hence, the '05 Mustang, which has a cooler front end than the '06.



NOTE : I think the voice of the new K.I.T.T. should be Anthony Hopkins. He can do anything, and has a projecting, thespians voice, much like William Daniels, who did the original voice of K.I.T.T.



Michael Knight - This is the picture that I stumbled on that made me consider this project at all. That pose is straight up Michael Knight. Jackman is a man of many talents, from theatre to film, and while he bulked up for his role as Wolverine, his natural build is much lankier than that, and I will forever see him as MK now that I've seen this pic.



Bonnie Barstow - I think Evangeline Lilly is the hottest thing this side of the sun, and 'Lost' has proven her as fitting in the tough grrl role, hence my pick.



Devon Miles - Is there really any other choice?



By way of a signoff, I offer the Season 4 cast, throwing thumbs up to their Gs. (That dude on the far left was the token non-white character, inserted in the cast in a desperate attempt to diversify the audience, done right around the same time that Latino kid came onboard "The A-Team," and I've never considered him to be part of the show.)







IronLung out.

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I can't believe we didn't fire something off after this episode aired! I know Lung was delayed watching it for a few days, and then we were jawing about it for awhile after that.



This episode, we see Eko recognize Charlie's Virgin SmackMary and demand to be taken to the source, we see Claire kick Charlie out on the assumption that, if he isn't actually using, he has the propensity to do so, and shouldn't be carrying the damn thing around anyway, and we see the first full-on clearly-visible confrontation bewtween man and smoke-ratchet-beastie yet. And for flashbacks, we see Eko's story, which is probably one of the more interesting ones. He protected his brother from the unscrupulous demands of a gang of Nigerian rebels, by volunteering to shoot an elder on their command, freeinghis brother from the guilt of the act. Eko is taken away by the rebels, and soon is shown as the baddest ass gangster from here to Gardenia. He's soon in charge of the gang, running an underworld black market operation under the noses of the military. When given an opportunity to purchase a large amount of heroin from some out-of-towners, he elects to recontact his brother, now a priest at the orphanage/church in which they were raised, and petition him to use church-owned aircraft to smuggle the drugs out of the country in the Virgin Mary statues he sells for good works projects for the community. The brother, of course, refuses, and in the end, is pressed into signing forged documents making Eko and crew appear to be priests so they can do the smuggling themselves. Sure enough, on the tarmac, Eko's brother arrives in a last ditch effort to talk Eko out of doing it, and the military arrives in a jeep and a hail of bullets later, Eko's brother is shot, his partners take the wounded man aboard, and ditch him, effectively screwing him out of the fortune, taking control of the gang, and leaving him to die at the hands of the military. However, he is mistaken for the priest that called them, and in an epiphany, Eko takes on his brother's role, and becomes the religious leader for his childhood town in his brother's stead.



Sure enough, will the coincidences, I mean fates, I mean... will the craziness end: the plane in the jungle that killed Boone, alerted us to the existence of the Tailies, and fed Charlie's addiction-relapse-potential, is the SAME plane, and sure enough, Eko's brother is within. After some haunting corpse-huggery, Eko sets fire to the plane, and all appears to be cathartic... until we see Charlie return to a secret horde... of many, many Virgin Smackmarys.



:::



Thematically, I found this one really interesting. Eko-as-boy is described by the rebels as a 'born killer' and does indeed step up and murder the elder villager to save his brother. But is it true that he is born bad, is such a thing possible at all? Did he merely have the will, as Ra's al Ghul says three times in one film, to do what is necessary? Is he morally bankrupt, or a realist? Straight to the core of the good vs bad mythology of this season's struggle with the Others. And while it appears that Eko has taken the role of priest seriously, and is shattered by acts of violence he's been forced to commit on the island, as if breaching an unspoken fealty to his virtuous brother and God, I'm not so sure. What appears, at first viewing, to be one man's struggle to remain good when pulled by dark temptations,a Biblical morality basic, wrapped up in Christian imagery and trappings, instead appears to me to be an audit on living false lives, living in denial, pretending to be that which you are not. The priest role is an extreme, projected on Eko by himself, as if to purge the unpleasant reality of his past, hisreal-world grey-area understanding of the value of life, and it's loss by your own hand. I think, in truth, Eko is learning that real virtue is being honest about yourself, and bucking the role you appear to be given, expected to perform. I look forward to seeing him struggle with this, but also, to see him take on a more complex role among the castaways. He is a man who's lived through hell, tried both sides of the film noir good guy, bad guy equation, and has the intelligence, wisdom, observant nature, physical ability, and will to act, that make him a potential leader of the tribe.







And his imagery is so solid... I mean, the Jesus stick alone is the best Fundamentalist Militant metaphor ever: I love how he's inscribing scripture on his weapon. The scriptwriters stated early on that Eko's stick held clues tot he tone of this season, and while it could certainly be taken literally, as the scripture DOES refer to many of these themes of false gods and blind faith and others, it also works more generally, as Eko is clearly inscribing these on the stick not only as a reminder and symbol of his adopted-belief-system, but as a sort of self-flagellation, a constant, furious rote reminder of what he SHOULD think. Similarly, his knowledge of Biblical parable has been fascinating to me: he knows great stories, but tells them like myth rather than blind worship. And he's been caught inverting passages. Frankly, the Biblical business with Eko and his stick does veer, in my estimation, a little bit too close to the writers-having-fun-making-shit-up factor, as it is steeped int he coincidences that seem a little bit after the fact, like how Eko's quoted scripture about Josiah and the Temple refer to passages in the Bible that Locke opens to and discovers the hidden reel of Hanso footage... as if th e passage is critical to understanding why the reel is hidden there. Eh. I prefer to watch Eko and see him as a man at war with his own self-image, rather than as a prophet, even though we seem to be intended to view him and his counterpart, Locke, as such. And while Locke may be a symbol of blind faith and it's power, I think Eko may be the opposite, a symbol of the power of descerning truth from blind faith.







So, while the good vs bad thing is till out there, apply the same filter to the others, and you see that many are playing roles: Charlie denying his addictiona nd weakness towards it, Claire denying her reliance on others for help, Kate denying her criminal past, Jack performing the role of healer and leader, Locke as experienced survivalist versus wheelchair-bound escapist... it applies to every character ont he island. And it begs the question once again: is this about perception, expectation and belief, all these crazy things going on on the Island? Are the castaways each being challenged in their falsehoods, their denial to themselves about what they believe, who they are, and what they REALLY, at their core, want to do?







Now, the smoke beastie. It was a twirling, tendril-like mass of black smoke, much thicker and more vibrant than the wisps we've seen before. The clanking mechanical noises are still there, but man, this time it blew a few holes in the jungle, sent Charlie up a tree, and came face to face with an unmoving, unwavering Eko. And we see, from Eko's perspective, a series of flashes, images in the smoke, of his own experience, his own fears and shame. The elder hs killed as a child, the rebels, screaming women, hos brother, the crucifix, and so on. And after some escruciating silence... it retreated.



How bad ass was THAT. And hey, talk about SMOKE AND MIRRORS.



10/10 Clicks this time!



PS this one I'm shaky on: there seemed to be a deliberate ominous look to the drug dealers who were trying to offload their goods to Eko in Nigeria. I was thinking to myself, what the hell are THESE guys doing in a country like this, where the borders are closed? And are they Middle Eastern? So I did some e-digging, and found that some folks seem to think they are saying "SAYID will be pleased" or something like that. I couldn't hear it. I also read a reference that Sayid translates to happy in Arabic. Anyway, I'm not yet convinced, but I DO think these guys, and the source of the heroin, was a plot point to be addressed later.



PSS the other one I was sketchy about was the frequently-professed claim online that people are seeing beastie-faces in the black smoke's profile. I think it's horsehit, akin to cloud formation characters or Rorscarch tests... but you can see one attempt below. The third or fourth one down is supposed to look like a dragon head or some such thing. All I see are Eko's bi's and tri's...

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New Avengers #14

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artis: Frank Cho



This issue begins another of these strategic solo-book launching arcs in New Avengers. I have to admit, it’s a pretty interesting technique. It’s been used for decades, of course, but usually it’s been either that they spin a solo book out of a team book when one character proves more popular than the rest… or more recently, in the 90s, it was so crass that they would just hijack a book, throw a new, loosely-associate character in there for an issue, and then “Check out RipClawVendettaStalker’s new book in May!” (which didn’t actually exist yet)… and of course, go further back, and the team books originated by pulling together the most popular solo characters in the first place. So the fact that this book focuses on a Spider-Woman love fest isn’t remarkable. Yes, they’re promoting the new SW ongoing. Yes, it’s a distinct strategy of current Marvel editorial, using a hot book and hot creator to spark interest in agenda books green-lit for exposure in the Marvel U. Sentry, Luke Cage and Pulse, and now Spider-Woman… I’m anxiously awaiting Moon Knight’s pop-in. But the happy accident here is that Bendis writes some good stuff, and I really, REALLY enjoy how all these books are interconnected like a common universe again, even if they ARE all written by Bendis anyway. I love how, in the past year, you read New Avengers, and there were characters and plot points pulled from Pulse, and Secret War, and on and on, and the same with each of those books. I see how others might NOT like it, but I’m the target market, so fine with me.

Fortunately, unlike with X-Men and other book families that try this sort of thing on a regular basis, I really enjoy ALL the tie-ins (with the exception of the Secret War side of it, and the delays that caused some emergency retconning in the other books) so no complaints here.



Last issue, Spider-Woman helped Viper escape the Avengers Quinjet which was hurtling across the Pacific Ocean at a significant rate of speed. I don’t’ know what happened to Madame Hydra-come-Lately, but Cap was pulled out of the jet by the depressurization… or something… and Spider-Woman flew down and rescued him from certain doom (while not breaking his back or anything) and keen-eyed readers probably thought: “HEY! She can’t fly! She glides! FUCKING BENDIS!!!” while not really complaining that Jessica Drew had her powers back in the first place. Anyway, here we have the fess-up. Cap interrogates Drew about her situation, and man, it’s well done in my opinion. First, it hinges on Frank Cho’s art. He gets all the attention for his giant boobies and creamy thighs… on his women… but really, it’s everything. He knows his stuff. Avengers tower looks brilliant, Cap’s face, his posture, his damn biceps, Drew hiding in her cereal… even the tough-to-pull-off scenic montage, all done with such ease, he’s giving Steve McNiven a run for his money so far here. I just couldn’t believe how impressive it was. So yeah, Michael Bolton, now a HYDRA guy, gave Drew back her powers, in exchange for becoming a double agent. And yeah, this is like Bendis making a bet with Brubaker in a bar that he could do Sleeper BETTER. But still, it’s the way Bendis thought this through that I like, and the dialog supports it. She points out that she had no choice, as a normal human given a mafia style ‘choice’ of do or die. And she went to Fury with the situation, and was given the green light to do it, and be a double-DOUBLE-agent. All makes sense so far. Best part: Bendis doesn’t give her one of those Super Soldier cocktails they love to use to give people instant powers. He puts her through weeks of surgery and misery. Awesome. AWESOME. Anyway, sure enough, Fury’s gone missing, and no one knows Drew is a double-double (no, er, pun intended actually.) And another nice detail: Her being recruited into the New Avengers was actually, to her and Fury, a BAD thing, compromising her position in an already dangerous game.



I really like where this is going so far.



It was a little bit hokey that the whole team was standing behind them, listening in. But fine. And I like the reference to the news covering the sudden, significant changes to Avengers Tower, and lots of refs to public awareness of alien invasions and whatnot. SO. What’s next?



10/10 Clicks!

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Iron Man: Inevitable #1

Writer: Joe Casey

Artist: Frazer Irving



Been waitin' for this! SO, as expected, it's a mixed bag, but a good book overall. The story so far revolves around Tony Stark's coordinated effort, through a SHIELD sting operation, to buy black market technology and study it. Meanwhile, he's involved with a philanthropist family's charity event, and back to a secret identity. ANd we see the return/upgrade of two classic foes with new identities.



Joe Casey is quite good at taking classic characters and infusing them with a more adult sensibility to their dialog and behavior... when he wants to. He's doing a fins job here. In fact, it reminds me strongly of his work on the mini Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, which was sort of an Avengers: Year One book, filling in the blanks between the classic, original Avengers stories, in a creative, and intelligently savvy way. Stark has distinctly different ways of speaking when ina nd out of the armor, but Casey manages to allow each to sound intelligent, and somehow allows us to really believe it's the same guy talking. That's a tough nut, and he pulls it off. Usually, writers make Tony flamboyant and Iron Man gruff and terse. Here, there's more confidence and alertness in both. I also like how the real reason for buying this giant laser device is revealed at the end, and it's well done. I'm impressed at how Casey has built a reasonable premise to this book, while not hitting us over the head with how incredibly clever he is. I'm all for Ellis' work, and I love LOVE the Iron Man: Extremis book. But you can NEVER get away from the fact that you are reading Ellis when you read Ellis. It's like any ego-centric, stylized auteur chameleons they aint. If Ellis is sort of Tarantino of comics, in contrast Casey is like Steven Gaghan, who's intelligence, pacing and emotional core pumps additional power into films like Traffic and Syriana, without defining them by his language.



Frazer Irving is doing an interesting job here. I'm really not certain he's the best fit for Iron Man. He doesn't have a firm grasp on rendering tech and armor in many scenes, including the laughable guard robot and many of IM's awkward poses. SOme of his people are a bit muddy and undefined as well, soft in chin and uneven in head shape. However, he's so FAR above most IM artists that it's still a strong step in the direction I think this book needs to be going. It's no secret IM has always been my pet comic, my favorite book since childhood. And so often, criminally under-drawn (and badly written.) What Irving brings to the table is his compositional sensibilities, his brilliant faces in many scenes, particularly the charity guests, and most of all, his superhuman sense of color and tone. He renders Iron Man's armor as a brushed finish (though I prefer a non-grain satin, this is far better than the glossy shine we usually see, and certainly an innovative approach) and characters are rendered in the most interesting colorways and lighting conditions. The final pages, set against the pinkish, ruddy glow of the laser containment thingie, are brilliantly intense and powerful in tone. I love it. And the fact that he's working entirely digitally is quite impressive.



Lastly, the villains: No secret here, even in the solicitation: it's Spymaster and the Ghost. Now, both are new characters in familiar costumed identities, which thremselves have quite nicely done upgrades. SPymaster finally looks interestig to me, with the sort of banded, soft armor look that Paladin rocks, and Ghost is simply stripped to a simple, circuit-based look that really works. I'm delighted to see some classic foes coming back into the fold, and obviously, the return of the Living Laser as well.



8/10 Clicks

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3. Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin # 01

Overall, I really enjoyed these 2 hours. Whereas the first 2 were crazy ass intense events piled one atop another, with good effect granted, they actually devoted the entire 2 hours to one situation and how it played out in the different scenes. And I liked it.



At the airport: Jack stayed completely covert – no superhero moves or taking out all the hostiles one by one with a plastic airport knife. Now, he did use a lot of 'schematics' and hiding in ducts and service areas which is an issue with me, and one of the cell phone companies really should sponsor this show, but most everything else seemed very thought out. Jack trying to coordinate the assault team, the executions were painfully simple and harsh (which is what they should be), explosive vests just for fun. The Kid's fear was almost over the top, and I thought his face might explode, but I suppose it was effective. And I know we have to have plot within plot within plot, and I found the card key thing intriguing, but don't understand the need for the fake hostage. Jack getting called out and just doing it was effective, even though the Flank 2 position thing was a bit overdone. And after the assault, we finally get to see Jack think for a second and take careful aim at the head bad nasty's hand so that he can be taken alive. Of course he blows himself up, but what can you do.



CTU: I got 3 things here. The first, Jack is supposed to be dead. No one seems too troubled by this. Second, as much as Chloe annoys me, her irritating personality does have its moments: "Chloe, you violated 4 security protocols." "Try 26 if you count DOD regs." That killed me for some reason. Third, I don't know if I can cope with a hobbit as a senior DOD agent. It's wrong and grating.



The Presidential Compound: The Martha character is getting better. I like the moments of lucidity mixed with resignation mixed with determination mixed with panic, and how quickly it changes between them. Her cornering the communications guy in the bathroom was great. President Logan is like the worst CEO type boss you could ever have – concerned only about image, unreasonable and irrational, and just wanting things done especially if they're impossible. In that, he is remarkable effective as a character. And the 2 events going on simultaneously played out very well together. Don't know how Evil Walt is going to work out yet.



So I have some questions…



Walt told the bad nasties that Jack was inside and that The Kid was important to him. Who mentioned The Kid. Is there another insider? Since we need multiples of everything, I can only assume so.



And since we need multiples of everything, we're now on plot number 3, the nerve gas. Where the hell was that? In a sealed vault below cargo storage in an airplane hangar?



And how the hell did Yellow Tie get away? That's worse than Jack getting into Palmer's apartment.



9 whirrs…

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