There’s a lot to love about last night’s two hour episode of 24. To say that the season strains credulity is an understatement. I had wondered from the previews last week how exactly a small military force might storm the White House. No problem. Underwater attack! I guess the Potomac has some hidden tributaries of which I was unaware. I had this great mental image of the Sangalese praetorian guard walking in flippers from the tidal basin, across the mall, pressing the “walk” button at the Corner of 17th and Constitution, and flipping right up to the Southwest gate. But apparently you can just swim right up to the secret underground White House entrance, guarded only by some red lights and a guy who doesn’t want Chinese food for dinner. I never showed that to guests on my West Wing tours, but I always was a terrible tour guide. My favorite, however, is General Juma’s time bending travel. I could have sworn that sometime just a few hours ago, he was trading threats with the President from his lair in Sangala (which, as a Dave Barry reader points out on his blog, is an anagram for Lasagna). But now he’s storming the White House. No 18-hour flight for this warlord! He’s travelling pure Space Shuttle.
Yet, despite the increasing ridiculousness of the plot twists, I am thoroughly enthralled. Jack Bauer’s dress down of the anti-terror crusading Senator (“And you are weak!”) — it doesn’t get any better than that.