Overall, I'd give the ep a "so-so" or a "fair to middlin.'" Some observations.
1. Is it me or did Annie Wersching, who plays Renee Walker, take Drama 101 over the summer? WHOA! I was actually pretty riveted during her faceoff with Vladimir. That final scene was quite thrilling.
Of course, it wasn't like we haven't been here before. That scene was reminiscent of just about every season when someone sits there with a gun either to the forehead or... (not sure what the back of your head is called; let's call it "asshead") ...the asshead and dares the gunman to pull the trigger. Usually, the tense standoff culminates with Jack (even in the midst of giving himself CPR) miraculously saving the day.
Unless, of course, you're Ryan Chapelle from Season 3. Then your day is screwed. Big time.
Still, kudos to Wersching for getting it done. Can't imagine her being able to pull it off last season.
2. I'm convinced that Oleg (Bazhaev's son, Josef's brother, which doesn't really clarify anything) doesn't have radiation poisoning. It made the scene a LOT funnier for me to imagine that Oleg, in between breaking kneecaps, dancing the bottle dance from Fiddler on the Roof, and transporting weapons-grade uranium, ate at the same cheap Mexican hole-in-the-wall I did last time I visited the Big Apple.
Montezuma reached his long arm of revenge all the way up to NYC and into Oleg's colon!
Once again, the 24 writers rehashed another threadbare plot device. For decades I've been seeing bad guys strong-arm doctors into giving them free medical care and then off the doctors when service is rendered. Hmm. Now THERE'S your healthcare reform!
3. In the meantime, the country of Schadenfreude goes to hell in a handbasket.
I did like Hassan's comment to the Prez that power is the only thing his people understand. We'll see how the whole power struggle plays out, especially with Jason Schwartzman trying to snag the uranium, seen here doing some fancy pointy hand moves.
4. Best comic moment of the evening: Renee offering to drive Ziya and herself to Vladimir's.
For God's sake, you just chopped off the man's thumb with a circular saw! How thoughtful of you.
All is not lost. Ziya's thumb can, in fact, be repurposed...
...into a very personalized swizzlestick. Sadly Mr. Swizzlestick ended up in a bigger drink than he wanted.
5. Ex-squeeze me?! Did I just hear Jack calling Renee unstable?
6. Why is no one at CTU worried about Dana Walsh's productivity?! Oh, I forgot, it's CTU (Clueless, Thoroughly Unprofessional), voted the worst government agency EVER. I mean, I suppose if you get the chance to get into a "discussion" with Leonardo DiCaprio from Gangs of New York, your supervisor really ought to look the other way.
Come to think of it, Dana's supervisor Hastings has other things on his mind anyway.
7. Does it bother anyone that if Evil Ex-Boyfriend Kevin is such a despicable lowlife ex-con who gets his jollies beating up women, why then does he have such good diction and enunciation? It's probably just me, but I really found his overly clear, succinct accent off-putting. It's either a case of bad directing or bad casting. I keep expecting him to break into a Shakespearean sonnet!
Next episode: Magic Dummy gets her FREAK ON!
Oh, dear. What an unfortunate picture. Does Anthony Hopkins have any idea it's floating around?
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