"24": I'm Getting Scared...

“Don’t be scared,” Jack Bauer told the Russian woman. “You’ll be okay.”

And she was, amazingly enough. But will the show be?

For the first time all season, I’m not so sure…

Warning: The remainder of this post contains details about tonight’s “24.”

Sometimes it’s just no fun to be right and tonight was one of those times. I correctly predicted from what I heard of the promo that Martha would kill Charles. But if that’s the promo department’s idea of “the most shocking moment in ‘24’ history,” they haven’t been watching the show very long.

Or maybe they feel like they had to oversell it to make it seem more exciting. Something sure needed to…

It’s not unusual for the show to bring back a beloved character just to kill them, but if Logan is indeed dead, what did he die for? Just so Martha could make a phone call that did absolutely nothing? Was the whole purpose of that to get the raid on the consulate authorized so it didn’t seem like the raid in season four?

And what was even the point of bringing back Martha? Just so she could kill Logan and make that unnecessary phone call?

And why on earth would Jean Smart and Gregory Itzin sign on for this?

And am I the only one that feels a little betrayed? Not by the overblown promos, but by the show itself. The return of the Logans had been heavily anticipated all season, and their reunion was as good as advertised, but it was WAY too short and WAY too pointless.

As you know, I have defended “24” every step of the way this season, but after this, I’ve got to say I’m losing a little heart as well. And it doesn’t help that Jack has been MIA for much of the season.

That’s not to say the show doesn’t still have its good points. Powers Boothe is awesome as Vice-President Daniels and Peter MacNicol is continuing his strong run as Tom Lennox (But now that we’re blaming Assad, couldn’t we bring back Reed?). And the sped up launch of the nukes will amp up the adrenaline.

But waiting around the corner is the conclusion of the Phillip and Marilyn story and no doubt Sandra to whine over her injured brother.

And that doesn’t leave me much hope about where this season is headed.

I’m still with it, mind you, since unlike other critics, I remember that “24” was not always as strong as it was last season; but I’m really hoping they turn things around.

Because I’m getting pretty scared myself…