"24' Can't Tell Time -- But So What Else Is New?

The Numbers Don't Add Up As CTU Takes On Russian Bad Guys

A cracklin' good "24" tonight, much to Gregory Itzin's (right) chagrin as we got to watch ex-Prez Charles Logan flatlining at the end.

This was a rare Jack Lite episode, as much of the hour was spent with Logan trying to get ex-wife Martha -- she in the expensive loony bin with former Secret Service demigod-turned-paramour Aaron watching over her -- to call her dear friend Anya, the wife of Russian President Subarov.

Logan wanted Anya to convince her husband to tell super-baddie Markov at the consulate in L.A. to surrender before CTU stormed the gates and started WWIII.

Sounds simple enough, right? Only thing: It would have been pushing 4 in the morning in Russia. Yet, we're told Subarov is giving a speech in Omsk? To whom, the night shift at the city morgue?

Anywhoo, as they say in Omsk, it appears the Subarovs are night owls. Anya picks up the phone. She's wide awake and dressed rather nicely. Her peripatetic husband is later seen by her side, conveniently dressed in a suit and tie, because you never know when a diplomatic incident is going to break out.

Of course, all that time-zone silliness came just before Martha stabbed Logan, which left her quite pleased with herself. Yet, somehow she managed to sound lucid immediately afterwards during her chick chat with Anya.

Which is the great thing about "24." You roll your eyes over what absurd plot device they've managed to cook up. But you keep coming back. How could you not? The world may blow up any second now.

P.S. Jury still out on Ricky Schroeder. Might be some high-priced window dressing, or he could be a keeper. Gotta have a real kick-ass guy running Field Ops, after all. And hope they got some extra dough in the set-design budget what with Powers Boothe angrily chewing through all that scenery.