Random Jack Bauer Fact: Young monsters are often afraid to go to sleep at night because they think Jack Bauer is in their closet.

As my esteemed colleague "The Man" mentioned in an earlier post, the kill count on 24 appears to be coming back in line with the high standards that have been set in past episodes.

Badger receiving the smallmouth bass treatment was an unexpected yet pleasant surprise. The killing of the anonymous bad guys, though not quite as pleasing, was nonetheless a bonus. And Jack's fine marksmanship with regard to the helicopter incident certainly bodes poorly for his enemies in the near future.

However, I cannot seem to move past last week's episode where, in my humble opinion, a huge opportunity was lost. Bear with me.

Jack was ordered by terrorists at gunpoint to release a cannister of deadly gas into the ventilation system of the mall. Jack opted to disobey a direct presidential order thereby saving the lives of thousands of innocents, but potentially risking twenty times that number of people down the road.

Now I understand that Jack Bauer does not like to be told what to do by anyone. Not by a couple of two-bit terrorists. Not by a fur-footed, temperamental Hobbit. Not even by the first woman president of the United States.

However, had Jack been able to see past these personal effronteries he had the chance to dramatically increase this season's kill count with no risk whatsoever to the civilian population, all in one fell swoop.

He could have done so with the following two steps:

1. Release the gas into the ventilation system killing thousands.
2. Wait until the show was off of the air later that night, fly backwards around the world at supersonic speed thus reversing time and preventing the killings from ever having happened.

Results? A staggering kill count. No actual loss of life. Everyone wins.