Bauer by Hour: Don't Mess With the Midnight Cowboy

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Matt Swenson says look out, I'm walking here!

The following takes place between midnight and 1 a.m.

IF YOU'RE OLD ENOUGH you might remember that Jon Voight became a household name for playing a character who did his best work after hours.

Well, he's taken on a different profession, but the Midnight Cowboy dominated this week's "24," which starts right as the clock hits midnight.

Playing Jonas Hodges, the head of evil Starkwood, Voight doesn't get any blood on his hands. Instead, it gets on his shirt.

Tension is mounting as his weapon of mass destruction nears completion, and he seems hell-bent on dealing with all of his enemies. That includes the chairman of Starkwood's board, who helped the now-late senator played by the dad from "That '70s Show" and who just befriended Jack Bauer.

But he's no match for a glass whiskey container and a good old-fashioned volley over the ledge.

If that's not enough, Voight threatens the president with a nuclear attack if she doesn't call back some F-18s headed out to strike on Starkwood. The president, who already withstood on a siege on the White House, backs down.

Score: Jon Voight 1, President Taylor 0.

Now to the minutes.

» UH OH: If it weren't for the fact that Kiefer Sutherland signed on for an eighth season of "24," we might actually wonder whether Jack Bauer will live through this radioactive infection. He's still on the sidelines this week and even suffers a seizure.

» NEW HOPE: We just established how Jack won't die. Here's how the show will do it: An experimental drug is floated this week. He just needs some stem cells from a relative — cough Kim Bauer cough — but for now, Jack is refusing. Agent Crybaby doesn't like this and will no doubt bring Kim back to the show.

» LOVERGIRL: With the Starkwood situation about to blow up, the sneaky daughter of the president is busy shacking up with some reporter to persuade him not to run the story on the impending doom. However, even her good lovin' doesn't shake him from the story. What does: the fact that she videotaped said encounter. Bet nobody's ever tried that on Hugh Downs.

» MIA: Kim Bauer is coming. Naked Mandy isn't. Chloe O'Brian was missed this week as Janeane Garofalo took forever to crack a Starkwood code.

» WHY THIS SHOW IS "24" AND YOUR SHOW ISN'T MOMENT: All it takes is one Larry Moss punch to distract well-trained militiamen enough to allow Tony Almeida to sneak to safety and find those nukes. Yeah, that would happen.

Photo courtesy FOX