The Rookie, Day 3: That's right...I'm bored

With the regular season of television wrapping up, I'm turning towards "The Rookie," a spinoff/advertising campaign made from Degree for Men (because when you're saving the world, you can't smell like shit).

I did something about the Rookie a while ago, and apparently it's grown since then. The rookie is Jason Blaine, an eager young pup who is dealing with life as a CTU lackey who drives cars, orders coffees and makes occasional sarcastic remarks. At least that's what I remember from Day one. This is already Day three, which says to me that Degree can last up to three days. Awesome.

So in a year without 24, we're going to slum it and dive into the Rookie...beware.

I love how we're in Mexico and that whenever there's a drug cartel, it's always here. Never in Buffalo. Always Mexico. Are we trying to tell the children to avoid the country all together (or maybe tell them that's where the fun is depending on your upbringing. Homeless Joe taught me well).

The Rookie, aka Jason Blaine, aka Squirt, is in disguise with his boss (read: he's in dark clothes and has a thin mustache, making him virtually undetectable in Mexico).

The Boss, clad in a white suit and a ridiculous hat, is there to meet a source. A government official who refuses to speak on the phone, prompting this guy to travel all the way down from (LA maybe?) to meet with him face to face.

Riiiiiight. That's totally safe. I mean, it's not suspicious at all that a source refuses to use a secure line. You know what else isn't suspicious? Talking to your driver about this in the car for a minute and a half.

Fat man (yes, the boss is fat) waddles up the street and enters a building. Squirt calls home (whatever agency he's a part of...is it CTU? Do I care?) The pretty lady answers and gives him the readout of the building on a fancy iPhone-ish device (totally unrealistic. Rookies should be given a pen and a pencil and be expected to sketch out the images on a brown paper bag).

Fat man calls out in the building. It's Estaban! (the other unseen Salazar from season 3, just as brutal, not as smooth. Also has a penchant for murdering his friends) and he's there to kidnap the fat man. He's also there to teach the guitar, but that's only on Tuesdays.

Squirt freaks out. Throws the iPhone-ish down and runs out, busting into the building and finding nothing but a white hat on the ground. Pretty lady back at the homebase stares at the dorky guy in the corner...they share an uncomfortable silence...

Check in later for the next moment of "The Rookie."

24 Alternate Ending: Jack has a happy Family, opens video store

OK, maybe not a video store, but this alternate ending, found in the Special Edition DVD of season one (which the FOX people tell me is out today), shows us one of the ways the writers could have ended the season one (the real ending had Nina killing Teri and yelping that no one would ever know who she worked for...guess what, we still don't. Jack should have ripped her head off right there and eaten her cold black soul so that he could flatline and kick her ass again in hell).

The DVD is getting sent to me soon, so I'll have a review of it later. For now, enjoy the alternate ending above and imagine along with me that, in an alternate universe, Jack is a regular citizen who only tortures misbehaved dogs, unwelcome rodents, and noisy neighbors.

BTW, if you're interested in the two-hour prequel coming up this fall, FOX released some information about it a couple of weeks ago.