I would recap yesterday’s episode of 24, but not much happened.

For some reason, Emerson (whose British accent was nowhere in evidence) punched out the Sangalese bodyguard instead of killing him. The ambassador and his wife almost gave their lives in their panic room until Mrs. Ambassador chickened out and opened the door.

Jack proved he watched Mr. Wizard as a child; Tony said about 6 words; Chloe and Bill were MIA; Larry got stern with Agent Walker; we learned Queens Boulevard is having an affair.

Whoop-de-doo.

Then things got interesting.

Walker got captured, Jack roughed her up (and all the fanboys enjoyed that very much) and then … Emerson orders Jack to kill her.

We know that Jack is very capable of either killing a good person if he has to (Ryan Chappelle, Season 3, and yes, I am fully aware some might not have considered him all that good, but he wasn’t a “bad” guy) or of making it look like he’s killed someone (Nina Meyers, Season 1, before anyone knew she was a bad guy).

So he does his Season 1 thing, sans bullet-proof vest, by warning Walker that she needed to trust him and she’d live. He shoots at her right next to her ear, probably bursting her eardrum (did you see the blood coming from her ear?), she falls over, probably incredibly amazed that she’s still alive.

But then Emerson orders them to bury her. I’m not sure if he just didn’t want the body to be discovered too early or if he just didn’t trust Jack or what.

So Tony and Jack start shoveling dirt onto Walker, who Jack had laid a plastic tarp over. Buried alive, under plastic. Jack shovels the first mound of dirt onto her face.

Silent clock.

See, that’s always meant the person is absolutely, irrevocably dead.

In fact, the reason so many fans believed Tony was still alive for a couple of years was because he never got a silent clock. Edgar – silent clock. Ryan Chappelle – silent clock. George Mason – silent clock. Even Milo got one, and no one could stand him.

But debate on the fact started immediately. While we were liveblogging over at Blogs4Bauer, some of our readers said they didn’t believe she was dead. The killcount is in question here, folks. It’s very important.

But on Twitter last night, and in conversations with friends, the only thing that’s clear is that her status is unclear. Adam from The Jack Sack told me people were saying you could hear her breathing over the silent clock. Does the breathing negate the silent clock?

I posit this: If Agent Renee Walker is still alive, the silent clock no longer means anything. And it degrades the dignity the show gave to its brave characters.

Sure, this is “just a TV show,” I know. Maybe my last paragraph seems a bit over the top. But the silent clock has come to mean something. I’m gonna be really ticked if it doesn’t anymore.

Just sayin’.