24 Update: What the hell happened?
So I haven’t given a 24 update in a couple of weeks, and that’s mainly because I’m pretty disappointed with the direction the show is taking. I feel like the wheels came off somewhere around the 12th hour, and I’m not sure they’re going to be able to recover at this point. So instead of talking about the episode, I’m going to talk about general things that are ruining the 24 experience at this point.
- More Jack, Please - I don’t think we’ve ever had a time on 24 that the show was less about Jack than it is right now. Last night we saw Jack for about 2 minutes at the beginning, and then he was completely absent until the 2nd half of the show, where he basically sat in surveillance for the rest of the show. We had one very small Jack moment (when he shot that guy in the head), but for the most part, he’s been relegated to a bit part. This is made even worse by the lack of other longterm characters. If the story was focusing on Tony and Michelle, I might be into it. But I just don’t care about Nadia and Milo. At all.
- Dropped storylines - 24 seems intent on dropping major plotlines this season over and over again. First it was that guy they put into the internment camp that got beaten up for spying on those guys (remember him?). Next it was the Logan story. Now it’s the Ben Folds lookalike story. That guy was causing Doyle all kinds of grief last week, and now he’s not mentioned at all. I have a feeling that he will show up again (and hopefully Logan will too), but I think we’ve seen the last of our Muslim friend.
- Improbable plot points and unrealistic moves by the characters - Do we even need to talk about the President waking up for a coma in a matter of seconds? How about him launching a nuke right after he risked his life to make sure we wouldn’t launch a nuke? Doesn’t make any sense. And why is he taking adrenaline again? How does that relate to being in a coma? Here’s the official 24 site’s research on adrenaline. Notice how it doesn’t mention anything about treating guys that just came out of a coma. Honestly, Tom Lennox has been the only new character that has seemed believable to me at all. The VP is far too warmongering to the point that he’s really a parody (of a certain president perhaps?). Mike Doyle is still a caricature at this point. Morris’ story seems to be played out (turns out he’s not really an alkie anymore). Bleh.
- Not using the good characters they have - Jack, Karen Hayes, Bill Buchanan, Chloe, and Jack…all of them have been squeezed out by the flood of new characters they’ve brought on to replace everyone they killed off last year. Unfortunately, the new characters are falling flat (see above), and it just makes us miss the veterans even more.
So is the season salvageable? I don’t really see how it’s possible at this point, but I’ll keep watching, of course. Don’t get me wrong, I still think 24 is the best thing on television these days (that I watch anyway), and my complaints are made in that context. It’s just been so great for so long, it’s disappointing to see such a poor season from them.
What do you guys think?
1. Didn’t Jack hurt his ribs, btw? Just sayin’. And Jack did get a good kick in on Fayed. “And I hope your friend dies too!” Fayed could have added “And I hope your mother gets done by monkeys!” That was corny. It is curious that we haven’t seen much of Chloe either.
2. I think the Muslim friend is thankfully out of the action and this is no different than other 24 seasons, where characters (like Connie Britton and her son from last season) have a short story arc and never reappear… but what about freaking President Logan?! Is he alive? Is he dead? Is Aaron with Martha as she sits in a holding cell? I see it could be hard to work in but… just a phone call to CTU or the President’s office letting us know how Logan is. Logan doing better or worse could serve to show the hard side of President Palmer, for example. And I think the guy from Denver, I think he was involved in some clown-outfit ball gagging donkey show dolphins gone wild S&M craziness, and that’s why no one wants to talk about What Happened In Denver.
3. When this happened I was yelling. I woke up the neighbors, I’m sure. Dumbest plot suirprise ever. But I think Palmer’s launched a non-nuke missile just to scare the President and Ambassador of Fayedistan. Like the Ambassador of Fayedisterroristan has any pull with terrorists. And if he does we’re arcing into some interesting political statement waters with 24… as if to say that we’re not dealing with “failed states” but with enablers of terrorists. From what I know and have heard that doesn’t seem true; in fact, it’s the problem with the real war on terrorism, we’re fighting mobile moving targets with no power base or capital to defend. Even leaders who are in cahoots with terrorists probably couldn’t say “hey, let’s stop this crap” and have the crap stopped.
Tom Lennox definitely has his own agenda and that’s fun to watch. And the VP is believable to me—he’s also just single minded! Nice “when we’re done with this crisis I’m giving you the interim-presidential-rogering” moment.
4. Bill and Karen had a really tender moment, though.
Good commentary. Yes, on so many levels, it just hasn’t lived up to last season. Overall, the show’s been cyclical, blowing everyone out of the water with Day 1, of course, hitting preposterous levels on Days 3 & 4, but coming back with a vengeance on Day 5. I agree; I won’t stop watching, but it’s been quite ludicrous this season, and now, with a whole new plotline. And yes, what’s with Chloe and Jack barely getting any face time?! Geez!
I have to say I’ve enjoyed a lot of aspects of this season, esp. getting to see some of Jack’s background. I have been disappointed by the seemingly little bit of Jack-time we’re getting. (I chuckle to myself whenever Kiefer is interviewed and he says the show can go on withOUT him. Not a chance. The show is all about him.) So in that sense I’ve been disappointed. But, overall, I think it will play better all at once when it’s released on DVD. Sometimes I forget it’s the same day…which helps with some of the obscure plot twists.
On another note, I really enjoyed reading your blog!