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Fuck naysayers: The return of 24

 
  

Page: 123(4)56

 
 
Jackie Susann
22:46 / 03.08.06
I think my main problem with Logan's plan was that up to the point he was revealed as the Big Bad, he was always presented as a totally indecisive, pusillanimous wimp, then suddenly he's cooly co-orchestrating this insanely complicated terrorist/counter-terrorist plot.

I also don't get why they decided to try and kill Tony, Michelle and Chloe. I get that the answer is, to frame Jack for Palmer's murder, but that makes no sense, even by 24 standards. If they pick someone else to frame, Jack will keep on pretending to be dead. If they go after those closest to him, Jack - who all the conspirators know is the toughest, most competent secret agent in the world - will be after them.

And while I'm ranting, what bugged me after that was they never bothered following up on the obvious lead - okay, whoever is behind this terrorist plot both knows Jack is alive and has a grudge against him. Surely that was worth giving some thought? Fucking hell!

I am in two minds about next season. I half want the Chinese government to break him and send him back into America as a terrorist, like the Brit from Season 3. On the downside, that will inevitably mean Kim comes back when they use her as leverage against him.

Oh yeah, that's another thing. Why the fuck does Jack keep thinking CTU is a safe place for his daughter? This was at its least logical in Season 3, where he let her work there so he could keep an eye on her. By that point, in just the two days we know about, there had been at least two moles, one of whom murdered the other and Jack's wife, a network of terrorist surveillance cameras, and a bomb attack on CTU. Oh yeah, that sounds like a great place to keep your eye on your daughter, Jack!
 
 
Jackie Susann
00:15 / 04.08.06
Really what should happen next season is, we find out in the first episode that getting captured by the Chinese was ALL PART OF JACK'S PLAN.
 
 
H3ct0r L1m4
10:48 / 15.08.06
hah!

whomever said jack, beaten up to death [both physically and spiritually], asking 'just to be killed' being creepy was spot on. oh, my!

loved this season, even with the obvious plot holes - would it be network tv without those? and I just hope season 6 at least starts in china and doens't write off this plot as a simple mention on the fly, like they did with the guys behind palmer assassination attempt at the end of season 2.

by the way, something i've always blabbed against: 24 almost always [seasons 2, 4 - not mentioning the guys behind nina's arrangements to flee the US] reveals the real baddies to be shady american figures and jack never gets to nail them down. great, they finally framed logan, but about the guys in the control room, who ordered logan's suicide?

in any case, it'll be interesting to see jack broken even more deeply: season 5 has made all his past efforts irrelevant:

palmer's dead [and terri died in vain so jack could protect him]; the baddies were in charge [all the running and killing and trail of dead bodies left behind were in vain]; tony/michelle/undercover life destroyed. i wonder if henderson-robocop had been working with the chinese to take down the ones who covered up jack's 'death'.

poor jack. only thing left for him is to go completely rogue and fuck everything and become the villain ctu will have to catch. bring on the next bauer power hour!
 
 
Keith, like a scientist
16:01 / 15.08.06
loved this season, even with the obvious plot holes - would it be network tv without those? and I just hope season 6 at least starts in china and doens't write off this plot as a simple mention on the fly, like they did with the guys behind palmer assassination attempt at the end of season 2.

Sounds like you will be disappointed from recent reports. Don't want to go into too many spoilers, but root around AICN coaxial if you are interested in seeing what they are saying...

Btw, villain this season? DOCTOR BASHIR FROM DS9. Bwahaha.

by the way, something i've always blabbed against: 24 almost always [seasons 2, 4 - not mentioning the guys behind nina's arrangements to flee the US] reveals the real baddies to be shady american figures and jack never gets to nail them down. great, they finally framed logan, but about the guys in the control room, who ordered logan's suicide?

This is a big point for me, too. I was hoping after season 2, that we would constantly be seeing little points to this. It's obvious the shady american figures are Oil Company guys. Which dovetails with the guys in the control room last season. With this season purportedly being back to middle eastern terrorists, they might be diving back into this plot point again...
 
 
Jackie Susann
22:50 / 17.08.06
They should totally write off the China thing! Not even mention it, and then half way through next season, somebody complains that they're tired, and Jack just goes, 'Are you for real? Last year I stayed up for like 48 hours and in that time I stopped at least two major terrorist attacks, brought down the US president and escaped a frigate after being beaten nearly to death by a bunch of Chinese commandos. Suck it up, dammit!'
 
 
H3ct0r L1m4
20:47 / 26.08.06
doc bashir will most likely be one of those "end of stage 2 villains", much like Henderson, Bierko, Sayed Ali etc etc. superhenchmen. I can see him tied up at a CTU interrogation room telling jack who ordered the terrorist act.

I was hoping this season to at least start wrapping up some of those plots about the real guys behind the events. the Logan things was cool at first, as it was hinted at the end of season 4 that some guys wanted Palmer as far as possible and jack offed for good so they could carry on with their business.

maybe when the producers decide to put an end to the show, Keiffer is too tired of it and everything, all of those points will be tied together and Bauer can go after some dirty suits and put a bullet in their heads. not before having Chloe [hoping she doesn't get killed first for cheap emo value] empty their Swiss bank accounts, much like some Americans would enjoy seeing happen to Halliburton figures. and he ends up finding out a very small group was behind EVERY threat he ended up facing all those years, including the events that lead to his wife's death. but until then...

one last bit before I fully enter the realm of fanfiction: I actually found the China plot interesting, even if it mor or less resets the Bauer-gone-rogue plot [which I love], but it's stupid to see it'll be easily dismissed much like Palmer's poisoning at the end of day 2. not that I wanted to see Bauer trying to escape a China prison SPY GAME-style, but it's something different at least.

even sloppily done: Bauer didn't notice a Chinese guy called him to an abandoned office to "take a call from Kim" and man, is Los Angeles smaller than the town I live in? everything is right around the corner. in every season, mostly one where Bauer has gone rogue, it's useless having Jack back at CTU for debriefing every couple of hours [unless I'm not doing my math wrong, which is likely].

in the space of 10 minutes he got kidnapped, shoved into a vehicle, then into a large ship that was just about to take off from the port, and beaten up. I can't believe for the sake of internal logic that he got beaten up *before* being taken to the ship.

but as I said, this is network TV: "emotion" is more often than not comes first, internal logic second. nothing more powerfull than a jack bauer, stripped of everything he loves, asking to be just killed already...
 
 
Jackie Susann
22:38 / 26.08.06
even sloppily done: Bauer didn't notice a Chinese guy called him to an abandoned office to "take a call from Kim"

I can believe that if you've been up for 24 hours, foiled a couple of terrorist attacks, brought down a President and crash-landed a plane, and I don't even remember what else, you don't really think it through properly when the person you care about most in the worlds calls for you.
 
 
H3ct0r L1m4
08:22 / 27.08.06
ok, Jackie, you got me. I exagerated a bit. the tired/relieved look in Jack's face when he sees Audrey again indicated that. jackbauer can beat chuck norris in killing the world but in the end he's only human.

I only wish the signs of his fatigue were showed more, like when he nodded in the 1st season. /fanboy rant off
 
 
Jackie Susann
09:27 / 27.08.06
Or in Season Two when he kept clutching his chest during the last fight. But then, he had been tortured to death and revived and had a subsequent heart attack and shit.
 
 
H3ct0r L1m4
18:28 / 07.01.07
Day 6 prequel that came in the day 5 DVD box.

Bauer is broken...
 
 
Mistoffelees
10:07 / 08.01.07
I saw the first episode of season six yesterday. Very interesting, but more of the same at the same time. Somehow, it felt like many episodes squeezed into one.


MILD SPOILERS

There was a self-doubting president, his quarreling henchmen, colleagues fighting and mistrusting each other at CTU, the usual Chloe does stuff against protocol and almost getting fired, some CTU mole suspects, the inevitable teenager (no, not again!) plus his suburban family, Jack doing some really sick stuff plus being tortured, many people dead due to terrorist attacks, and some boring relationship talk between last season characters.

/MILD SPOILERS


Maybe it is because I have just recently finished watching season five, but I was not very impressed. CTU and the government behave like they always do, and except for Jack and Chloe, I really don´t care who is a traitor and who will die this time. The only thing that makes me watch this is the bad guys in the government and the terrorists being evil and Jack doing his superhuman insane stunts. But with the shape he´s in, I have no idea how he can get through this season without being on a stretcher.
 
 
Keith, like a scientist
12:47 / 08.01.07
well, the first 4 episodes are all leaked, and I watched the first 2.

i'll say that it gets a lot more cohesive and dynamic in the second hour....so far i'm liking the scope of it.
 
 
Elijah, Freelance Rabbi
13:23 / 08.01.07
I grabbed the first 4 episodes over the weekend, watching them tonight I think.
 
 
Slim
01:39 / 09.01.07
Against my better judgment, I watched the prequel. 24 has broken new ground once again by being absolutely fucking ridiculous before the season actually started.
 
 
Keith, like a scientist
04:07 / 09.01.07
wait til you get to episode 4

H
O
L
Y

F
U
C
K
 
 
Mistoffelees
18:28 / 09.01.07
Indeed. Sadly, I got that last episode spoiled by reading something on a different board, but that was still very enthralling. The bad guys aren´t such slackers this time around, that much can be revealed.
 
 
Elijah, Freelance Rabbi
18:52 / 09.01.07
I have watched the first 3 episodes and all of them had the right number of "Oh Shit" moments, the kind of thing I at first say "Sweet" to, then say "Wait a second, that is idiotic" but in the end I am entertained, and thats what I am after in an action series.
 
 
Mistoffelees
17:03 / 31.01.07
It´s been six episodes of season six, so what do you all think so far?

SPOILERS

With all the recent developments, it looks as if this will be a full blown soap opera. We got the Milo/Chloe/Morris love triangle, Karen Hayes and her husband, Sandra Palmer and her imprisoned boyfriend.

And of course Jack and his family business. There were strong hints of his brother´s son not really being his but Jack´s offspring. So we now have three generations of Bauer in this season.

And does anybody else not really care if more of these "visitors" go off? We know there will be at least two more seasons of 24, and it doesn´t look as if they´ll take place somewhere else than L.A. What more must happen to this city, before terrorists think "Nah, we´ll try to hit New York, Las Vegas, etc. instead"?

/SPOILERS

After all the catastrophes in the last seasons, I´m more interested in all the extreme situations people have to face (for example last season the young soldier who had to cat a throat on the submarine, or the president´s wife realization what her husband is capable of), than to see more nerve gas or bombs go off. In this season, we had the family father trying to save his wife and son and Sarah Palmer´s boyfriend, although especially in episode six, that was ahndled quite poorly with the cell phone.
 
 
Keith, like a scientist
19:05 / 31.01.07
Me am sad re: Curtis. Hope that dude went off to another good job, cause he rocks.

I find myself simultaneously interested and disgusted about the development of Jack's brother being the evil oil guy from last season...
 
 
buttergun
19:56 / 31.01.07
The "bald guy with glasses" super-villain of last season turning out to be Jack's brother takes this series into Alias territory.

What next, Graem's son is gonna turn out to be Jack's?

I've watched since Season 1, and felt last season was the best yet. Which just makes it all the more of a kick in the crotch that season 6 so far has been...well, bad.

Prez Palmer's sister is more annoying than Kim...and we all know that's saying something.

And how could the producers/writers set off a fucking NUKE IN LA...and make it boring?????
 
 
akira
20:55 / 31.01.07
And why was the US government negotiating with terrorists?
 
 
Mistoffelees
18:42 / 20.02.07
Do you know how to use this?
No.
Point and shoot.


This season is so much fun! The unavoidable teenagers have been tolerable so far, Kim and Audrey still haven´t shown up, and it´s all kept tight and crisp. And I´m looking forward to Jack visiting his old friend next week.

I spent some time reading 24 articles on wikipedia, and although the producers say day six takes place in a "perpetual now", 2012 or 2013 seem to be more accurate!
 
 
Benny the Ball
20:19 / 20.02.07
I haven't followed 24 since season one - but I saw a clip from season 5 or 6 and he kicked a man off a train and the man exploded - neocon quality!
 
 
Make me Uncomfortable
23:04 / 20.02.07
Spoilers for season 6
_
_
-
This new season has been pretty weird for me. My favorite part about Season 1 was that it was so focused on Jack and his family- it made sense for him to be so active and crazed all day, because his family was at stake. But at this point, it just seems like too much of the world revolves around Jack Bauer- his brother, his father, the president, the former president, a bunch of his coworkers, the chinese, the new terrorists, everything seems to be about him.

To me this season seems to have lost focus. It's supposed to be about the, uh, THREE remaining suitcase nukes (which are apparently about to become missile nukes). But in this most recent episode (10), we didn't even see the weapons. And the "real" bad-guy, Gredenco, only showed up for about three minutes. The rest of it was a rediculous wild goose chase with Jack's messed up family, most of whom I wasn't even aware existed until the season started. How can they expect the audience to care about these people when they were only introduced a few episodes back? Why should we care about his father's buisness empire when it hasn't really even been discussed?

And why do all the terrorists have a personal connection to Jack? I mean, I know he was in covert ops... but wouldn't that imply that they wouldn't know it was him that killed thier families, or thier brother, or whoever? Damn.

On the other hand... I just can't stop watching. I need to know what is going to happen...
 
 
Keith, like a scientist
01:19 / 21.02.07
i think that saying all the terrorists have a personal connection to Jack is a bit of an overstatement. As far as I can recall only seasons 1, 3, and 5 had connections to Jack, and 3+5 only loosely. In season 3, English dude saw him as a useful tool for his own ends. Season 5, he was used as a scapegoat/distraction by his conniving brother... So it's not really all about getting revenge on jack.
 
 
Keith, like a scientist
01:22 / 21.02.07
forgot to say: Evil Pa Bauer is a really lame plot point this season, the first time I've really thought about ditching the show...
 
 
Make me Uncomfortable
02:18 / 21.02.07
And it's pretty depressing to see James Cromwell (Phillip Bauer) reduced to such a boring role, especially considering he attended my alma mater, Carnegie Mellon...
 
 
Triplets
03:06 / 21.02.07
24 is much better when you realise (or make yourself realise) that it's CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE SERIES!! Every season Jack gets picked back up by SHIELD, is shafted with a new Bucky/annoying teen and then has to go all Nomad to fight a THREAT TO AMERICA!!
 
 
Triplets
03:10 / 21.02.07
Seriously, he's been betrayed by his brother, then his dad, his wife died on the last page of the last issue (of the first series), he's FLOWN A NUKE TO SAFETY (AND LIVED!!) and saved America more times than you can count (6). "This is not realistic"? Well TOP STORY: WATER FOUND TO BE WET.
 
 
buttergun
13:30 / 21.02.07
I've watched the show for years and have all the discs and I've always been the first to defend it and rally for others to watch it. Even in the dark days, in the middle of Season 3's broadcast (when the show was nearly cancelled), I kept watching, kept finding enjoyable parts. But I'm sorry, this season is just awful.

Jack's father being revealed as some super-criminal who can murder his own son, threaten to murder his grandson, and then attempt to murder his OTHER son is just so fucking, fucking stupid. IT IS LIKE ALIAS.

Also, didn't a nuclear bomb just go off? So why is everyone talking about their relationship troubles? Why aren't people rioting in the streets? WHY ARE PEOPLE STILL WORKING AT LIQUOR STORES JUST A FEW MILES FROM WHERE THE NUKE WENT OFF??

So far this season has been a lame retread of last. Instead of Jack's mentor coming back to haunt him (last season's terrific Peter Weller), this year it's his father. And again, just like last year featured the ineffectual President Logan (for the first half of the season, at least), who had murderous "patriots" in his staff (ie Walt Cummings), this year features the ineffectual President Palmer, who has murderous "patriots" in his staff (ie Chad Lowe's super-annoying character...seriously, people...Chad Lowe).

This season has devolved into such inanity that I await next Season -- Jack will have to work with his mother, who defected to the USSR decades ago after murdering a CIA operative and has been presumed dead, trying to track down a few Rambaldi devices.
 
 
buttergun
13:34 / 21.02.07
>>In season 3, English dude saw him as a useful tool for his own ends.<<

English dude was Saunders. And yes, like most of the other main villains in 24 history, he very much had a personal grudge against jack. He didn't just see him as a useful tool. He had been part of the mission pre-Season 1 which Jack had led at Palmer's behest, the mission in which everyone except Jack (of course) got killed -- only it turned out Saunders survived, and blamed Jack.

And even if these terrorists don't have a grudge, ALL of them so far have known who he is, somehow. Like there's a newsletter for terrorist radicals..."BAUER RUINS ANOTHER PLAN, STORY PAGE 11."
 
 
akira
11:27 / 22.02.07
"How do you know he's telling the truth?", "He wants to live".

Best Jack Bauer line yet.
 
 
buttergun
12:28 / 22.02.07
I don't know...I think the best line was this past episode, when Jack called in the strike on the (of course empty) house Gredenko was in, but refused to give Buchanan anymore info. Why? "It's personal."

Wow, this season is just so fucking bad. They actually used the line "It's personal." Why not just go all the way into cliche-ville and precede it with "This time it's"?
 
 
Keith, like a scientist
14:07 / 22.02.07
English dude was Saunders. And yes, like most of the other main villains in 24 history, he very much had a personal grudge against jack. He didn't just see him as a useful tool. He had been part of the mission pre-Season 1 which Jack had led at Palmer's behest, the mission in which everyone except Jack (of course) got killed -- only it turned out Saunders survived, and blamed Jack.

Uh...but that wasn't the reason for his entire plot to take over America... he was mad at the US gov't... I don't think his plan was Get Revenge on Jack.
 
 
buttergun
15:02 / 22.02.07
We're arguing over semantics. The point is, and the general contention above, is that Saunders was yet another international terrorist who personally knew Bauer and wanted to kill him in revenge for some past misdeed.

That being said, I liked Saunders, probably one of the best villains in 24 history. Plus he had that stylish high-collared sweater look. If only the writers hadn't copped out at the end by introducing his daughter, so Jack could use her against him...
 
  

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