24 Season Six - 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
I just realized today that I forgot to put up the discussion thread on 24 this week. So here we go.
For the first time in six seasons, I’m finding myself less excited about the White House stuff than the field stuff. Not that Jack Bauer could ever be overshadowed by anyone, but the political intrigue behind each season has always been gripping. There are lots of players at The White House. And the stakes are at a global scale. The coup of the president in Season Two was one of television’s finest hours.
This season, though, it’s a two-dimensional drag. For a show run by creators from the political right — an extreme rarity in Hollywood — it’s amazing that the characters in power in Washington could be handled so horribly, like a leftist’s caricature of the current White House. That’s why it rings so false and so painful. This season, the political power struggle has all the subtlety of an afternoon soap opera. It’s too bad.
The show isn’t all bad, though, at all. For starters, we know what’s going to happen for the rest of the season now after this nuclear disaster is finally averted for good.
Spoilers for this episode after the break. DO NOT SPOIL THE FUTURE. Do not discuss coming attractions, what you saw in commercials, or any of the rest. I’m doing good this season, so far, in avoiding all that.
Post-nuke, Jack is going after the Chinese delegation. He’s stormed the Russians already. His next trip will be a suicide missing to the Chinese embassy, no doubt. He’s going to find out what really happened with Audrey and then extract his pound of flesh. I don’t buy an accidental car accident for Audrey for a second. But I do believe she’s dead. She’s too tied up in other TV shows to come back to Jack Bauer now. Shame.
On another wild note, I was pondering what has happened in the season thus far, and my first Whatever Happened To — ? character was the president’s sister. So, of course she shows up at the end of this episode. Who else have we lost touch with? We saw Jack’s sister-in-law/ex-lover this week, also. I suppose Dad Bauer needs to shake loose next. Did President Logan ever officially die? The last I can remember of him was the end of last episode, when he was crashing in the ambulance.
Oh, and I shouldn’t forget — THE MOLE IN CTU! YES, WE FINALLY HAVE ONE! But it’s not Nadia. Heck no.
Will Bill Buchanan’s wife drag the president out of a coma to get him to countermand the crazy Vice President? Stay tuned. . .
March 22nd, 2007 at 3:54 pm
I knew that we would all rejoice in the return of the CTU mole! I almost thought we would get through a season without one.
I do agree with you onthe political front. Things just seem a little to blah on that end of things. Hopefully that part will pick up. I also do not believe that Logan has died yet.
In regards to the Audrey thing, I am of the thought that Audrey isn’t dead. I think the writers wrote it in such a way that she could be alive or dead. And it would be very easy for the Chinese to fake a scene and send some DNA samples. I guess it just depends on Kim Raver’s availability and where the writer’s decide to go. I would certainly be interested in seeing her again. Of course, I would imagine if she were still alive in Chinese custody, they might not need very much of her actually on the show. We shall see!
March 23rd, 2007 at 10:57 am
The 24 producers have been dropping hints that they’d like to make a feature film, and that they could stay true to the formula by using multiple locations and omitting travel times. Looks to me like the China plot might be a good fit for this format.
Oh, and I think Audrey is as dead as the actress playing her wants her to be. The 24 producers are notorious for killing off characters when their agents get too aggressive. This way, they aren’t over a barrel.