TVSquad

Speaking of stall tactics--I am fed up with every other episode of Lost being a rerun. I think I will quit watching the show. It's too frustrating!!

Reply

I agree that 24 has some serious stall issues. Drives me nuts.

I disagree however that the flashbacks from Lost are stall tactics. I think they are the most interesting aspect of the show and give it a uniqueness. The traditional way to advance characters is be observing their current behavior. Lost is unique in that characters are developed through the lens of their past behavior. We learn what makes the characters tick through the flashbacks and without those we would not understand why the characters behave as they do on the island. The Lost flashbacks aren't filler, they are central to the show.

Kim and the cougar not central, just annoying.

Reply

i don't disagree, but it is important to remember the difficult gap that '24' has to straddle - 1) keeping the plot moving quickly and efficiently for die hard fans, and 2) keeping new audience members sufficiently informed so as not to alienate them from joining the show.

Reply

I actually liked the subplot with President Palmer's son. I don't consider any of the subplots stall tactics - these people have to have SOMETHING going on with their lives. The only problem is how unrealistic it can be sometimes - like, all this HAPPENS to come up on the day when Jack Bauer has to fight a terrorist threat? If they could add a little more casuality to it, it would work better.

Reply

I think you are right.. but the thing is i think when you watch it on dvd you notice it a lot more then you do when its on tv.. at least thats the way i see it!

Reply

I disagree. I do sort of think that sometimes the subplots aren't that great (for instance, I really only care about the main story). But they have to do something else since every minute counts. I do think that they've improved since the first season. The current season is not as bad.

Reply

Because of the show's format the sub-plots are necessary. Because the whole premise of 24 is that the show is shot in real time, if we were focused on Jack for the entire show, a large part of it would be watching him drive from place to place, possibly making small talk to whatever random CTU agent he is hanging out with that day. The sub-plots take up the time when nothing is happening with Jack. The recap conversations do get repetitive, but they don't seem so bad when you watch it on tv, when they are recaping something that happened a week ago it helps to bring you up to date.

Reply

You know, if 24 stuck to the main plotline, it'd come off like Law & Order--a wonderful show in its own right.

The difference: 24 gives you character insights, so that the viewer can develop opinions on each character. Whereas Law & Order doesn't, it sticks to the plot, with vague subplots that can span seasons sometimes (e.g., Lt. Van Buren's lawsuit against the city, and the political fallout). Hell, I don't know anything about Jack McCoy. Is he married? Divorced? Kids? Gay? I didn't know that blonde chick was a lesbian until she got fired.

Both are great shows. But 24 written like L&O would be too fast paced and borderline unwatchable.

My 2 cents.

Reply

>> But 24 written like L&O would be too fast paced and borderline unwatchable.

Umm, 24 is already unwatchable.

Reply

Season 1, welcome to 4 years ago.
The beauty of DVD is you can skip the nonsense about Kim Bauer or the kids stuff.

The producers heard the complaints and the current Season 5 did away with all that. Still it hasnt matched the greatn season 3 or 4.

Best drama on regular TV.

Reply

Andrew... That might be your opinion, but I think that most would disagree with you.

I like 24... Always have (there was a time in Season 3 three where I couldn't be bothered, but nothing's perfect). There's no way that every aspect and plot arc of a show is going to please everyone. Yeah, I still sit here and say "What the Hell where they thinking" with the cougar storyline, but just about every show I've ever liked has a cougar storyline (Except Sports Night... Sports Night was perfect, IMHO). I mean, I could list them all (Well, I don't have that much space), but they all do (To list a couple of my favorite shows would be easy: Buffy, Angel, West Wing, ER, 24, Alias, Grey's, Lost... Each of those has numerous plotlines that just don't make sense).

But, I don't think its unwatchable. And, seriously, if you think so, then just don't. You're better off if you're not enjoying it :)

Reply

I have no problem with the subplots but the plot-recap-conversations are excrutiating. I don't believe they're necessary because the vast majority of 24 viewers are watching every week. It's not the sort of show you watch once in a while.

"Jack, are you heading to the abandoned warehouse on Main Street to confront the Russian terrorists because they are going to release nerve gas because blah blah blah?" Gimme a break.

Off topic...strictly to maintain the credibility of the show, they better explain how Lynn's sister's boyfriend was able to find someone who wanted a CTU security card. It may not effect the plot much if at all, but it's a gaping hole.

Reply

The cool kids all watch '24'? Wow. I'm part of the cool kids!

If you don't like it, '24' is hard to watch, but that's true of any show. You couldn't pay me enough money to watch Desperate Housewives, but I hear that a lot of people like it.

As for the whole cougar thing... it was hardly five minutes of the show. It amuses me that it's still making the rounds.

Reply

I think if it was all about Jack then people would be complaining about that. 24 is not a thinking show, it's a ram-bam show like Die Hard. You just sit back and watch and enjoy it.
The Lost Flashbacks are not stall tactics! They are extremely crucial to the stories that are happening on the island. Although they do have other stall tactics with unimportant plots going on (i.e. Sawyer and Hurley hunting a stupid tree frog all episode).
Lets face it, even though some people may not like 24 it still is one of the best shows on TV, and still stays in the top ten rated shows for the week. But, if you don't like 24 I'm sure they'd love you to watch CSI or some forensic show on CBS because those shows NEVER use stall tactics...hahahaha!

Reply

While I agree 24 has stall tactics, I found thins amusing:

"Over the summer, my husband and I rented season one of 24...

Do people in the real world actually have the same conversation over and over again within one hour? I don't think so."

That's because you're the woman. Had your husband written this, there would be no question. :)

I kid with love. Ladies, y'all be repeatin' stuff that dudes already got the first time and don't realize it. Love you Donna if you read this. :)

Reply

"Off topic...strictly to maintain the credibility of the show, they better explain how Lynn's sister's boyfriend was able to find someone who wanted a CTU security card. It may not effect the plot much if at all, but it's a gaping hole."

You've got it completely backwards. The terrorists found THEM first. They obviously tagged the boyfriend and he convinced the junkie sister that it was just a simple robbery.

Reply

"You've got it completely backwards. The terrorists found THEM first. They obviously tagged the boyfriend and he convinced the junkie sister that it was just a simple robbery."

That seems like a stretch to me, even for 24...I doubt the terrorists would hinge their plans on a couple of junkie f-ups coming through. The terrorists found Lynn, found out he has a junkie sister, found out she has a boyfriend, and they just knew that Lynn would come running as soon as his sister called him for money? Why wouldn't the b/f have let the sister in on the plan? She already knew they were going to rob Lynn and beat him up.

Reply

I oringially thought the same, that the terrorists planned on using the junkie bf ahead of time. However, somebody reminded me that they never intended to release the gas in the US. That kinda throws a wrench into that logic.

24 is still a great show, but I think this might be one of those cases where we have to just turn our heads and pretend there's not a plot hole there.

Reply

You're asking the wrong question about the Key Card. What we should all be asking is how did Lynn get back into CTU without it? Wouldn't he have to scan it to come back in after he got the crap kicked out of him? Also, I'm glad his sister is dead, she could've ended up being really annoying.

Reply

"What we should all be asking is how did Lynn get back into CTU without it?"

And Aaron gets the gold star! I swear, sometimes the flawed writing really gets to me on 24.

Reply