TVSquad

The beauty of the day format is that the writers can start over for the next season/day and can forget this heap of crap they call a show this year. As for the rest of the day, I'd go ahead and nuke Fayedistan, have the VP and Prez duel, and let Jack actually have more than one scene per hour. The show can explore the implications of it in the movie or next season.

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I couldn't agree more about the show trying to develop too many unnecessary characters. During the show's greatest seasons, whenever a character seemed to have a minor role, they would have no problem killing him off. I always use Gaile from season 3 as a reference. He was an underlying player through the whole season until they killed him off to continue the story arc. Take the opposite situation, season 2, Kim Bauer and the cougar, how pointless was her entire Au Pair role? Jon Cassar, stick to relevant characters and developing plots instead of throwing nobodies at us.

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Hey, don't forget that everything that's happened so far this season was a scam, and there never were any bombs, and we're going to find out during the last five minutes of hour 24 that all the bad guys were actually good guys trying to trap the real bad guys. And that will make the whole boring season worthwhile.

(Sorry, the guy who always says that hasn't shown up yet, so I thought I should say it for him.)

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OK, I think this season has been far from perfect. They added too many new characters, and I've never been a fan of Wayne Palmer or the actor who portrays him. But if I'm right about what's really been going on, and how the final few episodes are going to play out, I think Matt Roush and all the fans who've been bashing it will be eating crow. The writers are NOT STUPID. There WILL BE A POINT to everything that has happened. And I am 100% sure that the end of this season will tie in to the events of previous seasons, giving the die-hard fans answers to lingering questions that have annoyed them. Have faith.

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I want the return of Mandy: Female Assassin.

http://kylebeabo.blogspot.com/

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Big Ted-Sorry, didn't see your post. Snicker.

Yes, it is a scam. A con game. A trap. Whatever you want to call it. I do think I was wrong about some of the details in the hypotheses I have posted, but the essence is more or less the same. Almost everything is an illusion. I do think this is 24's weakest season. But it's not the total disaster everyone thinks it is. And it will play better in reruns.

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ok,.. there he is.

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Actually, it's a she.

And the moment that apparently no one's been waiting for....

Another crazy theory!

I think Brady, the autistic kid from episode before last, is a relative of Jack's. (B)rady H(au)s(er)=Bauer. I personally would love it if Jack had an autistic brother, because I had one (he died a few years ago). It would explain a lot about Jack's character.

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I just can't take Roush seriously as a critic. He's a good writer but his opinions fluctuate too much and he really doesn't have as much insight as he thinks he does.

Remember guys, this was the man who said Heroes was not a good show when it first premiered despite the great reception his readers poured on the show. This was the man who dismissed readers when they aired concerns about 24 early in the season. Now he does a doubletake when it's really starting to suck and we're supposed to take him seriously?

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I just don't get it. My wife and I started watching the show this season and we both think it's great!

In fact I never even though negatively of the show until.. I started reading posts like these!

So far I feel like every show has left me on the edge of my seat. I don't know what else you could want.

Maybe my perspective is jaded since I haven't watched other seasons, and perhaps it's old hat for everyone else, but I'd still say it's a far cry from somebody getting ready to write an "obituary" for it; I mean isn't this show regularly in the top 10 in viewers each week?

I think people's expectations are just too high.

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Well Symetrix, it all just comes down to our comparisons of this season and previous seasons, especially the great entity known as 24 : Season 5. Season 5 was so good, we demanded perfection for this season, but as you've already read before, this season has not delivered IN TERMS of it being in the same room as other seasons. When you watch other seasons, then it'll hit you how far off they are this year, lol.

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You and your wife are drinking Boone's Farm, when in earlier seasons you could have had white zinfandel.

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Gregory Itzin and Jean Smart were so captivating last season that this season was automatically going to suffer due to their limited involvement. Although they brought some top-notch talent in, the new actors and their characters pale in comparison. On one hand, I like what the writers were aiming for this year with a rather original, Usual Suspects-esque plot. But on the other, there's nobody to care for outside of Jack, Chloe, Bill, and Karen. This is the main reason why the fans are disgruntled.

But don't worry. I suspect a lot of familiar faces will be reappearing in the coming weeks.

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It hasn't been in the top 10. But it has been consistantly in the top 25 this season. Like it or not.

I personally place this season as mediocre. Seasons 2 and 3 were clearly worse. Seasons 1 and 5 were clearly better. That leaves season 4 as comparable.


Which sounds about right. SymetriX, you have to understand what this site is about. Semi-professional critics and totally amateur commentators who a wannabe semi-professional critics.

There was one semi-professional here - who felt he had to continue in the comments after being pulled - that actually thought it smart to comment about how he was reviewing slamming an episode of Prison Break that he never even watched.

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Apologies. I thought this site had at least the basics... HTML encoding... in their comments. My previous comment should have had the word "reviewing" crossed out prior to the word "slamming". My bad. Guess the reviewers aren't the only thing here that are lame.

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Welp, it looks like the fans got their wish with a heavy Jack-centric episode and a guaranteed change of scenery and personnel.

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After the way tonights episode ended its going to get better!!

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@ Delmarc:

Why do you (and so many people) consider Season 5 the best ever?

I didn't originally see seasons 1-4 until I got them on DVD, and that was early on in Season Five. I remember coming to tvsquad and seeing all the ho hum, boring, it sucks commentary during the early / mid part of Season Five. And people talking about other seasons being much better.

Personally, I think Season 5 had its moments, but was not "the best" day for us viewers in Bauer's life - I probably have to give the nod to Day 2 or 3, though like most people, could have done without the Kim stuff.

And Season Six is much like Season Five - good start, boring in the middle... and the end's coming, so hopefully it'll pick up.

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I say bring in Peta Wilson (aka La Femme Nikita) - have her takeover Jack's place at CTU and clean house.

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Well Mark, I considered season 5 of 24 the best for a variety of reasons. Though it did start off slow, it had a strong middle (which makes season 5 and season 6 quite different), and a terrific ending. But here's why season 5 is the best.

- Hands down, great acting. Gregory Itzin and Jean Smart just gave it their all, which made the characters of Charles and Martha Logan a great fixture on the show. And of course, Kiefer aint too bad either.

- Introduction of Characters that we can love or hate deeply with passion. Marth Logan, Christopher Henderson, Karen Hayes, and Miles Papazian. This season, all we get is Morris (though he was in season 5 but it was too short to count), Milo (same but in season 1), Nadia, and Doyle. I don't mind Doyle that much anmore, but the other character's are just plain "ugh". Theres plenty of scenes featuring Morris, Nadia, or Milo where I just pump my fist in anger and saying things in my head like, " You know, theres still 3 suitcase nukes out there right? Then why the hell are you guys wasting time with your useless drama?". I know the 24 writers were just trying to start something with a little bit of drama in CTU, but it didnt work and it just slowed the suspense and intrigue that this show is famous for.

- A very intricate plot and terrorist storyline. From Walt Cummings to Vladimir Bierko and all the way to Charles Logan, this plot had substance and was very fun to watch.

- Not that many boring scenes. And when there was, it would include characters we connect and we love such as Chloe or Edgar. This season had plent of boring scenes (Morris's alcoholism/ Milo and Nadia's potential romance), which made it even worse since we really dont know who they are.

- Alot of characters that we enjoyed through all the years of 24 are in this season. Though they werent there for a long time, I enjoyed seeing familiar faces like David Palmer, Edgar Stiles, Kim Bauer, Mike Novick, Curtis Manning, Tony Almeida, James Heller and Michelle Dessler. And I loved how the deaths of certain characters made an emotional impact on Jack's humanity and how he managed to handle the rest of the day with that emotional baggage.

- The overall direction and musical compostition for each episode was done well. Even in filler episodes during season 5, it still had a certain intensity that matched the situation. This season, I dont know if it's the director or if its the music, but some scenes just feel too slow and too boring.

- Plentiful amount of great scenes. This really made Season 5. From the assasination of David Palmer/Tony/Michelle, to the initial dialogue between Walt Cummings and President Logan in Episode 6, Jack's torture of Walt Cummings, Tension between Martha and Charles during many scenes, the Russian envoy attack, the nerve gas attack on CTU ( that whole episode was just done so well), the action scene in the chemical plant, Jack interrogating Henderson's wife, Jack interogatting Audrey (just an awesome scene), Jack meeting Heller for the first time, first time we know that Logan is behind the day's events, Jack landing the plane on the freeway, Jack Killing Bierko and Henderson on that submarine, Jack interoggating Logan, Logan's speech and arrest in Palmer's funeral (thats justice), and the trajedy that is jack's life when he saved the day, but got kidnapped by the chinese. There were just so many great scenes in this season. Even the scenes with just dialogue had a more "tense" feel to it this season than last season. I think it's because of the acting.

- The middle part of the season wasn't weak at all. Of course there were "filler" episodes, but not in a string of 2 or 3 straight like this season. Between filler episodes were outstanding episodes.

-Lastly, the 2 hour season finale was just priceless. It was a great and fitting season finale, and lets face facts, some people tend to judge a whole season of a show based on it's season finale and conclusion.

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