TVSquad

No torture? I'm pretty sure Bauer was trying to beat the location of the nukes out of Feyed during their first scene in this episode.

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Wow....An admission of failure. But not really. Instead of saying they were bored, how about admitting that they could never really ever decide what the season was about? Was it about Jack's family? Was it about a presidential struggle? Was it about the war on terror's affect on the Muslim American Community? Or was it about a good vs bad terrorist? By making this season about all of these, they essentially made it about none of these, since they abandoned each story line within 4 episodes of introducing it. They also made the mistake of putting the climax of the story (Valencia being nuked) in the fourth hour. And why couldn't they blow up another city? Jericho did that... and its not like the world of 24 hasn't already stretched credibility anyways. And what a waste of talented actors who had more air time than the star !
So now they are introducing the Audrey story line. In my opinion it's just the producers not ever really knowing what this season was about, so now, it's about Jack saving Audrey. This is about as boring as it could possibly be. I mean who cares about Jack killing Chinese people(if he even does)? Last time I checked they weren't terrorists. I have enjoyed the ride (for the most part) this season because IT IS 24, but I doubt I'll ever buy the DVD like I did the other 5 coherent seasons. The really great thing about this show that will save it is that Day 7 gives a chance for everything to start fresh. Let's they hope they actually map out what is about before they start filming.

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Manny Coto should have never joined the show, he is so much better than jumping on board dead shows.

And I don't understand why they can't blow another city up. Sure it would have to be a huge city like NYC or Washington but they could do it. I think Washington would have been perfect, really chnage the show.

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Yeah the plot line was dreadfully boring this season, no substance. Something tells me that the Season was pushed and rushed out the door. Too bad, I also enjoyed watching previous seasons - but I guess this was bound to happen with the pressures from the studio and advertisers.

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For once, I am grateful to knowing a spoiler. Now I know not to bother with the rest of this season. I'm ten episodes in, and I only watch while I'm working or something. Now, I won't even bother doing that.

24 needed to let all hell break loose. That was the appeal of this season. To have it scaled back... maybe they'll go someplace else big? Maybe this is all a red herring?

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I'm laughing.

Good attempt at misleading everyone, Manny. But I'm not buying it. You and the other writers had this entire season pretty much mapped out before you started. "Bored to death" of the suitcase nukes? Right. You had planned to end it at about this point. Of course, you want to hide the "major surprises" that are coming at the end, so some misdirection is necessary. Giving the terrorism expert props for suggesting a manuever? Cute.

Don't get me wrong. The writers know that they could have done a better job executing this season. They had a great concept, a season based completely on lies and illusion. But they delved too far into self-parody and were hampered by the addition of too many new characters. Still, it doesn't change what their creative intentions were. And the ending should still be a doozy.

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"This ends now!"

"Don't lie to me!"

"There isn't enough time!"

Etc.

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Scotty-I think you have hit upon something! The writers come up with Jack's dialogue while trying to get their scripts done in time! Brilliant!

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I think the problem this season is the writers have too much faith in the chemistry of their actors in the White House. Apart from MacNicol, the rest of them are so wooden and predictable in motion. That isn't compelling enough. And the gambit did not pay off as it did last season with Jean Smart and Gregory Itzin anchoring the political intrigue.

24 is always about the politics not Jack Bauer kicking ass. At the very least, it's on equal footing to that character.

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When is Napolean Solo showing up?

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What ever happened to Jack's dad? That was like a huge thing at the start of the season.

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I smell bullshit. If they were bored, their boredome was resolved long before the season premiere. All episodes up to this episode were in the can by that time.

Besides, isn't brainstorm/write/brainstorm/rewrite part of the creative process? Is this really a novel concept?

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Oh, and Jack'd dad, I'm assuming, is the mastermind behind the Audrey storyline.

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Gordy, I'm with you. Now that I've caught up my Monday DVR viewing, I can officially quit this ridiculous season of "24."

There were many, MANY jump-the-shark moments this season, but cutting off Gredenko's arm was so monumentally stupid that I nearly quit watching after that episode.

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adhonus-this entire SEASON is a red herring. That's the least I know.

Porchland-I would advise you to at least tune in to the season finale. 24 this year is reminding me of a novel that you have trouble getting into, so you flip to the last chapter, find out what happens at the end, then you go back and read the preceeding chapters. That's why 24 was the series that was born for DVDs-you can review episodes in blocks at a time.

Mel-you nailed the major flaw of this season. I watch 24 more for the political allegory than for Jack's escapades. In previous years, the politics provided the more realistic "drama" to balance the more fantastical adventures of the CTU agents. The political characters grounded the series, and the actors portraying them gave high-caliber performances. With the exception of one actor/character: D.B. Woodside's Wayne Palmer.

I understand the writer's intentions with the character of Wayne. Wayne is supposed to be a hybrid of RFK and LBJ, with a little Hillary Clinton sprinkled in. But D.B. Woodside doesn't have the gravitas needed to pull off the role. Wayne was OK as a supporting character. But not as commander in chief.

SymetriX, Gordy-Jack's dad will be back. And if I'm right, Jack will end up being more like his father than you can ever imagine. Jack's a chip off the old block. Just wait.

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