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24: Live Another Day. Hype thread.
- Thread starter Rich!
- Start date
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Count of Monte Sawed-Off
un33dab@dpu$$y
Tony just about always seemed to get shit on by the story.
Deadly Cyclone
Pride of Iowa State
I never saw seasons 1-3 so I'm bringing my girlfriend into the series and getting the seasons I never watched done. Can't wait. 
Plinko
Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
I still didn't find it as bad as the ridiculous Curtis storyline.
Graphics Horse
Member
We need something really bad to happen at the end of this episode.
How about a nuclear bomb going off in L.A.?
NOT ENOUGH!
also they had to replace him with Doyle what an awful character...
Team Filler
Member
Edag Plata
Banned
The thing is, no matter how I look at it, you could have shot Curtis anywhere. Why the neck? Shoot him in the leg to distract him and have guys take away Assad. Shoot him in the arm. Shoot the gun out of his hand, anything!!
The REAL crime of killing off Curtis was that CTU became like government daycare without him. He was the really reliable guy, acted professional like an adult. Bill had to be babysitter to Chloe and Morris with their kiddie relationship drama and teen alcoholism, Milo being a perv punk hitting on Nadia and Nadia not knowing what she's doing, Then Milo has to get involved in Chloe and Morris. It was like CTU 90210 or something.
APZonerunner
Member
What bums me out is how much more sad it would've been had Curtis been the one to get blinded in the last-but-one episode rather than Doyle. The entire series could just be shifted, replacing Doyle with Curtis - yeah, even the creepy sex-pesty Nadia stuff - and it'd be a bit better, because of the relationship forged with Curtis by both the viewer and Jack.
Edag Plata
Banned
Yeah, it's always sadder when a character is taken out not by death, like in the case of Audrey. If she was just "dead in China" that would have been lame, but having her physically there but unobtainable for Jack was heartbreaking. If Curtis was the one who got his eyes blown out instead of Doyle, it would have been horrible because we knew him so well. With Doyle, even though I kind of liked the character, when he got blinded it was just like "Welp, looks like he's going to be another one of the single season characters. Oh well..."
The only benefit to Curtis's death was the short term emotional impact it had. You were still shocked that they took out such a likable guy and before you could even recover, the nuke goes off and that's another punch in the gut, shock wise.
The other weird thing about Curtis was his character arc. When we meet him we question his professionalism with the stuff with Marianne, but then we see that even though he's human, he approaches it in a very level and professional way, and stays professional for the rest of season 4 and season 5. Then in season 6 he just throws all that away and takes a suspect hostage out of nowhere. It was just a bummer.
I wish season 6 never happened. So much nonsense. No serious repercussions for Jack in China either.
Am I talking spoilers too much? I feel bad for anyone who's coming in here hearing about the new season and reading spoiler city, but it HAS been a long time since this stuff aired.
APZonerunner
Member
To be honest, I think part of the mistake was birthed by the end of Series 5. The China cliffhanger was something that probably sounded cool during Series 5, but then when they sat back to bring him back for Series 6, they were left head scratching.
Things in Series 6 that are a direct cause of the China cliffhanger:
- Wayne as President. They wanted somebody who would "truly feel" how hard a sacrifice Jack's life is in the opening episodes and then want to side with him later on, so they needed somebody that knew him. That was why it ended up Wayne.
- The nuke going off - they needed a game changing, brutal event to keep Jack 'in', because after his ordeal he wouldn't want to stay
- Audrey. 'nuff said there.
Those three things are the jumping-off point for three of the weakest parts of that Season - Wayne is ineffective in that role, despite being a good character. They appear to realize that halfway through and initiate the injury plotline for him to give him some stakes, but it falls flat. After the nuke the plot can't live up to that moment, and there's also a problem with the world as depicted showing no reaction to the nuke two hours after it happened, because it's an unsustainable concept in a real time show where things have to happen. Audrey - just a complete misstep for that character.
I think the ending of a Season is important, as it really builds a place for the show to go. If you look at Series 4, for instance, I don't think it's the strongest season - once Marwan becomes the primary target the season just feels like it begins to meander and lose its focus - but it has an incredibly strong ending. Series 5's utterly incredible delivery owes a lot to groundwork laid in Series 4 with characters like Bill, Edgar, the 'new' Jack-loyal Chloe, Audrey and so on. Of course, even if you remove the China thing, there's still the putrid Bauer family stuff in Series 6 and all that... so you can't win 'em all. That series would've likely been an entirely different animal without the China angle to shape its early hours, though.
They know where they went wrong, though. There's an interview somewhere recently with Howard Gordon where he's talking this new Series, and he says where they went wrong in 6 was that they didn't have a plan. 1, 2 and 3 all had arching plots overall constructed prior to the first episode being written. They might change, they might evolve, but they had an idea. Series 4 they did away with that, and despite it (imo) being weaker than the first 3, it was the most successful, because it was very action-packed and stuff. And it was still fucking great, to be fair to them. So after Series 4 they went with even less planning in Series 5, and that was just the perfect storm. They had no pre-plans - like when Walt Cummings is revealed as the 'mastermind' and kills himself early on, that was probably written (and acted) as genuine, but then writers later retconned it so that he was protecting Logan and was killed to prevent him from implicating him. Which is amazing. By Series 6, that bubble had burst. 7 was more planned out, 8 was a mix again - with 8 they had the first and last few hours planned out - until the first attempt on Hassan's life, and then the back-end after Renee's death were planned from the start - but the middle was free-form. I felt that worked well.
Graphics Horse
Member
Not watched S6 since but at the beginning wasn't everyone going 'wow, what must the government given to the Chinese in exchange for Jack Bauer'?
Was there any kind of resolution to that at all?
Was there any kind of resolution to that at all?
Grover Cleveland
Member
I don't believe so. Once the whole Bauer family drama with the Chinese ended, I don't think they were seen from in 24 again.
Edag Plata
Banned
I'm still convinced that the only reason they made Wayne Palmer president was for that one line from Bill: "President Palmer wanted to talk to you personally....oh Jack, how could you know? Wayne Palmer is president..."
Then they didn't know what to do with him, so they blew him up. He died off screen, right? There was like, a newspaper article somewhere on the floor of the Redemption movie with a really vague reference to his death, no?
Then they didn't know what to do with him, so they blew him up. He died off screen, right? There was like, a newspaper article somewhere on the floor of the Redemption movie with a really vague reference to his death, no?
yes, they put him in a coma and later on redemption there was a newspaper with the news about his death also Daniels discuss that
Holy shit. I have absolutely no recollection of that. RIP in peace Mr President.
The Lamonster
Member
Wayne died?
the hell, I don't remember that.
the hell, I don't remember that.
I know, right?!
Nameless
Member
I'm not even sure how there's still a POTUS in the 24 universe... atleast one that the people continue to recognize.
-President D.Palmer (eschewed 2nd term due to scandal/assassinated)
-President Keeler (presumably assassinated)
-President Logan (resigned due to scandal & criminal charges/unknown if suicide attempt worked)
-President W. Palmer (assassinated)
-President Taylor (resigned due to scandal & criminal charges)
RIP James Heller.
-President D.Palmer (eschewed 2nd term due to scandal/assassinated)
-President Keeler (presumably assassinated)
-President Logan (resigned due to scandal & criminal charges/unknown if suicide attempt worked)
-President W. Palmer (assassinated)
-President Taylor (resigned due to scandal & criminal charges)
RIP James Heller.
HomerSimpson-Man
Member
5 f'n Presidents, either lost through assassination or scandals. Worst presidential successions of all time! The US government has to the laughing stock of instability to the world and to their citizens if this is what keeps happening if they already gone through 5 presidents and Jack is still looking springy.
Heller will be the one to survive, he's a tough old man
Grover Cleveland
Member
Heller drove his car off a cliff into a lake and lived.
I'm convinced the SOB is immortal.
Edag Plata
Banned
I could see a scene in the new series with Jack and Heller in a room and an assassin is there to derail whatever has him in the UK working with the PM and the assassin pulls out a gun to kill him, Jack yells "MR. PRESIDENT!!!!" and in that beautiful Heller voice he goes "Not this time, Jack." and sinks his teeth into the gun, biting off half of it.
Then he swallows it and spits the bullet into the assassin's face.
Then he swallows it and spits the bullet into the assassin's face.
I wish they'd actually have a president who didn't have anything like that happen to them. Maybe tons of stress during the 24 hours, but make it through 1-2 terms and retirement without any shit. David Palmer was almost there, as awesome as he was, but didn't make it.
Grover Cleveland
Member
I wish they'd actually have a president who didn't have anything like that happen to them. Maybe tons of stress during the 24 hours, but make it through 1-2 terms and retirement without any shit. David Palmer was almost there, as awesome as he was, but didn't make it.
I think Noah Daniels just disappeared into a quiet life after he lost his re-election campaign to Alison Taylor. So there's that.
NerdEyeBlind
Member
If they introduce flashbacks into 24:LAD they can bring everyone back!
EVERYYYYONNNEEE!!!
ok.. well then he can have recurring nightmares featuring some of the old characters instead.
SJRB
Gold Member
Yes. Jack Bauer teams up with Rene Walker and Bill and stops an international terrorist cell from blowing up the Big Ben.
But here's the twist: Chloe is a phychic and in episode 12 it is revealed that Rene and Bill were actually ghosts and Jack has completely lost his mind and has actually dreamt the entire season and is locked up in a mental institution.
Oh yeah, forgot about him. I wasn't able to make it through Season 6 save for the 24 fan-recommended episodes.
Edag Plata
Banned
More importantly, Hal Gardner, Logan's VP. I assume he just lost re-election after Logan resigned to Wayne...but the public didn't really know about Logan's shenanigans, did they?
Rogue Agent
Banned
At first, I thought Hal Gardner was the corrupt one. The fact that I saw him before on Red Alert 2 just added to the hilarity.
SJRB
Gold Member
And what happened to Taylor's VP who insisted on NOT sending in the FBI/tactical team during the White House hostage situation? I watched season 7 again like three weeks ago and I'm completely blank about this guy. Was he even part of the conspiracy or was he just an asshole? I'm pretty sure he was hoping Taylor would get offed so he could take over, but I don't think we ever saw him again after those two episodes.
Rogue Agent
Banned
What was his name? I don't even remember the guy lol.
Edag Plata
Banned
He was a Lindsey Graham clone like how Logan was a Richard Nixon clone.
lazybones18
Banned
I would say it's the worst season overall, but others will disagree
I'm struggling through season 8 at the moment, about halfway through and bored as hell. I've come close to bailing on several occasions but hate not seeing things through. I keep thinking it must improve soon, it can't continue being this bad. I've watched (and loved) seasons 1-6, not watched season 7 yet, but season 8 just seems utterly preposterous, even by 24's standards. Plus: it's BORING.
Is season 8 generally considered to be the worst?
Plus, if Jack Bauer ever took Carrie Mathison to a tennis match the earth would probably spin off its axis.
Is season 8 generally considered to be the worst?
Plus, if Jack Bauer ever took Carrie Mathison to a tennis match the earth would probably spin off its axis.
S3 is as good as any other in my opinion, give it a few more episodes at least. Things begin to pick up later and the last third of the season more than makes up for the slow start.
Keep watching, you're almost there. From episode 15 onwards it's pretty much the best 24 has ever been.
APZonerunner
Member
It's worth saying, about the Wayne death/newspaper thing, that one of the key writers of 24 has said that the newspaper doesn't ever appear prominently on-screen, Wayne's death is never mentioned (just that Daniels ends up taking over), and that in his mind Wayne didn't die. If they ever want to retcon that (doubt it), they will.
For what it's worth - mild spoiler- the virus turns out to have a weaponized variant that kills and transmits ridiculously easy later on... which leads to some of the best tension in the show.
For what it's worth - mild spoiler- the virus turns out to have a weaponized variant that kills and transmits ridiculously easy later on... which leads to some of the best tension in the show.
Edag Plata
Banned
The truth is even at it's worst, 24 is still better than most of the crap on TV anyway...even during the time season 6 was airing.
So I'm watching through 24 for the first time and I'm currently up to Season 6 episode 15.
I've definitely noticed a drop in quality (not just because Season 5 was revelatory on many levels). The main issue I'm having is I'm baffled by some of the actions and decisions of both these characters and the rules of the CIA. (Like, why would they just let X hang around and listen in on all these crucial conversations when they have no proper clearance, why did no-one think about protecting Y from Z while risking their lives etc etc.)
Does it get better or worse?
I've definitely noticed a drop in quality (not just because Season 5 was revelatory on many levels). The main issue I'm having is I'm baffled by some of the actions and decisions of both these characters and the rules of the CIA. (Like, why would they just let X hang around and listen in on all these crucial conversations when they have no proper clearance, why did no-one think about protecting Y from Z while risking their lives etc etc.)
Does it get better or worse?
Nameless
Member
This is true. There's probably 10 or so very solid to great episodes in the S6, the rest goes from average to weak but it all goes down better being able to binge watch as opposed to getting it over 24 weeks.
I'd say the worst stretch in the series is the home stretch of S7. Fuckin awful outside of Jack demanding someone get David Palmer on the phone.
Edag Plata
Banned
Nah, worst was the first half of season 8. There was just NOTHING going on there. At least season 7 had some cool conspiratorial stuff and Jack vs. Tony.
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