24: Season 6 (2007) Day 6 (*22):2:00 AM - 3:00 AM

[Truth Seeker]

Jack is held in custody at CTU, while Cheng prepares to launch a surprise attack.

Lennox uses Lisa as a plant to send a false message to the Russians in hopes of defusing a tense situation.

Morris' decision to end his relationship with Chloe begins taking its toll on her as they struggle to maintain professionalism, and Josh shows signs of guilt over the role his father played in the day's terrorist attacks.​

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

Yeah this season has been pretty slow and basically a rehash and mishmash of things that have happened in previous seasons. I thought the show started off very strong this year, but at some point I think they lost focus.

I'm still hoping they resolve the issue with the former President. Not Palmer's brother, but the dude from last season. He flatlined in that ambo and we haven't heard a peep since. Are we to assume he was DOA?

 

[Relique du Madde]

I'm sad to say this -- and trust me, I'm a huge fan of the show (HUGE) -- I think the writers need some fresh ideas. Or perhaps the show needs new writers?

Yeah this season has been pretty slow and basically a rehash and mishmash of things that have happened in previous seasons. I thought the show started off very strong this year, but at some point I think they lost focus.

The question is when did it loss focus? For me it kind of felt like it started to lost focus when Graem Bauer and the rest of the Bauers appeared after all CTU's terrorist leads died out or sometime during Assad's flight to washington.

 

[Hijinks]

Yeah, I couldn't really believe it when the Chinese attacked CTU. Uh .. SO last season..

I think Josh is Jack's kid. They've already hinted at a romantic association between Marilyn and Jack. Dunno if that's been discussed yet this season here .. I've been away for a bit.

Spoiler:
Wasn't sad to see Milo get shot. Just couldn't stop thinking of him as the toe-sucker from Six Feet Under 1st Season.

Jack seemed so wimpy last night. He was all looking down and shaky and jittery. And he coulldn't even save Josh from being captured. I was wondering when he was gonna take charge, but he never did.

 

[Relique du Madde]

Jack seemed so wimpy last night. He was all looking down and shaky and jittery. And he coulldn't even save Josh from being captured. I was wondering when he was gonna take charge, but he never did.

Same here, I mean how many chinese guys who were armed with assult rilfes did he kill? You'd think that he would pick himself a second assult rifle just incase he ran out of ammo. I was half hoping that he would have passed a gun over to Josh (which would have caused Josh's psycho cold-blooded Bauer gene to activate)....


... But then again.. Fox would have canned that idea due to the school shootings. But still, it would have rocked.



Sadly, I have a feeling that Schroder will probably save the day at CTU late next week after the Bauers are transported to Phillip's hideout. Then during the last episode I have a feeling that there will be a three way shoot out between the main chinese guy and Phillip vs. Jack during which Jack finds out the truth about Graehm's death (which sets Jack into ballistic kill everyone mode) just before Jack finishes both of them off.


I seriously wish that it all doesn't happen like i think it will.. but at this point the series has become a paint by numbers plot..

 

[kirinke]

Huh. You gotta remember what Jack's been through. So far, he's been tortured by the chinese for 2 years, came back only to be sold to Fay'd with the knowledge that he'd likely be tortured to death anyway.

He is in fact beaten and tortured by Fay'd, has found out that his brother and father are both traitors and mass murderers, recieved the info that his former girlfriend was killed in China looking for him, found out she was alive but for the last three months held captive by the same psycho that was torturing him.

He also found out that Cheng drove her catatonic. He was also forced to kill one of his best friends. Any one of these things would drive a normal person around the bend twice. So yeah, him being shaky and jittery in light of those things.... Perfectly reasonable. Everyone has a breaking point you know.

 

[Relique du Madde]

Any one of these things would drive a normal person around the bend twice. So yeah, him being shaky and jittery in light of those things.... Perfectly reasonable. Everyone has a breaking point you know.

True, but I think some of us were expecting Jack to go utterly ballistic and become a cyclone of terror and violence when he broke. After all, he was basically disowned by everyone he held dear except for Josh and his Josh's mom. Thats sort of why I think that his final confrountation with his dad would be especially brutal because at this point he has little to loose except for his life and the lives of the two remaining family members which look up to him.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

Huh. You gotta remember what Jack's been through. So far, he's been tortured by the chinese for 2 years, came back only to be sold to Fay'd with the knowledge that he'd likely be tortured to death anyway.

He is in fact beaten and tortured by Fay'd, has found out that his brother and father are both traitors and mass murderers, recieved the info that his former girlfriend was killed in China looking for him, found out she was alive but for the last three months held captive by the same psycho that was torturing him.

He also found out that Cheng drove her catatonic. He was also forced to kill one of his best friends. Any one of these things would drive a normal person around the bend twice. So yeah, him being shaky and jittery in light of those things.... Perfectly reasonable. Everyone has a breaking point you know.

I think that's a very fair assessment of the character, given all the situations he's been through.

But 24, which I lovingly refer to as the "Jack Bauer Power Hour," has not been very take-charge this season. Basically, the Jack Bauer Power Hour has been lacking in power. And Jack Bauer.

I started watching this show because Jack was such a strong character. Deep convictions, frightening skill, and constantly torn by his work/personal life dichotomy. It's not terribly original but very compelling, and the package was put together well. I always think of the 2nd season when Nina kills that terror suspect and their plane crashes. Without missing a beat, Jack immediately:

- secures Nina
- checks passengers and pilot for life signs
- moves to a secure, hidden position
- realizes the peeps searching the wreckage are mercs
- kills a man with a flare gun

That's exciting stuff. This show's all about Jack and what he can do. Not seeing him do it has definitely hurt the show. Nobody cares about Ricky Schroeder the way we care about Jack. There have been some strong episodes in this season, but almost all of them involved Jack doing what he does best.

 

[kirinke]

I read somewhere that the tv producers in charge of 24 were wanting to show a little more realism, ie, consequences of the kind of things that happen to Jack on a regular basis. I mean, after two years of being held captive, tortured etc, he's going to be at the breaking point as I said before. With this day's events, I think he's way past that and it is showing. I have a feeling he will pull it together though, maybe in the last couple of hours. In any case, he is gonna need some serious mental help when this is over.


Durned it, I've only been able to catch a few episodes here and there though. Hafta catch it on DVD I guess.

 

[Silver Moon]

From Dave Berry's "24" blog:

One of the executive producers of "24" told the industry magazine TV Week that the show hadn't mapped out its story lines in two seasons.

Uh, what? You're running a complex serial drama -- albeit one that often makes no sense (which certainly makes sense now) -- and you're admitting that nobody knows where the story is going? Unbelievable. And yet, not. This kind of disdain for the viewer, which came back to bite "24" in the butt this year as viewers revolted and ratings dropped, should not be forgiven. All promises of fixing the format next year should fall on deaf ears. The producers have admitted that they're not flying the plane and that they don't know where it's going, which is a dereliction of duty. Someone at Fox should be fired for not keeping better watch on one of the network's most popular shows.