24: Day 5 Discussion Thread

[Woochifer]

Alright, I've been neglecting this thread for way too long!

Have to chime in regarding the this week's "9pm" episode. My gawd was that ending a shocker when Audrey got implicated as the information source for these Russian terrorists. Audrey?! Geez, now I'm gonna have to buy the DVD set for this season, so I can go back and retrace Audrey's steps (kinda like how the surprise ending of The Sixth Sense completely changes how you view the movie the second time around).

It was very reminiscent of an early episode from Day One, when Jack and his boss got ambushed in a gunfight. Before dying, his boss gave Jack a key card that would reveal the identity of the CTU mole (back then, the idea of a mole at CTU was still a novel idea, unlike now where it's pretty much a given!), and the name "NINA MYERS" popped up. That plot twist was a shocker at that time. Later, Nina "proved" to Jack that she was framed, but of course, we found out later on that she was really a Serbian mercenary and she wound up killing Jack's wife as the clock ticked down on the first season.

So far, I think this is easily the best season of 24 since the first half of Day One. (Overall, I think Day Two was the best from start to finish) I like how they're not letting stray plot threads linger and get stale.

Jack's new girlfriend and her teenage son? Rescued from the hostages, and now back home in Bakersfield.
Lynn McGill? Created tension and conflict, but now gassed and gone.
Tony Almeida? Didn't drag out his recovery very long, now also a goner.

The pacing on this season has moved along very well, and unlike in other seasons, it seems that the action does not bog down when the focus shifts away from Jack. I really like the dynamic that they've created around President Logan. Considering how spineless he is, it's very conceivable to see him collaborating with terrorists plotting to assassinate the Russian president, and having all these other powergrabs in play from that scumbag V.P. With President Palmer, you knew he was a good guy who would in the end do the right thing, but you never get that sense with Logan.

And now we've got Wayne Palmer back in action (but considering the predicament he's in with those militia guys chasing him in that van, who knows how long we'll have him around). Something tells me that Agent Pierce is about to see some action as well, and that doesn't bode well for his future. Conspiracy theories abound, but I would guess that Mike Novick wants Agent Pierce out of the picture, because that would leave Novick and Jack Bauer as the lone remaining cast members from Day One!

And talk about cold blooded, what about when Jack shot Henderson's wife?! Yikes! I guess Jack's having a pretty bad day!

[Kam]

i was talking with a friend about this show, and how this is basically the fifth really, incredibly crappy day in this guy's life. (i dont really know that much about the show and need to catch up on it, but given the previous 4 seasons were all just one day each). but in the whole realm of plausible shows and all that, this one is quite possibly the most plausible of all tv shows ever.
given that, for example, take a show like Murder She Wrote, where for (how many seasons was that on? 3-4?) every week someone dies around this woman!!?? that's insane! i mean i stick by my friends through thick and thin, but if in a two year span, for 23 weeks of the year, someone dies around a friend of mine once a week EVERY week.... i'm gonna have to let that friendship slide a little, or at least stay VERY far away from them for 22 more weeks after that first death occurs!
and the doctor/hospital show with dick van dyke... where again.. .every week someone croaks around this guy! and he's a doctor!!!
and all the older (albeit cheesy and fun) shows like The Equalizer, Knight Rider, and The A-Team, granted they're all in the business of buttkicking, but seriously, c'mon! how much work can there be out there for these guys? (apparently several seasons worth of work!) even ER! i have several friends that are doctors, and it seems like this ONE emergency room has had an inordinate amount of tragedy and mayhem occur within it... one might even say that this hospital is flat out cursed!
but when it comes to the realm of suspending belief about "how much bad crap can ONE guy go through" type deal (ala mcclaine in die hard) 24 doesnt seem all that huge a suspension at all.
just a non-sequitor observation i had.