24: Day Six Discussion Thread!

[recoveryone]

V.P. Daniels has lost all of his marbles, I can't wait to see what is his connection in all this. He is just too gun ho on starting a war. He is DIck Cheney on roids....lol

[topspeed]

Groundbeef beat me to it:

The show has officially jumped the shark.

For what reason do we need to see or even care about Nadia and Milo's budding relationship. How does that possibly forward the plot? Are they trying to bring back memories of those two CTU agents from Day 1-4 that ended up getting married? That was idiotic.

Good call on the lame Rain Man impression as well. That is exactly what I thought. Not every person suffering from autism is a math/tech wiz. Talk about stereotyping! Another moment of useless drivel.

The final insult came when Palmer called off the strike but the VP declares he's calling the Atty, General. Riiiiiiiight. There's war mongering and then there's abject lunacy.

I could care less about this show now.

Thank God for LOST!

[kexodusc]

Yeah, I'm a little disappointed with last night's continuation of the "spot" hitting routine the writers have been empling....there's too many loose threads that I care about more than Milo and the Nadia, and the Wayne palmer/evil VP thing is just tooooooooo predictable.
The Rainman thing, well, I heard 30 million Fox viewers say "Rainman" all at once as soon as the camera panned to him....
That said, there were at least 4 really terrible episodes in every season that I hated, so I remain optimistic. I think we're in for a good finish...let's just pretend this hour didn't happen...okay, so last hour recap:
uhh....Jack was caught in traffic for an hour and 3 minutes...bleep-bloop, bleep-bloop, bleep-bloop, bleep-bloop, bleep-bloop, bleep-bloop---thump!!!,

[nightflier]

Well there's still the subplot with Jack's father to wrap up. I wonder when he'll shows up again.

And of course my way-out-there theory that the Chinese are still involved with that whole Audrey thing.... Or maybe that's the springboard for next season?

[kexodusc]

Oh yeah, Audrey - she's still alive. Being held hostage by Jack's Chinese father and Nina Meyers evil-er twin.

[nightflier]

Well if Audrey's still alive that will have to be for next season, 'cause if they try to wrap something like that up in four hours, then they'd definitely be jumping the shark (and Jack will definitely not be able to use the bathroom this 24 hour period, LOL).

"Jumping the shark." Used it many time, but were does that come from anyhow?

[Groundbeef]

Well if Audrey's still alive that will have to be for next season, 'cause if they try to wrap something like that up in four hours, then they'd definitely be jumping the shark (and Jack will definitely not be able to use the bathroom this 24 hour period, LOL).

"Jumping the shark." Used it many time, but were does that come from anyhow?

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I think that it goes back to the waning days of "Happy Days".

To pump up ratings, 'The Fonz' was scheduled to do a death defying stunt on his motercycle. Can you guess what it was? JUMPING A SHARK. Now this was before my time, but it may have caused ratings to go up before the stunt, but after that viewers were left with a "what next" feeling, as there was nothing left in the series to do.

Since then, when a show has gotten past its prime, writers put in all sorts of BS plotlines in an attempt to drum up the drama. Thus called "Jumping the Shark".
Unfortunatly, if they would just focus on solid plotlines, instead of tricks it would keep intersest better.

[topspeed]

Indeed it was Happy Days. The Fonz jumped a shark on waterskiis...wearing a leather jacket over his life preserver no less...and a legend was created. At that moment in television history, one of the great sitcoms of all time suddenly became completely irrelevant.

[Woochifer]

As a loyal 24 viewer from midnight Day One, this "Rain Man" episode has officially pushed the series over the shark!

Yes, I know that Day Two had the infamous mountain lion chase with Kim, and Day One had that whole Terri-gots-amnesia bit, but those seasons also had much stronger and tighter narratives surrounding those momentary lapses. Day Six has had a much shakier storyline, so a lame subplot like this one with Brady the Rain Man is a lot more difficult to recover from.

It's actually a plot device that the writers have not used yet, but it just made for one big groan. Unfortunately, even if they had come up with a more creative way of leading CTU to Gredenko, that probably would have only delayed the shark jumping by another week ... because I CAN'T BELIEVE that they're about to recycle the 25th Amendment storyline from Day Two (when President David Palmer's cabinet removed him from office)! We don't know yet if Wayne Palmer's going to be declared unfit to serve as President, but the whole internal power struggle and effort to remove the President is a case of been there done that. I will say though that VP Daniels is a lot more menacing than David Palmer's VP.

But, if they're going to recycle a plot thread, I would hope that they at least make good use of it. So far this season, a lot of good setups have been squandered -- Jack's Chinese internment, the whole Bauer family subplot, Chloe and Morris back in action, the Charles/Martha/Aaron reunion, the Nadia/Mandy L Word reprise ... alright, just wishful thinking on my part!

The whole Nadia/Milo/Doyle trifecta was another promising plot thread that dropped with a thud this week.

And who knows what's going on with Fayed. Is he now just circling the freeways of LA waiting for the writers to give him some better face time?

Yes, there are still 10 hours to go, but the series has got a lot of catching up to do if they want to salvage this season. As it stands, Day Six is already on target to rival Day Three as the worst season so far.

"Jumping the shark." Used it many time, but were does that come from anyhow?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark

[Groundbeef]

Well, another hour of my life I will never get back.

The first 15 min or so, I thought...well maybe they can get back on track.

Seems like Ricky Schroder has some personal issues, but who doesn't.

Then we get to the whole VP vs THE PRES. My wife and I were cracking up, it was almost like an episode of survior. We were both expecting Jeff Probst (Host of Survivor) to come out and annouce who was just kicked off the island. Not to mention, that the Pres was able to walk, talk, and act semi functional after all that happened to him in the last 4 hours.

Then the Russian dude, and the Arab. Pretty cool, radioactive isotope tracking and all. Except for the fact that they CUT OFF HIS ARM. I saw that a mile away. Wife suggested next time they inject his "junk" so he is less inclined to lose the "member".

And then back to the bunker. What is the deal with the pres all of the sudden calling a nuke strike just to show the VP how big a Johnson he has? Like he has to impress him or something.

I predict that it will be blamed on the 'adreniline shots' he is getting. Never mind they only last about 15-30 minutes before being metabolized.

This show is outta gas. At this point I hope they nuke CTU and the show is over 5 hours early.

[kexodusc]

Nah, the Prez is sending the nukes into those countries as a bluff - he'll learn what info he can from their governments under threat of nuke strike, then detonate or partriot the warheads before they hit their target, preventing the nuclear reaction from occuring.
Totally predictable.

Yeah, this week's was way better than last week's...too bad it still wasn't very good.

I'm really not that impressed with this season. It started when they killed Jack's brother so early, after all the build up and sneak peaks we got of him last year. What a freakin' waste.

It's been a series of spot-hitting writing (or shark jumping as you guys call it) since. Twists for the sake of twists...But there's no continuity, no drama, interesting and sustainable sub-plots. GRRRRR.

I keep waiting for the pay-off...something HUGE has got to happen...but now I'm worried there'll be a 3rd evil Palmer brother or Jack's mom will be a terrorist or something stupid.

[nightflier]

Palmer out-dicking Reynolds? (Chenney pun intended) Yeah, that's realistic. Do you suppose the producers are reading this thread and figured, OK let's try and grow Palmer some balls before his publicist sues us for ruining his career. He's still a wuss and my opinion of him hasn't changed much since the beginning of the day. There isn't much that can resuscitate this story anymore.

Where is Jack's father? Where are the Chinese? Where are the shadow government-suits? I wanna see Lennox get wacked on the forehead again! I wana see some real plot-twists, not borrowed re-hash from last season that we can figure out hours before. And I really don't care to see what Jack is going to do to Fayed - it's going to be tasteless ratings-begging gore and we know Fayed's not going to say a word. We already know that his organization has a new leader and Fayed is now expendable.

And now there's going to be a 24 movie? That's going to be about as exciting as the X-Files movie. Didn't they get the clue with that dud of a movie, Sentinel? Unless they detonate a bio-bomb that kills off half the world, institute world-martial law, and mass-torture little kids, I just don't see how the movie will up the ante over the TV show. With movies like Hostel, Grindhouse, and Texas Chainsaw..., they'll have to come up with something pretty extreme to get anyone to to buy a $10-15 ticket!

[Groundbeef]

Well, I have to say last night might have been the best episode of the season so far.

With the exception of Milo, the episode moved right along, and was quite entertaining. Milo needs to be taken out back and shot. And then his family billed for the shell. What a total weenie.

There was even a "WOW" moment, when Fayied was "rescued" and it was CTU the whole time. I thought oh man, this is a total copout, and just another foolish "twist" until it became clear that it wasn't a terrorist rescue.

And the whole nuke thing ended with a bit of a suprise, because there is about 7 hours to go in the season. I guess we will see how the Chinese do fit into the story.

[topspeed]

I disagree. Last night may have been my last night of watching 24.

First, someone tell me how Fayed, injured no less, mows down 6 other people armed with machine guns in close quarters? Yeah, right. Now, the previews appear to have Jack trying to commit the US military just to save his girlfriend...the same girlfriend that abandoned him in Day 5.

The one good moment was when Jack told Fayed, "NOW we're going to have fun." regarding the pharmaceutical pack. Otherwise, everything else ranked as a definite, "Meh."

[Groundbeef]

I disagree. Last night may have been my last night of watching 24.

First, someone tell me how Fayed, injured no less, mows down 6 other people armed with machine guns in close quarters? Yeah, right. Now, the previews appear to have Jack trying to commit the US military just to save his girlfriend...the same girlfriend that abandoned him in Day 5.

The one good moment was when Jack told Fayed, "NOW we're going to have fun." regarding the pharmaceutical pack. Otherwise, everything else ranked as a definite, "Meh."

I think that it was only 3 people. The driver, the guy that gave him the loaded gun, and another passenger. I suspended disbelief for that portion of the show.

I am not so concerned about Audrey being rescued, as to see how the Chinese have a dog in the fight.

And did she abadon him? I thought that she gave him a moment alone, per his request, and then the Chinese swooped in and took him. It appeared that she went to China to find him (according to Chole).

[Woochifer]

Actually, I thought this week things started going at a good pace again. The ruses with President Palmer and Fayed were pretty good twists. Things were rolling along and I thought they finally had the subplots going in interesting directions (except for the CTU subplots, which remain disappointingly banal/soap operaish). This was probably the best episode since the Day Six season premiere ... well at least for the first 55 minutes ...

... until they decided to tie together the nuclear terrorist plot into a neat bow (both Fayed and Gradenko get off'd within an hour of each other) and hit RESET!

So the Chinese are back, they got Audrey, and they want the nukes. Generally, I think 24 is at its best when the peril and the stakes are very personal for Jack, and this obviously fits the bill. But, the setup for this totally new plot direction was horrible. I mean, just seconds after Fayed goes down for the count, Jack just happens to get a phone call from Audrey and the Chinese know that he's got a couple of spare suitcase nukes that they want?!

This is easily the most blatant midseason restart since Day One when the Drazen subplot got awkwardly shoved into storyline after Jack rescued Teri and Kim, and killed Gaines, all in one tidy wrapup episode. But, in that case, the writers had to insert that escape hatch so that just in case the series got did not get picked up by Fox after the initial 13-episode order (which nearly happened because the ratings that season were marginal), they wouldn't leave viewers with an unresolved cliffhanger. This time, I just get the sense that the writers couldn't get any more mileage out of a nuclear threat, so they quickly shifted to Plan B (convenient that Kim Raver's series on ABC got canceled).

I hope that this new subplot with Audrey finds its legs in a hurry, because that Drazen storyline in Day One took hours before it finally got going. Day Six only has 8 hours left, so we'll see how it all goes. I would have to guess that Philip Bauer's somehow involved and Jack will wind up choosing between family, Audrey, and country. Compelling plot elements, but the setup is lacking at best.

And hopefully 24 cans the recycling for this season. I mean, just last week alone featured a reprise of Day Three's escape by axe amputation (when Jack chopped Chase's hand off), and Day Two's 25th Amendment crisis. If the writers are going to go crazy on the plot retreads, at least try something good like Chloe channeling Rambo! (Talk about MIA ... where has Chloe been this season?)

[nightflier]

So the Chinese are back, they got Audrey, and they want the nukes. Generally, I think 24 is at its best when the peril and the stakes are very personal for Jack, and this obviously fits the bill. But, the setup for this totally new plot direction was horrible. I mean, just seconds after Fayed goes down for the count, Jack just happens to get a phone call from Audrey and the Chinese know that he's got a couple of spare suitcase nukes that they want?!

Remember that it was insinuated earlier that Graham (& by extension his father) was the one who gave Jack up to the Chinese. So Jack's father is involved in that whole scenario. Remember that he was also tracking Gredenko/Fayed earlier in the day so he may have had a man on the inside or at the very least been tracking them electronically? Wasn't it one of his companies that released the nukes in the first place? Maybe they have a tracking mechanism? Obviously he has the resources to pull something like that off. So as soon as Jack went rambo on Fayed's crew, his father may have known that the suitcase nukes would be recovered by CTU. If so, he could have placed a call to the Chinese and given a timely update?

Now, since I wasn't too far off with my prediction about the Chinese and Audrey so far, what if the Chinese are the real puppet masters? Maybe they wanted Daniels to nuke the middle east, knowing that would weaken the US internationally. I also don't think they care about the nukes in particular (they can make their own, probably better) - no, they're concerned about something else... maybe there is something in those suitcases that might be incriminating for them?

I'm going to stick to my original prediction that they let Jack go for a reason. Obviously they had Audrey in custody when they let him go, so they were undoubtedly holding that card back for something. Now the writers have 7 hours to let us know what's what. Next week should be revealing....

TopSpeed, I know you're not happy with this season, but I seriously doubt you'll be watching Thank God You're Here instead of 24 next Monday....

[Groundbeef]

Last night the show blew chunks. I thought the US didn't negotiate with hostage takers. I guess that theory goes out the window when they need technology that could start WW3 between superpowers. Especially when its the love interest of Jack Bauer.

Rick Schroder should have shot him in the head, and ended this miserable season for good.

I think this show has offically flushed itself down the crapper.

[kexodusc]

This show was at it's best when the threats were at least somewhat believable. Single man assassinations, small bombs, some dirty chemicals. Those were far fetched, but believable. Now it's turning into a sick hybrid story of the United Nations and Die Hard, but disregarding everything any intelligent human being who's ever read a newspaper or watched CNN has been told to believe.

Next season, Jack is going to expose a secret military compound that terrorists have hijacked - when he infiltrates the base, he'll discover it's Hangar 18, harboring alien technology and a new interstellar war will be threatened. Then we'll find out Buchanan new about it all along.

Ugh...somehow I think that story will be more interesting than this one...

How the heck did the Chinese get Jack's phone number in such short time?

[nightflier]

How the heck did the Chinese get Jack's phone number in such short time?

Not only did an injured Jack with a single handgun, take out 6 or 7 of Fayed's men, armed with automatic riffles, all without getting shot, but to top it off he finished it off by duking it out with Fayed himself and finally hanging him with a chain that just happened to hang there (just like in every other darkly lit warehouse, crawling with baddies that we see in every movie). As soon as I saw that chain, I knew it was going to come into play. Duh!

And not only did they know exactly when to call, but how did they know he had killed Fayed and finished his mission? How did they know he had both nukes? Too many questions w/o another mole at CTU, if you ask me. Maybe Silver Spoons is on their payroll?

This is not only jumping the shark, but throwing in a spread-eagle summer Sault, mooning the viewers and lighting a fart on fire, all in mid-air, and on live TV! Yes, this was all too formula, and you know with formula, what comes out, runs more, smells fouler, and requires more wipies to mop up.

Even Daniels writing his letter, and rushing it to the pres. was a sure indication that the pres was going to drop back into his coma. And of course, the first thing Daniels does is attempt to stop Jack. Saw that one coming a mile away. Let's hope that Daniels is truly the diabolical hand-wringing Cheney-like megalomaniac he comes off as. They need that to pump some life back into this season. And he's not going to fall for another taped screw-up, that's for sure (I wouldn't want to be Lennox at this point...).

What would really be a nice twist is if he really was part of that fascist conspiracy and they are the ones who are after Jack in the next season (or the movie). Forget about international terrorism, the next season will see the dawn of a new fascist era for America and Jack Bauer the only man who can save us from this new peril. You heard it here, first, folks!

[Woochifer]

I thought that last week, they had some potentially interesting angles to explore, but they too seem to have gotten squandered. Had a LOT of filler this week (the Bill-Karen, Daniels-Assistant, and Chloe-Morris threads were nonstarters), though seeing Nadia taking charge did pique my interest!

Still waiting to see if Audrey goes Manchurian Candidate on Jack before season's end. But, given her zombie-like state, seems like the writers won't explore that angle. I've given up on Chloe getting anything interesting to do this season, unless that "spy" story that the previews hinted at for next week pulls her into the action for a change.

All in all, 24 is limping to the finish. Still trying to decide if this season ranks below Day Three.

[nightflier]

I've given up on Chloe getting anything interesting to do this season, unless that "spy" story that the previews hinted at for next week pulls her into the action for a change.

Well the spy is not at CTU but in the white house - and that leaves just a few people to pick from. My vote goes to Daniels' assistant. Maybe she's part of that secret conspiracy that tried to nail Lenox. Maybe he'll come out as the hero after all this when he finds out she is the spy. Anyhow, I'm glad Palmer is out - he was a real bed-wetter this season. By the way, that had to be the most unromantic kiss I've ever seen on screen - I was afraid it would even have that unedited string of slobber to make it even more disgusting.

Audrey was broken, it seems. If she is completely under the control of the Chinese, than the Manchurian reference is probably going to be accurate. But then who is she supposed to take out? Jack is of no importance to the Chinese, although that would be a nice ending. But I'll go out on a limb and make another prediction: she will take Chang out, either in a fit of rage, or to tie up any loose ends before the Americans can torture him.

[kexodusc]

Day 3 was way better than this season.
Ugh, ya know, as mad as I am, I can't turn away. I feel obligated or something to stick it out. Every show has several minutes of decent TV, then PLOP!, another log is dropped on the pile.

Think the show needs to go back to basics though - the self-one-upsmanship has lead to a pretty lame season of mediocre TV.

[Groundbeef]

Last episode was even worse than the last one before it.

Super Agent Jack Bauer cant even hear Ricky Schroder drive up on a DESERTED road in front of his empty hotel. Not only that, but he somehow missed 3 Hummers being driven into the back entrance by the Chinese.

And why wasn't his finger on the bomb trigger? He holsters his gun, and then goes for it when all goes to hell. Doesn't even bother to blow up the chip.

And why the hell did he need the chip (actual chip). Its not like he couldn't have either scratched some of the leads, or otherwise damaged the chip.

And Audry is a basket case. I hope she dies from shock, and takes Jack with her.

Then the Oval Office romance. Like she needs to go home to get her nightie. Please. As if the VP is now gonna turn in for a little shut eye after assuming office a few minutes before hand.

AHHHHHHHHAHHAHHHHHHH This season SUCKS.

[Woochifer]

Well the spy is not at CTU but in the white house - and that leaves just a few people to pick from. My vote goes to Daniels' assistant. Maybe she's part of that secret conspiracy that tried to nail Lenox. Maybe he'll come out as the hero after all this when he finds out she is the spy. Anyhow, I'm glad Palmer is out - he was a real bed-wetter this season. By the way, that had to be the most unromantic kiss I've ever seen on screen - I was afraid it would even have that unedited string of slobber to make it even more disgusting.

Actually, that's a pretty good plot twist if it comes to that. In recent weeks, it seems that the previews have been toying with the audience, so for all we know this might be yet another teaser that goes nowhere. Last week's preview seemed to imply that Audrey would get targeted by a sniper in this week's episode, but nothing happened along those lines.

Powers Boothe seems to have a deliberately creepy presence around women, no matter what role he's playing (you want unromantic, look up his portrayal of Jim Jones -- one of the scenes involved him seducing a teenage boy in front of his mother to prove how much control he has IIRC). Makes the skin crawl, but that's probably the intended effect.

Audrey was broken, it seems. If she is completely under the control of the Chinese, than the Manchurian reference is probably going to be accurate. But then who is she supposed to take out? Jack is of no importance to the Chinese, although that would be a nice ending. But I'll go out on a limb and make another prediction: she will take Chang out, either in a fit of rage, or to tie up any loose ends before the Americans can torture him.

I actually think the Chinese totally have it out for Jack -- keep in mind that they still hold him responsible for the death of their consulate. Jack didn't give them anything they wanted, so what better payback than to program the woman he loves to kill him? Jack's perfectly willing to die for Audrey, but I'm not so sure how he'd feel about dying at the hands of a brainwashed Audrey.

Day 3 was way better than this season.
Ugh, ya know, as mad as I am, I can't turn away. I feel obligated or something to stick it out. Every show has several minutes of decent TV, then PLOP!, another log is dropped on the pile.

Think the show needs to go back to basics though - the self-one-upsmanship has lead to a pretty lame season of mediocre TV.

I hear ya. Even though I've resigned myself to the general mediocrity of this season, I'm still curious as to what happens next even if the payoffs this season have been much less satisfying than past seasons.

I think the show needs to totally break the mold for next season. No more CTU, no more White House. Put Jack in the middle, give him a strong adversary, make the stakes personal, and build the intrigue from there. Why not end this season with Doyle double crossing him, and then have next season all about unraveling the tangled plots that run through him (perhaps involving Philip Bauer)? Instead of having yet another external WMD/terrorist threat, go back to the personal peril that defined the original Day One story arc. It seems that in successive seasons, Jack has become more and more of a caricatured super hero than the much more human character that started Day One. This season in particular, I've not had the sense that Jack was in any real danger, and that detracts from the tension. Even though it was that way in Day Five as well, that season also featured a much more interesting subplot involving the Logans.