'24' - Season 7 on FOX HD - Page 7

Keep in mind that most of what we're watching for the first six or seven hours was filmed over a year ago before the writer's strike delayed Day Seven an entire year. I think I read that they went back and did some touch up but they didn't refilm everything they already had in the can.

The Redemption movie was conceived much later as a bridge/prequel between Season 6 and the delayed Season 7. As a result, some things like the son don't fit as smoothly as we might like. You couldn't really have the new president's son being killed as his mother was giving her inaugural address and the First Man's crusade was already filmed.

Yeah, good article and analysis of the saga of Jack Bauer. It will be interesting to see what further depths to his character can possibly still be plumbed. People have to continue to sympathize with Jack in order to stay invested in the show. If he becomes so jaded all traces of his fundamental decency disappear in a cloud of cynicism, then many folks won't see the point in continuing with the show. We want to see Jack morally triumph over the baddies, as well as physically, by retaining some semblance of his humanity no matter how many times he's betrayed by those he trusts.

I also see parallels to the "new" James Bond as a green, clumsy agent in the beginning of "Casino Royale" becomes a far more jaded and ruthless killer by the end of "Quantum of Solace". I'm not sure Jack Bauer could ever go that far; 'Redemption' hinted again at his remorse for what he's become. Bond, OTOH, no longer suffers the weakness of second guessing in the service of God & Country.

How old is that movie? I'm sure you'd look the same after that period of time had elapsed? I guess it's because actors move on to other roles (after all it is just a job) and fans tend to remember them from a certain era. William Shatner is a good example. I thought she, JG looked good,and I'm not a fan of hers either.

I think the fact that the son is now dead works fine. Redemption ended with the bad guys inferring that they would take care of him as a loose end.

This season started with that loose end tied up during the passage of time between Redemption and Day 7. That means the subplot about the First Gentleman trying to find out what happened to his son works on two levels.

First it means you didn't have to watch Redemption to follow the progress of the plot since it will be uncovered as you watch. You don't need to know he might have been killed by the traitors in Redemption since that will become clear.

Second, if you did watch Redemption you have an idea of what happened and know that the bad guys work in the government. So those viewers have a different "insider" take on the story, know the people responsible and that the father isn't just nuts and having a breakdown.

Either way I think it works for both sets of viewers.

Boy, flipping between this and the Golden Globes last night (during commercials of course)... What a dark picture 24 has.. The GG awards were blindingly bright!

Alas, the author allows the "experts" to undermine the whole premise of "24" -- namely, that it can be a difficult moral decision to resort to torture. The "experts" (God help us if they truly are representative of the FBI and CIA) simply assert that torture (Jack's methods) are never justified because a) "All the experts agreed that torture, even when used in the show's 'ticking bomb' context, would never work," and b) "Besides, the 'ticking bomb' scenario itself was totally unrealistic and would never happen in the real world."

If torture never works and is never necessary then Jack is merely a monster/criminal who must plead unforgivable ignorance to excuse his behavior.

(For a contrary view on the efficacy and necessity of torture that includes a bomb that is literally ticking -- assuming a mechanical timer -- see Bruce Hoffman's January, 2002, Atlantic Monthly article A Nasty Business at http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200201/hoffman a bit over half way down.)

Picture looked great on Dish here in L.A.

Really good first hour tonight.

great first hour.. looks like the gangs all back, Jack, Tony, Bob, and Chloe.. I liked the battle of the computer geeks, like a catfight in cyberspace..

I think you mean Bill not Bob.

Great 2 hours tonight of 24. Having Jack and Tony back together was great. Storyline is getting more interesting. Can't wait until next Monday.

Total body count after 4 hours: 8
Jack's body count: 1

yea, im really enjoying 24 so far. really good seeing the old crew back together, and I like most of the newbies in the show.

This is by far the worst season of 24...I gave it a shot...I think I'm done forever.

They seriously needed to drop the whole widespread government conspiracy ********...they've done that and its just not entertaining or compelling anymore. The whole idea that the government can be corrupted and infiltrated to the top levels OVER AND OVER AGAIN is just ridiculous and just isn't even based in reality anymore. And the whole forced overtone of the torture commentary is getting absurd..."BUT WE CAN'T TORTURE HIM, CONGRESS WILL GET US". 24 is taking itself way too seriously again and it shows in all 4 episodes.

I was entertained by Redemption because it was something fresh and simple...this season is just a rehash of old and new Die Hard movies and previous seasons of 24...all we need is the reporter and John McC... err Jack Bauer's daughter on another plane...

The only thing that can save this season is a HUGE body count by Jack...and even that, we haven't seen...lame.

Obvious medical misinformation. In the hospital room when Agent Walker interrogates Tanner. Tanner is on a ventilator (breathing machine) and has a tracheostomy. It is impossible to talk with a trach because there is no air movement between the vocal cords. Also when she occludes the ventilator tubing a high pressure alarm would go off with the first breath attempt. It is also unusual for a patient just out of surgery on a ventilator to be placed in a private room.

Guess they forget to get a medical professional to review that scene.

Otherwise, I was glued to my seat for the entire two hours and can't wait for the next episode

I see Hilary Clinton and Laura Bush walking by themselves along the Tidal Basin every Sunday....

Anyone who is a commercial pilot or a controller cringes at most of the aviation stuff. Did you notice in the cockpit shots the plane had four throttles...........for a two engine aircraft! Not to mention the jet was a 737, 757, and a 777, etc.

But I guess doctors who watch "House" go through the same thing.

Regards,
John

I thought today's two episodes were very entertaining. The third installment was the best of the series so far.

If I once liked a series and liked the characters (at least some of them) I tend to be too forgiving and keep watching. So I will probably keep watching even though I agree with what you say.

I don't recall if "24" was an unexpected hit -- its novel real-time format was certainly an experiment -- but it seems they got locked into the format, which means non-stop action with no time for character development or story explication and they rapidly suffered from threat inflation. What with assassination, nukes and bio-weapons, what's left to top the previous season? ("24" Day 14: the planet Mongo rushes towards Earth and only Flash Bauer...)

There is a hint in this day that recalls what I hoped would happen a few seasons ago after Jack and friends faked his death to protect him from the Chinese and we last saw him walking off alone into the sunset. I hoped the next season would be Jack all alone, coming across an old enemy bent on new misdeeds. Jack could call on Chloe and those few back at CTU who knew he was alive but even they would have to sneak help to him to protect him from the Chinese. No non-stop satellite coverage, no worries about another mole at CTU. A smaller threat would have allowed the threat inflation to be reset to reasonable levels for the next season and maybe a slower pace would have allowed us to get to know a few characters a little better.

(There is one other thing wrong with a succession of overwhelming threats. Almost every politician or commentator who has spoken on the subject of torture allows for the ticking bomb scenario (at least the BIG ticking bomb scenario) and every season of "24" has been just such a scenario; you can't miss the ticking every time a commercial break comes up. We even had a nuclear bomb kill thousands of Americans. It is hard to imagine even the most ignorant, pompous senator talking down to Jack and Jack not bringing up that one event to leave the senator speechless. Smaller but still serious threats would get into the gray area that might give Jack pause and cause him to wait too long before pulling fingernails from a suspect. As it is, were I Jack I would have no doubts about the rightness of my behavior. I would, however, feel like Sisyphus.)

lol.

It didn't take long for Agent Walker to learn Jack's tactics. I expect she'll have a great future in Bill Buchanan's rogue organization before it's all over.

HD feed was lost here in San Diego for about 15 minutes for the second night in a row during the broadcast. Other than that I thought the picture and audio quality were great on TWC.

As for the show I'd say this season is really looking good so far. Great to have everyone back!

Terrific couple of hours! I just knew Tony wasn't "bad."

chloe aka Mary Lynn Rajskub is looking good

But you'll still be in this thread, week after week, complaining about how awful each episode is. Right?

So, after 4 hours out of 24 you are able to call it the worst season ever. Thank you oh great swami.

Can you tell me what the lotto numbers for Thursday are going to be?

Glad to see I was right about Tony but I was really surprised they revealed it so soon. I didn't expect Bill and Chloe to return in that capacity. Pretty cool, yet, it seems they are severly handicapped with only 4 of them doing all the work. Awesome season so far. I am hooked.

I like the direction!

After the mis-steps of Season Six, they seem to have rectified the errors.

I personally find the story of a governmental conspiracy interesting and I love how the core has to go outside the government to weed out the root of the corruptioin. For sure there are going to be lots of twists and turns before these questions get answered.

I'm excited about the direction!

I agree with your general sentiment. I want to be a loyal viewer, because I have been entertained in the past, but how many ways can they do the same damn thing.

Ok, so instead of Just Jack* going rogue, we have CTU as well (whats left of it). You have to suspend all belief to believe that Sangalia (Rwanda) has done what the Soviets could not for about 60 years!!!!!!!!!! The FBI lady just met Jack & she just compromises all of her professional ethics in about 45 minutes. I mean c'mon. All this needs is Bill Hader from SNL to show up as "The Real BAd Guy"(tm) for this bad parody to be complete.


I really like the premise of 24, but I think it really has run its course. There just isn't any "there" there anymore.


Having said all of the above, I can't wait to see what happens next week









*extra credit if you guess the reference

I think 24 is overstayed its welcome. It's the same ol' same ol'. I'd like to hear Jack Bauer NOT whisper (except for when he says "You don't have a Choice" or "You're Running out of Time"). I'm going to give it another week or two to see how thigns play out, but it's just so laughable.

Exactly! This is a totally ridiculous premise, but yet I am compelled to watch.