There was a moment in tonight's episode of 24 when my mind wandered to whether or not I should go to Target tomorrow and if so, what should I buy. Like any other activity--even sex--when you start making shopping lists while doing it, it's time to do something else.
I had hoped the final hours of 24 would produce some kind of Hail Mary movement, saving the season from being almost as bad as season 6, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards right now. The writers and producers are not only going out with a thud, they're gutting some of the characters as they go, most notably President Allison Taylor, played with Emmy Award-winning gusto (at least last year) by actress Cherry Jones. They've taken a strong, determined character and made her--in one felt swoop in this episode--a wimpy shadow of the president we saw last season, one who is more concerned with her place in history than the truth. That this president--who sacrificed her daughter for the truth--would cave to someone as shifty and base as disgraced President Logan goes totally against what the writers established last year. It's not only incomprehensible, it's just plain bad writing. And 24, especially in its final season, deserves better than that.
Season 8 is turning out to be almost a carbon-copy of the horrible season 6, with bad casting and an implausible storyline, that careens badly along, like Jack Bauer must drive to make it from place to place in real time. Add to that the death of Renee Walker--the most interesting new character on the show in YEARS--and I find myself wishing season 7 was Jack's final day.
The remaining 5 hours still present a chance for the writers and producers to redeem themselves on a very small level. Let's hope they can pull something off and turn it around enough to still have an audience interested in seeing a big-screen version of 24.
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