24's Change

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by Trekker4747, Jan 18, 2009.

  1. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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  2. TheInsideMan

    TheInsideMan Commodore Commodore

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    Thinking about it, the big change was Day 4.

    Day 1 was personal to Jack, his family were in danger.

    Day 2 featured terrorists attempting to set off a nuke, and Palmer coming under pressure to respond against 3 middle eastern states.

    Day 3 featured the release of a virus and various attempts by various groups to get their hands on said virus.

    ^^^^ All quite believable, to an extent. Day 3 pushed it because that virus was out of control and there was no real explanation as to how half of LA didn't get infected and die. Plus of course, you've got Tony being shot in the neck and returning to work soon after.

    But then, Day 4 - and there's this magic 'override' chip which can control not just one, but ALL of the nuclear power stations in the USA.

    :wtf:

    Add to that Marwin, who seems to have every single detail of his grand master plan, planned to perfection, executed flawlessly until he becomes another victim of Jack Bauer.

    You've got the same thing going on in Day 7 - a magic firewall chip which, once bypassed, allows complete control of any critical computer system.

    Still, 24 beats the crap outta of most of the tosh on TV.
     
  3. Idoliside

    Idoliside Commander Red Shirt

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    And this is why i love 24, its not the realism of the situation, just the sheer entertainment of it all.
     
  4. LeadHead

    LeadHead Director of Comedy Premium Member

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    Season 2 remains my favorite season, it had things all very well meshed together.

    Season 4 is right up there with it, that's where I really define the series becoming more of a roller coaster ride. It was also the most exciting and effective of the roller coaster seasons.

    Season 5 was hit and miss for me, as was Season 3. Season 1 had it's moments there was a lot of it that didn't work, it was helped by it being the first season and a fresh concept. Season 6, lets not go there.
     
  5. Augustus

    Augustus Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    season 6 started out pretty good I thought, but... yeah, I'll just stop there...
     
  6. rafterman1701

    rafterman1701 Commodore Commodore

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    The show only works because of the rollercoaster feel that the time gimmick creates. It is not realistic at all and never holds up when scrutinized. It is pure TV fast food. I do wish it was more like the earlier seasons. And I do wish they used the time well, with realistic travel times and normal behaviors. By now, it all seems so artificial. The show's most unique feature is also its greatest weakness.
     
  7. Mr Light

    Mr Light Admiral Admiral

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    It was definitely S4 that made the show more fantastical and over the top. I loved S3, it's my favorite season. Of course even in S2 they were getting up there. Jack is tortured and his heart stops, but ten minutes later he's right back to ace-killing.

    I was actually thinking about this the other day. The show has occurred in two loose trilogies thus far. The first three seasons were about David Palmer's administration and the German conspiracy (which unfortunately got killed off-screen between S2 and S3!). By the end of S3 David Palmer was gone, Stupid Kim was gone, Sherri was dead, Nina was dead, Chappelle was dead. The entire story was rounded off and ended.

    S4 to 6 was the Chinese trilogy. The Chinese plot is introduced in S4 and resolved in S6. All three years deal with Charles Logan and the Bluetooth Conspiracy, and then onto Jack's family. It was also the Audrey trilogy. At the end of it, the story was resolved and ended. And now we're starting a new story.
     
  8. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    As of now...

    The new setting in DC is energizing. I like Freckles (the redheaded FBI agent) and Agent Jackass (Rhys Coiro) but Janeane Garofolo is trying too hard to out-Chloe Chloe. The jury is still out whether this season will be something fun and new, or just the tired old tropes trotted out once again.

    But for me, Jack & Tony are the heart & soul of this show. If they capitalize more on their relationship (and I'm NOT talking about slash, well not primarily :p) and the conflict that got them where they are now (namely, Tony and Jack have parallel experiences but Tony is the one responding like a human), then they could have a great season on their hands.

    The key is to find the conflict between the two, even when they are acting as allies in their job, and using it to show us more about the truth behind Jack, that in his tireless dedication to the nation, he has sacrificed any shred of human reaction - he's this very weird inhuman creature now, in comparison to very human Tony. So - is that a good thing or a bad thing? Even I'm not quite sure what the answer is, but it's worth asking.
     
  9. Aragorn

    Aragorn Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Season 4 was not a roller coaster. Season four would be going up Splash Mountain, but coming down on Star Tours, taking a ride on the People Mover, and ending on Captain EO.
     
  10. LeadHead

    LeadHead Director of Comedy Premium Member

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    ^ Sounds more like you're talking about Season 6. :P
     
  11. Scout101

    Scout101 Admiral Admiral

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    Season 4 was definitely the breaking point, where the show just took a flying leap off of 'quasi-reality' mountain. At least in the first seasons, you could follow most of what was going on (stupid moments aside, most of the plot kinda worked).

    Season 4 was all about misdirection to try and 'shake up' the franchise. Great, now it's a shock a minute. Plot makes no sense, though. We talked about it at the time, but when you write down the bad guy's entire "plan" and say it at once, a retarded 3rd grader would have told him that it's no good. Plan 1, which is just misdirection for plan 2, which is a distraction while we work on plan 3, and so on. For like 15 plans. And most of them relied on the plan before it to work perfectly, but without time to communicate or change things up if there is a snag. How the FBI, CIA, and CTU all missed the chatter on these 15 plans is beyond imagining. Several of the diversion plans would have been a better primary goal if it hadn't been half-assed, as well. When your diversion is worse than your primary goal...
     
  12. Aragorn

    Aragorn Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Season four makes perfect sense!

    A computer device that somehow controls every nuclear power plant in the USA and has more authority than people actually working in those power plants is stolen, and Secretary of Defense James Heller is kidnapped and broadcast on the internet as a diversion to upload the MacGuffin without anyone noticing. All this is somehow a distraction for their rogue stealth fighter pilot to fly up to Air Force One and blow it out of the sky (who probably would've been more successful if there had been no prior terrorist activites that day because no one would've noticed)... just so that they can get their hands on the football, even though the codes would've been immediately changed and their are easier ways to obtain a nuclear missile, which they also had to steal at around the same time. And all this to fire the nuclear missile at Los Angeles, where the bad guys have been the whole time and are still there when the nuke is launched.

    And don't forget the businessmen that would rather start a war with government agents (the business has their own personal military team?!?!?!?) than admit they unknowingly helped a terrorist.

    And the character who might as well have been wearing an "I'm a mole" shirt when she was introduced.

    And CTU vehicles all come with ski masks in case you need to rob a place.
     
  13. Star Wolf

    Star Wolf Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Lets not forget the real world intruded. The first scene of Day One had a last minute edit following 9/11. To go over the top of what was happening in the world the actions of the CTU became increasingly surreal.
     
  14. Scout101

    Scout101 Admiral Admiral

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    like i said: the bad guys would have been better with a retarded 3rd grader in charge. Plan has way too many steps, all depending on the last one working perfectly. And just stealing the 'magic nuke plant blow up device' and melting down plants would have been MORE than a good enough terrorist plot. Melting down a bunch of plants in order to try and launch a nuke? isn't that LESS damage than just the meltdown?

    kinda like planning to shoot someone in the stomach so they don't notice you gave them a noogie...
     
  15. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    24 has never been believable, but since the third season the plot twists are the equivalent of soap opera. They operate without internal logic nor thought towards continuity, but instead are invented out of thin air in order to perpetuate less than 24 hours of ideas across an entire season. The real time device is nothing more than a formality beginning with the fourth season, too.

    I thought season five was surprisingly well plotted for a season (like all the others) that was basically written on the run and had little respect for the real-time device. It's the only one since season two that I particularly care for as a whole. But make no mistake--it's still as preposterous as 24 can get.
     
  16. Top41

    Top41 Vice Admiral Moderator

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    Save for Day 6, which really did get frustrating, I've always enjoyed each season of 24. As long as it keeps me entertained and doesn't veer too far into the ridiculous (which let's face it, 24 often does), I'm happy.

    I really found the Kim subplot annoying as hell in season two. I was rewatching the first few eps with my roommate a few months ago and had forgotten how stupid that whole thing was. And yet, there were a lot of good things about s.2 (like Mason and the nukes). I thought the ending sucked, though.

    I'd have to rewatch it, but I remember season three being really good (after slightly slow start) with what is possibly the most disturbing hour of 24, ever (the Chappelle episode--if you've seen it, you know what I mean).

    I liked seasons four and five, too. And of course, season one was awesome, if just for being the first and having that wholly original feel.

    Season 6 had one of the best starts of any season...and then really went to the depths of sucktitude with the cartoonishly bad Daddy Bauer.

    I hope season seven is good. I'm enjoying it so far!
     
  17. Aragorn

    Aragorn Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Season one was the best because the stakes were more personal and realistic, and the surprises were new. Remember when Alan York was revealed not to be Alan York? Now we expect anyone can become the bad guy and it won't come as a surprise -- even if it completely comes out of nowhere and contradicts the previous episodes (Logan).
     
  18. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    Just finished re-watching Season 2.

    And GOD I keep forgetting how inspid Kim's plot was in that season. She just does one dumb thing after another.
     
  19. LutherSloan

    LutherSloan Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Season 6 was extremely disappointing. The first four episodes, which were released on DVD at the time together, were GREAT. Maybe the best four episodes of '24' in one arc.

    Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the season went into the crapper. I swear that the writers had this great idea for the first four episodes....but then they realized that was all they had. I think either they were just winging it for the rest of that season, or they let the D Team take over.

    I still think that Season 5 is the best, just because of President Logan. He makes that entire season almost by himself.

    We are now 5 episodes into Season 7, and so far it has not really been worth having to wait twice as long as usual to see it. I hope it will get better soon, because I'm not that impressed yet.
     
  20. Mr Light

    Mr Light Admiral Admiral

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    The first 8 episodes of this season were filmed two years ago before the strike. So starting with ep9 is when they had that extra year to plan and write, so I'd hope to see an upswing in quality then.