I thought season 7 was brilliant, especially after the lackluster season 6. For me, the biggest problem with season 6 was the lack of character development/lack of an interesting storyline. I didn't really find it predictable, just boring. Season 8 is where I gave up. The thrill and excitment that first drew me to the show is just not there anymore. Back in the day, whenever a major plot twist occured, I would want to know what happened next and I would be left wondering where the story would go. I didn't get that feeling this year. The charachers were all so predictable and shallow that it just made things unenjoyable for me so I finally dropped it.
The best part about the suicide vest is that even though it's a trigger connected to the vest by a wire it somehow works on a wireless signal that you can hack
The first four hours of Day 6 were almost like a Bourne movie - thrilling, surprising and moving fast enough that you could suspend your disbelief (which has always been necessary with 24, but sometimes far more so than others). Unfortunately, after that it turned into some kind of demented soap opera with plotlines randomly dropping in and out like a fever dream. The sinister mastermind from Day 5? He's Jack's brother! And Jack's dad is his evil boss! And we'll bring Logan back only for now-crazy Martha to stab him! And Chinese agents can attack CTU for no particularly good reason, and turn out to be working with Jack's dad even though he was previously established as an ultra-patriot! The writers were not only making everything up on the fly, but felt compelled to be MORE SHOCKING with BIGGER TWISTS every episode, and it became laughable very quickly. Days 7 and 8, in contrast, have been far better because they at least sort of followed one main through-line, even though bad guys have come and gone like videogame bosses as usual. Day 7 was all about the Sangala connection (Dubaku, General Candyman, Jon Voight) with a Tony side-dish, while Day 8 has (so far) been tied in with the Islamic Republic of Fakeistan's nuclear program. Except for the damn Dana/Jenny subplot, which just won't die...
24 always has a problem with needing big shocking twists for the sake of having twists, even if it contradicts a lot of what came before it (namely making Logan the evil mastermind behind it all). It also seems unlikely that they had planned to make Nina evil. I can buy that they intended for Tony to turn out to have his own agenda, but revealing it by having him kill Larry for no real reason was pretty lame.
Was surprised to discover today that I'd somehow managed to give up on 24 a few weeks ago now without even realising it. I guess Season 8's been enjoyable enough so far as I've seen (minus the terrible Dana subplot of course) but it feels kinda pointless to watch. I guess I might pick it back up when the DVDs come out, but I haven't bought a set since season 5, even though I enjoyed season 7.
Okay, so I’m extraordinarily late returning to this thread. My bad. This new job is kicking my ass (crazy random schedule). But now I have a steady schedule, so…. I don’t know anything about airplane mechanics, so this didn’t bother me. It was just another great moment in the life of Jack Bauer to me. Actually, Almeida’s return made sense if go back and watch his “death” scene. Didn’t you find it odd that “Robocop” just got up and stabbed Tony with the needle RIGHT AFTER he’d been supposedly sedated? That tells me that the guy who was administrating the drugs was in on it as well. As for Juma’s actions… come on, it’s an action series, not a dramatization. You can’t get good action entertainment by sticking so anally to reality. That’s why movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Sunshine are so paint-dryingly boring. The LCD timer is for us. It’s just a dramatic tool to make you understand the gravity of the situation, like a red shirt in Star Trek or a black guy in any Horror movie. I kinda agree with this (Season 8 gripe). I think the writing team has changed or something. Sad.
Oh, come on, I'm not exactly an aeronautical engineer, either, but I know stupid when I see it. *shrug* But some people like stupid.
^ I may have to shout this because your look quite high up on that pedestal of yours... Lets see you write a 24 episode show without stupid things to help with just action moments. We have all watched Trek here so I find this comment very funny.
This one small detail is emblematic of everything that is now wrong with the show. There are only two explanations for how something like that could appear: 1. The show is completely written on autopilot. 2. The writers think the audience is composed of total morons and they are fucking with us. All the plot twists have been used about five times too many. Tony is bad! Tony is good! Oh wait, Tony is bad after all. Now we have Dana. No doubt she will follow the mirror pattern: good/bad/good. Yes, double-double-agent Dana will die nobly in the defense of her country and make her dickwad fiance look like a chump for not realizing the whole thing was just double-deep cover with a back flip and lemon twist.
He show was always awful they just made it look cool so you'd ignore the act that it made no sense at all.
I think you've said it all for me. Again, this coming from a Star Trek fan? How many things does the Deflector Dish do again?
Personally, the only season i have problems with is Season 6, mainly because it just recycled a lot of plots like the president on trial for his presidency again. Also the soap opera plots were pretty ridiculous. Moreover, over the course of the day the threat continued to devolve. It started out with the bad guys having 6 bombs, dropped down to 5, then 4, then 3, then 2, then a computer microchip. Say what you will about seasons 3 and 4, but the bad guys actually succsessfully executed attacks that killed people. Build UP the suspense.
Season Six was the back breaker for me...I stopped watching about half way through it I think pretty much for the reasons everyone else has posted about.
This. For me, seasons six through eight haven't been as exciting or fresh as the first five. Season six was just plain bad--Jack's dad as the villain? Come on. If they'd actually given him a real motivation rather than just being eeeevil, it might have worked, but as it was presented, it just didn't. Seven and eight (so far) have entertained me, but have had fewer highlights than earlier seasons. I think ending it this year is a sound decision. There's only so many years the premise can be stretched out for, and I think it's hit its end date.
This season will be the worst ever if Aaron Pierce doesn't make an appearance... My personal thought for a last season would be having Jack train Aaron's son to be a new director/associate director of CTU...Aaron can drop by for whatever reason, and then get caught up, and be the assistant hero.
Did we ever find out what happened to Wayne Palmer? Last I recall, he was recovering from his injuries sustained on Day 6... and while it's true Daniels clearly succeeded him, no mention (at all!) was made ever again of BROTUS. We can bring back Logan time and again, but there isn't even a hint dropped about the fate of one of the GOOD presidents?