Posted on 05/22/2007 2:05:22 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Jack Bauer Doesn't Jump - More's the Pity
Previously on "24' the show made sense.
But Monday night's finale, when we sat through 90 minutes of set-up, waiting for the usual slam bang finish, only to have a touchy-feely episode of "Grey's Anatomy'' break out, was the end.
The big finish, with Jack Bauer standing on coast, looking moodily out to sea, was some kind of weird Hallmark card for secret agents. I kept waiting for the cliff to blow up, or a black helicopter to appear on the horizon, but no, it was just our Jack, alone with his thoughts. And fade out.
Oh c'mon, you've noticed it. Jack Bauer has changed. And this was preceded by half an hour of some of the most tedious speechifying and long-winded monologues since the worst days of "Studio 60.'' Guys, if we wanted hand-holding and repressed true love we'd rent "Pride and Prejudice'' again.
We loyal viewers have put up with a lot of improbable nonsense over the years: convenient comas, sudden amnesia, and the fact that Jack Bauer could escape from bad guys by biting one of them to death. We stuck around through annoying antics of Kim Bauer, Jack's ditz daughter, and the death of beloved Edgar, who should never have been offed.
There were problems, sure. Even the show's creators admitted that they thought things had off track. So apparently, their solution was to take everything we liked about the show, everything that created the culture and premise of the Jack Bauer universe, and blow it up.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Or he’ll show up on “House” looking for the reason for his malaise and/or The Meaning Of Life and Wilson will secretly dose him with antidepressants.
I agree with you. It was a superb scene between Secretary Heller and Jack, showing Jack's rage and grief. And when he leaves the house and stands on the cliff, his exhaustion and strain and despair were powerfully portrayed. He was a man who'd reached the end of his endurance, so stunned that he couldn't even decide what to do or where to go. Kiefer Sutherland portrayed it beautifully.
It reminded me of the scene in "Philadelphia" when Tom Hanks stood outside the ambulance-chasing lawyer's office and silently faced the fact that he couldn't beat his illness and that no one was going to help him.
Two very powerful performances by fine actors.
Having read in TV Guide that "24" is probably going in a major new direction for season 7 (i.e. no CTU, no working for the Government), the ending left everything open. Except Audrey perhaps.
Now, if James Cromwell would only do in real life as he did in the show last night...
I'd have to give season 6 about a 6 of 10, which puts as the worst of the seasons. Still much better than about 80% of the rest of the drivel out there.
Interesting, seeing as how Kiefer Sutherland is the program’s Executive Producer.
Yeah but on the good side Audry did her best acting of the series last night.
This season sucked.
Sounds like this passing fad is just about past.
Don’t flame me for asking this: I don’t watch that much TV.
But tell me of this Vic Mackey of which you speak. I fear I might be missing something.
The part with Milo’s brother, showing up in the 5 a.m. hour, to clean out his locker, did seem farfetched.
The ‘action’ ended around 8:30 (CDT). They had to do something to stretch that last 30 minutes. Much of it was fluff and filler.
It season ending was disappointing, considering last season ended with Jack on a slow boat to China.
Probably not, the French do not have a 6 hour work day.
Jack is a changeling...who knows what he might be like next season. I can honestly say one thing about this season: apart from a few stupendous moments it was sloooow. And oh...I almost forgot: less or none of Nadya the President (Jim Jones) and Ricky. Bring back Robocop and the Muslim terrorists.
I was thinking de facto, not de jure... incidentally, didn’t they recently do something to provide more exceptions against the 35 hr work week law?
I don’t think “Jumped the Shark” is accurate; that is more about over the top, ratings-grabbing writing that doesn’t fit into the context of the show. This last season was not really off premise, but just not as clever and well written, with several anticlimactic subplot endings. Look at any of the prior seasons, and there are unrealistic, outrageous scenes: Jack’s wife’s death, cutting his partners had off with an ax, killing another agent, heroine addition, etc. This season’s nukes and torture scenes weren’t out of context. Still, episode by episode, I think it was the best series on network TV. Not the best season, but every series has a peak. I think day 4 and 5 were the best, and this season had unrealized potential, which made it disappointing.
And it still raised some thought provoking topics about whether to negotiate with terrorists, balancing civil rights with security, how the country would handle consistent, elevating terrorist attacks against civilian domestic targets - good and timely things to debate actively.
Yup, she smiled.
The Shield on the F/X Network.
The show is on tonight.
Here is a link for more info:
http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/the_shield/main.html
Yes, they elected a new President.
Sir, I am in your debt.
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