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24: Season 6, First Four Hours

Published Tuesday, January 16, 2007 by seanlmccarthy | E-mail this post

Having watched the first four hours of the sixth "day" of 24, I can say that I remain as disappointed in FOX's winning TV thriller as I was when I first learned that the show wasn't going to follow Jack Bauer in China. Now that would've been an escape worth watching. And a prison term worth watching. And just a nice change of pace for this highly predictable (yet still winning) drama. Bringing Bauer back in the first 10 minutes, and with such ease, just took the wind out of the proverbial sails that set across the Pacific Ocean last May on that Chinese tanker.

That's not my only issue. Chloe is supposed to be both a screw-up and sexy now? President Wayne Palmer? Palmer's go-to adviser is a weasel? Who knew! The bad guy wants Bauer dead, but only stabs him once? And Bauer is running around, all no-pain, no-gain, minutes later? I know, I know. Bauer always bounces back. But this seemed even more outlandish somehow. Kal Penn was pretty much worthless. The neighbors, even less enticing. As for the big reveals at the end of the fourth hour? Well, the first part (look! up in the sky!) just seemed like it's not something that will wrap up in the next 20 hours, so, um, WHY WHY WHY????!!!! The second reveal? More "visitors"? That makes even less sense considering the one nuclear engineer expert for Mr. Bad Guy kinda sorta just went kablooie! No, I'm going to spellcheck kablooie. Oh, right. The other big death. That. Well, that agent whose name rhymes with Curtis -- normally such a standup guy in past seasons/days -- acted like such a ninny that he deserved to get written off. Then again, maybe he's lucky not to have to sort through this season's plot madness. The one bright spot, new CTU agent addition Nadia (otherwise known offstage as Marisol Nichols) is a definite hottie, though some sites on the WWW say she also prefers the Church of Scientology (which only makes me want to know what her dealy deal is that much more).

They better have a clear idea where they're going this time.

Oh. Wait. This is 24 we're talking about. Nevermind.

Labels: TV