Jerry, Robb - have you guys watched 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM yet? I think there's a good bit to discuss, but I don't want to play spoiler if you haven't seen it yet.
Jeff, I would include you, but I'm not sure if the world of psychology is even letting you near a television these days, not to mention for four hours.
What do you think? I simply perked up when I saw Bill Buchanan back again. I am concerned that the chick FBI agent is going to play too prominent a role though.
a) Much weaker opening sequence than in previous years. The only saving grace was to reintroduce Tony through solely his voice, which is a great touch for the four people who hadn't heard he was returning from the "dead."
b) Tony might well be my favorite character on the show. That said, I still don't like how they "killed" him off, and I don't like the explanation for how they brought him back. This crosses the line between soap opera-with-guns and just plain soap opera. If George Mason comes back I swear to god I'm burning my DVDs. Also, the undercover agent angle has been played a few times too many for my taste, whether the agent be good or bad. Can't it just be finding stuff out before the other guy knows you found it out?
c) A shadow CTU? Meh. If the characters were that interesting - and I feel Buchanan is - just keep the dang thing around in the first place. I know it's part of at least one part of the season's story that CTU's disbanded, and I really hope that that storyline, having Jack answer for his past, doesn't disappear.
d) I really like the duality the show's pushing this year between the competing groups. Shadow CTU vs. FBI, Jack vs. Agent Redhead, Bill vs. the SAC, and even Chloe vs. Janeane Garofalo as Chloe2 (Electric Boogaloo) seem like compelling faceoffs. I'll certainly admit that some of them, specifically Chloe's, seem a little forced, but the fact that it's no longer a simple good guys vs. bad guys adds another fun layer.
e) If you're of the mindset that it is, in fact, competition between the two law enforcement agencies, does this make Jack-Tony-Bill-Chloe the bad guys?
f) I feel like I've seen a lot of these devices already. At some point that's inevitable, I guess, but I'm seeing callbacks in Jack's reestablishing Tony's cover to Day 2, in the explanation of Tony's rebirth to Day 3 (though that might just be wishful thinking on my part, connecting this Emerson guy to Stephen Saunders), and in the story thus far of Agent Redhead to the early episodes of Day 4 with Ronnie LaBell. It doesn't diminish my entertainment in the moment, but it might be a sign that the creative well's starting to dry up.
g) I like Warden Norton as Secretary of Whatever. I'm really glad they kept him around from last year.
h) I'm also sick of the "rich sinister white guys helping bad foreign people do things in order to get richer while distancing themself" angle. To wit: Peter Kingsley and the unnamed middle eastern countries, Day 2; President Logan and the Russian separatists, Day 5; and Old Man Bauer and the Russian-Arab thugs, Day 6. If you're going to rerun an idea, go back to Day 1 and make it a grudge match, or make it something more directly pure like Day 4.
i) I'm curious where the President's son storyline is going. I'm assuming per the movie that it goes up to the Jon Voight character, but it shouldn't be that simple right? He can't have been killed just because he was about to uncover a rich sinister white guy helping out some foreign thugs, can he? That's too easy... right?
j) I miss the good old days where the big villain wasn't revealed until the last few hours and you had to work your way up to him, video-game style. When did we first see Victor Drazen? Kingsley? Saunders? Days 4, 5, and 6 all gave us the top dog way too early for my taste. I don't know if I should blame this on the prequel movie or not... maybe Jon Voight isn't the last bad guy?
k) At this point, we play the fill-in-the-blanks game. How do we get from this point to "rich sinister white guy is taken down, the African genocide is thwarted, the President's family gets closure, Tony, Bill, and Chloe disappear, and Jack gets taken again by the Chinese?"
l) Jerry, this long-winded, tangent-fest of a response is what you get for making us wait nearly a week before discussion time.
b) I agree, weak explanation. I remember watching when Tony "died" and thinking that they couldn't crawl their way out of that one. Oh well... it's worth reviving an excellent character.
c) I think what happens, and I think it's ok, is that they "take it one season at a time". If they have to put together something implausible to climb their way out, so be it. Like I said, I have a mancrush on Buchanan and I hope the season explores more about how they got into this closet CTU business.
f) There's only so many ways you can carve out a plot for this type of show. I'm amazed they've shown the creativity they have over the years. Though I only really started watching in Season 4, I find this Bauer/Almeida undercover with the bad guys thing to be a nice touch and somewhat refreshing.
g) The actor who plays Warden Norton is fabulous. Great character actor. I also remember him, sadly, as the chief of police in "Demolition Man".
i) Last night, this storyline officially hit ridiculous. I'm sorry, but there's no way that would happen. Absolutely no way. This is element one that is pissing me off.
Element two? The mere concept that the new president would consider still invading Sengala. Please. That's such an idiotic angle she's taking and incredibly unrealistic. I'm willing to let characters rise from the dead, but I hate when they show remarkable political / national security stupidity.
j) Good point, though we don't know, really, who the final bad guy is. We still have 19 hours left.
k) Jack will be taken by India. It's the only culture left to offend, no?
a) Yes, I have been caught up. Been watching these shows off the DVR, usually the day/night of, so no spoilers. But clearly, not so diligent with this blog. I am sorry.
b1) It's worth reviving him, but now every time I revel in his presence I have to put aside the shady way his return was explained. It just diminishes him, that's all. b2) Tony did not get a silent clock upon his "death." b3) Agent Redhead got a silent clock upon her "death." b4) I miss the good old days where only the really, really special moments got the silent clock. Agent Redhead, to this point, isn't really, really special. That was totally unwarranted.
c1) I feel the implausibility is more problematic the more you invest in the show as a multi-year series. I'm willing to accept some in-the-moment wackiness so long as it doesn't affect what's happened in the past. c2) "I hope the season explores more about how they got into this closet CTU business." Me too; in fact, I feel like the story would be unfinished without said exploration.
f) Now that you mention it, much of the undercover work appears in the first three seasons, particularly Day Three.
i1) I was hoping like hell that the bodyguard wouldn't be an inside man. That was so easy to spot that I dismissed its possibility right off the bat. Have they turned the tables on us so much that the obvious, being too easy, is now the unexpected?
i2) "Element two? The mere concept that the new president would consider still invading Sengala. Please. That's such an idiotic angle she's taking and incredibly unrealistic. I'm willing to let characters rise from the dead, but I hate when they show remarkable political / national security stupidity." Amen brothers.
j) Voight fits the profile, but I'll be more than happy to be wrong. I'm pretty sure Marwan was revealed before hour twelve during Day Four.
k) I'm hoping Australia takes him to set up a fight to the finish against Crocodile Dundee. Winner gets the Sydney Opera House and Elle MacPherson.
8 comments:
Finished hours 3 and 4 last night. Ready when the group is...
I give Jerry 24 hrs (no pun intended)
Alright, Jerry's lost his chance.
What do you think? I simply perked up when I saw Bill Buchanan back again. I am concerned that the chick FBI agent is going to play too prominent a role though.
So many thoughts...
a) Much weaker opening sequence than in previous years. The only saving grace was to reintroduce Tony through solely his voice, which is a great touch for the four people who hadn't heard he was returning from the "dead."
b) Tony might well be my favorite character on the show. That said, I still don't like how they "killed" him off, and I don't like the explanation for how they brought him back. This crosses the line between soap opera-with-guns and just plain soap opera. If George Mason comes back I swear to god I'm burning my DVDs. Also, the undercover agent angle has been played a few times too many for my taste, whether the agent be good or bad. Can't it just be finding stuff out before the other guy knows you found it out?
c) A shadow CTU? Meh. If the characters were that interesting - and I feel Buchanan is - just keep the dang thing around in the first place. I know it's part of at least one part of the season's story that CTU's disbanded, and I really hope that that storyline, having Jack answer for his past, doesn't disappear.
d) I really like the duality the show's pushing this year between the competing groups. Shadow CTU vs. FBI, Jack vs. Agent Redhead, Bill vs. the SAC, and even Chloe vs. Janeane Garofalo as Chloe2 (Electric Boogaloo) seem like compelling faceoffs. I'll certainly admit that some of them, specifically Chloe's, seem a little forced, but the fact that it's no longer a simple good guys vs. bad guys adds another fun layer.
e) If you're of the mindset that it is, in fact, competition between the two law enforcement agencies, does this make Jack-Tony-Bill-Chloe the bad guys?
f) I feel like I've seen a lot of these devices already. At some point that's inevitable, I guess, but I'm seeing callbacks in Jack's reestablishing Tony's cover to Day 2, in the explanation of Tony's rebirth to Day 3 (though that might just be wishful thinking on my part, connecting this Emerson guy to Stephen Saunders), and in the story thus far of Agent Redhead to the early episodes of Day 4 with Ronnie LaBell. It doesn't diminish my entertainment in the moment, but it might be a sign that the creative well's starting to dry up.
g) I like Warden Norton as Secretary of Whatever. I'm really glad they kept him around from last year.
h) I'm also sick of the "rich sinister white guys helping bad foreign people do things in order to get richer while distancing themself" angle. To wit: Peter Kingsley and the unnamed middle eastern countries, Day 2; President Logan and the Russian separatists, Day 5; and Old Man Bauer and the Russian-Arab thugs, Day 6. If you're going to rerun an idea, go back to Day 1 and make it a grudge match, or make it something more directly pure like Day 4.
i) I'm curious where the President's son storyline is going. I'm assuming per the movie that it goes up to the Jon Voight character, but it shouldn't be that simple right? He can't have been killed just because he was about to uncover a rich sinister white guy helping out some foreign thugs, can he? That's too easy... right?
j) I miss the good old days where the big villain wasn't revealed until the last few hours and you had to work your way up to him, video-game style. When did we first see Victor Drazen? Kingsley? Saunders? Days 4, 5, and 6 all gave us the top dog way too early for my taste. I don't know if I should blame this on the prequel movie or not... maybe Jon Voight isn't the last bad guy?
k) At this point, we play the fill-in-the-blanks game. How do we get from this point to "rich sinister white guy is taken down, the African genocide is thwarted, the President's family gets closure, Tony, Bill, and Chloe disappear, and Jack gets taken again by the Chinese?"
l) Jerry, this long-winded, tangent-fest of a response is what you get for making us wait nearly a week before discussion time.
b) I agree, weak explanation. I remember watching when Tony "died" and thinking that they couldn't crawl their way out of that one. Oh well... it's worth reviving an excellent character.
c) I think what happens, and I think it's ok, is that they "take it one season at a time". If they have to put together something implausible to climb their way out, so be it. Like I said, I have a mancrush on Buchanan and I hope the season explores more about how they got into this closet CTU business.
f) There's only so many ways you can carve out a plot for this type of show. I'm amazed they've shown the creativity they have over the years. Though I only really started watching in Season 4, I find this Bauer/Almeida undercover with the bad guys thing to be a nice touch and somewhat refreshing.
g) The actor who plays Warden Norton is fabulous. Great character actor. I also remember him, sadly, as the chief of police in "Demolition Man".
i) Last night, this storyline officially hit ridiculous. I'm sorry, but there's no way that would happen. Absolutely no way. This is element one that is pissing me off.
Element two? The mere concept that the new president would consider still invading Sengala. Please. That's such an idiotic angle she's taking and incredibly unrealistic. I'm willing to let characters rise from the dead, but I hate when they show remarkable political / national security stupidity.
j) Good point, though we don't know, really, who the final bad guy is. We still have 19 hours left.
k) Jack will be taken by India. It's the only culture left to offend, no?
Holy crap guys. Wow.
a) Yes, I have been caught up. Been watching these shows off the DVR, usually the day/night of, so no spoilers. But clearly, not so diligent with this blog. I am sorry.
b) Holy crap guys. Wow.
I will say the president signing off on the invasion of Sengala is retarded.
"TEAM AMERICA! F* YEAH!"
b1) It's worth reviving him, but now every time I revel in his presence I have to put aside the shady way his return was explained. It just diminishes him, that's all.
b2) Tony did not get a silent clock upon his "death."
b3) Agent Redhead got a silent clock upon her "death."
b4) I miss the good old days where only the really, really special moments got the silent clock. Agent Redhead, to this point, isn't really, really special. That was totally unwarranted.
c1) I feel the implausibility is more problematic the more you invest in the show as a multi-year series. I'm willing to accept some in-the-moment wackiness so long as it doesn't affect what's happened in the past.
c2) "I hope the season explores more about how they got into this closet CTU business." Me too; in fact, I feel like the story would be unfinished without said exploration.
f) Now that you mention it, much of the undercover work appears in the first three seasons, particularly Day Three.
i1) I was hoping like hell that the bodyguard wouldn't be an inside man. That was so easy to spot that I dismissed its possibility right off the bat. Have they turned the tables on us so much that the obvious, being too easy, is now the unexpected?
i2) "Element two? The mere concept that the new president would consider still invading Sengala. Please. That's such an idiotic angle she's taking and incredibly unrealistic. I'm willing to let characters rise from the dead, but I hate when they show remarkable political / national security stupidity." Amen brothers.
j) Voight fits the profile, but I'll be more than happy to be wrong. I'm pretty sure Marwan was revealed before hour twelve during Day Four.
k) I'm hoping Australia takes him to set up a fight to the finish against Crocodile Dundee. Winner gets the Sydney Opera House and Elle MacPherson.
Loser gets Steve Irwin.
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