What's wrong with 24: Season 6-8?

[Luminus]

I keep hearing complaints about how the writing has become crappy. Also, I've heard complaints about the sub-plots throughout the whole series. What gives?

I want to read your complaints and discuss. I'll be working later on (finally!) , so I probably won't get back to this until tomorrow.

 

[Nardpuncher]

I know what you mean in that I finished season 6 a few weeks ago and had no problem with it, then found out that it was basically derided by all here. It was infamous.
I could understand it not being anyone's favorite, but I didn't think it was that bad.

 

[23skidoo]

The main problem I have with the later seasons is that the novelty factor had well and truly worn off by about Year 4. The idea of Bauer repeatedly being placed in situations where he had exactly 24 hours, without interruption, to save the world worked the first few times, but by year 6 suspension of disbelief had begun to fail, and that became a distraction.

Also, Bauer was considered a bit of a groundbreaking character back when he started, in terms of his ruthlessness and the like. It's not so new anymore, and as the post-9/11 "US vs. Them" mindset has begun to fade in the last few years, Bauer's character has become less appealing.

These considerations go beyond whether the recent seasons were any good or not on their own. Just the concept by itself had reached its sell-by date, IMO.

Alex

 

[T'Baio]

Was Season 6 the one where Bauer, while below decks in a jumbo jet, ripped open an access panel, took hold of the cables supposedly controlling the ailerons on the wing, grabbed them and pulled them with his bare hands to control the plane?

Yeah...that'd be why the later seasons suck.

 

[Base_Delta_Zero]

Was Season 6 the one where Bauer, while below decks in a jumbo jet, ripped open an access panel, took hold of the cables supposedly controlling the ailerons on the wing, grabbed them and pulled them with his bare hands to control the plane?

Yeah...that'd be why the later seasons suck.

I want to say he used a lever and it was either to prompt someone going into the hold to check the problem (allowing him access to the cabin) or to get the pilot to start to land the plane. I don't recall him using it to dodge missiles or some shit, but maybe I blocked out the stupid.

_______

I love 24. Jack Bauer is my hero. But the number and/or dumbassness of the dumbass sideplots has increased thru seasons 5, 6, 7 and 8. I want to see Jack and Co. take out badguys and save the day, not deal with angst, false drama, office politics, yet another fucking mole, Kim's homework, etc.

Jack on his own or with a handful of close allies works best. Jack and the new cavalcade of morons introduced each season sucks big hairy monkey balls.

 

[Hermiod]

I didn't mind season six that much, it wasn't that bad. It was certainly better than the god awful season four. It's season seven and now season eight where things have started to go bad.

The show has become bland and predictable and the writing requires normally intelligent characters to commit acts of rank stupidity in order for the plot to proceed.

Then we get to the worst part of season seven of them all.

Spoiler: Major Spoilers for Season 7

The first half of season seven as well as the prior DVD movie Redemption revolves around the government of General Benjamin Juma, your typical African military dictator. It is revealed that he, in concert with a Blackwater-esque American private military company, had established a large network of operatives and informants within the United States government funded through their extensive diamond mining operations.

His people try to capture the legitimate President of his country, "Sangala", who seeks to prevent the mass ethnic cleansing of his people.

Despite Juma's attempts to force them to stay out of the conflict the United States invades Sangala and meets with very little resistance but cannot find Juma. Why ? Well, therein lies the rub.

Juma, you see, is already in the United States and personally leads an attack on the White House! He and a small number of Sangalan soldiers manage to take over the entire building, holding the President hostage - though fortunately, Jack Bauer was already in the building.

The problems with this are numerous and show why the show has gotten so bad. First, Juma is an African dictator, not some terrorist. African dictators don't go on suicide missions, and that's what their attack was. They had no plan of escape. Their American allies couldn't do anything once they entered the building.

Apparently not realising that he was A) holding the commander in chief of the most powerful armed force in the history of the world hostage or B) that every gun in Washington DC would have been pointed directly at his head at this point, Juma just stands there and gloats.

But anyway, later it turns out that those private military contractors are planning to sneak a biological weapon developed in Sangala in to the US in order to commit a false flag operation.

Jack is accidentally exposed and there's the second problem. Jack spends the remainder of the season sick and unable to be, well, Jack. As a result he is sidelined in favour of Girl-Jack Renee Walker and the miraculously resurrected Tony Almeida.

 

[T'Baio]

Was Season 6 the one where Bauer, while below decks in a jumbo jet, ripped open an access panel, took hold of the cables supposedly controlling the ailerons on the wing, grabbed them and pulled them with his bare hands to control the plane?

Yeah...that'd be why the later seasons suck.

I want to say he used a lever and it was either to prompt someone going into the hold to check the problem (allowing him access to the cabin) or to get the pilot to start to land the plane. I don't recall him using it to dodge missiles or some shit, but maybe I blocked out the stupid.

He wasn't dodging missiles or anything quite that stupid. His intent was to get the bad guy to come down into the hold so that he could escape. But to get that to happen, he bare fisted the cables to cause the plane to take a nose dive.

I'm pretty sure that was the last episode I ever watched.

 

[Jax]

The problems I see others having was that season 6 didn't plan out properly and really phoned it in towards the end when the main plot ended early. Season 8 doesn't have enough action it seems oh and the side thing with Dana.

Season 7 however was bloody brilliant.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I like all of the seasons. Season 1 still stands out to me as being way above the others, but I don't hate any particular season. They all have their ridiculous plots and silly side stories, but I don't necessarily think those detract from the show like others do.

 

[FreezeC77]

Dude just say what he did. He TORTURED the plane into submission. That's how fucking hardcore Jack Bauer is.

 

[Harvey]

I always hated the end of season four, where the terrorists fire a nuclear missile in Iowa (with mountains!), but instead of aiming at a nearby target, they lock their sights on Los Angeles, which is just far enough away that it gives Jack and Co. time to locate the missile.

I'd say that was just about as bad as the suicide vest with the LCD timer on it this season.

But season four was several kinds of stupid.

 

[Marten]

Detroit or Chicago would have made excellent targets. Even D.C is closer than L.A.

 

[The Evil Dead]

One word: Not enough Tony.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I've barely paid attention to the seasons since five. Last year was decent. I'm tired of the season being divided into two seperate storylines. I get that this is the only way they seem to be able to keep an audiences attention but it seems reduntant to me. I've not watched any of season eight yet and I don't plan on doing so.

 

[CaptainCanada]

They've also, over time, ground down the supporting cast of characters, losing all the ones I really liked. I'm all for drama, but that just aided my loss of interest.

 

[DarKush]

Season 6 was the first one that I stopped watching mid-season. It was wretched. Sure 24 had used tropes in the past and had perhaps created new in-show tropes, but Season 6 just seemed chock full of some of the worst and had extremely lazy writing.

Not to mention it just felt creatively barren. Evil father and sibling? At least use Donald Sutherland for the dad dammit! Killing Curtis for no good reason. Detonating a bomb in California (if I recall correctly) with little repercussions from the fall out. Wayne Palmer as president. No insult to DB Woodside, but his character was poorly written and didn't jibe with earlier portrayals of the character, who came across as a bit more decisive. As president he was too weak. Regina King should've been the president if they wanted to use another Palmer. Of course her storyline went nowhere fast too.

Season 7 wasn't all that bad. Though S6 dimmed me on 24, I just lost interest and missed large chunks of S7. I did like "24: Redemption" though, and I had no problem with President Taylor. I also liked Renee. I thought she was a welcome addition to the show.

Season 8 started out good, but I'm starting to lose interest. They shackled Katee Sackhoff with a stupid storyline. I would rather have her as a villain, in the Naked Mandy mold, than with what they are doing with her. Freddie Prinze serves no purpose other than to try on a deeper voice. I wish they incorporated him more into the storyline. Mykelti Williamson makes for a good jerk boss, and I do like the IRK president and his hot wife and daughter.

 

[Cyke101]

There's a lot wrong, but last monday's episode was easily the best...

(...primarily because TJ Ramini spends half the episode shirtless or wrapped in a bath towel. Yums. I've never EVER seen a terrorist look that good before.)

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The main problem I have with the later seasons is that the novelty factor had well and truly worn off by about Year 4.

Yep. Gregory Itzin and Jean Smart got it thru S5 but after that, it was all over. Some shows have narrow premises that can't just go on and on. This is one of them.

I always hated the end of season four, where the terrorists fire a nuclear missile in Iowa (with mountains!), but instead of aiming at a nearby target, they lock their sights on Los Angeles, which is just far enough away that it gives Jack and Co. time to locate the missile.

I'd say that was just about as bad as the suicide vest with the LCD timer on it this season.

Ooooh no! The suicide vest with the LED countdown is my new gold standard for TV stupidity.

I wonder if any real terrorists might have watched that episode (for pointers, dontchaknow) and wondered what the frak have the infidels been smoking now?

 

[Turtletrekker]

The show became a victim of its own momentum. They kept feeling the need to top themselves, make the story bigger and bigger, every year and it just got silly. And really-- how do you top your season's big bad being the POTUS?

 

[Aragorn]

^ Aliens?

Who have a mole working at CTU, of course.