Posted on 04/09/2007 5:21:34 AM PDT by 7thson
Recently, I purchased seasons 1-3 of 24. I have completed viewing the first season and am halfway through the second season. I like the program. It is very fast paced and exciting. Jack Bauer in the second season seems better and more competent than in the first. At various times, I have caught a couple bloopers. This one in particular stands out - in season one, when Jack and Mason go to that field where the secret prison is located, Mason tells Jack his phone battery is dead and can he use his phone. A few scenes later, Mason either gets or makes a call on his phone. When it happened, I was so reved up looking for conspiracies and double-crosses, I thought Jack would eventually say - hey, how come the battery is now working?
A couple of observations - first one is I hope we don't have a CTU like that in real life. With everyone bed-hopping, back-stabbing, and infiltrating the Unit, I really can't see how competent it is. Also, there seems to be a high turnover rate with many CTU employees dying during a season. During season 1, I thought the majority of the female characters were freaky looking. In season 2, someone must of told the producers because the female characters became more normal looking. In season 2, the scenes where Stanton is being tortured is stupid.
The one main thing I like is the shocking surprises. Jack shooting and killing the scum witness at the beginning of season 2. Also in season 2, the person who turns out to be the real terrorist spy is a shocker.
I like how the series makes you like and hate certain characters. Palmers wife - can't stand her. Palmer - cool guy. Mason - the series has made you to not liking the guy to sympathizing with him and his end-of-life trying to do the right thing. In season one, I could not stand Bauer's wife and daughter. In fact, his daugher has to be the most stupidest character ever in a tv series. It is amusing to some extant to watch some characters make an impact and then are killed off.
All in all, a good program that keeps you entertained.
Is your FReeper name from the book?
Alias - I think the pregnancy hurt Alias - but the producers more than made up for the mediocre story by that spectatular series ending. Sloane, never to die, trapped in a tomb while Jack decomposes next to him.
Three actually - her backside ain’t too shabby either. :)
yea - Richie Rich will save the US from the terrorists...
No, sorry, not happening!
Did you ever see the musical?
I will say that this year the have been pelted by the PC crowd and I think it has hurt their storyline.
This show cannot work in the PC guidelines and still get viewers.
No, how was it?
Wonderful. Get the soundtrack. I don’t think you will be disappointed.
“Hey, hands up... how many people would have preferred an entire season of Jack trying to get out of China?”
That may have been interesting, but remember the show would be one day (24 hrs). I suppose they could have had him escape from prison, as in the other Monday show that I like “Prison Break.”
Maybe they need to spin-off the show into something like ‘30 DAYS” which would allow for plots with more dimension. Each program would be one day.
I would have loved to see a show about Jack getting out of China. Even if it involved Audrey (who apparently was in China trying to get Jack out).
The only good thing about this season is that I’ve been able to cheer for the bad guys. Well, not quite, but I hardly felt bad when they nuked LA, or when they tried to blow up the President. I didn’t mind the former President’s problem with his wife either.
And this is the first season when I’ve felt Jack didn’t go far enough questioning people, instead of the other way around.
For me, the show reached a low when, only a few hours after Jack had to kill one of his best friends to save a terrorist who would “help them”, that terrorist was then killed off without ever having provided any help at all, making Curtis’ death meaningless.
Glad to see that I'm not the only one disappointed with this season's episodes. Watching 24 this season is like watching someone with cerebral palsy do a paint-by-numbers picture.
Do any of you know how to buy or where to buy the CTU ringtones for a cell phone?
I only recently started watchine “24”.
It is fast paced and entertaining. It is also absurd, unrealistic, and a cartoon all at the same time. Anyone who actually believes that all the stuff that happens in one hour could actually happen in one hour is living in a fantasy.
I realize that but as you said, it is an entertaining program. What I find absud - among many things - is when they have non-CTU people inside the facility. No escort, no visitor badges, people walking wherever they want to walk. Working in a secure enviornment for years, I know that is extremely stupid and unrealistic. And as I read on FR from a much earlier thread concerning 24, just getting across town in minutes is absurd. I have never been to L.A., but if it is like any large metro city, I know you couldn’t do that.
Maybe I’m reading too much into the program but from season one, what I took as the underlying theme in all the episodes was corruption. Palmer’s wife is corrupt, two CTU agents were corrupt, Mason is possibly corrupted, and the little things Palmer’s Chief of Staff and others get him to do, are little baby steps leading to corruption.
What I’ve Learned: Jack Bauer
Counterterrorism Expert, Los Angeles
By Nicole Ranadive and Matt Michnovetz
Actions speak louder than words. Though shouting can also be effective.
If you shoot a man’s wife in the knee and he still doesn’t give you the information, he’s bad.
Revenge is the cruelest trick. I’ve seen it taken out on others, I’ve been victim to it, I’ve even done it myself. But it doesn’t change anything, and it doesn’t bring comfort.
Trust is the key to survival. And by trust, I mean getting out of the way and letting me do what I need to do.
The only thing harder than racing to stop a madman from releasing a deadly virus that will kill thousands of people is doing it while simultaneously trying to kick heroin.
I’ve been beaten, kidnapped, gassed, and shot at, but the most terrifying thing I’ve ever been through was facing my daughter after I made her believe I was dead.
I eat a lot of bananas. They’re a good source of vitamin B and potassium. They’re also easy to take on the move.
Love is a privilege.
If you have to trust someone, make it a quirky computer genius.
If I say “dammit,” either something bad just happened, something bad is about to happen, or I’m going to do something drastic.
Any man can make a mistake. It’s what he does to remedy that mistake that shows his character.
You better know who you are before you go undercover. If you don’t, you could easily lose yourself.
Always carry at least one spare fully charged cell-phone battery.
So many times when I thought there was no more time, there was.
When interrogating a suspect, I’ve often found it effective to ask the question loudly and repeat it several times.
Remember, terrorists use the phone as much as we do.
In the event of a highway landing, always fasten your seat belt and return your chair and tray table to their upright and locked positions.
It’s all key cards and thumb drives these days.
If the president of the United States ever orders you to shoot your boss in the head at point-blank range in cold blood, take a deep breath, ask God to forgive you, and just do it.
Without conscience, a man becomes his worst enemy.
Sometimes it’s necessary to create a believable diversion, even at the risk of others thinking you’re an ***hole.
A cell phone can sometimes be used to activate a secondary detonator on a terrorist’s explosive vest regardless of how many minutes are left on your plan.
Dead terrorists can often be effectively used as human shields. So can live ones.
Bureaucrats want results but never want to get their hands dirty.
The safety of the people I love is worth any sacrifice. Even their trust.
Some people don’t deserve to die, but that’s not my call.
Serbs have a different word for everything.
If you don’t have a Taser gun, the wires from a lamp will deliver the current needed to shock your subject just enough to get him to give up the information you need without doing any permanent damage.
Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing for the right reasons.
You can’t save everyone.
If you see me running down the street, it’s probably a good idea to take cover.
Don’t piss off the Chinese.
Nicole Ranadive is the staff writer of “24”. Matt Michnovetz is the show’s story editor.
Dummies’ Guide to ‘24’
Our primer on FOX’s hit TV thriller gets you ready for new season
By Barbara Card Atkinson
Special to MSN Entertainment
“24,” the real-time, action-thriller-drama with kinetic pacing, split screens and treacherous turns, has launched into its sixth season. Now that the first four hours are in the history books, it’s still not too late for new viewers to get on board with popular show. Here, then, is our breakdown of how the cogs in the wheels turn in the mad clockwork that is “24.” The ride is much more fun, after all, if you avoid plot twist whiplash.
The Premise
Each season is one full day; each episode spans a single hour in that day. The über-hero is Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), an agent for Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU), a fictitious U.S.-intelligence organization.
The Hook
Loyalties change, people lie, loved ones and national treasures are in peril. Jack Bauer has to make split-second decisions that often (okay, pretty much always, and we mean hourly) spell a devastating loss for him, which could mean anything from a constantly shifting moral high ground to burying his wife.
The Usual Suspects
That paranoia streak you’ve been trying to suppress? This is the place to relish it, with a side dish of hard-boiled cynicism. Each season offers a multicultural, multilayered casserole of heroes and villains with a gooey turncoat center. You never know, really, who is who. The malefactors can come from Mexico, Europe, or the Middle East — and there are plenty of homegrown enemies as well. Then you have the garnish, which is high-level government bureaucracy at its most convoluted. Dig in!
What You Can Expect
Everything. Anything. In seasons previous, Bauer lost his wife, decapitated someone, halted an attempted assassination, saved the world from nuclear peril, and, while undercover with a drug cartel, developed a drug addiction. He became a scapegoat and a prisoner, and was tortured. Oh, and once he died, too. So we can’t really tell you what to expect — except the unexpected.
It’s Always Something
In “24,” Jack Bauer finds himself perched at the crux of a hideous moral morel dilemma.
(Story Continues On Next Page...)
(...Story Continued from Previous Page)
Save the innocent people in a shopping mall, or catch the terrorists? Save the better man, or save the one with crucial information? It’s like a loud, blustery, less emotionally invested version of “Sophie’s Choice” — every week. The writers won’t tell you how they think you should feel about the quandary, and Kiefer Sutherland often emotes with little more than the set of his jaw. It makes for some meaty water cooler discussions the next day.
Don’t Arrive After Curtain
Get to your seat on time and silence that cell phone. Each episode starts out of the gate with a short “Previously on ‘24’”. You most likely need that recap to keep track of which terrorists are currently making the most trouble, and where in each of the doomed relationships painful declarations have been with little more than muted murmurs and heartfelt looks.
Suspend Your Disbelief
This isn’t “Reality TV.” Jack Bauer can travel the length of Los Angeles in less time than it takes to make a plot point. He seldom runs out of bullets. He and his CTU brethren interrogate and/or torture people as needed (both good guys and bad), and have yet to be taken to task. Biological and chemical weapons are as common as a second pair of pants: everyone’s got one.
Don’t Get Attached
If a woman dates Jack Bauer, she’s going to die. Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration, but not by much. Look at the numbers: his wife, Teri? Dead. His ex-girlfriend, Nina? Dead. Claudia Salazar? Dead. He’s so unlucky in love that even the women who survive, like Audrey Raines (Kim Raver), walk away. Well, he did let her estranged husband get shot, but he had to in order to save the world (see “It’s Always Something,” above).
Don’t Assume
What you think is wrong is right in the world of “24.” Upstanding presidents can be utterly corrupt; beloved agents will be killed to promote an agenda; a daughter just might be told her father is dead (when he isn’t), because national security is worth a broken heart. Oh, and those main characters you enjoy so much, the ones that have been with the show for numerous seasons? Yeah. They’ll probably be killed off.
Multitasking Is Key
Early on, “24” used the split screen device to show you all the permutations of whatever multiple plot mess was being juggled at the time. Although this device has been scaled back somewhat, when it happens, pay attention to every tiny rectangle of frowning, chasing, shooting, pacing angst.
Don’t Take Your Eyes Off That Clock
That tension-inducing digital countdown in the lower corner of your screen? Each minute of the episode’s airtime corresponds to a minute in the lives of the characters. The clock also roughly corresponds to each broadcast minute, but watch closely when they come back from each commercial break: the clock has been pushed forward three minutes. While you were gone, they moved on. Maybe the characters had to hit the fridge, too.
Listen Closely
Sure, you bought your digital clock because you wanted a clock on your side of the bed that was silent. The digital clock on “24,” however, could wake the dead (and the pretending-to-be-dead). Whether it’s the end of the episode or just time for a commercial break, those blocky numbers gets loud. In fact, it’s when you don’t hear anything that you’d better get to the edge of your seat. The silent countdown is used to emphasize particular moments, such as Jack finding his dead wife, the loss of a beloved agent, and the poisoning and assumed death of yet another agent. Actually, if it’s a silent countdown, just assume someone is about to die. Except that they might not.
Don’t Look for Closure
Just when one crisis is averted, another one rears its sneaky little terrorist head. Air Force One one gets shot down, but the President survives. Think Jack and his buddies can hit the Barcalounger and grab some nachos? Wait! Someone’s taken the code to a warhead — and now a warhead’s missing! Find the guy who knows who has the warhead and — wait! It never ends. And, no, we’ve never seen an episode where the characters just get solid shut-eye. They must buy Red Bull by the caseload.
You Can Get in Touch
Here’s a sweet insider tip: In Season Four, a minor character’s cell phone showed a valid California phone number. Fans started calling and received a message that they had reached the “24” prop phone; a few lucky fans actually spoke to actors and crew. That first week, a according to production designer Joseph Hodges, they received more than 80,000 calls. Poor Debbie was killed, but buy the number lived on: Jack gave it out to campers, and it was shown both on the back of a photograph and as another character’s number.
Settle In
OK, the show’s about to start. What do you now know that will allow you to while away the upcoming hours? Anyone can be a bad guy ... Jack is a modern-day Job with a smokin’ hot three-day growth of beard & WMDs are as common as corner delis ... And, some prop people are just plain crazy. Don’t dawdle; go get ready for the new season. The clock is ticking.
phonezoo.com
I downloaded it to my phone last month...I get great looks from people when it rings.
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