24 the TV series

Last week Howard and I finally rented 24 Season one disc 1 from Blockbuster. We were fascinated and enthralled. It was compelling. We had to wait to get our hands on disc 2. After watching disc 2 both Howard and I have decided that we don’t need to watch any more of it. The concept is fascinating, but the whole show is about tension. Each episode was a cliff hanger and none of them had any resolution to them at all. There was never anything happy to any of the episodes. That is as untrue to life as a happy feel-good show. I much prefer shows that are a mixture of happy and painful. Because life is like that.

Once I decided not to finish the series I went online and read a bunch of spoilers. Apparently Howard and I have already watched the best of the series. Later it devolves into soap operaesque contortions to keep the plots tense. The one plot thread I’d like to know the end to, which I couldn’t find anywhere, is about David Palmer presidential candidate. Does he eventually tell the truth to the public and how does that work out for him and his family? I think that he’s president in season 2, so it can’t have gone too badly. It was the only plotline that didn’t involve gunfire and the only one that no one cared enough to talk about.

22 thoughts on “24 the TV series”

  1. Yes. Palmer holds a press conference, and discloses everything. The public reacts favorably to his honesty, and he ends up divorcing his wife due to her Machiavellian tendencies and the fact that he absolutely can’t trust her.

  2. Yes. Palmer holds a press conference, and discloses everything. The public reacts favorably to his honesty, and he ends up divorcing his wife due to her Machiavellian tendencies and the fact that he absolutely can’t trust her.

  3. And incidentally, given your reaction to such things, you’re probably better off not having watched the rest of the series. The final minutes are an absurdly arbitrary punch in the stomach – it wasn’t really necessary to the rest of the story, and just leaves the viewer feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

  4. And incidentally, given your reaction to such things, you’re probably better off not having watched the rest of the series. The final minutes are an absurdly arbitrary punch in the stomach – it wasn’t really necessary to the rest of the story, and just leaves the viewer feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

  5. There is a reconciliation between father and son. I don’t recall the boy doing jail time, nor even the court proceedings figuring in the show, but in one of the later seasons, it is mentioned briefly.

    I lost interest in the show for exactly the reasons you pointed out: the ritually absurd, operatic contortions necessary to make “smart” people miss the conclusion of the show for 24 episodes, even though most of us needed (in season 3, at most) one or two episodes to figure out exactly how it ends.

  6. There is a reconciliation between father and son. I don’t recall the boy doing jail time, nor even the court proceedings figuring in the show, but in one of the later seasons, it is mentioned briefly.

    I lost interest in the show for exactly the reasons you pointed out: the ritually absurd, operatic contortions necessary to make “smart” people miss the conclusion of the show for 24 episodes, even though most of us needed (in season 3, at most) one or two episodes to figure out exactly how it ends.

  7. You watched the best the entire show ever had to offer. Good concept badly done. The remainder of Season One and following seasons all seemed to be focused on opportunities for dumb people to do dumb things and keep making things worse. Oh yeah, and opportunities for stupid blondes (not a generality, I’m talking about stereotyped characters) to scream. Yeah, scream. *shrug* It had so much going for it for that first little bit, I was really disappointed as it drug on.

    Are you Firefly fans?

  8. You watched the best the entire show ever had to offer. Good concept badly done. The remainder of Season One and following seasons all seemed to be focused on opportunities for dumb people to do dumb things and keep making things worse. Oh yeah, and opportunities for stupid blondes (not a generality, I’m talking about stereotyped characters) to scream. Yeah, scream. *shrug* It had so much going for it for that first little bit, I was really disappointed as it drug on.

    Are you Firefly fans?

  9. You guys would probably enjoy “the 4400” – at least the first 2 seasons are great. I haven’t seen the 3rd, since we don’t have zee cable tv necessary to watch it.

  10. You guys would probably enjoy “the 4400” – at least the first 2 seasons are great. I haven’t seen the 3rd, since we don’t have zee cable tv necessary to watch it.

  11. We saw the premier movie, but we haven’t started watching episodes. We were told that the finale of season one was a real cliffhanger and so we’ve been waiting for season two to hit DVD first.

  12. We saw the premier movie, but we haven’t started watching episodes. We were told that the finale of season one was a real cliffhanger and so we’ve been waiting for season two to hit DVD first.

  13. I’m told the finale to season two is also a cliffhanger, but I’m only about halfway through it. It’s definitely worth watching, though.

  14. I’m told the finale to season two is also a cliffhanger, but I’m only about halfway through it. It’s definitely worth watching, though.

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