Warning: The following contains spoilers for the seventh season of 24The seventh season of one of my favourite shows wrapped up this week, and I thought I'd share my thoughts with the world. Overall I loved Day 7, and would put it up with Day 2 and Day 5 as one of the best seasons of 24. Tony Almedia has always been my favourite character, and despite the ridiculous explanation for the Resurrection of his character (made even more unlikely by the seasons ending), I really enjoyed seeing him back in action. Jeffrey Nordling and Annie Wersching made excellent additions to the cast as FBI Agents Larry Moss and Renee Walker. And Kiefer Sutherland...I daren't say a bad word against him lest he show up to my house and torture my ass.
Despite the move from L.A. to D.C., the show didn't really change much. We still got the moles, the violation of civil liberties for the greater good, the terrorist plots that were really just distractions from the main terrorist plot, the deaths of beloved characters, the thrilling and often totally superfluous cliffhangers that were resolved within the first 90 seconds of the next episode, the impenetrable tech-talk and the awful, awful dialogue (How many times can the villain say "you'll find out soon enough"?). They even managed to write in a Kim gets kidnapped subplot (albeit one that didn't last for very long). And of course, by episode 18 the season had gone completely off the rails, incorporating one to many twists and completely contradicting half the things that were laid out earlier on.
So after all that, how can I say I that I loved it? Simple. 24 is a show the revels in it's ridiculousness, in it's totally seperation from reality. One could argue that perhaps season 1 at least tried to be grounded in reality - but lets not forget the Teri amnesia sub plot, or that the last episode features Jack driving through a wall wielding duel pistols. But since season 2, the show has been as outlandish as they come. Nuclear bombs, presidential assassinations, bio-weapons and...nuclear bombs are just some of the threats that Jack Bauer has prevented. But no matter how absurd things get, the show plays in completely straight, and we cannot but help but be dragged into the story. Even if what we are being told makes no sense given what we were told in the previous episode, it's still so fast paced and action packed - and delivered with such stone faced bravado - that we buy it.
Of course, the show could never work without Jack. Back in March, I posted (with the help of my equally 24-obsessed friends) a list of Jack Bauer's top ten badass moments. But that was really only the tip of the iceberg. Every episode, Jack does something incredible, something that makes us want to drink several cans of energy drink and then go punch a terrorist. The highlight in this season was probably when he lured a mercenary into a portable office in a construction sight, and then flipped it over with a forklift. Bauer is an action hero like no other, because unlike John McClane or even James Bond, he gets to amaze us an hour every week. And we keep wanting more.
I want now to discuss this season specifically. First, the acting: I was very disappointed by Cherry Jones as President Allison Taylor and Jon Voight as Jonas Hodges (the main villain...who of course later turns out to not be the main villain, but only a minor player in a far larger conspiracy). The latter because he didn't seem to be try very hard, and the former because she seemed to be trying very hard...but simply isn't a very good actress. I also thought Janeane Garofalo was awful as Janis Gold, but that wasn't a disappointment, because I always knew she'd be terrible (I suspect she won't be in Season 8). On the positive side, Carlos Bernard was very good as Tony, especially in the last episode. Bob Gunton and Colm Feore where both underused, but shone when they had the chance. I was most impressed by Sprague Grayden as the scheming First Daughter.
There are a two plot points that I didn't like this year that I want to address. The first is Bill Buchanan's death. I've come to accept that this show could kill off any one of my favourite characters at any given moment, but his death really bothered me. I thought it was cheap and unnecessary; it seemed as though the writers had a body quota to fill. When Larry Moss died later on in the season it had a much bigger emotional impact even though we didn't know him as well, because it felt as though the writers had earned it. I was sad to see him go, as I had really begun to like him as the 'voice of reason'. But I could accept his death because it felt natural.
The other thing that really bothered me was the very overtly apologetic nature of the season, specifically in regards to Muslims. Over the course of it's seven years, 24 has had many Muslim villains, and understandably this has upset members of the Muslim community. This season endeavored to show that not all Arabs are terrorists: in the last six episodes, the villains attempt to frame a Arabic man for a bioweapon attack. I actually really liked this arc, and empathised with the poor guy a great deal, but it still felt very manufactured. Then, in the final episode, as Jack lies dying in hospital (don't worry, he'll get better), he gets a visit from a Muslim cleric who he threatened earlier in the season. That whole scene rang very false, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
Of course there were other negatives, but these were the only two that really bothered me. And the positives more than made up for them. There was no specifically awesome point I want to get into, because 95% of Season 7 had me on the edge of my seat. The action was some of the best that the show has ever had, and some of the twists and subplots were legitimately brilliant . And of course, I await Jack's return in Season 8 with bated breath.
But not until January 2010. "Son of a bitch!"
24 Season 7 will be available on DVD in Australia from July 8th
Despite the move from L.A. to D.C., the show didn't really change much. We still got the moles, the violation of civil liberties for the greater good, the terrorist plots that were really just distractions from the main terrorist plot, the deaths of beloved characters, the thrilling and often totally superfluous cliffhangers that were resolved within the first 90 seconds of the next episode, the impenetrable tech-talk and the awful, awful dialogue (How many times can the villain say "you'll find out soon enough"?). They even managed to write in a Kim gets kidnapped subplot (albeit one that didn't last for very long). And of course, by episode 18 the season had gone completely off the rails, incorporating one to many twists and completely contradicting half the things that were laid out earlier on.So after all that, how can I say I that I loved it? Simple. 24 is a show the revels in it's ridiculousness, in it's totally seperation from reality. One could argue that perhaps season 1 at least tried to be grounded in reality - but lets not forget the Teri amnesia sub plot, or that the last episode features Jack driving through a wall wielding duel pistols. But since season 2, the show has been as outlandish as they come. Nuclear bombs, presidential assassinations, bio-weapons and...nuclear bombs are just some of the threats that Jack Bauer has prevented. But no matter how absurd things get, the show plays in completely straight, and we cannot but help but be dragged into the story. Even if what we are being told makes no sense given what we were told in the previous episode, it's still so fast paced and action packed - and delivered with such stone faced bravado - that we buy it.
Of course, the show could never work without Jack. Back in March, I posted (with the help of my equally 24-obsessed friends) a list of Jack Bauer's top ten badass moments. But that was really only the tip of the iceberg. Every episode, Jack does something incredible, something that makes us want to drink several cans of energy drink and then go punch a terrorist. The highlight in this season was probably when he lured a mercenary into a portable office in a construction sight, and then flipped it over with a forklift. Bauer is an action hero like no other, because unlike John McClane or even James Bond, he gets to amaze us an hour every week. And we keep wanting more.I want now to discuss this season specifically. First, the acting: I was very disappointed by Cherry Jones as President Allison Taylor and Jon Voight as Jonas Hodges (the main villain...who of course later turns out to not be the main villain, but only a minor player in a far larger conspiracy). The latter because he didn't seem to be try very hard, and the former because she seemed to be trying very hard...but simply isn't a very good actress. I also thought Janeane Garofalo was awful as Janis Gold, but that wasn't a disappointment, because I always knew she'd be terrible (I suspect she won't be in Season 8). On the positive side, Carlos Bernard was very good as Tony, especially in the last episode. Bob Gunton and Colm Feore where both underused, but shone when they had the chance. I was most impressed by Sprague Grayden as the scheming First Daughter.
There are a two plot points that I didn't like this year that I want to address. The first is Bill Buchanan's death. I've come to accept that this show could kill off any one of my favourite characters at any given moment, but his death really bothered me. I thought it was cheap and unnecessary; it seemed as though the writers had a body quota to fill. When Larry Moss died later on in the season it had a much bigger emotional impact even though we didn't know him as well, because it felt as though the writers had earned it. I was sad to see him go, as I had really begun to like him as the 'voice of reason'. But I could accept his death because it felt natural.The other thing that really bothered me was the very overtly apologetic nature of the season, specifically in regards to Muslims. Over the course of it's seven years, 24 has had many Muslim villains, and understandably this has upset members of the Muslim community. This season endeavored to show that not all Arabs are terrorists: in the last six episodes, the villains attempt to frame a Arabic man for a bioweapon attack. I actually really liked this arc, and empathised with the poor guy a great deal, but it still felt very manufactured. Then, in the final episode, as Jack lies dying in hospital (don't worry, he'll get better), he gets a visit from a Muslim cleric who he threatened earlier in the season. That whole scene rang very false, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
Of course there were other negatives, but these were the only two that really bothered me. And the positives more than made up for them. There was no specifically awesome point I want to get into, because 95% of Season 7 had me on the edge of my seat. The action was some of the best that the show has ever had, and some of the twists and subplots were legitimately brilliant . And of course, I await Jack's return in Season 8 with bated breath.But not until January 2010. "Son of a bitch!"
24 Season 7 will be available on DVD in Australia from July 8th
