Okay, I didn’t see any new threads discussing last night’s episode of ‘24’, so I’m starting one.
Did anyone else think that episode blew chunks? I was horribly disappointed, because this has been by far the best show of the year. But man, did they go wrong last night. I can’t think of a single plot thread they didn’t screw up.
First, the Wife-and-Daughter subplot has taken a bad turn towards melodrama and soap opera. We really didn’t need the confrontation with Nina, or Terry’s bizarro behaviour revolving around the pregnancy and Nina’s relationship. Bah.
Then there was Jack and Palmer. First, what’s with the horrible cliche of the secret agent doing classified work sitting in a seedy bar with a laptop? Pretty conspicuous for someone gone underground, no? And they make a big thing about the guy being ultra-careful watching strangers, but he walks into a bathroom and stands with his back to the door while people come and go? And where did he put his laptop and all the gee-whiz stuff while doing this? And apparently he was some super-genius who could get into Milo’s account and figure out more in 2 minutes than Milo could in 8 hours? And they apparently tried to make him sinister and evil - why is a character like that hanging out with straight arrows like Jack and Palmer? Bad character, bad writing.
The chemistry between Jack and Palmer was all wrong, and my wife and I both burst into spontaneous laughter when Jack gave his little speech about how hard it was to be a father - or a mother - or a child.
The love interest between the terrorist and Palmer’s aid was totally unbelievable too.
I could go on, but that’s enough for now. Suffice to say that I’ve never seen a show go from being so good to being so bad, so quickly. Here’s hoping that this was basically the intermission and we get back to serious tension and solid writing next time. Then maybe they won’t make it all the way across the shark tank.