Just recently i’ve been buried under an avalanche of day six reviews. The best ones I quote and post links to from the here, but increasingly there are more and more which are worth a read but I simply don’t post links to because of the sheer weight of them.
So i’ve created a new page within the day six section, and so hence forth I can have a three tiered system when it comes to day six reviews. The very best I’ll continue to quote and link to here, always as doing the same for them on the day six external reviews page. Good reviews which I think are worth reading if you absolutely have to read every coherent thought written will be quoted and linked to from there. And the rubbish ones, i’ll read, snigger, and then completely ignore and therefore I will have wasted my time, but none of yours. What more could you want.
Fox’s 24 is one of those shows that’s better judged over an entire season — individual episodes that don’t really work are easily glossed over if the majority of the two dozen episodes end up having a strong narrative flow and plenty of thrilling surprises, as Season 5 certainly did.
But now that one-third of Season 6 has aired, it’s appropriate to check in and see where 24 is headed, with the caveat that these concerns could melt away by the end of Jack Bauer’s sixth bad day.The focus on Bauer’s family drama has been too soapy for some, but I’ve mostly enjoyed it — the Bauer family dynamics have given star Kiefer Sutherland some prime opportunities for virtuoso acting, and James Cromwell was a great choice to play Papa Bauer, the most subtly evil character we’ve seen on the show in some time.
Short overview of the series so far, which makes a number of valid points (some with which I agree, other which I don’t), ranging from ongoing story choices to the politics of the show – although she doesn’t get into them as much as I’d like, but still recommended reading if you’ve got just a few minutes. Spoilers for people outside the U.S., although not earth shattering ones.
The US military has criticised the producers of TV hit 24 for featuring too many scenes of KIEFER SUTHERLAND’s character JACK BAUER torturing suspects for information. Brigadier General PATRICK FINNEGAN recently visited the set of the hit show in California to speak to the show’s makers. Finnegan is concerned about the effect the torture scenes are having on US troops abroad as 24 is popular among members of the American armed forces. According to the New Yorker, Finnegan told the producers, “I’d like them to stop. They should do a show where torture backfires. The kids see it and say, ‘If torture is wrong, what about 24?’ “The disturbing thing is that although torture may cause Jack Bauer some angst, it is always the patriotic thing to do.” Human Rights First spokesman DAVID DANZIG says, “I think there is no question (that torture scenes are having an effect). “We have spoken to soldiers with experience in Iraq who say, for young soldiers, there is a direct relationship between what they are doing in their jobs and what they see on TV. “The image of the US and its military is being affirmed.”
An interesting article which is a welcome addition to the ongoing debate regarding torture in the show, as well as in general. I’d love to know what the producers said in reply to the Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan, if we found out we’d almost have the makings of a sensible and measured debate on the issue.
Remember all that stuff I said about 24 last week? … Well, nevermind … After a rare off week, 24 came back with a vengeance last night. The insanely tense episode, which probably shot up my blood pressure to dangerous stroke levels, was arguably one of the best ever … Hard to believe that only last week I was questioning if 24 was becoming an uninvolving soap that had jumped the shark. I got my answer sooner than expected.
Follow up article to one I posted a link to last week titled “24 Becoming a boring soap?”, unsual to see review be turned around so completely in so little time, but that’s just what 24 does.
Kiefer Sutherland will spend his “24” hiatus starring in Mirrors, a supernatural thriller to be directed by Alexandre Aja, reports Variety. New Regency is financing the film and will distribute through 20th Century Fox.Sutherland became available to star in the movie when plans to carry his Jack Bauer character into a “24” feature were postponed because the script wasn’t ready. Fox won’t start the clock on that film until next summer, when Sutherland completes the seventh season of the show.
So i’ve told you what I think about series six so far by way of my episode reviews, but now I want to hear your opinion by way of the site’s new polls. In the right sidebar is a poll asking you to rate season 6 so far, and if you navigate your way to the day six episode guides you will find polls to rate the 6 episodes shown so far. I’ll be adding polls for every new episode, and at the end of the season i’ll total the scores and we’ll find out your verdict on the best episodes of the season.
“These were two ambitious episodes, in many ways more so than the opening four which where in safer more tried and tested ground for the show. These took a huge leap into the unknown, if they didn’t come off it would take a while before the series could get itself back to more stable territory.”
