I know I have been very, very quiet this season of 24. It’s not that I haven’t been watching – I have been. And I could give you two dozen reasons why I’ve been too busy to write reviews and articles about 24 when my real-world life got in the way.
But in my heart I know (damn, I’m quoting a certain young Middle-Eastern Presidential daughter) that I would have found the time to write about 24 if the season was anything like the previous one.
But the sad truth is – I don’t care enough.
Episode 7 may prove to be a watershed moment for the season, as noted by many forum members…
I’m a happy man again. Steveb
There were some great moments in this story. Jack and Renee’s tender exchange. Steveb
President Hassan’s descent into madness is a nice angle, and the havoc it may wreak on the peace treaty. hardy24
As the clock ticks on so does the debate, and generally speaking episodes five and six did not meet with universal acclaim…
The good old 24 pitfall of it taking too long for nothing to happen was very much in play. And I don’t really understand why. SteveB
It was all about Renee, and actually her story was quite interesting- and thanks to the excellent casting of Callum Keith Rennie it was worth watching. SteveB
I find myself very much liking individual element, individual characters and individual moments, and the amount I liked in these episodes was much more than in previous episodes, hardy24
it feels like a proper slow burn story, and not simply stalling. hardy24
aside from renee & jack’s story, which is really good and interesting, all of the other stuff just feels like fillers to me. stalling J_A
As Season Eight continues so does the debate.
Renee Walker that chick’s insane – right? no, she’s totally bauer. not only did we have the “I’m gonna need a hacksaw” moment there in ep 4 (“I’m not gonna cut the bracelet”), J_A
talk about a deathwish… what she’ll need in order to snap out of it is a purpose, J_A
Episode Four was by far the best episode we’ve seen. We finally have a plot. The Jack/Renee dynamic is sizzling. Kapoor is acting everyone else off the screen. hardy24
Below are a few comments from the Forum discussion on the first two episodes of Season Eight. In general people agree that there’s a lot to like but that the episodes haven’t done enough to get everyone “hooked”.
The opening episodes were good certainly, but didn’t have the same dramatic punch that last season’s premiere did. Steveb
I can see this series being very slow, but having a very good pay off- particularly if this is the last season. Steveb
The futuristic CTU is an interesting idea, but they need to establish some rules fast about exactly how advanced they’ve gotten, or it will get old fast, if almost everything is solved quickly. hardy24
When i watched it i just thought, cool, he took out 2 guys with an Axe, awesome. 24nut
Below the first piece by new contributor and long-time forum member Matthew Maguire, a.k.a NeroMaguire
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So the two-night four-hour premiere has come and gone for the edge-of-you-seat, nail biting, adrenaline fuelled thrill ride of 24’s Eighth Season, leaving in its wake a body count, some new characters, some not so new plot concepts and what will undoubtedly be another very bad day for Jack Bauer.
Hailed as potentially being the last season of 24, Day Eight doesn’t begin with a bang. It does, however, get back down to the basics (aside from the super sleek looking CTU). The first two hours have been a nice and slow, character driven start. It may not have the break neck pace that some of the earlier seasons started with, but it works well as a piece of extremely cohesive and well done writing.
TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello has just posted in is usual wednesday online “Ask Ausiello” column of the several possible options facing Fox and the shows producers when the writer’s strike does end. The first big thing is that the apparent consensus is there is no way a full 24 episode run could air this season.
… although Fox hasn’t confirmed it, I’ll go out on a limb and say Jack Bauer isn’t returning this season. Even if the strike ends tomorrow, the earliest the show could get back on the air is this summer — and there’s no way in hell Fox is dumping 24 onto the summer season.
That leaves Fox and everyone else with a bit of thinking to do.
One solution is to just kick off Season 7 next January, but by then Jack will have been in hiding for nearly two years.
I’d say that’s a real stinker of an idea, since while the core audience is waiting around for now to atleast give season 7 a chance, I’m not sure they will wait forever. But Ausiello does offer up an alternative.
Another, and much more controversial, scenario being bandied about involves taking the eight episodes currently in the can and creating a 10- to 14-episode mini-season to air in the fall. That would be followed by another 10- to 14-episode mini-season — featuring a completely different plot — during the second half of the season.
Now, I know that possibility isn’t going to be all that popular with fans although I think that the “season of two half’s” as it where need not necessarily be two separate storylines. Those of us who have been watching 24 for any length of time know many previous seasons can be broken into two quite distinct halfs. They could simply formalise that a bit more and do what many shows now do and have a “mid-season cliffhanger”, which could even fit in with suggestions heard from some of the 24’s writing staff during S7’s preproduction that they may break the real time format for the first time ever and have a time jump mid season to get Jack from one location to another.
It’s a hard choice, but i’d rather split the season, than have to wait another 12 months! for new 24. Let us know what you think in the comments and on the forums. Click the link below to read the entire article.
source : tv-guide.com