"24" Wraps Up Messy Season

The television show "24" is the TV equivalent of pizza or sex. Even when it's bad, it's still pretty damn good. At the very least, even when it's not as good as previously, it's still better than most other shows on the television right now. This past season had an additional challenge, namely, it was just coming off of the best season so far with the previous year. However, this season, the show did stumble hugely even with those challenges in front of it. For those of you, upon hearing the raves from fans about last season, who picked this season to watch for the firs time, I apologize.

The season opened with the return of a broken and battered Jack Bauer from his imprisonment in China. It turns out there was some kind of terrorist cell operating in the United States and they were demanding Bauer's death in exchange for the stoppage of terrorist activities. Of course, the plot is infinitely more complex than that. Of course Jack isn't going to get killed in the first few minutes of the first episode. Of course, the plot is going to be one layer after another. Of course Jack will spend endless hours yelling into his phone and then whispering threats to people. Of course, it will turn out that there is a mole and traitor right in the White House staff.

The problem with this season is that the entire year seemed haphazard and disorganized. Early on we meet the President's sister and her husband who also happens to be Muslim. After a short sub-plot involving the arrest of her husband, the character was promptly forgotten. The plot of the terrorists was remarkably tame compared to other years. This time the terrorists had a bunch of suitcase nukes and were threatening to detonate them all around California. Apparently it also involved the use of drone airplanes.

Compared to the nerve gas of the previous season, or the germ warfare of the season before that, it was pretty tame. Of course, they also blew up one of the nukes very early in the season. Once you have a mushroom cloud, it's hard to come up with something more exciting.

There also seems to be a problem with the organization that Jack works for, CTU. That organization, the Counter-Terrorist Unit, must be the easiest place in the world to break into either physically or online. In this season the terrorists and villains repeatedly had access to supposedly top-secret information at CTU. Plus, apparently, all the terrorists needed to do was dig into the sewers beneath CTU to get in and kill some key characters. For such a top-secret, edge-of-technology, organization you would think they would have tighter security than that.

Then there was the plot involving the White House. First, President Palmer, the original President Palmer's brother, is involved in an assassination attempt. Then he's in a coma and then he's not and then he collapses. Then the Vice President, Powers Boothe, takes over and, at first, he's a villain and then kind of turns around. Then there was Peter McNichol in his role as Tom, who seemed like a weasel at first and then turns out to be a pretty good guy.

Then, there was the plot involving Jack Bauer's family. It turns out the guy behind the previous season's activities was his brother. Then we meet Jack's father, played by James Cromwell. Then Jack's brother dies. Then we meet his nephew Josh and it is repeatedly implied that he may actually be Jack's son, a plotline that is never resolved.

In short, this was a very disorganized season. The popular character of Chloe had a stronger plot to be involved with and then, ended the season pregnant. Her ex-husband, Morris, was a strange and not-very-likeable character throughout the season.

The entire nuke plotline was wrapped up surprisingly early. Then, the word "component" got thrown around more than you have ever heard the word before. It seemed like this entire plotline was hastily thrown together at the last minute as the Russians suddenly threaten a U.S. military base because this "component" contained technology that would give the Chinese the ability to get through Russian defenses. Exactly how, is never explained. This component was a tiny piece of circuitry and to imagine two nations going to war over it was almost ridiculous.

This lead to the season finale and attempts to bring back the excitement of previous seasons. I must say, the writers did manage to accomplish this. The action was top-notch during those last two hours. I was on the edge of my seat, wondering how the loose ends would be wrapped up and how the season would end with a cliffhanger this time around. It turns out, the biggest surprise was that there was no surprise at the end of the season. The final shot is that of Jack Bauer, staring out at the ocean, wondering where he is going and what he was going to do for the rest of this life.

This was a season filled with flaws. There were several times I was tempted to abandon the show and find something else to watch. In fact, I did watch this entire season on a delay because "Heroes" was on opposite it and that got my full attention. However, I must thank Fox for putting new episodes of "24" on their website. It was like having TiVO without the expense. Despite its flaws, I still came back every week to catch up on what was happening to Jack and his friends at CTU.

The writers still got a lot right. The stories, despite the flaws, were still compelling. The action was still first-rate. The music was even cool this season, almost like a movie score. The plots were complex and the characters well thought-out. They also did NOT bring back Jack's daughter, Kim, although I bet the temptation was powerful to do so.

Every show, especially one with a plot device such as "24", is allowed to stumble. The writers stumbled greatly this season with a terrorist plot not nearly as compelling as previous years. Still, they managed to keep us fans coming back. We still rooted for Jack and CTU. We still sat at the edge of our seats as the final moments ticked away.

So, next season the show will be back. As usual, how Jack Bauer will get sucked into the next plot is unresolved. This man has managed to anger the nations of Germany, China and Russia over the past few seasons. He has been labeled an outlaw and warrants for his arrest have been issued each season. He has lost his life. He has been scarred and tortured. He has, literally, died previously and then brought back to life. He has been shot and injured repeatedly. He has also gone for at least six days so far without sleep. I think the guy deserves a chance to rest.

Another season is under wraps. Will I be back next season? Yes, I sure will. I want to know what decision Jack reaches after staring at the ocean for a while. I want to see what the writers do to keep us fans coming back to a show that is so preposterous and, yet, so watchable and intense. Good job, guys.