Why '24' Kinda Sucks

To be honest, I've avoided watching '24' since Season One, but I've grown curious because some actual intelligent acquaintances have raved about the show and I'm a die-hard action-movie fan. So, I vowed to watch Season Six from Episode One to the end of the Season Six story arc.

So far, I'm at about Episode Six of Season Six - and I'm wondering --- "What the hell?!"

"What the Hell?!" Part One

There's been a nuclear explosion in a major American city and yet the "24" street scene shows pedestrians continuing in their day-to-day business without even slight outward signs of mass panic or anarchy. And the angst inside the Counter Terrorist Unit's war room seems akin to a toothache.

"What the Hell?!" Part Two

The main character, secret agent Jack Bauer, now knows that his father, an evil business magnate, has murdered his weak traitor brother and yet Bauer continues to operate as a secret agent automaton without any visible emotional trace that his any belief in two of his primal family relationships has been blown to smithereens.

"What the Hell?!" Part Three

And speaking of smithereens, the African-American President of the United States is blown up by a bomb in an assassination attempt; the plot involving his Chief of Staff and the Vice-President. The Chief of Staff has a last minute pang of conscience and tries to stop the assassination. After the bomb goes off, he confesses to the Counter Terrorist Unit - and yet the Unit still allows him to stay inside the war room and contribute his two-cents to executive decisions.

"What the Hell?!" Part Four

And then there's the alcoholic high-tech programmer whiz that has been broken under enemy torture (with a power drill!) and then helps detonate a nuclear device. When he's recovered by the Unit, the alcoholic whiz who has helped detonate a nuclear device is let back into the Counter Terrorist Unit war room and sits back down at his workstation. And, even worse, he shows very few physical ramifications of the torture (with a power drill!) that he endured earlier in the "day."

"What the Hell?!" Part Five

Suddenly Ricky Schroder shows up and he's ticked off. It seems like they're taking the "Lost" route of tossing in new minor characters and subplots to pad and prolong the Season story arc.

"What the Hell?!" Addendum

I won't even go into the underlying political issues espoused by the show, particularly the endorsement of prisoner torture and anti-Muslim stereotyping.