The Multiple Facets of 24
I just finished watching the fourth hour of the season opener of the show '24' . Don't worry, there will be no spoilers here for those 'Tivo-ing' the entire season before watching it (not mentioning any names here). This is the third season I am watching and so far it is obvious that they are pulling out all of the stops to break past all boundaries.
I have heard some snippets of people that are complaining about some seeming "political correctness" that has crept into the show. From my perspective I think that is bunk. Yes, some people say things that make you want to slap your head. The way I see it, the show is pushing boundaries and completely manipulating events to show a few powerful threads. Without giving details I will state that there is a high level of terrorist activity in the show (that is shown in the first 2 minutes). During such events there would be a wide variety of perspectives and viewpoints. I think that is what 24 is trying to capture. There will be a wide range of reactions ranging from full fledge appeasement to a full fledge vigilante outlook.
The show also captures the complex decisions that leadership and field agents would need to make. If you saw the show, the last 15 minutes show just that in vivid detail. Being charged with protecting the people, to what lengths would you go? If a clear choice presents itself to choose between protecting thousands and breaching the freedoms of others, what would you do? I think the show presents both sides very well.
This television season is packed with good shows. A few years ago, there was very little I was interested in watching on TV on a regular basis. I think some very good shows have been created in recent years. Here are my regulars(some in season, some not):
24
Heroes
Psych
Monk
House
The 4400
Hell's Kitchen
American Idol
Standoff
Justice (not sure if it survived)
My favorite fillers are the forensic shows on Court TV. I love to see the bad guys get caught by some rug fiber or by the DNA of an acorn that fell on a car from the crime scene, etc. Feel free to share your thoughts about 24. WARNING SPOILERS ALLOWED IN THE COMMENTS. Also, feel free to comment on your favorite shows or mine. 99% of TV is still junk, but at least there are some good ones.
I have heard some snippets of people that are complaining about some seeming "political correctness" that has crept into the show. From my perspective I think that is bunk. Yes, some people say things that make you want to slap your head. The way I see it, the show is pushing boundaries and completely manipulating events to show a few powerful threads. Without giving details I will state that there is a high level of terrorist activity in the show (that is shown in the first 2 minutes). During such events there would be a wide variety of perspectives and viewpoints. I think that is what 24 is trying to capture. There will be a wide range of reactions ranging from full fledge appeasement to a full fledge vigilante outlook.
The show also captures the complex decisions that leadership and field agents would need to make. If you saw the show, the last 15 minutes show just that in vivid detail. Being charged with protecting the people, to what lengths would you go? If a clear choice presents itself to choose between protecting thousands and breaching the freedoms of others, what would you do? I think the show presents both sides very well.
This television season is packed with good shows. A few years ago, there was very little I was interested in watching on TV on a regular basis. I think some very good shows have been created in recent years. Here are my regulars(some in season, some not):
24
Heroes
Psych
Monk
House
The 4400
Hell's Kitchen
American Idol
Standoff
Justice (not sure if it survived)
My favorite fillers are the forensic shows on Court TV. I love to see the bad guys get caught by some rug fiber or by the DNA of an acorn that fell on a car from the crime scene, etc. Feel free to share your thoughts about 24. WARNING SPOILERS ALLOWED IN THE COMMENTS. Also, feel free to comment on your favorite shows or mine. 99% of TV is still junk, but at least there are some good ones.
posted by All_I_Can_Stands @ 10:56 PM
18 Comments:
At 4:17 AM,
Anonymous said…
I truly enjoy watching 24. I couldn't sleep until I finished all 4 episodes of this season at one go. I can't wait for episode 5.
Other shows I watch are
Rome
Greys Anatomy
Sopranos
Prison Break
Lost
Desperate Housewives
I don't really enjoy them so much but they are surprising at times. I loved the first season of rome, and the first season of prison break. second season of prison break is eh. same with lost and desperate housewives. sopranos on the other hand is my all time favorite. can't believe they are ending.
At 10:56 AM,
All_I_Can_Stands said…
rampurple,
Thanks for visiting and commenting. On your list there are two shows I wish I had gotten in at the beginning: Lost and Prison Break. I don't think it makes sense to jump in now, but they look good. I don't have HBO, so no Sopranos. They are on A&E now, but I have enough shows on my plate.
The last 5 minutes of 24 were some of the saddest TV you can find. I am going to absorb it all before next week, so this is a first that I feel I can wait for the next episode.
At 11:20 PM,
Return to Westernesse said…
AICS,
You said spoilers were allowed in the comments, but I didn't think you would be doing the spoiling. You found a way to sneak one in with that "last 5 minutes" comment. You're a back-door spoiler.
At 7:44 AM,
Malott said…
This is my first year to watch. I may already be hooked.
Is the "President" psychological prep for Obama?
At 9:07 AM,
All_I_Can_Stands said…
R2W,
I put the spoiler note in there specifically so I could be free to spoil if the thread got active enough.
As for the last 5 minutes, I am not referring to the mushroom cloud that the rest of the media spoiled all over.
Are you watching it real time this year, or Tivo-ing?
At 9:10 AM,
All_I_Can_Stands said…
Chris,
You would have to have seen previous seasons to know that your guess is not correct.
The brother of this president was president a few seasons ago. The actor was the guy from the AllState commercials.
Maybe he was prep for a Condi presidency? You know that Fox network.
At 9:24 AM,
Malott said…
Thanks for the info, AICS.
And I suppose only FOX would be so politically incorrect as to suggest that an American-Muslim could be a terrorist.
At 10:14 AM,
Return to Westernesse said…
More spoilage! I'm TIVO-ing.
At 10:23 AM,
Merete said…
Hey, happy new year!
I am crazy about the 4400. That's definitely my favorite on your list. Can't wait for season III to come out!
I love SciFi, it's always good to get away from the problems here on earth and indulge in a fantasy world.
Another series that is seriously cool is Steven Spielberg's Taken.
After SciFi I also love to watch crime series like FBI files and forensic detectives. Wish I had that Court TV, checking their website regularly.
I'd say 90-95% of what they are broadcasting on TV is pure crap. Specially here in the Netherlands - mother of all reality TV. I only watch the Dutch news a few other programs, because they are only sending crap reality shows. You go nuts when zapping here, different channel, same shit. Prefer to watch British TV, better quality on the shows.
Oh and of course I watch 24 as well!
Nice post BTW
At 10:24 AM,
Merete said…
Hey, happy new year!
I am crazy about the 4400. That's definitely my favorite on your list. Can't wait for season III to come out!
I love SciFi, it's always good to get away from the problems here on earth and indulge in a fantasy world.
Another series that is seriously cool is Steven Spielberg's Taken.
After SciFi I also love to watch crime series like FBI files and forensic detectives. Wish I had that Court TV, checking their website regularly.
I'd say 90-95% of what they are broadcasting on TV is pure crap. Specially here in the Netherlands - mother of all reality TV. I only watch the Dutch news a few other programs, because they are only sending crap reality shows. You go nuts when zapping here, different channel, same shit. Prefer to watch British TV, better quality on the shows.
Oh and of course I watch 24 as well!
Nice post BTW
At 10:25 AM,
All_I_Can_Stands said…
Ok R2W, no more clicking on this comments link for you. I wrote the warning just for you and you could not resist a little peek. You will thank me when you watch it that I did not give the real spoiler.
As for the spoilage the mushroom cloud was on Drudge, the news, the radio. Plus the libs are complaining that it will scare people into supporting Bush's policies.
At 11:03 AM,
All_I_Can_Stands said…
Merete,
Happy New Year to you. I have been a SciFi fan for years. One fine day in my youth I cracked open the "Time Machine" and have been hooked ever since.
My kids and I love the 4400. The story line was just starting to explode when the last season ended. The risk with such shows is that after a few seasons extending the show becomes more important than obtaining closure in the story line. It becomes stretched thin. I think this will be a great season and the following will begin to go down. :(
I almost watched Taken, but was too busy at the time or something.
At 4:34 PM,
Merete said…
I was completely hooked on The X-Files in the 90s. There was nothing like the different adventures Agent Scully and Agent Mulder would take you through... Aaaah, they were the best! That's my favorite series ever :-) I couldn't miss an episode, that was crises. Don't have that feeling with any series after The-Files, maybe Taken, but that's a mini series so that doesn't count.
Why can't they stick to concepts like the X-Files, when they start to mix love and shit and make it more like a soap, that's when I lose interest.
The 4400 is great because of the powers these people obtain but some scenes are painful to go through. I'd rather FF to the action.
Oh, if you didn't finish off Taken, you're in for a treat! Watch it with your boys, they are gonna love it!
Another superb series for the whole family to see is ABC's "Kyle XY"
Oh and Prison Break is watchable because of all the hunks, he he.
At 9:55 AM,
Incognito said…
I actually kept going back and forth on the issue of pcness with 24, at first. But as you mention, they are showing all perspectives. At first, it seemed as if they were attempting to show the whole Patriot Act issue in a bad light, by having the feds deal with Muslims in a heavy handed way (e.g.) the Prez's sister's organization. And considering Hollywood is so liberal, but I forgot this was Fox and not ABC or NBC. So I just settled in and just enjoyed.
I saw that CAIR is up in arms about the fact that the terrorists are Muslim. Uh, duh! 95% are.
Anyway, love
Prison Break
Lost (getting a little annoyed with the inconsistencies though)
and loved some shows they took off the air:
Vanished
Kidnapped
Daybreak
Loved Ex-Files till the last season.
Just got into 4400 last season. Great show.
Just sticking to Lost, 24 and Prison Break, the rest of the season. And next season, no new shows for me. Don't want to be dissappointed when they cancel them!
At 10:48 AM,
All_I_Can_Stands said…
Incognito,
That is the thing about showing all sides of an issue. Our critical side only hears the part that gets us riled up. Libs get so annoyed with Fox News because they show both sides. They think the liberal side is the norm and that the conservative side is bias. With 24 this season we are seeing more of the liberal side than I have noted before; and from people like Wayne that we tend to like.
The fact is they clearly took the premise of "How do you balance freedom with security". The fact is that if you choose one, the other will suffer. Like a sliding setting on the radio to balance between left and right speakers, these two must be balanced. But we don't have a graphic to show us when we are perfectly in the middle. I could go on with the analogy, but you get the point. It is not so easy to find the right balance and different people will see it differently. 24 is doing a great job representing that.
As for cancelled shows, I know how you feel. I am shocked at how the junk stays around and some really great shows go down. Two shows come to mind:
Justice (confirmed it was cancelled)
Invasion
They kept changing the day and time of Justice without communicating it. They did not market it enough. It was a fantastic show.
Invasion was awesome. It cancelled just when it was getting good, too.
At 7:45 PM,
Mojo_Risin said…
I'd have to agree on just about all your show choices except American Idol and Justice (though I always catch the first few weeks of American Idol just to marvel at the freak parade). Justice was so heavy-handed and poorly written it distracted me. All the actors seemed to be one-trick ponies, pulling the same acting faces out each episode (surprised Eamonn Walker fell into this category -- he's usually pretty great), though the endings were at least interesting. And Standoff is becoming one of my new must-sees.
At 9:13 AM,
Return to Westernesse said…
Well, I finally watched the first two episodes of 24 and was moderately disappointed. I remember that during last season, I was beginning to wonder if I wanted to watch the show anymore, since I have watched all the seasons so far, and it was becoming repetitive. Then, at the end of the season, I got very excited, because I thought the writers were going to mix things up a bit and begin the new season in China, with Jack either escaping, or being "negotiated" to perform a mission that would be beneficial to both the U.S. and China (in China.) The possibilities ran through my mind for quite a while after that last episode. Then the first episode of this season opens with, "Jack's being released from prison. The President needs him." I was purturbed, to say the least, but I guess until I write my own show, I can't complain too much. After watching the first two hours, I will admit that I am intrigued. We'll see how it goes.
At 10:07 PM,
All_I_Can_Stands said…
R2W,
I too had hoped this season would take place in China. But don't lose hope, the season is pretty good. A few PC eye rolls as I pointed out, but they are showing all sides. Since this is only my 3rd season it is fresh to me. Perhaps it might not be as much for those who have seen all the seasons.
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