The GHZ Forum

Took the title from Esrever.

So who else caught the Season 4 two-hour premiere of 24? Man, I'm excited. As always, the show manages to grab you and pull you in within the first 60 minutes. I can't wait for the next two hours showing tomorrow evening.

What did you think?

This is the first time I've actually been able to follow the show on TV, since my friends made me swear I wouldn't watch anything ahead, so I was left playing three-season catchup with the DVDs. But I'm glad I didn't catch any spoilers.

We watch 24 one way in our house. It's all or nothing. We checked out Seasons 1 and 2 at the library and I just got Season 3 as a Christmas present. Waiting between the opening is hard enough, I can't imagine waiting a week. My mom caught it tonight I guess, but no cable in this room, so it's not like it's even an option.

And three kicked ass.

I think "The Kiefer Sutherland TV Wonderland" is also a suitable title. And that's all I have to contribute to the conversation, thank you and goodnight.

I never saw 24 when it was on TV, but recently got the first two boxsets from work. It's utterly stupid, but completely and utterly compulsive viewing. I haven't watched the third yet (as we don't have it in stock) but my coworker tells me it sucks. However, he also thinks Ico sucks.

NINA IS HOT

FUCK STICKEYKEYS

I advise you to disregard any and everything your coworker tells you from this point onward.

Kick him in the balls for good measure.

24 is essentially a soap opera. Only WITH EXPLOSIONS! BOOM! POW!

I didn't like the second season at all. Parts were awesome, but there were just too many stupid moments... the entire Kim story, the god-awful subplot about Michelle and her brother's ex-wife, the insufferable search for the microchip in the final third, and the fucking cougar. And it didn't help that almost all of the new characters were lame. Basically, any moment that didn't have Bauer, Palmer, George or Nina on screen was probably not very good.

The first half of season one was fantastic, and is the reason I fell in love with the show. But the second half had some of the same problems as Season 2. Obviously 24 is not meant to be a hyper-realistic show or anything, but sometimes it just goes too far into the soap opera direction when it brings in amnesia subplots or a few too many unlikely coincidences.

That's probably why I liked the third season so much. It just took itself a little more seriously. The writing was much tighter and the bevy of new characters were all interesting. I've heard some people complaining that the first half was too much talking, but I was thrilled to see them bring some actual intrigue and depth back into the show's plot and characters. There were still a handful of "duh" moments, but nothing nearly as bad as amnesiacs or cougars. And Jack was seriously unhinged, which made for very entertaining viewing.

I think Season Four's move to clear the deck and introduce an almost entirely new cast was a good one. It's injected some freshness into the show, and so far has made for an interesting setup. It was the strongest opener since the first season, and I hope they can keep up the momentum.

Heh, thanks. I'd forgotten that stuff about Season 2.

Yeah, I guess I do agree with you now. While none of the seasons bothered me at all (I was thoroughly entertained, and that's the point, yeah?), Kim's utter stupidity nearly drove me mad in Season 2. I guess Season 2 was my least favorite, if almost only for her. Although the part where SPOILERS Jack decides to fly the nuclear bomb into the desert himself and calls Kim to tell her he's not coming back SPOILERS made my dad cry. Haha.

I'm glad she finally had a chance to redeem herself in Season 3.

That was a great moment. And all of the parts with George Mason were so awesome, too. George Mason is my HERO.

Spoilers from here on:

Esrever wrote:That was a great moment. And all of the parts with George Mason were so awesome, too. George Mason is my HERO.

George Mason is an absolutely fantastic character. It's a shame they killed him-- not just because he was such a good character, but because his death was the fucking stupidest part of that whole (fucking stupid) season. Apart from the death itself, I found George's reaction to his imminent death to be genuinely tragic viewing... which is surprising considering how rubbishy pop-Hollywood the rest of the show is.

I completely agree with your season 2 sentiments. I found it to be as completely addictive as the first season, but it really did get stupid. It frustrates me how every female character in 24 has to be an utterly weak and violently blonde dumbass who spends all her time being chased by rapists, kidnappers, cougars and combinations of all three, all to contribution of absolutely zero plot progression. The only exceptions to this general rule are Sherry, who manages to be the complete opposite of this and ends up as some outrageously annoying in-your-face political feminist, and Nina, who was a completely brilliant and unique and interesting and likeable (loveable) character in the first season but whose brilliance is ruined in the second via her faintly embarrassing Hannibal Lecter-type role. I fell in love with that woman in the first season, and then she had to go and stab me in the balls. Both balls, actually-- one fork each.

That sure is a lot of criticsm, actually. The show has irrefutable strengths... I think Jack Bauer himself is a great character and really well-played, and the pacing and plotting are obviously fantastic. It's the MGS of the TV world-- stupid, but completely and utterly compulsive.

It's also basically quite funny on some strange, primitive level. Did anyone else come to the conclusion that Season Two was comprised almost exclusively of a lot of people saying to various other people "Where's the bomb?!" over and over again, then later saying "Where's the chip?!", and occasionally saying things like "You're not going to believe how much this next one's going to hurt, Mr Bauer!!" for some variation. All that torture really seemed like a vaguely desperate quest for 'edginess', didn't it?

I never watched an episode of that show, when it first came out or otherwise, but now I kinda wish I had.

Man, Pop, you have to watch the third season. It will kick your ass!

Man.

SPOILERS

Is anyone else getting peeved at how many <I>CHICKS WITH DICKS</I> there are in this season?? I can't STAND all the bitches working at CTU. It's driving me insane!!

That is all.

What was stupid about George's death, being... around the... thing... when it was... and then... doing that stuff.

http://www.ferrago.com/story/4959

Apparently 24: The Game is being made. I can't hardly contained my exciting!

Man.

SPOILERS

Is anyone else getting peeved at how many CHICKS WITH DICKS there are in this season?? I can't STAND all the bitches working at CTU. It's driving me insane!!

That is all.

I think they're working too hard to make up for all the kidnapped females in the earlier seasons.

I swear, nearly everytime I switched on that show some woman was being threatened in a situation that dripped heavily with implied sexual assault.

Segaholic2 wrote:Man.

SPOILERS

Is anyone else getting peeved at how many <I>CHICKS WITH DICKS</I> there are in this season?? I can't STAND all the bitches working at CTU. It's driving me insane!!

That is all.

Perhaps too many women called in to peeve about how women don't seem to kick much butt in the first two seasons and are stereotyped. Which is somewhat like what Pop said, but not the same.

Mandy was scary.

Feminism is on the rise. Again.

Women getting treated like human beings? <i>For shame!</i>

As if lesbian feminists aren't a stereotype.

Delphine wrote:Women getting treated like human beings? <i>For shame!</i>

m15ogyny 4 lyfe, j0.

Segaholic2 wrote:As if lesbian feminists aren't a stereotype.

Wait, are we talking about women-just-want-to-be-treated-equally feminists or are we talking about crazy-nazi-men-will-burn feminists?

Either way, I think our generation has set the women's movement back, like, twenty years.

Your mom set the women's movement back twenty years.