ketchuplover July 26, 2014 Share July 26, 2014 (edited) 24 will continue as K.G.B. (Kate.Gloie.Belchek) Their five episode mission is to find more viewers. Edited July 26, 2014 by ketchuplover Link to comment
Sake614 July 27, 2014 Share July 27, 2014 I don't think this season is the least bit forgettable. And I thought S5 was good. It was 6-8 that sucked eggs. Link to comment
ToxicUnicorn July 31, 2014 Share July 31, 2014 I liked this season a lot, although I'm not qualified to compare all seasons because I boycotted a few after Edgar died. (Shudder. That was horrific). The big, glaring difference to me this time, especially towards the end, was the level of acting which was at an all time high for me. First, and most importantly, I thought of Jack as an actual person - an emotional being, rather than as a shock character action hero, Jack had a lot of expressive, mostly understated moments throughout the season that built up ... by the time he got the news that Audrey had died, I completely bought into his reaction. For what could have been a really hammy crescendo, (about to eat his gun, then deciding to live and get revenge), I thought he played it so every stage of his reaction could be seen and make sense, even though it had to take place in such little time and result in such violence. Also, I could practically feel Jack holding himself back from decapitating Cheng as he was making Cheng identify himself, and was probably holding my breath the entire time, because he was experiencing so much turmoil and rage and hopelessness and yet super rational remembering to do his duty in that scene. I totally was in his head with him. so much so that I didn't even pay too much attention to the logical part of my brain that wanted to roll its eyes at the utterly implausible placement of a sharpened decapitation device until Cheng's head literally flew off,. Audrey, also, was breathtaking this season. Count me as another who hadn't been thrilled with either the character or the actress until this year, but she absolutely won me over this time, Again, I could see her old feelings welling up. They wrote her so much better this time - she was far less shrewish and overdramatic, and maybe I also liked her because she didn't have much to say and instead had to act with her face. Which she did, in spades. Whenever she heard Jack's voice or talked to him, when she learned Cheng was alive and was trying to fight panic, when she was on the park bench in dire fear of her life and of Cheng yet still hopeful she could get out of it ... I completely believed her. What a nice unexpected surprise. And I loved Tate Donovan. I thought he absolutely was Mark Boudreau - with all of his failings. I can't imagine anyone else in that role, he owned it the way Itzin owned Logan. Anyway, to get back to the point, it felt to me that this wasn't so much a season of action, but a season where a lot of people on the show were determined to be recognized for their acting, and indeed they should. Lest anyone think I'm all about handing out sunshine and roses, I have a couple negative opinions, too. Heller was only ok for me. I'm not a particular fan of Devane and I didn't care for his speech to the Prime Minister at all. I can't imagine anyone ever saying something that philosophical and logical less than a day after losing their only child, especially in his situation. The only thing I liked about Heller this season was his willingness to sacrifice himself (as stupid as that was) because I vaguely remember him trying to do that in an earlier season, so that was consistent, at least. I also didn't like a single Brit (sorry - it's just on tv), and didn't see a darn thing in Fry's performance worth noting, which was disappointing because I had never seen Fry but have, of course, heard of him. I also thought Adrian was a total waste of space, or at least horribly miscast. I found him completely unconvincing and kind of stupid and inert and needy,and I thought it was insulting to think we should believe Chloe would have a relationship with him, much less spend time with him. Finally, I spent a lot of time hating TerrorMom2, and not in a good way. Count me as someone who was really happy she got tossed out the window halfway through the season. If anything, I would have preferred not having TerrorFamily(2) at all and having some convoluted plot involving Russia and China from the beginning. If, say, the Russians had been given more time to explain what exactly they wanted to do with Jack, and then Cheng had shown up as the major wrinkle much earlier in the season, I would have been a much happier camper. More Russian Walrus guy and Best Villain ever! Unfortunately, I don't think they can come back from this. All that said, I thought the ending was fine.. In my mind, saving Chloe at the end WAS a positive ending for Jack. I think of him as having gotten to the point where he just doesn't give two s**** about what happens to himself anymore. Every day in his life seems to be an awful sleep deprived horror and he probably feels like he's on 10x borrowed time already. He's endured unimaginably horrible things, put everyone he's ever cared about in danger, and lost nearly everyone he's ever cared about (starting with Terri and having Audrey be the straw that breaks his back). I can honestly imagine him thinking, so what if someone else wants to hurt him? What difference does it make? He's already as low as he can go. If they kill him, does he really have anything else worth living for, especially when he thinks no one truly cares about whether he lives or dies? (Because, don't forget, clearly Kim, and therefore his grand-spawns are morons.) If they torture him, I'd guess a good part of him probably thinks he deserves it. It was a great suggestion to make a future plot twist be that they didn't want to do either. I think that'd be the only way to breathe new life into Jack. On the other hand, being able to give Chloe her freedom back - we've seen time and again that that' the kind of thing that matters to Jack, down deep. Jack, for me, boils down to one thing: he's loyal.. I can see him finally getting some peace because he was able to make his "last" act count for the one person left who still actively needed his loyalty. Anyway, that was my take. If I had to, I could live with his story ending this way. I'd just assume that he ultimately would die off screen, but he would go out somehow on his own terms, like he does here. Of course, I hope as much as anyone that we get to see Jack rescued and back in action for one more day, just because I love the character so much. It would be nice if he were pardoned and retired for good after one last adventure with the (new) gang. Sign me up for "12" starring Kate and Belchek. (I think Chloe should retire or be phased out with Jack.) Kate has the most interesting story possibilities and Belchek is a worthy newChloe, for me. But I'm mostly satisfied with the ending and I think Audrey had to die for Jack to reach this point of final acceptance that the world sucks and that all he can control is how he deals with it. Which I think is what we see and a pretty big evolution for a character who was always trying to control the world. Sorry to give such a long post on such a short season. I guess I'm making up for all the ones I missed! Ok, I'll stop now. 1 Link to comment
blackwing July 31, 2014 Share July 31, 2014 I'm annoyed at the lack of screentime for the scintillating Miranda Raison. She was on "Spooks" aka "MI-5", the British TV equivalent of "24", for several seasons. She clearly would have been comfortable in this environment, and yet here, they had her as secretary/aide to the Prime Minister, and she hardly had any lines at all. What a waste of talent. Would have been nice to have seen her as the British equivalent of Jack/Kate. Link to comment
jhlipton July 31, 2014 Share July 31, 2014 I really didn't see the need for the time jump, other to make it officially 24. Heller could have given his Alzheimer speech in his office, and Jack could have been picked up ap 10:55 PM. Having just a 5 minute jump seemed silly to me. This was a fun ride -- Id be up for The Further Adventures of Kate and Belchek (with or without Chloe) and with only minimum involvement from Jack. 1 Link to comment
needschocolate August 3, 2014 Share August 3, 2014 I really didn't see the need for the time jump, other to make it officially 24. Heller could have given his Alzheimer speech in his office, and Jack could have been picked up ap 10:55 PM. Having just a 5 minute jump seemed silly to me. But then they would have to change the name to 12. Link to comment
jhlipton August 3, 2014 Share August 3, 2014 But then they would have to change the name to 12. yeah, that's why I said "other to make it officially 24". They had to have a time jump somewhere -- I just thought it was a bad place to put it. Link to comment
gallimaufry August 4, 2014 Share August 4, 2014 Loved the season. Great episode too -- good sequence at the docks, good exit for Cheng, great material with Kate. The final scene for Heller is a real emotional wham moment; the show used to have more of these and I miss them but this was worth the wiat. Overall, the season's not as good as the best of the classic series (1, 5, 7) -- the uberfast pace worked against emotional depth at times -- but it's tighter and more consistent than some of the messier seasons. Also, the closing act, while good, lacked the impact of previous seasons which came to really powerful grace notes (notably 1, 4, 6, 7 and 8). I liked the symmetry with 8 though -- Jack saving Chloe and facing justice, and that it's so open-ended. I agree that the time-jump was basically pointless. I think they realised it was a mistake mid-way through and decided to burn it off at the last opportunity they had. While there seems to be an echo chamber consensus around 12 being better for the show, I do think LAD suffered from not being a full 24. There's something about the rhythm of the show and having a full day that's missing when you skip 12 hours. I didn't think I'd mind as much. Still, any '24' is gold dust so if this is the new format, I hope they do the best with it. Everything crossed for S10. Link to comment
AndySmith September 3, 2016 Share September 3, 2016 (edited) A bit late to the party, but have to agree with others, Audrey's death was just so utterly pointless. She wasn't a favorite of mine, but I didn't dislike her either, and she certainly deserved better than to be sacrificed on the alter of Jack's MAN PAIN!!! I mean, he was going to kill all those guys and save the world anyway. It isn't like he needed her death as motivation. Poor Heller (though William Devane rocks!). And poor Kate (a nice addition to the 24-verse), I hope she deals with all her issues better than Jack did. At least Chloe got something of a happy ending? Even if she does have to check up on Kim every once in a while. As for Jack...he deserved better. I get that Kiefer and the producers see Jack as a tragic figure, but at this point, his tragedy has become almost comical more than anything else. As for the season as a whole...not the best, but not the worst either, maybe somewhere in the upper middle? The shortened season helped and hurt the show at the same time. Helped in that we didn't get any pointless filler and subplots involving annoying family members. Hurt in that the second story was just way too rushed. They should have had the Margot/drone story go the full 12 episodes, or had that plot end 2 or 3 episodes earlier, or maybe integrate the Cheng story much earlier in the season...or whatever? But, definitely one of the better seasons overall. Edited September 3, 2016 by AndySmith Link to comment
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