Tuesday, May 25, 2010
24 -- HOURS LATER... NOW THE DAY IS DONE
24, one of the most exciting and long-lived spy/espionage/drama/thrillers ever on TV has ended its eighth day, eight season, and final moment.
It may live again in a movie... but 20 someodd evenings of tension on TV at home at night are over. (20 someodd -- not 24 -- evenings because the opening and closing nights are usually 2 hour episodes, so 24 hours plays on less than 24 nights.)
The finale was well acted, well written, exciting, and satisfying. It resolved This Day's issues, and left room for the sequel (ie a movie). 24, its writers and directors, Jack, Chloe, and President Taylor should all be leading candidates for the next Emmys.
Earlier I wrote about the status going into the finale, and looked at some of the options for the resolution:
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/05/24-end-of-days.html
Now, here are the results.
WARNING
IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FINALE OF HOUR 8 AND EVER EXPECT TO SEE IT
(DVR'd, Online, or on the season DVD)
DO NOT READ ON
WHAT FOLLOWS IS A SUMMARY OF
SEASON 8 FINALE
And the results...
Note: Finale politics: Usually a TV show that sort-of deals with the real world as it sort-of is does not portray events that would drastically change the real world as it is. Thus it would be extremely impolitic for the resolution of 24 to either end on global world peace or the start of WW3.
THE PEACE TREATY -- Not signed -- President Taylor walks away.
THE COVERUP -- Announced and to be made public in about an hour. (Note: sequel alert -- lots can happen in an hour -- that's a whole episode or half a movie!)
PRESIDENT TAYLOR -- Plans to resign and give herself up for prosecution to the Attorney General. (Note: Since the whole thing transpired over a few hours, and she never saw any concrete evidence, prosecuting her could be an interesting courtroom drama itself.)
THE EVIDENCE -- None of the incriminating recordings have been clearly made available to responsible authorities. It's not clear that President Taylor heard the conversation between the Russian President and President Logan. (Note: sequel alert -- the recordings may or may not still be out there.)
CHLOE -- Survived.
PRESIDENT LOGAN-- Tried to commit suicide but may have survived. (Note: sequel alert -- he may have survived to live again.)
DANA's MURDER VICTIMS' BODIES -- Forgotten. (Note: sequel alert -- will the body in the wall of CTU become aromatic?)
THE RUSSIAN PRESIDENT -- Was not assassinated; Jack could have, but did not; it would have been the start of WW3. (Note: sequel alert -- Russian as well as American forces will be after Jack.)
JACK -- Badly wounded. Hunted by Russian and American forces. On his way to a new international hideaway, with Chloe promising to guarantee the safety of his daughter and her family.
Sequel (ie movie) status...
We have Jack emerging from hiding. We probably have to deal with all the crimes Jack has committed. (How about a simple Presidential Pardon.) President Taylor and the coverup will have undergone some "events" during the interim between the end of Day 8 and the beginning of the movie. Chloe, and possibly Agent Ortiz, President Taylor, The Russian President, The President of the IRK, and even President Logan are possible returning characters, along with Jack's daughter and her family.
Well, here's how our "possible resolutions" from the pre-finale summary fared in the final hours:
From our previous notes of what the "standard" TV resolution could be...
- Evidence of the Russian involvement is revealed to the media. YES
- The peace treaty dies. YES
- Jack gets to the Russian President YES, but the President dies of a heart attack or some other non-Jack cause NO, rather than being killed by Jack YES (Not killed by Jack).
- Jack is severely wounded, but not too dead to come back in a movie. YES
- He's either captured or disappears YES -- either way defining the opening scenes of the new movie.
- Some new character (or some old, forgotten, but not terribly dead character from earlier in the series) comes to light as being the brains/money behind the Russian operations. This character will also then be featured in the new movie. NO
Although much of these plot points came out as might have been expected, they were arrived at in a most exciting and twisted path of complications. It was a good show!
Some notes to the writers of 24 -- The Movie.
Obviously a 2 hour movie does not last 24 hours. A 24 hour day could be compressed. But "24" is just a number, it does not have to be hours. As long as it's not real time anyway, what about a 24 day timeline -- giving more room to expand the story around the globe. (And to space?)
If Jack's daughter shows up, please give her a really good story line.
How about letting Jack have some sex without killing off his wife/lover?
There have been Russian, American, Chinese, and Middle Eastern villains, nuclear weapons, plagues, toxic gasses. The movie needs a completely fresh impending catastrophe -- probably global in scope; and a totally different kind of person behind the threat.
Labels: 24, Chloe O'Brian, Jack Bauer, President Taylor
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
24 - THE END OF DAYS
"24" is nearing the end of its eighth and last day. Game. Set. And M... well, not quite "match." Not the end of the end. There's a movie in development, but the TV Series has been cancelled.
Monday May 24 is the final, two hour episode of "24" on TV. (8 - 10 PM Fox)
"24" ends on the 24th. (Coincidence?)
This season has been up and down...
On the upside, 24 is without any doubt the most interesting, exciting, tension filled show on TV. Each hour segment is more exciting than almost any 2 hour film.
But more than usual, the storylines this season did not hold up to scrutiny...
The Dana Walsh storyline was not particularly credible; in fact, her whole story arc and her personality too, were at best off-putting. And there are three bodies left lying around and possibly forgotten: her old pal and the pal's partner in crime underwater someplace, and a parole officer (or something) crammed into a wall space at CTU headquarters.
After lots of media criticism about his ability to torture people into confessing in a half-hour or less, Jack has lost his touch with torture. While "Do you know who I am???" seems to work well in getting bad guys to open up, actual torture this year has not been too effective.
(Despite the torture, I've never felt 24 was an especially conservative show. In fact, many of the bad guys have been traitors who seemed to have neo-con domestic terrorist motivations.)
Jack, CTU and others' ability to go downstairs, get a car, drive several blocks around town in NY in less time than (admittedly eternal) commercial breaks, has been inspiring to traffic challenged New Yorkers. But the "real time" premise of the show has been stretched beyond the breaking point.
Somehow, the Justice department and the Attorney General have not gotten involved in one of the worst crime waves New York has ever seen.
There is no sign of any media coverage of the overnight terror threat, nor of all the dead bodies around town: it's afternoon now, and there has been chaos all night and all morning. Maybe in LA nobody would notice, but here in NY it would be all over the newspapers and TV.
Not to mention YouTube. Aside from all the uploaded videos by citizens of the carnage around town, with video evidence of the Russian involvement, and now an audio of the President of Russia admitting to ordering the hit on Jack's girlfriend, Jack could simply upload it to YouTube. Getting the story into a newspaper or onto TV is so last century.
The US President is trying to cover up the involvement of the Russians until the treaty is signed. But why bother working so hard? In the real world it takes more than a few hours for any story to come out and prove itself. Some things need to be done within the 24 hours of the premise, creating a (ridiculous, doomed) cover-up is not one of them.
And finally, the last of the unbelievable plot points: the Russian President, who does not want the treaty anyway, got off the plane and is coming to the UN. Why? His ambassador to the UN was just killed. A really-really-highly-skilled-very-very-angry-assassin (Jack) is coming for him. This seems like it would be a pretty good time for the Russian President to get back on his plane and just go home, fast, thereby killing the peace treaty and remaining safe, a win-win for him. The only reason for him to continue in his limousine to the UN is because the script writer wants him to be there.
So where are we now, heading into the final 2 hours:...
The US President is trying to shore up a nuclear arms peace treaty with the Middle East & Russia, but knows that some Russians were behind the murder of the Middle Eastern leader, and is trying to cover that up.
The President of Russia is coming to the UN to sign the treaty.
Jack is trying to expose the coverup and take revenge on the death of Renee Walker. He knows the President of Russia ordered the hit. Jack may be trying to get the Russian President.
Here are some of the questions going into the finale...
Will the peace treaty get signed, and then hold?
Will the Russian coverup be exposed?
Will the US President fall victim to crimes in covering up the Russian involvement?
Will Jack be able to get to the Russian President? What will he do then? Will Jack assassinate the Russian President in revenge for the killing of Renee Walker?
Will Chloe survive?
Will the bodies Dana Walsh left behind be discovered?
Will Jack's daughter & grandchild show up on the finale?
Will Jack find... peace? love? revenge? justice?
Will Jack survive?
Note: 24 in the past has been quite ruthless about killing supporting characters. Jack's wife was killed in the climax of the first season; nuclear bombs have been detonated; Jack himself killed his boss to temporarily appease a terrorist; Renee Walker was shot; Presidents have been killed. So... Anything can happen!
If Jack were killed, would he be killed so dead he could not rise from the dead (or awake from a "dream") to appear in a new movie?
Here are some possible resolutions...
The standard TV resolution could be...
- Evidence of the Russian involvement is revealed to the media.
- The peace treaty dies
- Jack gets to the Russian President, but the President dies of a heart attack or some other non-Jack cause, rather than being killed by Jack
- Jack is severely wounded, but not too dead to come back in a movie
- He's either captured or disappears -- either way defining the opening scenes of the new movie
- Some new character (or some old, forgotten, but not terribly dead character from earlier in the series) comes to light as being the brains/money behind the Russian operations. This character will also then be featured in the new movie.
Deviations from a "standard" resolution provide the interest in the finale.
As for the movie...
The movie, "24," is "in development" so it may or may not happen. The current screenwriter is Billy Ray (who seems to have as many as seven other pictures currently in development) and whose writing credits include: State of Play, Suspect Zero, The Shooter, and Color of Night.
BILLY RAY - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0712753/
Here are some "24" sites...
TV SHOW ON IMDB -- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285331/
OFFICIAL 24 SITE -- http://www.fox.com/24/
24 THE MOVIE (2012) -- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1598754/
and links to some articles on both "24's," the film & TV show:
http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2010/03/26/24-to-end-this-season-film-version-in-the-works/
http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2010/02/08/breaking-news-24-movie-inching-closer-to-reality/
Labels: 24, Billy Ray, Chloe O'Brian, Jack Bauer
Monday, May 11, 2009
POOR KIM BAUER
OMG! Kim Bauer is again being threatened with kidnapping & murder. The poor girl... the poor actress... she deserves a better plotline.
I always liked Elisha Cuthbert but I got bored with her repetitive, unimaginative plotlines in the first seasons of 24.
I was happy when they brought her back this season. I thought she'd be involved in some interesting, new, different, original save-my-daddy plots. Instead we're back to Season One.
Her father is saving the whole world; perhaps Jack can rescue her with a better plotline. GET ME RE-WRITE!!!
Labels: 24, Elisha Cuthbert
TORTURE ON 24
Jack doesn't torture anyone, anymore. He just looks at them and growls, and they remember how he tortured other people in other seasons.
Labels: 24, Jack Bauer
Thursday, May 15, 2008
24 PREQUEL MOVIE IN NOV
24 Preview:
According to a report in TV Guide, there is an announcement by executive producer Howard Gordon that on November 23, Fox will broadcast a two hour prequel to Day 7 (aka Season 7) of 24. Jack tackles an international crisis that takes place at least partially (on location) in South Africa.
No sign of this announcement on the official 24 site yet. Give TV Guide kudos for the scoop!
Here is some more news, this time from 24headquarters.com:
Official Season 7 Trailer Press Release:
24’S SEASON SEVEN CLOCK STARTS WITH WORLDWIDE SNEAK PEEK AT 24TRAILER.COM AND LIVE FROM TIMES SQUARE THURSDAY, OCT. 25
Season Seven Premieres with a Special Two-Night Event Sunday, Jan. 13, and Monday, Jan. 14
As the clock ticks closer to 24’s highly anticipated return, a special, extended “Day 7” trailer will have its worldwide premiere Thursday, Oct. 25 (1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT) at www.24trailer.com and in New York’s Time Square on the iconic News Astrovision by Panasonic. The worldwide premiere will be seen concurrently around the globe at locations, via mobile and online in the U.K., Canada, South America, Europe and Asia. The countdown to the trailer’s debut begins today at www.24trailer.com. The first promo for the new season is also scheduled to air during Game 2 of the World Series on Thursday, Oct. 25 (8:00 PM-CC ET/5:00 PM-CC PT) on FOX.
The innovative, addictive, Emmy Award-winning television series 24 resets the clock for “Day 7” with a special two-night premiere event beginning Sunday, Jan. 13 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) and continuing in the series’ regular time period Monday, Jan. 14 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. The season will unfold without repeats, airing all originals through the season finale in June.
Set in Washington, DC, “Day 7” opens with CTU dismantled and JACK BAUER (Kiefer Sutherland) on trial. Bauer’s day takes an unexpected turn when former colleague TONY ALMEIDA (Carlos Bernard) returns. Meanwhile, President ALLISON TAYLOR (Cherry Jones) leads the country alongside White House Chief of Staff ETHAN KANIN (Bob Gunton) and First Gentleman HENRY TAYLOR (Colm Feore).
A national security crisis prompts an investigation by a team of FBI agents including Agent JANIS GOLD (Janeane Garofalo), Agent RENEE WALKER (Annie Wersching), Agent LARRY MOSS (Jeffrey Nordling), Agent SEAN HILLINGER (Rhys Coiro) and security specialist MICHAEL LATHAM (John Billingsley). Although CTU is no longer, CHLOE O’BRIAN (Mary Lynn Rajskub) and BILL BUCHANAN (James Morrison) are back for another momentous day of shocking events.
As part of News Corp.’s global commitment to fighting climate change, 24 has pledged significant and innovative changes to its production practices with the goal of saving energy and reducing carbon emissions.
Created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, 24 is a production of Real Time Productions and Imagine Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television. Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran, Howard Gordon, Evan Katz, Jon Cassar, Manny Coto, David Fury, Kiefer Sutherland and Brian Grazer are the executive producers.
Labels: 24, Day 7, Fox, Jack Bauer, Kiefer Sutherland, Prequel
Saturday, May 19, 2007
24 LOOSE ENDS
With 24 coming to its 2 hour season finale (8/7c Monday on Fox), it is surprising how many loose ends there are this year.
Loose ends can be tied up, left dangling, dragged to the edge of a cliff hanger, ignored, or twisted into some unrecognizable form... all methods 24 has used in the past. Several ends left dangling last year, like who was the voice on the telephone to the President, got picked up again this year. (It was Jack's brother.) Here are some of the threads that need to be resolved in the next two hours... or not.
What is going to happen to the President (currently comatose), or the Vice President (under a serious cloud)?
Who is responsible for the assassination attempt?
Who are the really bad guys? -- So far this season there has been a competition between (rogue) Russians, (rogue or government) Chinese, Jack's family, Arab terrorists, and some American opportunists to see who is most evil, and really behind this conspiracy.
Is the acting head of CTU good or bad? All the other people in CTU? What about those romances in various stages of disintegration? How is the ex-head of CTU taking his firing (by his wife)?
Why is Jack so interested in his sister-in-law? (She led him into an almost deadly trap, although she was somewhat, sort-of pressured.)
How bad is Jack's father? Why? (Or with some twist will he turn out to be really a good guy, at least till next season?)
What happened to all the civilians who were exposed to radiation in the course of various catastrophes during the last 22 hours?
What's with Jack's girl friend? Her father?
Will the Russians attack? Will the US attack?
Will Jack's daughter get kidnapped again? (This is not an active loose end, but it's always a possibility.)
Will Jack retrieve the chip that was in the Russian nuclear bomb? Why don't the American's want it? Why do the Russians really care? Is something more at stake?
Count'm up. If that doesn't add up to 24 loose ends, then that itself is a loose end.
Labels: 24, CTU, Fox, Jack Bauer
