for some good fun 24-esque action, click here ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xMtmESwB9o

A lot of people last season thought the show jumped the shark when they killed off 3 major characters in the first ten minutes (2 and severely wounded Tony).

I thought that was a great plot twist last nite and adds something different to 24. The last few seasons were about Jack and his crew racing the clock to save the country. Remember, before this season started up, the producers did say that this time it was also going to be about Jack saving his own ass as well as the country's.

I meant to say, "How freak'n cool would it have been for Donald Sutherland to play Jack's *father*?!" (Sorry about that.) Donald Sutherland playing Jack's brother? Now *that* would be a twist.

I agree with #7, bring back Nina! The one true 24 villian!

Let's not forget that the big success of last year was not the terrorism itself, but the President, his wife, and the character drama that resulted. Also, Alias was a family drama disguised as a spy show. 24 is an action show that has always had family drama:

Season 1 : Jack's family. Palmers part 1
Season 3: Michelle and Tony, Kim and Chase, Palmers part 2
Season 4: Michelle and Tony part 2: the splits, Jack love triangle, Jack letting 1 of the love triangle die (paul)
5: Presidential circle drama.
6: Jack's family part 2, Palmers part 3

So this really isn't out of the blue and not all that unexpected.

You know I was worried about the fact that I chose to watch "Heroes" last night instead of "24" (and recording one while watching the other, unfortunately, doesn't work on my cable set-up) but after reading this I'm thinking I made a wise choice. Agggh! Besides the now obvious endangerment of this show "jumping the shark," Paul McCrane as Jack's brother?!?! I have nothing against Paul as a person, and he's a fine actor (I've been a fan since he's guest starred on "The X-Files"), but in the looks department him being Jack's brother is somewhat of an insult to Kiefer! (In the eye of the beholder, I guess.) And I all ready thought Palmer's brother becoming president was a bit of a stretch but in some ways I can see that. (Bobby ran after JFK was assassinated and so forth.) But I don't know how I feel about this little wrinkle especially with the "middle eastern terrorist" thing starting to wear a little thin with me. Can't we find something else to give Jack a bad day? And I guess Kiefer and his real life dad haven't made up much either. How freak'n cool would it have been for Donald Sutherland to play Jack's brother?!

Anyway, I know many people were a little hot under the collar last week when they felt you had to many spoilers right up front without any warning. I was not one of them. (I figure in this day and age any half way savvy TV-file should know not to read blogs and such of their favorite shows before watching the episode in question. I mean forget about the Internet. How many times has the networks themselves presented significant spoilers in the 30-second promos or previews?) As long as this show is up against "Heroes" I'm glad you're here so I can stay caught up. Thanks.

As long as this show is being rediculous (i love every unbelivable, explosive minute) I want Nina's clone or evil-er sister to come back one year.

Anyone think Jack is adopted because I see no family resemblance. Also I rolled my eyes with the brother twist too.

Anyone think Jack is adopted because I see no family resemblance. Also I rolled my eyes with the brother twist too.

Here's the key difference between 24's Bauers and Alias's Bristows: overuse. Consider: Alias's first season had to do with Sydney Bristow and her father (not to mention her fiance, since it's understandable that the main character of a show gets a romantic storyline). Season 2, Syd's mother becomes a main character. Season 4, her sister. Season 5, her mother again. So while Alias was jamming Bristows down our throats, 24 was pretty restrained after the first two seasons. Yes, we had the Audrey and Daddy Heller characters, but that' s more relevant romantically (see above). I, for one, thought it was a mind-blowing revelation. Graham was such a creepy character last year, and I was wondering if we would see him again. Then he's involved in this year's plot (ok, a little stretch, but still) AND he's Jack's brother? I'll give the writers a lot of room to fit that into the plot, since they've rarely let me down before.