24 writers were 'bored to death' with nuke bomb plot

adhonus-this entire SEASON is a red herring. That's the least I know.

Porchland-I would advise you to at least tune in to the season finale. 24 this year is reminding me of a novel that you have trouble getting into, so you flip to the last chapter, find out what happens at the end, then you go back and read the preceeding chapters. That's why 24 was the series that was born for DVDs-you can review episodes in blocks at a time.

Mel-you nailed the major flaw of this season. I watch 24 more for the political allegory than for Jack's escapades. In previous years, the politics provided the more realistic "drama" to balance the more fantastical adventures of the CTU agents. The political characters grounded the series, and the actors portraying them gave high-caliber performances. With the exception of one actor/character: D.B. Woodside's Wayne Palmer.

I understand the writer's intentions with the character of Wayne. Wayne is supposed to be a hybrid of RFK and LBJ, with a little Hillary Clinton sprinkled in. But D.B. Woodside doesn't have the gravitas needed to pull off the role. Wayne was OK as a supporting character. But not as commander in chief.

SymetriX, Gordy-Jack's dad will be back. And if I'm right, Jack will end up being more like his father than you can ever imagine. Jack's a chip off the old block. Just wait.

Gordy, I'm with you. Now that I've caught up my Monday DVR viewing, I can officially quit this ridiculous season of "24."

There were many, MANY jump-the-shark moments this season, but cutting off Gredenko's arm was so monumentally stupid that I nearly quit watching after that episode.

Oh, and Jack'd dad, I'm assuming, is the mastermind behind the Audrey storyline.

I smell bullshit. If they were bored, their boredome was resolved long before the season premiere. All episodes up to this episode were in the can by that time.

Besides, isn't brainstorm/write/brainstorm/rewrite part of the creative process? Is this really a novel concept?

What ever happened to Jack's dad? That was like a huge thing at the start of the season.

When is Napolean Solo showing up?

I think the problem this season is the writers have too much faith in the chemistry of their actors in the White House. Apart from MacNicol, the rest of them are so wooden and predictable in motion. That isn't compelling enough. And the gambit did not pay off as it did last season with Jean Smart and Gregory Itzin anchoring the political intrigue.

24 is always about the politics not Jack Bauer kicking ass. At the very least, it's on equal footing to that character.

Scotty-I think you have hit upon something! The writers come up with Jack's dialogue while trying to get their scripts done in time! Brilliant!

"This ends now!"

"Don't lie to me!"

"There isn't enough time!"

Etc.

I'm laughing.

Good attempt at misleading everyone, Manny. But I'm not buying it. You and the other writers had this entire season pretty much mapped out before you started. "Bored to death" of the suitcase nukes? Right. You had planned to end it at about this point. Of course, you want to hide the "major surprises" that are coming at the end, so some misdirection is necessary. Giving the terrorism expert props for suggesting a manuever? Cute.

Don't get me wrong. The writers know that they could have done a better job executing this season. They had a great concept, a season based completely on lies and illusion. But they delved too far into self-parody and were hampered by the addition of too many new characters. Still, it doesn't change what their creative intentions were. And the ending should still be a doozy.