All these "Braga is destroying 24" posts are a riot. And they'll be even funnier in retrospect.

It's getting better and better and the Dana storyline, at last, came to something interesting...
I hope this is not the last season, 24 deverses a great ending !

That's why for the most part, I keep my Braga comments related to 24, since Star Trek is only relevant to the extent of background as to why this guy is such a cancer. It also shows why people know how bad he is. But you're right about 24 being the key here.

That's of course why you see people criticizing the bad writing and bad directions this season has taken. For example, people noticing the sheer unoriginality of the mole in CTU are complaining about the episode, which is relevant.

People complained last week about the attack on CTU, which was also relevant and unoriginal.

The Dana subplot has been the source of complaints. Every week, it gets worse, and of course, it's relevant.

I would see your point about Star Trek if that was dominating these posts, but I don't think it is. Even as a Star Trek knowledgeable person, I wouldn't get into any discussion on any Star Trek episode here, because you're right, it's a 24 review.

Best episode thus far. Renee back in the game. Hastings continues getting stronger. Chloe is the best techno hero in TV history.
Jack, as field ops commander, has trouble with subordinates disobeying his orders under fire. Jack, do a better job of being a leader and intimidate the immature into full compliance.
Dana appears to be a "weak link" mole. If she was "hard line" she would have dispatched the ex b'friend when she first had the chance instead of allowing it to nearly compromise her cover.
If this is last season then expect the writers to go over the top in concluding the series. So much so that fans will rebel en masse and demand a 9th season. Say Jack saves the day and ends up drained and defeated looking as though he has lost his mind in the final scene. Renee dies saving Jack. I know this is a stretch prediction but Chloe sent into field for tech support and dies heroically in final episode. Can Jack possibly come back after all that he has sacrificed in defense of this country? Is Chloe really dead? Is the series really done? Supply and demand !! The demand could reach a point of frenzied open rebellion !!! It's in the hands of the "think outside the box" writers.

Why not stop watching?

That's a very good and fair question.

To answer it in part, that's happened. There is a ratings drop this season, just like there was a ratings drop once Braga started ruining Star Trek.

Why do people continue?? I think part of that is because of all the time expended in watching the show since it premiered. It's a lot of years. A lot of seasons, and the show and characters, especially Jack means something to those people who have invested that time.

It's similar to Star Trek in that people loved that franchise so much, that they didn't want to abandon it--they wanted to see it improved. Fans were screaming what was wrong, and the studio didn't listen. Brannon Braga and Rick Berman should have left Star Trek a good 10 years before they were finally forced out the door, but Paramount was too dumb to let that happen. Now Fox is falling into the same trap, with the same writers.

It's amazing.

Eventually, the more Braga stays with this show, the more people will just stop watching. That's what happened with Star Trek. On any normal network, the plug would have been pulled during the Voyager disaster. Fox will never let 24 drop like that.

But like Star Trek, 24 CAN still be great. It was great before Braga came on board. Notice how the first Star Trek post Braga was a success. A MONSTER success. The same can happen with 24 if they get better writers.

This season is a lost cause. It's over.

But that doesn't mean they can't bounce back. Hell, compare Smallville, which is having its best season probably since before John Schneider left.

It CAN be done.

I don't want to stop watching 24. I want it to get better.

That said, I will say this--if the show comes back, and if Braga is still a writer, I'm done. I just hope he hasn't scared off too many viewers for future seasons.

so the terrorist baddies fire on 4 CTU agents manage to take out 2 and the 4 CTU agents manage to take out 0 before 2 of them are taken out - all this with machine guns on both sides and Renee Walker waltzes in and manages to take out the terrorist baddies with a handgun :? :/

I guess my biggest issue with the people who come here week after week to complain about a show (any show) they don't like now or ever, is this ....

Why not stop watching?!?! Why expend valuable time and energy focusing on something that you don't enjoy. I mean TV is supposed to be entertainment right? If you are no longer entertained, why not move on?

My guess is that some people do find compaining and bitching some warped form of entertainment. I call it a sad personality disorder. We get it. Your mad and angry that the show you might have once liked years ago, no longer entertains you .... but bitching about that for season after season does? Seriously?

I guess its the same thing with people who start websites about someone or something they hate. Its all very sad IMO. Sigh.

I will give next weeks blog and comments another try because so many of you have promised to stop watching (so I assume that means stop posting too). If its still a depressing morass of negativity I shall too move on ... as to not be a hypocrite ... LOL!

I've been a 24 fan since its debut but feel that this has been a mediocre season overall,although these last two episodes have been decent. Perhaps the problem is that as clever as the 24 premise is,it is simply played out & there isn't anything fresh or innovative left to do with the concept after eight years. I have read that TV creators say that most TV series have five years max within their formats before they become stale & begin to repeat themselves. There are a few exceptions to this rule(M*A*S*H,The West Wing)but I believe its mostly true. I know I find with myself that even with TV shows I am a huge fan of that after five,six years on the year I begin to drift away from them.

Chloe: "I don't even like guns."

No kidding. GREAT line.

Ah, the return of the mole motif. And it IS a motif, not a cliche. You won't completely understand this until later, but all along 24 has been utilizing Freud's "repitition compulsion" theory. People who have suffered a traumatic event have a tendency to tell the story over, and over, and over again, to deal with the PTSD. The 24 writers aren't lazy, they've been recycling plots intentionally.

I think first, it's unfair to call people who don't like the way this show has gone "mindless." There is nothing mindless about it. Braga's history speaks for itself. The man torpedoed a billion dollar franchise.

Now he's doing it with another great franchise. The criticisms of the show this season are legit, and are hardly mindless. People are complaining of a lack of originality, and a rehashing of previously used plots. CTU has been blown up/attacked TWICE. There have been close to 10 moles in CTU. A mole in CTU is the single worst idea they could come up with.

The Dana plotline has been universally panned. First, it has absolutely nothing to do with anything going on in the show. Second, it isn't remotely compelling because as someone who is new to the show, who cares about this woman? Third, there is a nuclear crisis in NYC, who cares about this storyline? Fourth, in the midst of this crisis, does anyone really think a parole officer looking for a petty thief matters? Like anyone would take any time to do anything but escort him out of the building and say come back later?

It's almost as preposterous as suggesting that 5 guys with guns can invade the White House and actually GET to the President.

Oh wait, they did that last year.

This show used to be awesome. It's a shell of what it was.