User:Blue Rook/Season 7 opinions

A handful of times, individuals have spoken with me or heard me talking about 24... and reacted defensively, saying they rather liked the series. And, at least once, a guy sidled beside me during a brief conversation about the show and said he hated it too. Readers of this page, however, will know that I'm outright obsessed with the show. The phenomenon that occurred with these people (and will certainly happen again) is that they don't understand how my mind works: I am most critical of the things I most love (this also goes for certain music and foods, but don't worry, not people). I am so outspoken with my criticism that some folks, before I finish speaking my mind, may logically think that I hate whatever I'm talking about. Weird as this is, it's perfect for someone as odd as me.

In keeping with this tendency of mine, I've decided to post some criticisms of the new season as they come to mind, the kind which, if read without this introduction, may lead a reader to think I despise the show. Remember, as harsh as these critiques may sound, I'm still stuck to this show like a barnacle to a hull. I've also included some genuine favorite moments as well, to tally them up after the season closes & see if I had more impressed or disappointed moments.

Season 7 gripes
In order of appearance, not how much I hated them:


 * Blaine Mayer mentioning Ibrahim Haddad
 * The show's writers had an astounding selection of illegal-and-brutal-Jack-Bauer-interrogations to choose from, to pay homage to some prior season and to tip the hat in respect of longtime viewers. Instead they fabricated an interrogation from nothing! They could have chosen the time when Jack: shot George Mason with a tranquilizer dart; capped Ryan Chappelle in the head; tazered a Federal Marshal and clobbered Joe Prado; clobbered another Federal Marshal and threatened the helpless Collette Stenger; clobbered an Air Marshal and endangered a diplomatic flight; illegally raided a friggin foreign consulate; the list nearly has no end! And maybe how about the time he murdered and decapitated a federal witness in a government building! But noooo... the writers had to invent the character Ibrahim Haddad, a character for whom there was no season precedence or familiar back story, someone they pulled out of a complete vacuum. Worse, the silly back story they made up for Haddad (a bus bombing) would serve as a pathetic example for a Senate investigation. Nobody on earth would prosecute someone for beating up a dude to prevent a bus with children from blowing up... not with the tons of other infractions Jack had committed. He was involved with tons of other antics that didn't explicitly save innocent lives, just uncovered some bad guys, after the major threat was over. Shame on the writers for ignoring the rich history of Jack's beatings that the viewers are familiar with!


 * Janis Gold and Sean Hillinger arguing
 * The first time many of us saw Sean was on the Redemption DVD special features, which contained a clip of Season 7 episode 1. In it, he has his brief but "tense" argument with Janis. My stomach immediately sank when I saw this for the first time. Is the FBI office going to be infested with the same damn CTU-bickering-staffer-drama, except now it's in DC instead of LA? Of all the plot elements recycled again and again by the show's writers, did this "office drama" nonsense have to be re-introduced? After six seasons of that tripe, more of it is simply patronizing to the fans, or worse, indicative of the writers' inability to write something novel for that time slot. I truly hope they minimize this type of dialogue for the rest of the season... and for as long as 24 exists.


 * Don't get me wrong. I haven't a single problem with Rhys Coiro's acting. I even enjoy his voice (it sounds somewhat like Christian Bale's) and his later scenes are great. It's those specific lines they gave him for that scene that stunk.


 * Tony's absurd timing (✅ major gripe)
 * Tony whispers the code words "deep sky" to Jack after getting trounced in an FBI interrogation room. Those two words spur Jack to talk to Bill Buchanan, and eventually join Tony's side. The problem, however, is when Tony said it. He could have whispered it right after Jack threw him against the crate when Jack captured him on the docks! Why did he wait? (of course, the answer is, he waited because the writers needed to exploit Tony-as-villain into the next episode). Hell, even better, he could have said "Jack, do you trust me? Deep sky! Deep sky!" on the phone when Tony called Schector's office and got Jack on the line! No logical reason for him to wait. The instant Tony realized that Jack Bauer was on the other side, Tony should have dropped everything and got the word to Jack... because everyone knows, especially Tony, that within a few hours of learning of any nefarious plot, Jack will bust it wide open.

Season 7 favorites
In order of appearance, not how much I liked them:


 * Jack in the car with Kilner
 * Refreshing; novel; impressive; well done; overdue. All these words came to my mind when I first watched the conversation Jack had with FBI Agent Kilner. The agent is the voice for all Jack Bauer worshippers everywhere. It's good to hear your own words coming from a character's mouth on the show. Even better, Jorge-Luis Pallo spoke his dialogue perfectly. The right nuances of speech, tone, facial movements, and everything. Excellent acting all around! Kudos! Kilner should return and be the next Curtis, in my humble opinion.

Blue Rook's userspace index

 * User:Blue Rook - central user page & home of my "Villains @ Large" article
 * User talk:Blue Rook - contact me here
 * User:Blue Rook/Barnstar - home of the Dead-On and Owned! Awards
 * User:Blue Rook/Contributions - a showcase of my shameless arrogance, and a few humorously-captioned pictures
 * User:Blue Rook/ImageContributions - a gallery of all my images and careful account of my uploads work
 * User:Blue Rook/Shrine - home of my shrine to the Bluetooth Cabal of Day 5
 * User:Blue Rook/Season 7 opinions (you are here) - my critiques, positive and negative, of the new Season 7
 * User:Blue Rook/GhostGallery - a hand-selected list of currently-unused images for which you're welcome to find a spot