24: Hours 3 and 4
So last night we discovered that Tony wasn't really a bad guy and that he was working with Chloe and Bill Buchanan in an attempt to expose corruption at the highest levels of government. Despite reports of this being a questionable plot device, I thought it was rather well-executed and rather believable given the overall framework of the show. The concept of CTU in exile is rather clever, given that one of this season's overarching themes seems to be a rejection by the powers that be of Jack and everything he's done the past six seasons. Even the explanation of Tony's death and revival was clever- it's nice when these questionable plot devices end up fitting nicely into the story being told. As I mentioned yesterday, this season seems to be content to rely more on suspense and mystery as opposed to shock and awe. And as my friend McBlog pointed out to me, Jack hasn't even killed anyone yet. All-in-all, it looks to be an entertaining season, but we'll see where it goes from here.
The complaints? Once again, the civil rights soaked world of 24 is perplexing and the continued stressing of the theme is grating. Last night, when FBI agent Renee Walker went to question a suspect and hinted at physical intimidation, the man gave a smug look and responded, "You can't touch me, it's illegal." I get it, but you don't need to beat us over the head with it.
And it should make for an interesting story this year, but how many corrupt governments can we have? This will make for three in seven seasons. To go back to my original point, in a world with this much terrorism and this much corruption, you'd think that public opinion would be overwhelming in favor of a hero like Jack Bauer and overwhelmingly against the political posturing of a corrupt government.
The complaints? Once again, the civil rights soaked world of 24 is perplexing and the continued stressing of the theme is grating. Last night, when FBI agent Renee Walker went to question a suspect and hinted at physical intimidation, the man gave a smug look and responded, "You can't touch me, it's illegal." I get it, but you don't need to beat us over the head with it.
And it should make for an interesting story this year, but how many corrupt governments can we have? This will make for three in seven seasons. To go back to my original point, in a world with this much terrorism and this much corruption, you'd think that public opinion would be overwhelming in favor of a hero like Jack Bauer and overwhelmingly against the political posturing of a corrupt government.
posted by lonely libertarian at 9:54 AM
2 Comments:
One final rebuttal to the civil rights aspect: These issues don't come up in times of rest or times of peace. These things rear their ugly heads during times of duress and anger.
No matter how bad things get, we will always have these idealogists who want things done right. People who want things done by the book. The thing Jack keeps bringing up is "let the people decide". Well just because a few senators and a couple of hard-ass FBI guys think he should punished, that doesn't mean general society would want the same.
And one final point: As a Libertarian, albeit a "Lonely" one, isn't all of this torture and suspension of civil rights against the very frameworks of your political beliefs. Are you saying big bad government agents should be allowed to beat other citizens without due process? I know this is just TV, but if this happened in real life you might not be that upset, but how could you not acknowledge that a few other idealist hippies would be pissed? Also keep in mind, how many innocent people have also died because of Jack? Jack's torturing of Paul Raines got him killed, did it not? What about the torture of Heller's son? Mistakes are made sometimes.
First- maybe we need a separate blog, just for 24.
I think you may be right about there always being a pervasive "by-the book" mentality, but I just wish the show would lean more in that direction and less in the direction of the entitled terrorist.
And yes, I'm against torture and the suspension of civil rights, but it's hard to argue (as 24 did in season 6) that civil rights should be a concern when one nuclear bomb has gone off and the nation is facing the immediate threat of nuclear annihilation.
And finally, I think you make the best part of all in talking about Jack's mistakes. That after all, is certainly an argument againast torture in any world. Yet during our brief glimpse into the Senate hearing, we're not presented with Jack's mistaken torturing of Americans. We're given Jack's torturing of a terrorist that saved the lives of fifty people. This is bad writing, eschewing logic to score cheap dramatic points.
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