On the seventh day
How “24” made cold-blooded murder, torture and terrorist attacks kinda boring.
God certainly was tired on the seventh day and the same seems to be true for “24.” It pains me to say as much, but six hours and one made-for-TV movie into the series’ seventh season and my pulse ain’t pounding like it used to. Preposterous and over-the-top plotlines made “24” must-see TV. Hell, the show could even make you root for torture. (Make him talk Jack! He wants to kill Americans, the sonofabitch!)
But now, where “24’s” next move used to be utterly unimagineable, it all just feels too contrived, too predictable. Hotwire a car and drive it off the second story of a parking deck crawling with FBI agents? Sigh. Fake kill a woman who was the only one to trust you but now thinks you’ve betrayed her so that the bad guys think you’re one of them? Seen it. Infiltrate a terrorist network with a rogue band of former CTU cohorts because the government can’t be trusted? Yawn.
“24” set the bar so high from the start that it’s slowly but surely become it’s own cliche. I’m starting to wonder if Jack Bauer can save this one, and dammit, we’re running out of time!
(Photo courtesy Fox)