24 Season 4

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So I've been watching the, what, fourth (?) season of 24 on FOX this year. This is an even guiltier pleasure than Survivor, but hey, it makes my Monday nights go faster.

Having watched all previous seasons -- and having commented in 2003 about the bizarre formula apparent in the show -- I thought I'd revisit my earlier Formula for Fox's 24. Updates from current season in bold.

Formula for Fox's 24 - Updated in 2005

  • Never trust female characters. They're generally one or more of the following:
    • foreign spies (one major female character is a foreign terrorist this season and another is a spy for American terrorists, so...close)
    • local spies (working for the other guy at CTU) (hasn't shown up yet, although they did kick out what's-her-name, Chloe, for helping Jack before it was cool, which is close, and they tortured what's-her-other-name on suspicion of being a CTU spy)
    • power-hungry maniacs who manipulate their way through life (DING DING DING DING DING!! We have a prime example in the character of, oh, what's-her-damn-name...Curtis's former girlfriend. I win!!)
    • emotionally crippled victims (We've got a great example of this in the CTU director's daughter. I suspect we will see Jack's love interest go from competent to crippled victim shortly.)
  • Don't ever tell your daughter any secrets. She'll tell her scruffy-ass boyfriend, who will tell everyone else. She'll also be victimized by a variety of people in the process of trying to act on whatever it was you told her. (After FOX couldn't pay the rent for the daughter actress anymore, they expanded this plot point to include girlfriends, children of terrorists, and anybody contacted by those two types of people.)
  • The President is always readily available via cell phone. (And now he's available via videophone, even while on Air Force One.)
  • The System (government, law enforcement) is riddled with jerks and maniacs. (DING! Note how CTU leadership and core staff are about 50% inveterate assholes who either reform or die during the season -- the current leader character reformed, the Jack replacement guy died, they fired Chloe for being a jerk and helping Jack, etc. Another new twist on this is: The Man Doesn't Care if Your Mom Dies.)
  • Terrorists are always foreigners. If you're dealing with someone who doesn't look like a foreigner but is clearly a terrorist, just wait -- they'll start babbling in a foreign language soon enough. (This is amazingly bald in the current season. It focuses on an extensive Turkish-American terrorist cell. It's so bad that FOX eventually aired a PSA about it.)
  • Guns solve most problems. (Still true. However they have done a good job lately having guns cause a few problems, typically by killing important witnesses or captives right before they talk.)
  • If you shave at the beginning of the show, stubble will not be visible until the 23rd show. (We saw Jack getting dressed in the first episode. He just gets sexier each hour, man.)
  • Good guys use Mac laptops, bad guys use Dell laptops. Sometimes these are reversed when the show is trying to manipulate you. (This has been modified since the third season, in which there were a few red-herring switches, presumably because people like me noticed. At the moment the rule seems to be: Good Guys Use PDAs With Inexplicable Satellite/Video Technology, Bad Guys Use Even More Implausible Custom Wireless Devices With Flashing Lights)
  • The main character can't die. Okay, well, if he dies, he can be resurrected promptly by a nearby doctor. (Okay, duh. No deaths recently, though the man has retired like three times at this point. I think the best example of this lately is the terrorist kid who has been shot at, dug his own grave, etc. but survives to look bewildered every time.)
  • 50% of all other characters will die or will turn out to be evil, or both. (Body count rising. New twist: sometimes they get fired [or commit treason, go to jail, and end up useless drunks watching soccer in Spanish] instead of dying, which is handy in case you need them later to save the day.)
  • New rule: Call me on my videophone. Even if you're ten feet away from the person you want to talk to, why not call them up on your tiny 3" display videophone? Oh, move to the left a little so we can see the logo on that videophone. Sweet.)
  • New rule: Job stress + (child/love interest) in grave danger = awesome FOX dramatic conflict! We have seen the stress which used to rest solely with Jack move to other characters (Tony, the new CTU director, etc.). Just kidnap somebody's wife or make somebody's kid freak out and you've got prime time gold!
  • New rule: Since nobody belives 'the rules' matter anymore, torture whoever you want. Plenty of torture and "I don't have time to [respect your human rights], there's a war on man!" this season.
  • New rule: Redemption is easy. I should have seen this earlier, but with the current Tony-is-redeemed plot, it's obvious: no matter how much treason, torture, craziness, etc. you are involved in, you can get your old job/street cred/girlfriend back as long as Jack (or the President, or the Secretary of Defense) says you're cool. Because of this, I suspect Chloe will come back shortly to save the day. Just like in the first (second?) season where what's-her-name got fired but used the power of wi-fi to save the day from a van in the CTU parking lot.

So there you go. Go make your own season.

3 Comments

You think Tony got off easy? I could not disagree with you more...I think what happened to him at the end of season 3 was so unfair...what was he supposed to do? I don't think anyone in real life or on the show, not even Jack, would have set there and let a terrorist stab his wife's eye out while threatening to kill her. I do fault him for lying to Jack and breaking Jane Saunders out of CTU instead of working with Jack to use the trade to catch Saunders, but his decision was understandable, since he knew that while Jack had been in his situation and would understand and would do what he could to save Michelle, his first priority would be catching Saunders even if it meant Michelle had to die, and after spending 4 hours thinking she was going to die of the virus and finding out 45 minutes before Saunders called him that she was going to be okay, I can understand why Tony felt he could not take that risk. With all the terrorists and horrible people on the show who have been pardoned or received immunity, Tony going to prison at all seemed incredibly unjust.

I do agree, however, that Tony being reinstated at CTU is unrealistic. I did some research for a fanfic I am writing, and it's next to impossible to get any federal job, let alone one that requires a security clearance, if you've ever been convicted of a felony. It's unclear as to whether or not someone in Tony's situation could even legally hold a gun, let alone do any of the stuff he does for ctu in season 4.

Nice site. We just finished season 4 and noticed a lot of the same plot ingredients that you point out. I am surprised that NOW hasn't demanded a PSA about the whole "women are or will be evil" lines.

However, one line I think that you overlooked is that, whatever terrorist leader/bad guy is being sought, is really just small fish and will die. There is another bigger person that must be found; ie. Navi to Omar to Marwon (sp?). Similarly whatever plot that is being perpetrated is a distraction for a larger attempt. In season 4 the one difference in this seemed to be the stealing of the F-117. That would be a completely different terrorist plot it appears.

Sincerely,
Darrell Reader

I dont know why CTU has just one person incharge of field op, and that one person is always Jack. He is the only "smart" one coming up with solutions. Others working in CTU are either dumb or just picked up from streets...The potrayal of Jack as "Superman" is humor to its height.

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Contacting Chris Higgins

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