Season four of 24 in a nutshell:
- “Oh crap, the terrorists are doing something horrible! We’d better stop them!”
- “Oh crap! Our only lead evaporated! CTU is fucked!”
- cue CTU bitchfight for no apparent reason.
- “Wait, we found this guy that’s randomly associated to the terrorist plot. RICHARDS! Beat this man with a lead pipe until he talks. And then beat him some more.”
- “We know you’re full of shit.”
“You don’t know anything! I’m innocent!”
“That’s it. You’re gonna get it.”
“BRAAAAAGH! FUCK! PAIN!”
“Want some more, bitch?”
“I… told… you… I… know… not-ARARAHGHH”
- The suspect may or may not be involved in the plot. It doesn’t matter in 24. Somehow CTU finds a lead and pursues it.
- Jack Bauer drives to the next terrorist base, singlehandedly kills fourteen terrorists and thwarts the planbut not before big baddie escapes.
- Big baddie makes a call on his cell phone and reveals the next part of the terrorist plot, showing that everything up to that point was planned all along.
- Rinse and repeat. Over and over.
[spoilers ahead]
The latest episode has perhaps the worst depiction yet of how the “good guys” deal with torture. Hey, guess what? Due process is good only when it’s convenient; we get to throw it out whenever we feel the circumstances are “extreme” enough! Edgar’s totally right when he disses that “stupid PC lawyer!” And we all know civil liberties organizations WORK FOR TERRORISTS.
You know what, 24? Fuck you. You might be a fun ride, but your politics are now completely bankrupt. The dialogue the producers had been so good at raising in the second season is obviously no longer a priority.
