24: Are we breaking up?

Is anyone else watching 24 this season?  Don't read this if you haven't watched the first four episodes yet.

So far I have liked it much less than last season, when we had the love-to-hate President Logan drama.  Since then, I've also fallen hard for Battlestar Galactica, which makes 24's analogies to current foreign and domestic policies look sophomoric.  But what really made me consider not watching the rest of this season is the death of Curtis, known in our apartment as Blackjack.  It seems like a good codename for a field agent, and well, he's sort of a black Jack.  To have Jack shoot Blackjack was contrived and cruel.  At least let the character die in some heroic way. 

Another thing that annoyed me was Mr. Suburbia blithely carrying out the teenage terrorist's orders, even when it involved murder.  Has he never seen any action movie or tv show?  The people who follow orders to protect their families always end up dead, as do their families, barring some deus ex machina.  At least Mrs. Suburbia had more sense.

Am I being too harsh?  Stephen King said this season is the best yet.  What do you think?

Comments

[monica]

I couldn't understand why Jack didn't just maim Curtis instead.

[Michelle]

I agree with many of these concerns...I guess the reason I am still optimistic is that some of the usual plot developments (the dark heart of suburbia, no one trusting Jack until it's too late and then begging him to come back and fix things) are being tweaked...for example, Jack doesn't even trust himself right now. What will the effect of an uncertain Jack be? And the suburban folks? The death of Teen Terrorist and the nuke have (I hope) effectively squelched that subplot. And now that there's been a nuclear explosion, will all of the fancy wireless technology that gets Jack through the day even work anymore? If not, then how will he get through the day?
So, I guess I'm cautiously optimistic. I hope I'm not wrong!

[Lolly]

I was much more suprised that Jack shot Curtis "Blackjack" (ha, that is genius!) than I was about the nuke going off in the town. I don't understand why he could not have shot him in the shoulder...

I am looking forward to another great season. With only a few episode exceptions (yes, the cougar/Kim thing in season 2), I think 24 is consistently the best show on TV right now.

[laurel]

I had really mixed feelings after the premiere. It's always good to see "old friends" but I liked it better when Jack was just plain kickass and didn't need a bunch of angsty character developing Emmy reel scenes. HATED the stuff with Curtis - he finally got an actual backstory and was promptly offed by his buddy. Nice.

The final blow for me, though, is the fact that its on opposite Heroes. And Heroes is about to add Doctor Who and Mr. Sulu to its cast, so, well.....I guess I'll catch the rest of Day 6 on DVD.

[Cassie]

Just finished watching the 4th episode, and ... meh?

Can't wait till BG tonight however!

The Curtis thing seemed very contrived. They did show him standing behind Bashir in such a way that Jack had nothing to aim at besides his head/neck. And of course the "I need you Curtis" speech meant he was doomed.

I think at this point 24 has done everything they could plot-wise, and now they're trying soooooo hard to be shocking that it's like a parody. Take a drink every time Jack yells "We're running out of time!"

[Michelle]

I think it's totally harsh and brutal so far, and I haven't seen this past Monday's episode yet. I couldn't believe he shot Curtis either; it seems like maiming him would've been equally effective. And Buchanan following up with "you had no choice, you did the right thing?" The hell? What a thankless, unfair way to die.