This is the first time I've ever written a review about an episode of 24. Unfortunately, what drove me to do this was not how good this episode was, but how poor it was.
Let me just start this review by saying it was one of the worst episodes in 24's history. I love 24, so episodes like this get to me more than just a casual viewer.
The number one reason this episode was terrible was it's plot and its pointlessness in the season. The story involving Jack and Renee had Jack sitting in a room for the better part of the hour so you barely even see him, or Renee for that matter, who sits around Vladimir who is making phone calls.
Their story finally picks up at the end, when *SPOILER* Renee stabs Vlad as well as Jack! Now that was awesome scene, and Jack getting stabbed was one of the biggest "Holy crap!" moments in 24 - however, after the ad break he just gets back up and starts running around! I know Jack is tough but wouldn't it have been more dramatic if it was actually realistic??
So everyone else's story this hour was so terribly boring - I just didn't care about any of them. Jenny/Dana's country hick boyfriend gets WAY too much screen time, they get as much as Jack! By the way, was it any surprise that they would just HANG AROUND for half an hour by which convenient time a cop comes along, well duh! They were even told this but they're just THAT STUPID. Why should I care about people that stupid? The ploy with the water pistol? That's just ridiculous. I really hope this story goes away, but now that they beat up a cop, I can tell the writers are gonna milk it for all its worth.
President Hassan's story is slightly interesting - it's interesting to see what's happening to him psychologically, where he's become paranoid of everyone around him, I really didn't care for the story of the agent who is (surprise! not) in love with his daughter and now in deep trouble. Who is this guy? Why should I care about him?
Finally, the scenes with the Russians I felt were only there so the characters could actually be in the episode.
What it comes down to is this: every time we watch a side story, we're sacrificing time from Jack and Renee, who have actual developed & believable characters and a decent story. This is the perfect example of side stories taking over an episode, and/or where the writers couldn't think of anything for Jack/Renee to do. In all seriousness, their story could have been squeezed into the first half hour to bring in more from the next episode - the writers feel like they're really stretching this story out just to cover more episodes.
Let me just start this review by saying it was one of the worst episodes in 24's history. I love 24, so episodes like this get to me more than just a casual viewer.
The number one reason this episode was terrible was it's plot and its pointlessness in the season. The story involving Jack and Renee had Jack sitting in a room for the better part of the hour so you barely even see him, or Renee for that matter, who sits around Vladimir who is making phone calls.
Their story finally picks up at the end, when *SPOILER* Renee stabs Vlad as well as Jack! Now that was awesome scene, and Jack getting stabbed was one of the biggest "Holy crap!" moments in 24 - however, after the ad break he just gets back up and starts running around! I know Jack is tough but wouldn't it have been more dramatic if it was actually realistic??
So everyone else's story this hour was so terribly boring - I just didn't care about any of them. Jenny/Dana's country hick boyfriend gets WAY too much screen time, they get as much as Jack! By the way, was it any surprise that they would just HANG AROUND for half an hour by which convenient time a cop comes along, well duh! They were even told this but they're just THAT STUPID. Why should I care about people that stupid? The ploy with the water pistol? That's just ridiculous. I really hope this story goes away, but now that they beat up a cop, I can tell the writers are gonna milk it for all its worth.
President Hassan's story is slightly interesting - it's interesting to see what's happening to him psychologically, where he's become paranoid of everyone around him, I really didn't care for the story of the agent who is (surprise! not) in love with his daughter and now in deep trouble. Who is this guy? Why should I care about him?
Finally, the scenes with the Russians I felt were only there so the characters could actually be in the episode.
What it comes down to is this: every time we watch a side story, we're sacrificing time from Jack and Renee, who have actual developed & believable characters and a decent story. This is the perfect example of side stories taking over an episode, and/or where the writers couldn't think of anything for Jack/Renee to do. In all seriousness, their story could have been squeezed into the first half hour to bring in more from the next episode - the writers feel like they're really stretching this story out just to cover more episodes.