24: The Wake

Now that 24 is over, I thought it would be a fun idea to look at some of my favorite things about the show.  Despite some bad seasons and some stupid story lines, it was one of my favorite shows of all time.  One thing I can say about it, the series always knew how to have a fantastic premiere.  The first couple episodes were always some of the best and then it would pretty much fizzle out with watered down or recycled plots.  Anyways, let us celebrate the good and ignore the bad…

Favorite Season:  Day Four
Reason:  Season one was pretty good, but for me, season four will always stick out as the one that blew my mind.  There was a very good bad guy terrorist, who was actually quite scary, Marwan.  CTU has to kidnap someone from the Chinese Embassy, and it does not go well.  The season ends with the Chinese wanting Jack Bauer, the President ordering his own Secret Service Agent try to kill Jack, and then Jack faking his own death.  It was also the first season I actually sat and watched every week.

Also there were so many great moments, such as Jack rescuing Audrey (wish she would have died) and her father from Marwan’s men.  He did it by himself and took out like eight guys.  And that was just the beginning.  Jack tortures Audrey’s ex-husband, in front of Audrey, with a lamp.


Favorite Torture Method:  Towel Method.
I realize that Jack did not actually do this, instead he just threatened a guy with it.  It sounded so scary the guy told him everything. This came from season one.  Here is the quote:

You probably don’t think I could force this towel down your throat, but trust me I can. All the way. Except that I’d hold onto this little bit at the end. When your stomach starts to digest the towel, I pull it out. Taking your stomach lining with it. Most people probably take about a week to die. It’s very painful.

Favorite Sub-Plot:  Tony and Michelle
In season two they slowly develop the love interest, but by season four the two are no longer together.  Tony is a loser.  Jack needs his help and he cleans himself up.  Tony and Michelle fight at first, but then by the end of the season are back to where they were.  And then it all goes to hell.  I was always rooting for those two crazy kids.

Favorite Dead Character:  George Mason
Mason started as the character you believed was somehow involved with the terrorists.  Everything the guy did seemed to go against Jack.  He just seemed like a sleezeball.  Then he gets hit with radiation and does the most noble thing ever, he flies the plane into the desert carrying a nuclear bomb.  And even in the end, he is still a jerk about things.

When Jack realizes George is on the plane, he pulls his gun, George makes a joke about “the service being bad enough, he doesn’t need to shoot him.”  Also, he makes Jack look like an idiot about wanting to sacrifice himself instead of facing his own life.  He went from guy I could not stand, to the guy I wish was still around…

Favorite Girl:  Renee Walker
The cute red-headed FBI agent stole Jack’s heart, then took a few bullets.  She started out as a by the books kinda girl and then turned into Jack’s protege.  She defied orders from her bosses, tortured a guy in the hospital, and then topped it all off by cutting a Russian guys thumb off to remove a US Marshall’s bracelet.  One of the best moments in series history.

Best Kill:  Jugular
This was actually a tough debate for me.  Most people would say the Season Two kill of Marshall Goren (remember from episode one, Jack needed to kill him to prove his cover for a domestic terror group) or the kick-ass knife throw from this season (you know the episode where Jack removes the knife from his gut and tosses it at a Russian).

However, for me there are two awesome kills that stick out.  The first one comes from this season, where Jack kills the guy with an ax.  The reason it was so good, the camera stops on the empty case where an ax should be and the blood on the wall.  The bad guy should put two and two together and realize that Jack is waiting for him with an ax.

The best kill though comes from season six, after Jack is released by the Chinese and given to the terrorist Abu Fayed to be tortured.  Fayed gives his plans away to Jack and then leaves the room.  Jack kills the guard by tearing out his throat with his teeth!  That is pretty freakin’ bad-ass!

Favorite President:   David Palmer
We have had six presidents during the course of this show.  Six!  We have only had five presidents during my lifetime.  I have no idea what year it would technically be in the final season (I just looked it up, 2016), but that seems like a ridiculous amount to me.  David Palmer seemed like a good president, mainly because he almost always listened to Jack.  That should be the lesson to all presidents:  Jack is never wrong.  Let us examine the presidents of this show…
David Palmer:  Almost went to war with three countries, gets booted from office, but then reinstated because Jack is always right.  Wife was crazy and helped the terrorists in order to get closer to him…
John Keeler:  Gets blown out of the sky, loses nuclear football.  Way to go jackass…
Charles Logan:  Ended up being the main bad guy of season five.  Almost allowed the Russian president to be assassinated.  Yeah, he sucked.
Wayne Palmer:  He could have been a great president, but then he started having issues with seeming like a weak president and made a bunch of stupid mistakes.  Then has a cerebral hemorrhage…
Noah Daniels:  He just seemed like a dick.  Plus he did not listen to Jack, always a mistake.
Allison Taylor:  The latest moron for president.  She irritated me.

Favorite CTU Agent:  Curtis Manning
We have had some pretty good agents with Jack:  Tony, Ronnie (season four guy who beat Jack down and then gets shot), Mike, Cole…but above them all was Curtis Manning.

Curtis had no problem doing whatever Jack said, he may sometimes try to offer the voice of reason or occasionally pull a gun on Jack, but most of the time he knew Jack was right.

Actually, he had one of the lamest deaths ever.  Going against his nature, he will not allow Jack to help a former terrorist who killed his unit or something.  Jack shoots him in the neck and kills him.  I could have watched a spin-off series with him.

Favorite CTU Computer Person Not Named Chloe:  Edgar Stiles
Do you remember Edgar?  The nervous-nancy who always gave in to whatever Chloe wanted, but was superscared of getting caught.  He was what you expect of a geeky computer nerd.  Then he died from nerve gas.  I think I almost cried that day.

Favorite Terribly Used Character:  Mandy

Do you remember Mandy?  I sure do.  She was the anti-Jack.  Super badass assassin, always cloaked in mystery.  She would show up out of nowhere and cause damage and then disappear.  I loved her.  I always felt that she was part of a larger storyline, but then she just got written off.  I wonder if in season one they planned on using her more, but then later wanted to go into that whole Jack’s family was really behind everything.  At least she ended up alive, better than any other villain on the show.

Some highlights from Mandy’s short career:
-Starts the show off by blowing up a plane and then parachuting out of it.
-Attempts to assassinate President David Palmer with a toxin.
-Kills her own boyfriend to escape.
-She beats down Tony and tries to use him as an escape plan against Michelle.

Oh and she was super hot and possibly a lesbian.

Well that wraps up some of my favorite things from such a good show.  I will try to forget all the idiotic subplots that made me want to gouge out my eyes.

Author: Ngewo