Tuesday November 26

24 part deux

After watching 18 or so hours of 24 season one over the course of three nights, I anxiously sat down to watch tonight's episode of season 2. I had already read the episode guide on fox.com to catch up on the 4 episodes I missed.

And the verdict is in: I can't watch season two anymore.

After having the luxury of watching season one in massive, commercial free segments, it is pure torture to have to deal with one episode per week, with interruptions every 15 minutes.

Not to mention the fact that having just digested such an immense glob of the ever-shifting 24 plotlines, I have developed a sixth sense for the tired devices they use over and over again to keep the story moving. It's almost as if every episode goes like this:

There is an evil "bad guy" or "bad organization" trying to do something horrible and earth-shattering. While CTU tries to stop it, somebody nearly derails the operation in order to save the the lives of one or two "little people". In the mean time, somebody blackmails somebody else into doing something or not doing something. Nearly every character is holding a secret that they refuse to disclose to various suspicious others. Meanwhile, Kim escapes a perilous situation. Ten minutes later, Kim is in danger again. All along, Palmer is trying to accomplish something, while somebody close to him second-guesses him and betrays his trust, and he eventually fires them. After about five episodes, we learn that the "bad guy" or "bad organization" is really just paid off by an even badder guy or organization with a higher agenda.

Rinse and repeat.

As much as I love this show, it's beginning to seem very trite in my eyes. I think maybe I'll bail on season two for now and then hope they release it on DVD sometime next year. Hopefully by then, my memory will fade and I'll be able to enjoy it again.