24 - 7

UNIVERSAL REMOTE

Here's my main problem with 24, and it has nothing to do with when the characters go to the bathroom (I always sort of assumed it was in the 17 minutes or so they don't show us on TV because of commercials), and it has nothing to do with the number of disasters both personal and professional that befall such a small group of people. These are things that I can suspend disbelief for. Hell, I'm the guy who watched Die Hard a hundred times in a summer. I can suspend disbelief with the the best of them, especially if it is for something that keeps me in suspense.

My main problem is with the use of the time effect. Even Sergio admits that some of the time elements are far-fetched. And I'll concede that I'm not as concerned with how the characters get around L.A. so quickly. (Although I will say that the character I was referring to wasn't Jack - who was legitimately in the helicopter for 20 minutes as he told Audrey - but Curtis who made it from the marina to downtown in under 10 minutes.) Individually, some of these things may seem like nit-picking but collectively they weaken the show.

The show is designed around a great gimmick, each show is one hour and is shown is real time. I didn't choose the gimmick, the writers and producers did. And they didn't choose it to make their lives miserable, they did so because it creates a great dramatic effect. Choices have to be made. Time is of the essence. Tick, tock, tick, tock, the clock never stops. Time marches forward. This allows the characters to do outrageous things, creates hightened tension over the littlest things (Dammit Edgar, check the damn CD), and puts the viewers on edge for the end of the hour. But in introducing time as a lead character, one that creates a hell of a lot of tension and drama, they can't have it both ways. They have to respect the rules they established for the show in order to keep the suspense. Too often, the show takes shortcuts to keep the gimmick alive.

The best example goes back to the "football." I never derided the fact that the camper who found the "football" would have heard of its existence, but the fact that he found a black briefcase in the middle of Air Force One wreckage and immediately knew it was the "football." (Since it is apparently always handcuffed to somebody - shouldn't there have been a body attached - or at least a pair of empty handcuffs?) There wasn't even a moment of hesitation, he knew instantly and called the police to inform them of the discovery. If you can explain how he knew what it was right away I'll drop this right now. But there is no way.

This is simply one example. But combine this with the occassional "speedy travels" of the characters, the 10 minute restraining order, and others, and you have a collection of cop-outs. The show uses the time element to create suspense and as a reason for rash decisions, but when time is inconvenient they ignore it in order to move the plot along and keep the show going and keep the suspense up, which I understand, but completely destroys the "24" element. It reminds the audience of the gimmick and, for me, destroys the drama of the show. Every time I see one of these short-cuts I remember that the gimmick is just that, a gimmick, to be used by the writers to create suspense when it is needed, but to be ignored just as easily. 24 does indeed deserve praise for its unique format, but to earn that praise it has to follow through with the format, and not use it to create suspense when it is convenient, and ignore it when it is inconvenient. Every time it ignores its own rules it becomes, quite simply, a conventional show, only with an annoying ticking clock. The show should be better than that, and from what I've heard used to be better than that.

(Finally, like I said in the original post, I'm new to the show this year, so maybe my liberal bashing argument is off. I am reminded that the Haliburton-esque company was pure evil, and the Republican, Fox News watching Prez is, indeed, a wuss.)