2004-01-25 - 12:26 p.m. Mystical Beast has alerted me to this fun device that can do stuff like this. OK, I retract my comments about the latter half of season one of 24. After a few goofy episodes mid-season, it picked up again, concluding with the most stunning ending of a dramatic show in recent memory. A few points. I shall insert the appropriate spoiler spaces...But one general spolier-free comment: this show really tests the limits of human attention. I mean, movies are about 90 minutes because someone decided that's how long they should be, and novels are about as long as they are because of some arcane magazine serializing practice. But 24, if looked at as a whole, proves that a good yarn, with some moral resonance, can hold an audience's attention for...24 hours. Someone needs to look into this as a study of human consciousness. Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Dude! I suspected that Nina or Tony must have murdered Jamey--but then they were both so helpful to Jack that I put it out of my mind. We never find out who Nina was working for--I assume that gets covered in season two? Does this make Tony a suspect, too? He has such close ties with Nina. Casting directors take note: never, ever, get a well-known American actor to play a malevolent Serbian. He was never Victor Drazen to me, always Dennis Hopper with a very lame accent; his performance veered into Dr. Evil territory a few too many times for my comfort. Likewise, the puffy-sleeved peasant outfit on the young Serbian woman was a bit much. They might as well have had her wearing a babushka and big rubber boots. Teri! Wow! I'm going to miss her. I feel bad for the actress who lost her job. But the alternate "happy" ending (on DVD), wherein she survives, feels very wrong. They did the right thing, dramatically, by killing her off. 24: Best. Show. Ever! thoughts? (2 comments so far) previous - next blog archive contact