A Case of the.... 24 - Episode 8-12

From last week’s 24 column, courtesy of reader Michael L:

I don’t know about you, but I’m about at the point where I hope that the Stephen Root character turns out to be a mole and just plain shoots Dana–preferably someplace painful–and hopefully sometime in the next episode. This subplot has reduced the overall IQ of this show quite a bit. Couldn’t she simply tell this parole officer that she is working for the government in the middle of a national security crisis and that she’ll get back to him tomorrow (later today?). At least she could try a bit harder.

This is actually one of my biggest pet peeves as it relates to 24 and the Dana story arc in particular. As a viewer, we recognize that the main story arc has to be tied up in a neat little package within the day, but it still irks me when the show completely ignores its own gimmick – that this is a real-time hour of the day. I just find the urgency of this Dana/Kevin situation just too unbelievable. There are so many times that it would be perfectly reasonable for her to say “Can we talk about this tomorrow?” and for the person, no matter how much they need her assistance or services, to comply. I simply don’t believe that Kevin and his friend – a supposed hardened criminal – would risk such a potentially lucrative operation without any planning whatsoever.

And then there’s Stephen Root’s character – who I’ll just refer to as the “parole officer” because I don’t want him to stick around long enough for me to bother to remember his name. Again, I just find this whole thing completely unbelievable. I don’t remember if he indicated how long Kevin has been missing, but I just don’t buy that he’d suddenly treat this situation with such urgency. Like, he absolutely HAS to meet with this woman at 3:00 in the morning? And considering that this guy apparently has the necessary connections to get the results of a finger print test for a crime that was only committed a few hours ago – is that even possible? – I have to wonder how he lost Kevin in the first place.

And while I’m not trying to portray any of these people as exhibiting any sense of nobility, but I just don’t see any of them – even the petty thieves – harassing their golden goose in the midst of a national crisis. Everything about it just so forced and reeks of lazy writing. And the fact that the story arc sucks makes it even less forgivable.

http://tv.insidepulse.com/2010/03/18/24-episode-8-12-review/