Mike over at The Write Side of My Brian wonders if 24 is jumping the shark, but thinks this season is still better than last year’s.

The following is a slightly edited version of a comment I posted on The Write Side of My Brian:

I know a lot of people didn’t like season 6, but I personally enjoyed it until the Chinese threat emerged. And from I remember reading, the only reason that the Chinese popped up was because the writers and producers couldn’t figure anything else to do with Abu Fayed; sound familiar with what they just did with Tony?

I personally thought season four had the most absurd plot. Bad guy blows up train to get device to control nuclear reactors across the country, kidnaps SecDef to execute live on the internet as to generate internet traffic so he can breach the nuclear plants’ firewalls, but the whole point of causing nuclear meltdowns was to get Air Force One in the air so he could shot it down with a stolen F-117A stealth fighter and steal the nuclear suitcase, and a nuclear bomb separately, strap the bomb to a missile, and launch it at Los Angeles. Uh…dude, seriously, read what Rommel had to say about complicated and stupid plans.

Again, sound familiar with what they’re doing with Tony? Tony joins a mercenary group, agrees to help Bill Buchanan bring the group down, but he’s actually playing both sides and wants to steal biological weapon from bad guy #2 for whatever purposes he has. And he managed to plan all this out ahead of time?

The one thing that has annoyed me more and more is the gimmicky and cheap way they keep killing off characters. When Teri Bauer died in season one, it actually meant something. I stood staring at the television for like five minutes with my mouth slack-jawed. When George Mason died in season two, you actually felt something for the death of the character.

But now? “Oh, let’s kill someone off to shock the audience and since we have no other way to advance the plot.” Look what happened to David Palmer and Michelle Dessler during season five. The same can be said about Curtis Manning and Milo Pressman during season six, and now with Bill Buchanan and Larry Moss this season. It’s disgusting the way the writers and producers treat the characters, and by extension, the fans that have invested years of their time watching how the characters develop on the show.

I’ve been watching this show since Day One, Hour One and I have no desire to continue watching it at this point.

I wonder if the rest of people that have been watching the show from Day One, Hour One are as p-oed right now as I am. I wanted to punch the television after seeing the last minute of that episode. I’ve already deleted the episode from my DVR and removed the season subscription that was programmed into the DVR.

Now, if only there was some way to remove the memory of this season from my mind so it stops contaminating the memory of the previous seasons…

While most of the action scenes are pretty good, although the constant changes in camera angles can make them a little hard to follow at times, the storyline sucks.

The previous film, Casino Royale, actually spent time developing the characters, presented a legitimate villain (a financier of terrorism), and had suspenseful scenes. It was good change from the usual gimmicky villains and plots of the previous films.

I expected the same from Quantum of Solace and it failed to deliver.

Seriously, what was the villain planning in this one? Horde water and extort money out of the Bolivian government?

Wow, I’m so scared!

The only storylines that were really interesting were the ones continued from Casino Royale, specifically Bond out looking for revenge. But even that really didn’t go anywhere.

Ugh, maybe next time.

The series finale was 90 minutes of television that went nowhere.

Hell, the entire seventh season was 13 episodes of disjointed plot lines that went nowhere. Consider some of these plot lines that they started at the beginning of the year:

Vic wanting to be involved in raising his lovechild with Danny? That storyline culminated in Danny leaving the Barn in the 7th episode and only returning in the 12th episode after Vic had quit. And after the 7th episode, there was no mention of his desire to be involved in this kid’s life anymore in the whole season.

The conclusion of Dutch’s investigation of a budding serial killer, responsible for murdering a classmate and his own mother? Forced and full of clichés.

And consider where the characters were left at the end of the series:

Lem, the only character on the Strike Team that had a conscience? Killed by Shane at the end of the fifth season.

Ronnie, the person least responsible for the Strike Team actions (following Lem’s death)? With Vic selling him out and cutting a deal for himself, Ronnie is looking at a life-long prison sentence.

Shane? He murdered his pregnant wife and their son, and then committed suicide.

David Aceveda, who alternated from investigating Vic when it benefited him politically (investigating corrupt cops looks good), to allowing Vic to run wild when it benefited him politically (low crime rates look good)? On his way to becoming mayor.

Claudette Wyms, one of the few characters on the show to have a moral compass (remember she went so far as to ruined her chance at becoming Captain several years ago to do something she felt was morally right)? Terminally ill with Lupus.

And Vic? Complete immunity as part of a deal with ICE (they had no idea what they were getting). His only punishment? Sentenced to three years of desk duty to fulfill the conditions of his deal. For all the crap that he was responsible for, he gets three years in purgatory. Sure, ICE put his family in witness protection and he gets no contact with them, but for all the stuff he did, that’s it?

In the end, he won.

Probably best known for his work in the science fiction genre with a starring role for seven seasons on Stargate SG-1.

God I loved that show.

He also appeared on Twin Peaks (before my time), and a couple episodes of The X-Files as Scully’s father.

RIP.

I’m sure she’s gangsta.

And the obligatory clip of Tupac’s “Hit ‘Em Up”. Language warning fools:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xviL4-1lqo

Tom Clancy’s Home Damaged By Fire:

The fire caused an estimated $10,000 in damage.

The cause has yet to be determined.

The home is located on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay about 30 miles southeast of Washington.

No injuries are reported.

Clancy is the author of thrillers including “The Hunt for Red October,” “Patriot Games,” and “Clear and Present Danger.”

UPDATE: TMZ.com has a pretty funny write-up: Clancy’s Home Under Clear and Present Danger

July 25, 2008

H/t: Ace of Spades HQ (content warning)

UPDATE: Somewhat better quality (at least it wasn’t done at a weird angle like the previous one):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGDF_DDGu8M

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ8miTErh-o]

However, about eight hours ago, the first three episodes of the second season were posted on a BitTorrent tracker, making it possible for people anywhere to download the episodes for free (albeit illegally). Judging by the comments left by people on the tracker site, the episodes posted are in fact the real deal.

It was just a couple months ago when Battlestar Galactica: Razor was released (illegally) on BitTorrent in the end of October when the scheduled premiere wasn’t until November 24.

I almost forgot about when the first four episodes of 24‘s sixth season were released on BitTorrent and also posted on YouTube a couple weeks before the television premiere. The copies that made their way to the internet were made from a DVD that was in the process of being produced for release following the television premiere (they release the four episodes on DVD following their television premiere). Fox subpoenaed YouTube seeking the poster’s identify but I’m unsure of the deposition of the subpoena or if any further legal action was taken against the person that posted the episodes on YouTube or the individuals that posted them on BitTorrent.

Makes you wonder if companies should start doing premieres on iTunes or something instead of relying on broadcast/cable television for premieres…

And, no, I won’t give you a link to download the episodes.