(Spoiler alert) 24 has been ...

Question: (Spoiler alert) 24 has been my favorite show, and I've put up with its recent slippage because I believed that at some point it would be turned around. I heard the rumors of last season's proposed cliff-hanger ending and was relieved when they chose to go the route they did. But now news comes that they really are bringing Tony Almeida back from the dead and their justifications are, to me, absurd. They made it pretty clear that Tony died in Season 5, with him having a needle full of something deadly plunged into his heart and Jack crying while Tony died in his arms. The producers are saying that his "death" was left open so that he could come back, but to me that seems quite final. Not like he was in some explosion and no one found his body; they wheeled his body out at the beginning of the next episode! But even more absurd is the notion that he can't really be dead because he didn't get the silent clock treatment. I mean, c'mon. I'm still going to be watching when January comes, and hopefully my qualms are answered with coherent storytelling and plausible explanations, but for a show that prides itself on being grounded in reality, this sure seems like a stretch. Your thoughts?
Answer: I'm with you, and can't tell you how shocked I was when Fox put the news of Tony's resurrection in its official release about the start of the new season. (I flagged this item with a spoiler alert just in case, although it has been widely reported and isn't even remotely a secret anymore.) I guess in today's spoiler culture, Fox knew it couldn't keep Tony's return under wraps until January, and they're probably right. Which is a shame, because any element of surprise is now gone and all we're left to do for now is ponder the absurdity of it all. Couldn't agree more that it's just silly for the producers to justify Tony's non-death by pointing out the "silent clock" theory. Who comes up with junk gimmicks like that? This isn't a comic book (although 24 bashers might well argue that point). What also rankles me is that the high body count of Season 5, which many fans took great exception to for emotional and visceral reasons, was worth defending critically because it illustrated just how ruthless the world of 24 could be for even the most beloved characters. Now I feel kind of foolish, because obviously 24 is playing by Heroes' rules by making characters stay alive just because they feel like it. Whatever. Still, I'm keeping an open mind about the new season because I'm optimistic about the idea of changing locale and scrapping CTU. And as you say, maybe they'll even come up for a plausible explanation for Tony's comeback. As usual, I'm not judging until I get to see it for myself.