I love that 24's Jack Bauer ...
Question: I love that
24's Jack Bauer is smarter than I am and knows a million things that I couldn't even hope to imagine. (who knew you could steer a plane from some cables in the cargo hold?) So why, after retrieving a recording that led to the murder of several friends and the near-fatal shooting of his lover, and that necessitated the hijacking and crash-landing of a freakin' plane, did he not tell CTU to make a copy of the darn thing? It seemed like such the obvious move to make and yet it never occurred to him — or anyone else — to do it? This is the first time I can remember that I felt like I was seeing the plot instead of the story — as if the only reason they didn't copy the tape was so Miles could betray Karen, keep the president from taking the cowardly way out and give
Paul McCrane some more creepy scenes to play. It just didn't feel — and I can't believe that I'm about to use this word in the context of
24 — real. I usually love to sit back (well, on the edge of my seat) and enjoy the wild ride of
24, but I think this might have been stretching the suspension of disbelief a little too far. What do you think?
Answer: As I've long established, I'm not one for nitpicking shows like this to death, but I've had this very same conversation with friends and fans since this week's episode aired, so I'll reluctantly agree. This snafu with the tape was so clearly a twist added just to keep the story going a little longer. It was such a
"d'oh" Homer moment. But I've got stretch marks from suspending disbelief while watching this show, so I'll forgive it. Besides, how freaking fabulous was that whole plane incident? Better than a movie.
