Just wanted to let everybody know that in the wake of 24‘s end, I have embarked on a new project in the same realm as AIG dedicated to articles and discussion on all the best the TV has to offer.  Avery and johanley will also be involved in this project.  I am looking for writers to help out with the site, so if you are interested in writing, please e-mail me!

Well, friends, fans and fellow Almeidaists, here we are.  We made it.  24 is officially done as a television series.  It’s hard to believe that at this time 8 years ago, we were all weeping and shellshocked over Teri Bauer’s death, and hoping that our favourite little show that could would be renewed for a second season.  Time flies when you’re having fun, and both us as fans and the show itself have come a long way since then.  24 started off as a cult hit hanging on the verge of cancellation by a thread in its first season, and eventually became a worldwide blockbuster sensation that propelled FOX into a real prime-time player and flagshipped the network for the next 8 years.  My fandom of 24 started off as a few chat sessions with my friend Matt in Ottawa, and became the pseudo-religion of Almeidaism that propelled me into a career as a website developer.

I’m not going to spend much time here waxing poetic about the lasting impact 24 has had on the landscape of network television over the last decade (which it has), or the ways in which being a fan and being part of a community of fans via the Internet has impacted my life and livelihood for the better (which it has).  There is no denying that Jack Bauer (as well to a lesser extent his network of compatriots, allies and enemies) has become an indelible cultural icon, a Great American Hero.  There have been and will continue to be pieces flooding the Internet about the overall impact of 24 as a series and its perspective on the world.  I will probably write one sooner or later.

What I would really like to focus on now is these final two hours, and how they worked as a conclusion to both Season 8 and the series as a whole.  Unlike other series with a less defined or concrete structural premise (the real-time concept), 24 did not have the luxury of revisiting old themes or old events or old characters in a significant way with its swan song.  There could be no flashbacks, no dream sequences, no overt exposition to tie up all the loose ends.  The writers of Season 8 faced a unique challenge in that they were expected to successfully resolve the plot of this season while adequately paying tribute to the roots of the show … where it came from, its overriding thematic statements, the many evolutions of its protagonist.  All in the final 2 hours.  And I feel that for the most part they succeeded. (more …)

Question: How do you feel about 24 being cancelled?

50% (119 votes) – I’m pissed off, I really wanted a 9th season.
41% (96 votes) – I’m sad to see it go, but it was time to move on.
5% (11 votes) – I don’t care enough anymore to have an opinion.
4% (10 votes) – I’m glad to see it go, put it out of its misery!

Though the second place finisher in this poll was the early leader, as the days started ticking down closer to the series finale, the mourners came out of the woodwork to let us all know they were angry about the non-renewal.  There is a new poll up to the right about the series finale, so please vote!

Carlos Bernard’s new project, the comedy Scoundrels with Virginia Madsen, is scheduled to air on ABC this summer.  Check out the promo, featuring a brief shot of Carlos.  It looks good!  I’m excited for it.

So I think Charles Logan has singlehandedly managed to save Season 8 from potentially being the worst in the show’s history. Because, for the first time this season, I was absolutely riveted by an episode of 24.  Short of bringing Tony Almeida back into the frey, the return of Charles Logan is the best decision the writers could have made.

Although Annie Wersching’s performance as Renee Walker was one of the highlights of this season (I’m sorry to see her go), and her death was more than a little contrived, it’s evident what the writers are up to, and while it seems an obvious choice to have Jack go rogue in the wake of Renee’s death, it’s also the right choice.  This entire episode was a pretext for Jack’s break from the chain of command to pursue his own agenda of vengeance (justice?).

Taylor’s decision to ignore the Russians’ involvement with terrorists and assassinations to “serve the greater good” and sign the peace treaty — I’m not sure how it is sitting with me.  I get that she can’t exactly go to war with the Russians over this.  I get that she can’t bear to abandon the peace treaty that will define her Presidency.  Like Jack, however, I am uncomfortable with the idea of the POTUS deliberately covering up elements in Moscow willing to attack the United States and assassinate a world leader.  Jack of course has the added Renee factor, and I have a feeling he’s not seeing things entirely clearly.  I think Jack has always been a character that has flirted with madness and the fact that he hasn’t yet truly snapped is a miracle (though he’s bent prettty nearly in half a few times).  If Renee hadn’t been murdered in front of him (the way Michelle was murdered in front of Tony) I think that no matter how disgusted with the decision he was, he would have ultimately obeyed Taylor’s orders.  But Renee’s death was a breaking point, as Michelle’s was for Tony.  While I don’t think that Jack is about to orchestrate an elaborate revenge scheme or decide that civilian lives were an acceptable loss to get revenge for Renee’s death, as Tony did with Michelle, he is about to go on a rampage, and this will be a somehow familiar yet elevated version of Jack Bauer that we have never seen.  At least, I hope.  And I cannot tell you how much my heart yearns for Jack to take that chopper he just hijacked and fly is straight to Washington DC to break Tony out of federal prison so they can take down Logan.  Sigh.

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Kat brought her new baby over for a visit today!  This is the first time I have seen Kat since the Season 7 finale.  We had a lovely time, myself, Kat and baby Nate (whose name was inspired by the Six Feet Under character).

Wow, yeah, it’s been awhile since I wrote anything about this season.  Time to flex those old rhetorical muscles again to clock in with something on last night’s double header episode, which seems to have been generally received by most fans (including me) as the best of the season so far. My commitment to fandom of the series has waned severely over the last six weeks or so, due to two main factors.  I knew going in that without Tony Almeida, the show would have a more difficult time than in previous seasons with keeping me invested in the action.  Couple that with the fact that up to this point, the material has been pretty derivative and plot-focused without a lot of attention paid to the internal struggles or personal motivations of the characters, and the show started to lose me.  Having a plot-intensive story is fine, of course, but only if it truly will offer the unexpected twists and turns of an inspired, original and tightly-woven progression.  Until last night, this season has failed to live up to the hype.

While I will say up front that I will never be capable of thinking that anything 24 puts out not involving Tony Almeida and the Brotherhood is as good as what they put out when Tony is involved and Jack and Tony are mixing it up, these latest two hours have injected some much-needed life into the action and investment into the audience.  So in the spirit of drinking from a glass that’s half-full, I’ll offer up my highlights. I apologize in advance if it seems stream of consciousness.  I’ve had a rough few days (more …)

Gareth over at TV or Not TV has posted an excellent review of the first half of Season 8 (latest 2 episodes notwithstanding).  Some great observations and I highly recommend the read.  Highlights:

Very few television shows maintain utter brilliance for the entirety of their run, and 24 was no exception; the show has seen a steady decline in quality over its last few seasons and it pains me to say it but it has gotten to a point where it has become a shadow of its former self.

The decline in quality hasn’t been as obvious as say, a Prison Break and to the casual viewer, 24 probably still seems like one of the most white-knuckle, high octane thrill rides (and all those other clichés) on TV; but to the diehard fans, the magic of those first few brilliant years has now long gone. (more …)

Question: What is the worst thing about Season 8 so far?

60% (146 votes) – The fact that Tony Almeida isn’t in it.
21% (51 votes) – Dana Walsh psycho ex-boyfriend subplot.
13% (31 votes) – Repetitive, unoriginal storylines.
5% (12 votes) – I neither like nor care about any of the new characters.
2% (4 votes) – Lack of meaningful screentime for Chloe & President Taylor.

Unsurprisingly, the community of this site overwhelmingly selected the lack of Tony as the worst aspect of Season 8.  Don’t forget to vote in the new poll about 24‘s cancellation.

After the hosting SNAFU that happened a couple of weeks ago, the Open Channel Forum was on hiatus for awhile.  I wasn’t sure at first whether or not I wanted to reopen it.  The activity level there seemed to be dying out this season, partly I think because Tony Almeida is not in Season 8, and also partly because (let’s be honest), the first half of Season 8 was pretty derivative and uninspired — not a lot of Critical Analysis to be done on the material.  So when my original host server shut me down and I transferred hosts for the main site, I didn’t rush to re-open the forum.

But in light of the news that 24 will not see another season beyond the current one, coupled with the fact that the 8×15/8×16 double-header seems to have inspired the fans, I decided to re-open the forum and invite my loyal (though shrinking) community of contributors and lurkers alike to finish out the season by posting their thoughts on the forum as usual, if they so wish.

So welcome back everyone.  Being that this is the last season of the series, I invite anyone who has lurked but never posted to get involved.  Let’s try to send the series out in AIG-style.