Is 24 on the right path?
By fred | August 25, 2007
Writing a new season is never an easy task, no matter what show it is for. But for 24 it should be fair to say it might be even harder that for some other shows, as writers only have the concept and, well, Jack Bauer, to start with. And the mess of last season.
Besides that, they need to come up with a brand new story that will be and consistent enough to keep up all the action & tension people are now expecting from the show, for no less than 24 episodes.
Needless to say, even with the unrealistic twisted plots viewers allow them to come up with, it’s still a pretty tough thing to do.
Not to help them, 24 writers have a lot of pressure on them this season, because of the horror that was last season. And to be sure they really feal the heat, the storyline they originally came up with had to be dropped out !
Of course they won’t just forget about everything they had thought of, and likely will reuse some of the plots or ideas within the new storyline for Day 7. But the big question remains, will it be good?
People had high expectations already not only because this is 24, but because of last season. Since then, producers have sworn that the next season will not disappoint anyone, even those who really hated season six. They’ve also let a few facts out that tend to indicate there will be some interesting ideas, which could indeed result in great plots.
But don’t forget season six : the first four episodes were pretty great in bringing new and interesting ideas as well. They were not perfect for sure, but those episodes and new ideas could have led to some great developments, many fans got pretty excited about it all, only to suffer through to worst let down the shown ever done.
And now, this. As you may have heard already, Fox is on a brand new campaign against global warming. While this can be a good thing, it is mostly a good publicity move. Not only do they intend to take some actual measures, they’re also big on promoting it.
For instance, the production of the show will be battling global warming by using more fuel-efficient or bio-diesel vehicles, using more bio-friendly generators, etc It’s not much, but it’s a start. And if every show were to take those actions and similar as well, all the time, it could end up having some bigger results.
Getting millions of people to drop their big fat SUVs would probably have some cool impact on global warning too, but that’s another topic.
Or is it? Because when it comes to 24, the production won’t be alone in the war against global warming, no other than Jack Bauer himself might get involved. It’s not clear on how it will be done yet, but there should be mention or references to global warming during next season.
So I guess Jack won’t go after some eco-terrorists dropping their pig crap out there or something. The word circulating lately is that references to reducing carbon emissions will be made “when appropriate”. Leading to the question, when is it going to be, appropriate ?
Seems hardly possible to discuss global warming when you’re torturing your brother or running after a nuclear bomb. There shouldn’t be any nuclear device anymore this time, but still, you get the point.
It does not have to be forced, it could be kept very subtle, like having Jack now driving his very own Hybrid instead of a big fat SUV. I just hope it won’t be outrageously forced plot, like some characters saying some stupid lines regarding global warming or the affect carbon emissions have on our daily life.
Although the worst might be a totally forced subplot, like the new President fighting at the same time with a terrorist threat, of course, and instead of some insiders trying to have her our of office, some general global warming concerns.
24 had a catastrophic season last year, and they really need a great, action-packed season so we can all forget about Day 6. Let’s hope Fox’ efforts to make the show more “green” won’t actually hurt the show more than anything else.
