In preparation of the return of 24 in 24: Live Another Day on May 5th, I am running a series of roundtables to look back at previous seasons of the show. Here is our discussion for season six, involving myself, Sean M, George N and popcultureguy.
Season 1 Roundtable | Season 2 Roundtable | Season 3 Roundtable | Season 4 Roundtable | Season 5 Roundtable
Overall thoughts on the season?
Bradley: My second least favourite season, and by far the worst. The use of one main villain for 17 episodes seemed like a good idea, but turned out a complete failure. The ‘death’ of Audrey was pointless because there was no definitive proof and then 4 hours later, she’s alive. The idea of Jack’s family as villains, again, was a good idea but was awful to watch. It becomes difficult to believe that Jack can be such a good guy with a father and brother like that.
Sean: The worst season of 24 by far. Many of the plots were rehashed from earlier seasons, and the good new ideas were often wrapped up prematurely. It suffered from numerous irritating characters like Sandra Palmer, and poor subplots like Morris’s alcoholism addiction. The season had some potentially interesting ideas but the writers just lacked focus.
George: The writers did a good job with this season I thought. Most shows that last this long find it difficult to come up with quality stories, but ‘24’ managed to overcome this with Season 6 and it’s incredible plot. I liked how we find Jack at his lowest, but still manages to find his strength. Not the best Season of ‘24’, but still very enjoyable.
popcultureguy: Topping season 5 was always going to be a tall order, but that said, season 6 was still a disappointment. What was frustrating was that there were kernels of interesting story ideas, but none of them really came to fruition. And a lot of the new characters (Sandra Palmer, Tom Lennox, Nadia Yassir, Mike Doyle) didn’t click.
Favourite episode of the season? Why?
Bradley: The finale is probably the only episode of the season I actually enjoyed more than any other. Seeing Jack team up with Bill to save Josh was brilliant, and I liked the lack of any real cliffhanger.
Sean: Episode 17 where Jack finally kills Fayed was the highlight of the season. The writing was on point, the action was great, and just as that storyline wrapped up they ended on a surprising twist with Audrey Raines being alive and kidnapped by Cheng.
George: I loved the season finale. It was full of action and I liked Jack’s rescue of Josh and the destruction of the oil rig. It was sad when Jack had to let go of Audrey also.
popcultureguy: I guess I’d go with “Day 6: 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.,” even though I thought the way they killed off Curtis Manning was disappointing. After so many near misses over the years, that a nuclear device actually went off in the United States was pretty shocking. It’s a shame they didn’t stick to that thread more throughout the season.
What did you think about Wayne as President?
Bradley: You could tell he was trying to be like his brother, but he couldn’t quite pull it off. Sure, he made some good decisions, but he never had that same authority figure feel that David, or even Logan had (for the first half of season 5).
Sean: I liked Wayne’s character in previous seasons, but he just didn’t work as President. He was nervous and unsure of himself which was unlike the Wayne Palmer from previous seasons - it’s almost like a new character here.
George: I liked Wayne as president. I missed having David in office because I liked that actor a lot and something felt off ever since he was gone, but I enjoyed watching Wayne as president and think they did a great job with casting.
popcultureguy: I like D.B. Woodside (Principal Wood!), but I ultimately ended up thinking making Wayne the President wasn’t a good move. After the shake-up last season with Logan, it felt like a predictable, safe choice that made for too similar a status quo on the political/presidential side from when David Palmer was in office. And the writers must have felt the same way considering their efforts to unseat him as the season went on.
Thoughts on the villains?
Bradley: Phillip and Graem Bauer had the potential to be memorable, considering their relation to Jack. Yet they were very boring, standard villains. Fayed far outstayed his welcome and Gredenko became boring within his first hour on screen. Cheng was a bit of all of the above.
Sean: Fayed was a pretty good villain and his final epic battle against Jack Bauer was a memorable moment for sure. I wasn’t a fan of the other villains this season.
George: I liked the choice of villains in this season. It was very interesting to have Jack’s brother and father complicit in the overall conspiracy. They were my favorite villains of the season.
popcultureguy: I thought Adoni Maropis was fine as Abu Fayed, though I found Habib Marwan and Vladimir Bierko overall more memorable as similar antagonists. But while James Cromwell is a great actor, Phillip Bauer was pretty one-dimensional and underdeveloped. And it didn’t seem like any of the lower-level villains really popped.
Did you enjoy the season revolving around Jack’s family?
Bradley: No, it became very boring very quickly. Having both Graem and Phillip be evil, as well as the constant cat-and-mouse game of kidnapping Josh really put me off. Let’s be honest, the only real interesting character in Jack’s family is the man himself.
Sean: I thought it was a mistake to have Jack’s brother and father both be evil. Philip was a very one dimensional character. James Cromwell is a fantastic actor but he had poor material to work with. I didn’t like this plot line at all.
George: I liked the fact that Jack’s family took centre stage for most of the season. The choice to have his brother and father as some of the bad guys was a great choice. I never thought Jack could become as vulnerable as he was this season and the writers did a great job with the plot. I liked every minute of it.
popcultureguy: Again, an idea that was intriguing on paper, but where the execution fell flat. My earlier complaints about Phillip aside, I felt like they didn’t do enough with brother Graem and did too much with nephew Josh, who was an annoying MacGuffin all season long. Plus, I found the “Jack slept with sister-in-law Marilyn and could he be Josh’s father?!?!” angle a little soapy for this show.
Thanks to all for participating, and thanks to you for reading. We'll be back in a couple of days with season seven's roundtable, but for now please leave a comment with your thoughts, and follow us on Twitter at the handles below.
@Bradley_STV | @geonak19 | @24spoilers | @popcultureguy
