One of yesterday's most viewed stories at Startribune.com: why "24" is being cancelled. Doesn't fit the popular mood anymore, the author said. I'd argue that "24" lost its mojo, and the adulation of its viewers, when it decided to make every conspiracy the result of some secret cabal of Americans pulling the strings behind the terrorists. Including his dad. And his brother, right? And his childhood dog. Same thing the following season, where defense contractor Blackwater - which was called something else, like Darkfluid - was planning to dump poison gas all over the Eastern Seaboard to prove what patriots they really were. Or something. To facilitate this devilish plot, they gave the blueprints to the secret underwater passage to the White House to African nationalists, or coup-plotters. Or something. There was a conference call at the end of that season that suggested the real terrorists were a bunch of guys who looked like laid-off middle-managers from Omaha Steaks.
This season has been better than the last few, because President Madame is strong 'n' feisty - much, much better than the sweaty Nixon guy or President Palmer the Lesser (seriously, his brother took over? His brother?) or the President We Hardly Knew Ye, who went down in a plane. (In "24" terms, he was like one of those Engish Kings who reigned for six months.) It's still not too late to screw it up, of course, and the show came perilously close to being a parody of a sham of a travesty when Jack got stuck in the gut with a knife plunged halfway to the hilt, then shook it off! (Just as he's shaking off that collapsed lung now.) He actually took out the knife and threw it into the throat of a Russian criminal: takes a sticking and keeps on flicking, our Jack.
A grandchild was introduced in the first ep, and I expect her to be kidnapped by the terrorists - not the guys from the Republic of Not Iran, but Christian Identity lunatics who are running the entire show via Twitter DMs from Idaho. But it's taut and full of action and important lessons, such as "hide behind flimsy wooden pallets when under attack from soldiers with high-powered automatic weapons." And it has a few villains you can truly hate: Agent Starbucks, who gets up from her desk every three minutes to hiss into a cell phone. Unless you've told your boss you have an irritable bladder, I don't know how she gets away with that.
So "24" comes to an end, and then there will be a movie. Called what? "2," perhaps. And the sequel: "2 II." Or maybe "The Wrath of Chloe." I'm still more interested in "Lost" at the moment - it will end soon, and I believe the last scene will be Tony Soprano washing up on the shore of the Island - and I still like "Fast Forward," which is "Lost" meets "24." It's an interesting premise: everyone on the planet fell down, passed out, and a vision of the future. Those who saw nothing assume they'll be dead. Or napping.
