Bye Jack

My wife and I don't watch much TV. I spend too much time on the PC or reading, and she spends the day at work to support the 5 cats and me. We have a few favorite shows and we try to catch them live or on the recorder. We particularly liked "24". I think of it as a moral for our times.

Jack Bauer: was always right but no one would listen to him. Much like Cassandra of Troy, cursed by Apollo to prophesy the truth but never be believed. - Of course, if everyone believed Jack and acted on his warning, the season would be over right then.

"Dammit Chloe..."

Jack's management style: running around bellowing orders at the top of his voice as if his hair were on fire. No comment. I prefer the style of the US Army Special Forces, who call themselves "The Quiet Professionals".

Jack's shoulder bag: or tactical man-purse, essential piece of gear for the urban warrior. Whenever Jack needed a spare magazine for his weapon, a booby-trap to slow pursuers, or a thermonuclear grenade to carry the plotline, it was "in the bag". Don't recall that he ever had to go through a TSA checkpoint with it.

President Palmer: "24" had a black president before the US did, and "24" did a much better job of it. Dennis Haysbert acted like an American President, Jack Bauer trusted him and would do anything for him. America learned that President Palmer was a good man who needed Jack and us to protect him from the bad guys.
Later we learned that he was also a combat veteran. What's not to like? I would vote for him.

Chloe O'Brien: bitchy, whiny civil servant in the first few years, turned out to be Jack's main supporter and indispensible wingman. She could do things with a computer system that even I can't do.
(Disclaimer: two of my cats can do computer things that I can't do.)

The Enemy: "24" hit the bullseye when they chose the enemies for Jack to fight. Clairvoyant screenwriters? Evil presidents, corrupt politicians, muslim terrorists, berserk industrialists. Maybe it wasn't that difficult to predict if you were paying attention to the daily news at the time.

Significant Females: no photos for this topic, not enough room to post them all. A wife, a daughter, a counter-spy girl-friend - and that's just season one. Jack had a girl-friend with some fatal flaw in every season, whiny, liberal, vulnerable, hostage, whatever. Jack needed to be the kind of cowboy action hero who appealed to little boys back in the 1950's and didn't get involved with stupid girls. Liable to catch cooties anyway. Poor old Jack needed a trusty horse to ride off into the sunset.