One of the best things about Thanksgiving is hitting the fridge the day after. On Friday, when lunch time rolls around, I love going through the leftovers and filling up my plate with a delicious assortment of goodies. Slices of turkey, a scoop of mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing and globs of solidified gravy over everything. Pop it in the microwave, add a slice of canned cranberry sauce and enjoy the Thanksgiving eating experience all over again. For some reason, the meal always seems to taste better than it did the day before. Maybe its because the smell of the cooking turkey filling my nostrils throughout Thanksgiving day makes me so hungry that I’m not able to properly enjoy the food when I finally get to dig into it. Whereas on Friday, I only have to wait a few minutes for the food to heat up before I get to eat it. Where am I going with all of this, you ask? I spent the bulk of this weekend working on a review for the sixth season of 24. I had the opportunity to binge on the entire season and I’ve come to realize that I enjoy this show even more after I’ve already seen the season all the way through.
I got into this a bit in the DVD review but with that, I was limited to a few paragraphs in the already lengthy write-up of the season so I thought I’d get the rest of my thoughts on the subject out here. I think the reason I enjoy 24 better with the rewatch is because, when I watch each episode as it airs on FOX (something that doesn’t look like I’ll doing in 2008 due to the strike), there’s so much suspense and built-up drama that it almost becomes difficult to really appreciate the various subplots.
I went into the season 6 rewatch already knowing how things were going to turn out. I knew that once again, Jack would save the day. I knew that things would go wrong and some of the characters wouldn’t have their jobs by the end of the season and that others wouldn’t have their lives. Sure, not knowing how these plot revelations are going to play out is part of what makes 24 as a series so much fun to watch the first time through but when that layer of suspense has already been peeled away, it gives you the opportunity to see all of the other layers going on underneath.
There’s so much going on in the in-between moments of each episode. I’m talking about the parts where Jack isn’t shooting someone or being shot at, torturing someone or being tortured, or busting a bad-guy or getting busted, himself.
Using season 6 as an example lets take the relationship between Bill Buchanan and Karen Hayes. With Bill running CTU in Los Angeles and Karen serving as the National Security Advisor for the President, their relationship should naturally be strained by the fact that they work on opposite ends of the country. Add that to the level of stress they both have due to their job descriptions and it’s a wonder that they’re able to keep the fire going. Strangely enough, their relationship not only works but it’s probably the most balanced romantic relationship in the entire series. Perhaps its because they’re older and have learned to accept the reality of their lives and jobs a bit better than the other characters but the love and trust they have for each other, especially given some of the things they have to go through during the recent season, is outstanding. It also serves as a great contrast to some of the other relationships in the show.
Jack’s love life is always all over the map. This season there was some brief (and somewhat random) sexual tension between Jack and his sister-in-law, Marilyn. That arc seemed to falter and fade as fast as it was presented and thankfully so. I mean sure, Marilyn said she’s been trying to leave Jack’s (evil) brother Graem for years but her husband’s body wasn’t even cold before she was already hitting on Jack. Jack still has to deal with the whole Audrey situation though so he was hardly in the position to accept Marilyn’s advances.
Then there’s the relationship between Chloe and her ex-husband Morris. The two start out the day on good terms. They work well together at CTU because, unlike pretty much everyone else who has ever worked with Chloe, Morris seems to be charmed by her blunt nature. He really gets Chloe and this makes sense since he probably wouldn’t have married her otherwise. Then Morris gets kidnapped and after having a power drill jammed through his shoulder and watching some woman get shot, he finally gives in and helps the terrorists arm a nuclear bomb.
Morris is eventually rescued but the shame he feels over having helped terrorists in their mission causes him to push Chloe away. It seems that her opinion of him means too much to him and the idea that she would think less of him for what he did causes him to end the relationship that they had only started to rekindle. It is only when he fears for Chloe’s life that he realizes what an idiot he’s been and he gets her back.
Romantic relationships aren’t the only great aspect of the subplots in 24. Seeing Jack interact with his father and brother is great but at the same time, it’s hard to really focus on that all that much when watching the season the first time through because we’re so busy trying to figure out what they’re really up to and what their involvement is in terms of the terrorists plot. In the rewatch, I was able to focus more on their dialogues and watch how they speak to each other. There’s clearly years of anger, doubt, frustration and disappointment going on with these three men.
I could go on and on about the other relationships in the show and how much fun they are to watch play out when you’re not stressing about nuclear bombs and drama at the White House. If you’re a fan of 24, I suggest you take Jane’s advice and add the new season of 24 to your holiday wishlist. When you get the chance to rewatch the season, I recommend taking the time to appreciate all of the smaller stories going on. It really adds to the overall story to the show. Kudos to the writers for another great season.
Amazing Race 12 (CBS) 8:00 pm
Let’s Name Our Chicken Phil - (New!) The remaining eight teams have to dance in Burkina Faso. Celebrity judges will take part and award penalties for unoriginal dancing. One of the teams makes a choice that could end up making them targets among the other teams.
Desperate Housewives (ABC) 9:00 pm
Distant Past - (New!) Bree and Orson are having problems with “their” new baby. Lynette reunites with her stepfather.
Chuck (NBC) 8:00 pm
Chuck Versus the Nemesis (New!) – Bryce is alive! In this Thanksgiving themed episode, Chuck finds out that Bryce is alive and needs Chuck to help prove he’s not a rogue agent. Morgan helps get Buy More ready for Black Friday.
How I Met Your Mother (CBS) 8:00 pm
The Yips (New!) – Barney gets invited to a Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show party but there’s a problem – he’s lost his mojo! A bunch of models (Heidi Klum among them) make some cameos.
Heroes (NBC) 9:00 pm
Truth & Consequences (New!) – Peter heads off to Texas to try to destroy the virus. Niki returns to Micah with bad news. Hiro plans to go after Adam for killing his father and Nathan learns that Peter is alive.
Journeyman (NBC) 10:00 pm
Blowback (New!) – Dan pissed off that kidnapper in last week’s episode and now the guy has returned to get revenge. Livia learns more about the reason she’s traveling through time.
House (Fox) 9:00 pm
Games(new!) –Cuddy wants House to make a hiring choice. House has the remaining docs work on a patient who is an aged rock star with a history of drug abuse and civil disobedience.
Reaper (CW) 9:00 pm
Ashes to Ashes (New!) – Sam gets a peek into the devil’s personal life when he does some plumbing work for a woman who is dating Satan.
Shrek The Halls (ABC) 8:00 pm
It’s a special Shrek Christmas special! Shrek and his family want to enjoy the holidays but some unexpected visitors make that difficult.
Kid Nation (CBS) 8:00 pm
I Just Like the Recess Part (New!) – Last week, they almost kept Taylor from benefiting from the big reward. This week, they’re actually going to stick to it and someone gets assigned the position of law enforcer in Bonanza. Please let it be Jared!
Pushing Daisies (ABC) 9:00 pm
Bitter Sweets (New!) – Not the temporary time-change for the episode. PD got bumped to 9 to make way for the Shrek special. In this episode, Molly Shannon guest-stars as a crazy taffy-making lady who wants to put the Pie Hole out of business.
My Name Is Earl (NBC) 8:00 pm
Burn Victim (New!) – Earl manages to win his freedom with one final task for the prison warden, by helping resolve some problems between an inmate and his victims.
Ugly Betty (ABC) 8:00 pm
How Betty Got Her Grieve Back (Rerun) – Betty tries to get over Henry, Amanda eats a lot and Wilhelmina tries to take over MODE.
30 Rock (NBC) 8:30 pm
Cougars (New!) – Liz dates younger man. Had I not recently seen a special on E! about celebrity “cougars” (famous women who prefer to date/marry significantly younger men), I probably wouldn’t have gotten the title reference for this weeks episode. Also in the ep, Tracy tries to coach an inner-city Little League team. There’s a good chance the team name is “The Cougars” too.
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) 9:00 pm
A Change Is Gonna Come (Rerun) Instead of getting to see what happened to Seth Green after his artery exploded all over Lexie, ABC is making us watch a rerun of the fourth season premiere. Boo!
The Office (NBC) 9:30 pm
Back From Vacation (Rerun) Due to the strike, there are no new episodes of The Office. Instead, watch this old ep from last season where Michael comes back from the Caribbean and the semi-naughty pic of Jan is circulated in an email. Too bad NBC isn’t airing the U.K. version of The Office instead of reruns.
Polar Express (ABC) 8:00 p.m.
I’ve never seen this movie but I’ve heard its pretty good. It centers on an 8-year-old who has doubts about the whole Santa thing and is taken for a ride on a train to the North Pole.
Radio City Christmas Spectacular (NBC) 8:00 p.m.
I’ve seen the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall a couple of times (when I was a kid) so this televised event will surely inspire a certain level of nostalgia for me. In this 75th edition, the Rockette’s will perform with new costumes and new routines along with some old classics like the “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” number. Family’s looking to enhance their Christmas spirit should check it out (or set the DVR and watch it at a later date). Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira host.
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