Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

[Mantis]

I have fond memories of 24. I recall being really ill one summer and marathoning every season that was available as someone had lent me all the DVDs. It's all blended in to one now and I couldn't tell you anything about any of the plots apart from the few major betrayals and assassinations, but it was quite an entertaining ride along the way.

Looking back on it now, it's all so overboard that you might imagine it to be some sort of parody. You've got to feel sorry for Jack Bauer, potentially the single most stressed out and unlucky man in all of America.

There are Youtube compilations of Tony saying "Yeah", I'm betting there's probably some of Jack Bauer shouting at things too.

[Raid]

Jack Bauer's shouting voice is one of the things I remember most about 24. I also can't think of many characters who have been killed and gotten better quite as often. There are supercuts as far as the eye can see on Youtube, but I'm holding off on watching them until after I've watched the seasons I'm interested in. Perhaps I ought to keep a tally of how many times "TELL ME WHERE THE BOMB IS" is yelled during season 2. I expect it to get into three digits.

[Sly Boots]

I remember quite enjoying S4, although couldn't now tell you why. There are a few pretty good ones.

I actually gave up rewatching S1 a while back mainly because I couldn't stand Kim Bauer, who seems to inadvertently cause the death of every person she meets. She must have a body-count higher than the terrorists across the season.

[Alan]

Funnily enough I fancied rewatching it recently so I roped the missus in. After one episode she gave up and now we’re on the sopranos so win win I guess!

[Snowy]

Kim Bauer - yes I remember having mixed feelings about her. On the one side she was fairly easy on the eye and tended to run about a lot jiggling for all she was worth, but she tended to be running into idiotic decisions and just derailing poor ol' Shouty Jack

I can't remember how far in we got. There was one series where

Spoiler

he was close to a nuclear explosion but a quick brush down of his clothes, 007 Jaws style, meant no radiation sickness

They did one in London I think but can't recall if I watched it.

[Achtung Englander]

24 is the masterclass on the hook. I recall binging several episodes late at night as the hook always reeled me in.

[Animalmother]

Doesn't he kill hundreds of people over the entire series?

I remember hearing that during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 some US soldiers had to be told not to behave like Jack Bauer to Iraqi civilians and try and torture information out of them. That's some cultural impact on society.

[Wrathbone]

I know it probably gets worse as the series goes on; I don't think I watched beyond the third season because after season 2 the rights were bought by Sky, and I didn't have reliable access to Sky at the time. I'm going to at least rewatch season 2, and see how interested I am in continuing afterwards.

It gets progressively stupider, which is objectively worse but arguably (at times) more entertaining the stupider it gets. Season 5 is my favourite of the lot because of the absolute nonsense plot which provides peak Jack Bauer going on a rampage of unnecessary torture, interrogations, shouting of "DAMNIT!" and breaking as many laws as possible. You have to wonder why CTU even bothers attempting to dissuade Bauer from doing whatever insanity he's concocted at any given moment, because clearly he's going to do it anyway and anyone who stands in his way will likely either perish or end up with permanent physical and mental injuries.

Perhaps the most Bauerish Jack Bauer moment, though, is at the start of season 2:

Spoiler

where Jack has a criminal brought into CTU, shoots him and then demands an axe to remove his head so he can present it as a gift as a means to resume an undercover identity. For the Greater Good.

God, I love 24.

Doesn't he kill hundreds of people over the entire series?

309.

https://24.fandom.com/wiki/On-screen_ki ... Jack_Bauer

[Wrathbone]

I actually gave up rewatching S1 a while back mainly because I couldn't stand Kim Bauer, who seems to inadvertently cause the death of every person she meets. She must have a body-count higher than the terrorists across the season.

I’ve been watching season 2 and I’d forgotten how comically farcical Kim’s story is. All she had to do was get out of LA, and yet somehow all the following happens:

Spoiler

She assaults her employer and kidnaps his child.

She gets implicated in a murder due to the body in the car she stole.

She helps crash the police car she’s being transported in, leaving her severely injured boyfriend and the police officer in the burning wreckage.

She gets caught in a bear trap in the woods and stalked by a cougar.

She gets captured by a prepper in his bunker.

She gets caught up in a grocery store robbery.

I expect on the seasons she doesn’t appear in, somebody asked her to empty the kitchen bin and she accidentally ended up on the moon, or something.

[Raid]

I've forgotten what happens in S2 (I'm going to watch the second season so I'm not reading spoilers), but even in season one Kim's luck is pretty absurd. Most people wouldn't manage to get involved in two entirely unrelated hostage situations in a single day, but I suspect that Kim could get into a gunfight just picking out a top from her wardrobe.

[Animalmother]

Tribes of Europa
Mentioned this a few weeks back and got around to watching it. Pretty good for the most part but there's only 6 episodes so it ends just as it's getting interesting. I'm sure covid has restricted how much they could film. Might be worth waiting until more of it is made but that will be next year probably. Still worth a look though.

[Sly Boots]

The Terror (BBC iPlayer)

This is truly excellent, have been gripped by it all this week and have no hesitation to recommend it.

It's based on a book, which I'd never heard of, which is a semi-fictionalised account of an Arctic expedition in the mid-1800s, to try to discover a north-west passage shortcut to China by sailing over the top of Canada. Just as actually happened, the two ships, Erebus and Terror, become trapped in the ice, and the rest is an account of what happened to the 130 men on board.

You can look up the expedition and find out that none ever made it back to civilisation, but the hows and whys of it make for fascinating viewing.

[Animalmother]

The book is fantastic, genuinely creepy. From the few episodes I watched of the show it is pretty different but that's to be expected.

[Sly Boots]

The book is fantastic, genuinely creepy. From the few episodes I watched of the show it is pretty different but that's to be expected.

Yeah, I bought the book instantly after finishing the show, looking forward to getting stuck into it.

[Animalmother]

Don't be tempted to read his other book Abominable, it's trash.