After 21 of 24 hours, this season of "24" had all the makings of being the best ever. Nukes had gone off, brothers were torturing brothers, fathers were killing sons and Jack had a kill rate that was off the charts. But then, after all that setup, all that killing, all that terrorist ass kicking ... We get a tearful moment over an open ocean. What!? \nAfter the finale, these are our biggest problems with the season -- one for each episode we actually liked:
1. Where is the President?\nWhere's Wayne Palmer? We haven't seen him since he collapsed during a press conference. We can only assume this will play out next season.\n2. NO BIG DEATHS!!\nGoing in, we figured Buchanan, Phillip Bauer or at least Doyle would get the ax. But the closest we got was a blinding. Nice try.\n3. 24? More like 23:40\nThe last 20 minutes blew. Flat out. No one cares about Audrey anymore, and they built the drama solely around us caring that Jack let her go. Sorry, but we watch the show for guns and torture scenes, not romantic goodbye's.\n4. Like father, like son\nOr so we thought. Right from the start we predicted that this year's big twist would be revealing that Josh is actually Jack's son. It had all the makings, right down to Josh's uncanny ability to thwart terrorists and shoot his own family members. Of course, we assumed that there actually would be a twist at the end.\n5. We want torture scenes\nThat excruciating dialogue between Jack and an unconscious Audrey was not the type of torture we were looking for. We wanted more of the shoving swords through kneecaps variety. We were sorely disappointed.\n6. Why the U.S.S.R. fell\nThe Russian leaders were so soft. Their threats seemed semi-legit, but then they allowed extensions left and right, and turned buddy-buddy in an instant once the U.S. finally located the component.\n7. Cliffhanger, anyone?\nIt was the anti-"Lost" of episodes. There is nothing left over, no big surprises, no nothing. Last year Jack was kidnapped in the final minutes of the season. This year he stared off into the ocean. \n8. Twist and shout\nIf that episode had been a pretzel, it most certainly would have been a rod -- no twists or sudden changes of allegiance. We were hoping Buchanan would tear off a mask and reveal himself as former President Logan or something preposterous.\n9. Speaking of Logan...\nIs he dead? We can only assume, but we know how far assumptions have gotten us. Last we saw they "weren't sure" if he was going to make it. That was about 10 hours ago.\n10. He better die next year\nThat capture of Cheng was such a letdown. All the buildup of Jack's hatred toward him for nothing.\n11. Remember Sandra?\nPalmer's sister was a major part of the first part of the season, but it led nowhere.\n12. The fall! The fall! \nWho's taking the blame now that Buchanan and Hayes are off the hook? Anybody?\n13. Along that line... \nAfter all the setup for why Hayes had to fire Buchanan, then she fucks up too, and they're both rewarded with a peaceful retirement. OK?\n14. No cheetah rides\nWe miss Kumar from the first few episodes. I knew he wasn't coming back, but still. Love that kid.\n15. What about the people?\nWhat does the American public think of all of this? Do they even know who's running the country? We used to get the news broadcast. How are they explaining the cluster fuck going on?\n16. What makes them tick?\nThey used the silent tick at the very end of the season even though nobody died. \n17. 24 or Doom 3?\nJack shooting out those oil barrels felt a little too much like a video game and wasn't a fun way for him to take down 13 guys.\n18. What we didn't see \nWe don't see Jack's dad die, and we never see the component. This better come back into play next season as well.\n19. Little Ricky Schroeder\nFlat out, Doyle should have died. No substantial characters were lost in the finale, and this was the perfect fit. Unless they are planning on bringing Doyle back as the blind superhero Daredevil, there is no explanation for keeping him alive.\n20. Of all the people to procreate...\nChloe's pregnant. This is not the right show for a pregnancy, nor is Chloe the right character to be pregnant. We really hope we don't have to see her try to mother a child. "Ugh! I already fed you today! Ugh!"\n21. Bauer doesn't sulk\nThat close up of Jack on the mountain wondering what to do next was a lot like "The Matrix 3," and that's never a good thing. We kept waiting for him to jump in, swim to China and go ape shit.
