Officially Out of Ideas: 24

24: Season 6, Episode 17 "10:00pm-11:00pm" (F-)

I just want to reiterate the fact that I hold the first season of "24" to be the best season of television I have ever seen. The story was so clever and fresh, and it contained twists that may have stretched the limits of believability but played out well enough that it was forgivable. I am no longer willing, however, to make such allowances. For starters, CTU must have a whole lot of agents of Middle-Eastern descent to be able to assemble a team of fake terrorists in under five minutes. At the White House, the president, whose ability should be doubted because he is under extreme duress only mere hours after nearly being killed, decides to deceive his entire staff to bluff a strike? It makes no sense. What really does it for me is the ending of the episode. First of all, the Chinese have extraordinary timing. They waited for Jack to help stop Logan in the fifth season before grabbing him to bring him to China. And now they've waited for the writers to run out of ideas and for Jack to find the bombs before absurdly reinserting themselves into the plotline. Audrey's death was one of the only decent twists in this season so far, and now she's alive? I am devastated that "24" has reached this point, and right now, I'm just watching in the hopes that somehow the writers will pull the show out of the deep hole it has dug for itself.