04.07 | You can be so much more sneaky in the dark
"So, how's this for a conspiracy theory? The second series of 24 isn't as good as the first because they're not making it up as they go along. The urgency has dissippated, the pace slackened. And Kiefer Sutherland has got himself a producer credit. We call this David Duchovny Syndrome. It's terminal."
Gareth McLean in The Guardian has the guts to say what I just can't put into words. Maybe season two isn't as good? Well, no. It was never going to live up to kicks like Teri Bauer finding out she wasn't really with Alan Yorke, like Jack Bauer slipping on an ear piece and heading off to assassinate the senator, like Victor Drazen shooting dead his friend's daughter at point blank range.
There's a reason why season two doesn't have the same kick. It's not dark yet. The most interesting episodes always happen under the cover of darkness. I think the audience has been disorientated by the 8AM start - we were expecting a bang, rather than the slow build that has so far happening. If you've watched all the episodes so far in sequence, you can feel the tension mounting. And hopefully when night falls, the plot will get notched up several gears. You can be so much more sneaky in the dark, after all.
