The fact that so many seem to love this show makes me seriously question my faith in the American public. This show is so bad it's actually, well, just bad. The acting, the writing, the plot development, the technical details and just about everything else is bad to the point of being comical. The show should be renamed "2.5", because that's about the total of viable screen time that was stretched out into this daylong abomination.<br /><br />Perhaps if the writers had thrown in another overused, Hollywood cliché, 24 could've been worse. Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot. They already used up all the clichés. I find it amusing that anyone was surprised by any outcome of this show when all of the supposed twists and turns wouldn't have been more obvious if they were scrolled, news-ticker style, across the bottom of the screen. Just a few snippets: 1. First, let me start off by saying that if real counterterrorism agents are half as inept as those on "24", then we're all really screwed. These guys couldn't catch a drunk first grader if he came up and bit them in the ass. Cliché is one thing. Stupid is quite another.<br /><br />2. Hey, you know what would be great? If, when Jack goes to meet his CTU mentor in a darkened, deserted building, the guy got shot right before the was about to give him the key piece of "evidence". Of course, it would only be exciting if this happened right as they were about to make it to safety. Nah, that wouldn't be telegraphed, would it? 3. When Nina discovers that Mason has been keeping from Jack that his family has been attacked at the safe house, she immediately begins working the computers. Tony, seeing this due diligence, asks her if she's checking the hospitals. Tony says this is a good idea. Tony, of course, is a moron, since, raving terrorism expert that he is, should have done this hours ago. Don't blame Tony. The writers made him do it.<br /><br />4. Or how 'bout when the Drazens attack the DOD prison? Gee, you think a top secret government prison would at least have enough surveillance to detect 8 foreign nationals setting up a communcations bunker 300 yards from a top secret prison? In broad daylight? 5. Of course, once inside the aforementioned prison, which is underground, presumably shielded against some form of electromagnetic radiation in order to protect communications and which is also, by the way, in the middle of freaking nowhere, it's remarkable how everyone's cell phone works.<br /><br />6. I love how Jack goes six-guns-a-blazing in the last episode, nine-mil in each hand blasting away at the Drazens on the dock. Of course, as a former spec ops soldier, I'm sure he'd know that, aside from totally screwing his aim, all he was really doing was expending his ammo twice as fast. And not hitting anything while doing it. If this guy was specs ops, we're doubly screwed.<br /><br />7. If it was so easy to cut the power to the prison, why the hell did they need to pay some jackass from the power company? 8. Terri Bauer deserved to get killed. Not for any plot reason, but because Leslie Hope couldn't act her way out of a paper bag. Gee, if it was my husband and kid, I might be distraught, instead of spending the entire time wandering around a secure government facility like a 12 year old on Vicodin, with a goofy smile on my face. I think the producers wrote her out so they wouldn't have to justify paying her again.<br /><br />9. And speaking of Terri Bauer, wouldn't you think that the hub of the United States' West Coast counter terrorist operations would be at least secure enough to prevent a complete stranger from, you know, wandering around the joint or anything? 10. The NSA dude who got capped in the New Orleans bar: So let me get this straight, an NSA officer is hanging out in a French Quarter bar with an unsecured laptop full of classified information, as well as an encryption device to access, all the while chatting away about it on an unsecured cell phone inside a bar full of complete freaking strangers? Right...<br /><br />11. Is it me, or did Dennis Hopper sound like he was Dracula from Transylvania? What's up with the accent, D? He sounds like a Marvel comic.<br /><br />12. You know what would make for compelling TV? If the wife and daughter get kidnapped and all 3 spend about 3 hours of screen time reassuring each other they'll be OK. Couldn't we just accomplish this with a couple lines of dialogue and just move on? 13. What would've happened if Kim Bauer got caught sneaking out of the house? I guess the show would've only been one episode.<br /><br />14. Why did Rick and Dan have to hang out with the girls in a furniture store? Wouldn't it have been more convenient just to hit them over the head and them bring them to Gaines? 15. At the safe house, why was the CTU agents assigned to guard duty sitting inside the tree trimmer of an electric company truck? What would he have done if he needed to get out quickly? Can't exactly jump down, can you? Of course, since he was trying to be discreet, I'm sure no one would've noticed a truck parked out there for hours on end, working on the same telephone pole? You know, like trained countersurveillance experts or something. On second thought, let's just make the professionals as stupid as possible, so that we can insure more episodes and, thus, greater ad revenue.<br /><br />Please, do yourself a favor. If you own this DVD set, burn it immediately. You will be glad you did.