Soccer Dad

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24 has had a series of characters who seemingly have no real purpose but act as plot devices.

Until Season 8, seemingly the worst of these was Erin Driscoll, the head of CTU LA in Season 4 for the first half. Driscoll was bland (though she rescued Jack after he was arrested for holding up a gas station) and the subplot was progressed interminably. The whole point to Driscoll was to put off the Tony/Michelle reunion until the second half of the season. Introducing that dynamic too early wouldn't have worked.

Season 4 also introduced (and dispatched) Paul Raines, Audrey's (sort of ex-)husband. Amazingly he was both a real estate mogul and a software wiz. Thus he could be a red herring bad guy (and get tortured, but forgive Jack) then run off to expose a corrupt defense contractor and, finally, protect Jack. The unbelievable combination of talents suggest that he was invented to fill a number of roles, not to be real person. James Frain, however, did a great job in this thankless role.

In Season 5, the plot device character was the hobbit, Lyn McGill. On one hand he brilliantly saves a rescue mission by realizing that Jack was using an obsolete code word. On the other hand in a fit of mind numbing stupidity gets mugged and allows a deadly infiltration of CTU. I guess both events had to happen, but that the same person who could be so brilliant in the former and stupid in the latter absolutely boggles the mind.

Season 8, the plot device character is Dana Walsh. Up until the last episode it appeared that her role was to distract Cole long enough to allow Jack to take over the operation. Well she and Cole returned to CTU and she apologizes to Hastings, assures him that she won't be stupid again, then leaves and promptly answers a cell call from an unknown number at 2:30 AM in the middle of a national security crisis. (CTU, I would assume is a top secret operation, the idea that its employees can talk on unmonitored personal cell phones makes no sense. Certainly they couldn't just allow anyone know where they're located.) I have a feeling that her meeting with the "parole officer" will lead to tragedy. Hopefully she'll get offed. (Though that would not be a tragedy.)

One of the rules about 24 is that characters portrayed in a physical relationship die. (Or something bad happens to them: Olivia went to jail last season. The weaselly reporter was shut up.) The only person who seems to survive physical relationships unscathed is the indestructable assassin, Mandy. So it was clear that Tarin and Kayla would not end well. I had guessed that she was the surprise bad guy; oh well.

Still two things from the last episode puzzle me. After CTU realized that their video feed was compromised they cut it off. So the only way the bad guys knew that Marcos had chickened was visually. And yet Jack didn't order a sweep of nearby buildings to look for them. The other thing is what is the chance that a low level operative like Markos would know that the identity of the top guy?

Finally, when Jack tells Marcos that he's an ex-Federal agent, did it remind anyone of SNL's classic "Ex-police" skit?

Here are a couple of reviews of the latest.