the shrewdness of apes

warning, spoilers ahead

i don't know what's happened exactly, but my love for 24 is quickly tumbling of a cliff.   the plot contrivances seem more forced, the storyline seems less interesting, and kim bauer is driving me fucking nuts.   (intersting side note: type "i hate kim bauer" into google, and the first link you get is to this page of marc's blog from last season.   good stuff.)

so anyway, when the first week of this season ended showing jack about to shoot up, i got all jazzed because who the hell saw that coming?   but we're forced to buy that kim (without benefit a college degree!) is now working at CTU, and not only that, but she's right in the middle of big important things.   then there's the romance with the rugged chase, jack's partner.   double ugh.   but ok, at least we got salazar killing his lawyer and a corpse delivery out of the deal.   plus more intrigue with president palmer and his romantic entanglements, and another mole inside CTU!

then last night, we're supposed to buy that kyle singer managed to elude capture despite the fact that there were security guards, cops and federal agents surrounding the whole scene?   i understand that tony getting shot was a bit distracting, but this kid is harboring a deadly infectious disease that could wipe out thousands of people, and no one watched where he was heading?   meanwhile, michelle is getting a call from tony's surgeon just 10 real time minutes after he was shot saying they're ready to operate?   then she calls the hospital 18 minutes later to check on him, and is told he's still under the knife.   well duh!   how long do you think vascular surgery takes?   this is just sloppiness on the show's part, and shows that they don't trust viewers to remember things beyond one or two commercial breaks.

and now jack's gonna go all commando again, striking out on his own to stop the virus from being released?   he claims that it will look like he's "switched sides" since he has a history of pulling these types of stunts.   but he's always been vindicated before by the nobler goals that he has tethered himself to, so why wouldn't anyone see through this charade right from the get go?   what this means is that we're now going to get a lot of scenes with kim where she's confused and/or crying over her father's actions while chase has to 1) comfort her, and 2) try to figure out how to dump her sorry ass without jeopardizing his job.

i just don't know. not that they're similar, but i got sick of survivor after the second season as well, so maybe i have some sort of tolerance threshhold that has been exceeded.   then again, i loved the part where they locked kyle singer and his pop tart girlfriend in the isolation chamber, so i'm not giving up yet.   but i need a rally here.