Lost vs. 24 (spoilers)

[question everything]

'Lost' vs. '24': We're not going to wonder why the same line popped up in both shows. You are.

May 19, 2009, 07:15 PM | by Dan Snierson

Did anyone else have dialogue deja vu while watching 24's season finale last night? After Jack urged Tony not to kill the man who'd ordered the hit on Michelle, Tony showed him a belt of explosives and said, "I'm not going to kill him, Jack. You are." Less than a week earlier on Lost's season finale, en route to visit the mysterious Jacob, Locke told Ben, "I'm not going to kill Jacob, Ben. You are."

So, the question is begged: Which show used that line/twist more effectively? One could argue that the stakes were higher on 24, as our handcuffed hero was being forced to serve as a suicide bomber. (Tony's plan failed, of course.) On the other hand, the Lost scenario was more provocative, as we wondered why Locke (or a supernatural version of Locke) was making such a loaded request and whether Ben would actually choose to follow Locke's instructions (which he did, in that cryptic, eerie scene).

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/05/lost-vs-24-same.html

(yes, I did catch it..)

[slay]

1. Lost did it better

The Lost one actually came true - and Ben did it out of choice - would not have been so for Jack. I watched both - and I gotta say to peeps that say 24 is a republican show - it's really not. The end with Jack dying, admitting he broke the law when he tortured people was a truly moving moment, and a damning one against those who still make the case that the torture was legal.

[question everything]

2. Right. And the bad guys this season where the private armies

that Republicans admire so much. All those chickenhawks.

[slay]

3. Exactly - and Jack

starting off the season testifing before congress for his role in torturing people - another "OMG why are WE not doing this?" moment. 24 has had it's best seasons when it focuses on real issues facing the country - like Charles Logan (aka George Bush) from season 5 - this season was great too, but never quite reached the level of intensity provided by Charles and Martha Logan. Argh they better address this in Season 8 - more so than just one line from Aaron Pierce saying he doesn't want to talk about it.

It also helps when uber-conservative writer/producer joel surnow writes exactly zero episodes for the season. He's still a producer on the show, and imdb has him listed as writing some this season, but i look out for his name every time the opening credits air and i never saw his name as a writer this season thankfully. True, I could have been too trashed and missed it during an ep or two, but afaik he didn't write any this season. Who did write some good ones were David Fury (Lost, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Manny Coto (Odyssey 5), and Howard Gordon (The X-Files). Hope season 8 is as good as this one was at least - I won't even try to set the bar at the unbeatable (imo) season 5 level. (yes, i'm a huge tv nerd - but only good shows i swear! heheh)

[question everything]

5. I think that this season was as good as the first one

I think that the last one was the worst... perhaps season 2 was bad.

On occasions one scratches one's head and think: you cannot do this! Like ignoring the heavy guards of Marines in the White House that will never allow such an easy take over. Or an unsecured tunnel.

And as much as many in the country grumbling about how things are bad, it is hard to imagine so many traitors in high places. No matter what we think of Cheney and Bush and Rove, I doubt they would ever be a part of a massive attack on Americans.

And it is always amazes how Jack can spring back to action from being almost clinically dead. He has done it before and, again, in the season finale.

As for the writers: this has to have some commercial appeal and the terror around every corner message which found receptive audience shortly after 9/11 no longer holds. So they had to make Jack a kinder person. I think that what he said in one of the first episodes is important: we, as a society, has to decide whether we want to use torture to further our goals.

[graywarrior]

4. LOST, of course which is more real considering it's based on fantasy

where 24 is supposed to be more realistic but seems to get stupider every season. The mixing of torture and stem cells in every show cracks me up.

[DS1]

6. Uh, because it's a cliched line? Lost did it better

24 was predictable. Fox loves its double-cross storylines. See Prison Break for too many examples to list.