I think I'll be half watching this season. Mostly I'm hoping Jack finally bites it. That's about the only surprise they haven't exhausted, if you ask me.

I think I'll be half watching this season. Mostly I'm hoping Jack finally bites it. That's about the only surprise they haven't exhausted, if you ask me.

Sprague Grayden (now, there's a name) was bad as Olivia; it was as if Reese Witherspoon had dyed her hair and lost her talent in the process. Not quite as bad as D.B. Woodside playing Wayne Palmer — thank God he's gone, but I fear they'll bring him back next season — but she had way too much to do this season.

Larry Moss did end up being a good character, and Jeffrey Nordling did a good job with the role once he got all the temple-rubbing out of his system. But has Jack ever seen his torture methods backfire? The New Yorker article brought that up, but I still don't think “24″ has done that. The information he gets out of suspects is always a real lead, not just false information that will make him stop hurting them. The writers tried to solve story problems without torture near the end of season six because of all the pressure from anti-torture advocates, but I remember their attempts being hokey, like when Fayed (another subpar villain) shot Jack but it turned out CTU had set up the whole thing to make Fayed think he was getting away while they secretly tracked him.

The one thing the show needs is a Sherry Palmer-type character to stir the pot between chases. (Who else from The Larry Sanders Show will it pinch for guest stars?) Olivia just wasn't it.

Sprague Grayden (now, there's a name) was bad as Olivia; it was as if Reese Witherspoon had dyed her hair and lost her talent in the process. Not quite as bad as D.B. Woodside playing Wayne Palmer — thank God he's gone, but I fear they'll bring him back next season — but she had way too much to do this season.

Larry Moss did end up being a good character, and Jeffrey Nordling did a good job with the role once he got all the temple-rubbing out of his system. But has Jack ever seen his torture methods backfire? The New Yorker article brought that up, but I still don't think “24″ has done that. The information he gets out of suspects is always a real lead, not just false information that will make him stop hurting them. The writers tried to solve story problems without torture near the end of season six because of all the pressure from anti-torture advocates, but I remember their attempts being hokey, like when Fayed (another subpar villain) shot Jack but it turned out CTU had set up the whole thing to make Fayed think he was getting away while they secretly tracked him.

The one thing the show needs is a Sherry Palmer-type character to stir the pot between chases. (Who else from The Larry Sanders Show will it pinch for guest stars?) Olivia just wasn't it.

Season five was great, but like I said, it did a lot of damage. I think season four was the high point, with season five close behind and season one still a sentimental favorite because all of “24's” tricks were new at that point, even though it seems unfathomable now that Jack Bauer would've ever had blond highlights (I wonder if Teri had something to do with that).

I don't see how season eight can be a direct sequel since Jack's going to have to get up to New York City somehow, and it's been reported that CTU will be operational again, with Freddie Prinze Jr. playing a new CTU agent. Oh boy. But a friend of mine thinks season eight might start with Jack waking up from his coma, so I'll be happy to be proven wrong.

Carlos Bernard is from the Richard Gere school of acting: never speak above a sexy whisper if you don't have to. I was a little sad when Peter Weller was killed at the end of season five, because he was a welcome, creepy-as-hell presence. Then again, “24″ doesn't do a great job when it brings back characters, e.g. Charles and Martha Logan's return in season six, which ended with Charles supposedly dead, but we never found out.

I don't think anyone would care if Cuthbert bought it. Or, sadly, Tony, who was obliged to act far beyond his pay grade this season. He's as sullen as a stone-bored porn star now. The brightest spot is Renee; if Audrey (shudder) comes back, I hope Walker ices her.