I had a strong feeling from the beginning of this season that the new CTU with all their state of the art technology would  be somehow taken out or compromised. They are going to have to do it, old school Jack Bauer way. This is one of my big peeves about 24. Every season CTU is compromised by a mole or an attack, which is essnetial to the terrorists plan. Directing all agency traffic, communications, data and  security to one place maybe good in theory but then you get stuff like this happening, which is probably one of the reasons there is no real CTU.

I still like 24 but maybe its good that they are canceling. The writers just don't come up with anything original anymore. I liked last season a lot better. There was a lot more going on, with better twists. If this whole season is just them running arounf trying to stop a dirty bomb, its not really a great story.

I think the real problem with this season is just that the new characters aren't that interesting, and the ones that seem interesting are under-utilized.  Last season we had Renee Walker (one of the best characters ever introduced on the show), President Taylor, her crazy-ass daughter Olivia, and even Dubaku and Jon Voight's characters to provide interesting antagonists.  No one introduced this season has been half as compelling, and the returning (and likable) characters aren't used enough.  Chloe seems castrated without her usual comrades to play off of.  Renee Walker seemed so promising, and now she's been taken out of the action.  President Taylor is only in it sporadically, and since they removed all her personal connections (re: her family), she's not as interesting or fleshed out.

I agree, I think it's time to end this show and let us enjoy re-watching our DVDs of past seasons.  Plus, Keifer's getting old. ;-)

  Yes, what the hell is the deal with the parole officer? CTU, one would think, is one of the most secure locations in the country. That would mean that pretty much anyone not on the payroll would have a hard time just getting in the door even on a slow day, but he can just waltz in and mosey around during a major crisis?

With that level of competence, no wonder we've had, what, two nukes go off in the country (I lost track), presidents getting shot, stabbed, blown up, and temporarily removed by Cabinet coup, Air Force One shot down by a stolen stealth fighter, and the White House seized by a dozen or so thugs. The wonder is that a couple of Boy Scouts troops from Toronto armed only with Swiss Army knives haven't conquered the United States and turned it into South Canada.

You are totally right, fenngibbon.  24 needs to look to the writers of CSI, or Fringe, or Bones when it comes to realism.  I mean, they only have serial murderers in the same city every week, and things like altered dimensions and genetic manipulation.

/sarcasm

It's a TV show, meant for entertainment.  If you  want realism, watch the History channel or PBS

It just sucks that Dana Walsh has become very quickly worse than Kim. What an absolute waste of the potential for Kate in this show. She could have been the Yin to Chloe's Yang with some great dynamic confrontation between the old and new way... instead... yuck what a waste. The parole officer would NOT have been allowed to walk into the heart of CTU during a crisis and where the hell did he get data access requests at 3:00 freaking A.M.??? Still i think this was a pretty solid B for the main plot, the terrorist daughter scene was outstanding, and the EPM attack on CTU was great, which means we have to resort to oldschool Jack.

I thought that the whole Dana Walsh tale was, for the most part, finally over. But no, for some reason the writers keep insisting on dragging that crappy story out.
 

It's too bad that the terrorists didn't use a LAS (Lame Ass Subplot) bomb. Then we wouldn't have to deal with all that crap at CTU anymore.

Makabriel, there is suspension of disbelief, and then there is just plain dumb.  I'm willing to believe that what should be an incredibly secure building wouldn't have some sort ot sensor or mechanism to detect a device that could create an EMP powerful enough that it would take the whole building.  It's a stretch, but I'll buy it for the sake of the plot.  But to believe that some dude could be in a waiting area, then just start waltzing around unguarded, not to mention getting what amounts to an electronic search warrant for a missing ex-con at 3:00 a.m.  Well, that's pushing things a bit.