Static Cling

Man, I miss Gaines. He was such a cool villian. Very Michael Ironsides-ish. I miss the whole first season. S2 didn't really grab me like S1.

Bandoman

This first half of season 2 was better than season 1. After that it went downhill.

Face/Off

But picking up with your two stars out of commission makes sense to you?

BubbaTC

I think it's gotta start the same day, remember the guy on the boat assured his boss or whoever it was that a war would "start today" and then he called the girl to poison the President. So Season 3 can't start too long after season 2 ends, probably 12-24 hours at the very most.

kevin75

that sounds great to me.

as for those who want to see jack get promoted, i say NO WAY!!! then we wouldn't get to see the bada$$ that is jack bauer in action.

PacMan2006

Can someone remind me who "Max" is on 24?

JamesBrian

It was nice to see Mia Kirshner pop back in tho she's looking a bit skanky these days. She was in that ridiculous Wolf Lake TV show last year and I was disappointed when it got cancelled. Even bought a used copy of New Best Friend because she was in that dumb movie too. But this weekend I'm going to whip out Atom Egoyan's wonderful Exotica from 1994, 18-year-old Mia as a stripper in a plaid skirt, white blouse etc. If you haven't seen Exotica yet you are in for a treat.

Breakfast with Girls

Starting 12 hours later or so is just fine. My point was if Palmer lived and was A-OK in the beginning of season 3, the ending to season 2 would be pointless. Palmer already knows he has enemies (see season 1). If he's dead, then I guess that would be fine, but it wouldn't start "months to a year" later, because Jack and CTU would immediately be all over trying to find the people once and for all who were behind it.

"Remember a year ago, when Palmer was killed?"
"Yeah."
"I was thinking... maybe we should try to find out who did that."

huzefa

Maybe Fox should air a halfhour show every two weeks or something updating us on Jack's situation; that way when the season starts 12 hours later, we're upto date!

Roto

The ending of season one was pretty irrelevant to what went on most of this season. I think they'll give Jack time to recover. I think Palmer's dead. If he's not then people are going to want to know how they saved him, but I don't see how they can continue this story at this point and leave Jack out of it. If Jack had to do a 100 yard sprint right now he'd fall over dead.

To me this looks exactly like the end of last season and people weren't 100% certain that they killed his wife. Palmer's dead.

uteotw

I severely doubt this. Palmer's been one of the key characters all along, and now, what, they're going to ambiguously kill him off and leave that lame VP the head guy for season 3? We were, in fact, 100% sure at the end of season one that Jack's wife was dead and that it was Nina who killed her. As far as we know now Palmer just has a messed up hand. I know 24 is not afraid of killing people off, but I just can't see them starting the next season with Palmer having somehow died during the space between the seasons.

Josh Z

I think it's more likely that Palmer will be in a coma or hospitalized in critical care for at least the beginning of Season 3.

Decker

Dear Mr Face/Off,
Yes, it makes perfect sense to me. Thank you for asking.

Sincerely,

David E. Kelley
Executive Procucer, The Practice

sentineles

The assassination attempt on Palmer served more than one purpose according to Fox executives and that's all they're saying right now. Fox Entertainment President Gail Berman says "the attempted assassination probably won't be the driving force behind next season but it does fit in somewhere." They're not saying much but it does say "The real-world question of whether Haysbert will return to the show is up in the air. At the moment, Kiefer Sutherland is the only regular locked into a deal for next season." This from snipits from News and Record(Greensboro Newspaper) TV Notes and Quotes.

This may mean no more Kim side-shows but I'd miss Haysbert. There's not much else given about this. Fox execs are keeping a tight lip regarding how it will play into next season. A direct quote from the article says "Something about not ruining next season is behind their refusal to reveal more."

Rypro 525

I heard that whats her face (the one who took kim from that house) and Kiefer signed a 4 year contract?

cliffzig

That doesn't stop FOX from doing this on a weekly basis during the season.

lisadoris

Fox execs need to tell this to the people in the promo department.

areacode212

I'm pretty sure that Gaines asked Mandy if she was going to be up for the job *this* summer, meaning that job was separate from the Palmer assassination attempt (Season 1 took place 6 months before the election--which would make it May. Season 2 is a year & a half later).

Also, I see no reason to believe that there was a larger group behind Gaines, other than the Drazens, who *did* hire him. I'm guessing that the group behind Kingsley is the same shadowy one behind Nina.

areacode212

Once I saw the preview showing EnsignRo falling over the banister, I gave up on watching the "next week" promos. And when a commercial for the show would come on (when I'd be watching some random Fox show), I would just cover my ears and go to the kitchen or something.

Spoiler-free is the way to be!

Buck Turgidson

I think Mandy's just an ace assassin. The Drazens hired her and whoever is behind this hired her later. If we believe the way that it usually plays out in books and movies, they're freelance and take whatever jobs they're hired to do, usually w/o political axes to grind or personal grudges. Just professionals. A damned cute professional, in her case.

areacode212

That's probably why I like Mandy so much (aside from the other, obvious, reasons)--the fact that she's such a professional, but still isn't just some robotic, completely cold-blooded terrorist. She tried so hard to make her meddling lover change her mind about the money, but in the end, knew that she had to be sacrificed.

Regarding Haysbert (who I've heard chose not to return next season, though it hasn't been officially announced), I'd miss him too, but if they're going in a more "personal" direction next season, I think it would a bit too contrived to have POTUS involved in the storyline yet again. And Jack would no longer be so chummy with the most powerful man in the world, making life a bit harder for him.