How Do You Stop Jack Bauer And An Exploding Man?

Well, I have to admit, that while SD is more boring, it hasn't really set in yet. I'm playing poker again (albeit losing money...I had a guy stacked and I ended up splitting, and lost money with Aces and Kings, which is always gonna end up with a losing session) and I'm watching season finales. It's good fun, I assure you.

I watched The Simpsons and Family Guy finales on Sunday. They were pretty good (Quamire kids...giggity...), but the 400th episode of the Simpsons was missing that special something, that pizzaz, and that closure that you'd like to see in such a publicized episode. Oh well, the 24 motif one for #399 made up for it. I <3 it.

Speaking of which, 24 wrapped up the mediocre sixth season in which we find everyone in the Bauer family dysfunctional and the Chinese as the ultimate terrorists in the whole plot. Interestingly dull and terribly contrived even by 24 standards. The finale managed to salvage some credibility and the ending was moving, if not melodramatic. It's not the cliffhanger that was season 5, but it was definitely powerful in a way that most of the rest of the season was not.

Unfortunately, the real lack of resolution still makes this the worst season of 24 ever. The writers never made it clear what the ultimate goal was and what we, the viewers, were ultimately responsible for taking away from it. There were too many interconnected, but tangential, plotlines that failed to really wrap up before moving to the next one. We're constantly reminded of the nuclear bomb, but what of the islamic terrorists? Is that threat that had the whole country up in arms for months suddenly over? Is Fayed's death the end? We don't know because we pick it literally two minutes after Fayed dies with the Chinese calling about - *gasp* - Audrey. How dumb.

The finale definitely could have used some Daddy Bauer talk, something appreciable, something meaningful, something that could really drive Jack up the wall. But all we got was a mean stare and a pathetic attempt to save his sons life and his life's legacy. (Oh, and Chloe got pregnant. I dunno why that matters, but meh, we'll see).

I seriously hope season 7 is something cool. Seriously.

Now how do we stop an exploding man? The Heroes finale finally tries to show us how it's done. First step: Find superhuman hero that can explode. Second step: Find superhuman archvillan that can do awesome stuff, but is hellbent on saving the world his way. Third step: Throw in a random conspiracy organization that's trying to do something. Then, blow it all up. Yeah, the Heroes finale did something, but I'm still trying to figure out what. Peter Petrelli went nuclear, Hiro stabbed Sylar, Nathan flies in to save the world by flying Peter into space, Sylar didn't die, Hiro is in the past between two warring samurai clans, and uh...there's an eclipse? Overall, a pretty weak finale, definitely mediocre. I still think the third to last episode, Five Years Past... was the best Heroes episode, but I guess they have to save something for next season.

Now the question is...what? There's gonna be 24 more episodes in "Volume two: Generations" and then 6 episodes at the end called "Heroes: Origins" where the lucky winner gets to stay for season 3. Already? Planning for season 3? Meh, make season 2 amazing, then I'll think about season 3.

Still though, this is gonna be a long, long summer. Next up for finales: House.