One of the big issues on 24 this season is whether torture methods are ever justified. That was especially prevalent in this week’s episode, when Jack Bauer hammered the electrical impulses into Burnett while snarling, “Where’s the target?!”
Elsewhere in the White House, we’ve got the President and her minions discussing whether torture is an acceptable means to retrieve information.
President Taylor muses, “Torture was originally intended to force false confessions. Now we use it to get the truth.”
But then she later tells Burnett, “I won’t condone torture, but in your case, I have no problem with the death penalty.” WTF? Isn’t that kind of the torture to beat all tortures?
And when, for the love of God, will people start listening to Jack when he says something?! They should all know by now that whenever he makes a statement, he means it and has the intel to back it up. If they’d just listened to him, the episode might not have ended with the White House in utter chaos, the President’s daughter with a gun to her head, and the entire staff on their knees at the whim of terrorists.
And I’m with Jack on the torture business. If you torture one loser to get information that will save thousands of others, I say go for it!
Ok, bring it. What say you, Clackers?
Clacked by Jane Boursaw 
on Mar 05, 2009 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
I agree to an extent, but although Jack’s intel was right this week, it was hard to ignore that he had just learnt about the attack because Tony magically appeared and told him it was going to happen. Tony isn’t exactly the word of God. I think the show needs to balance the “Is torture justified” argument a little more, before the show becomes too preachy and full on. I watched 24 for the entertainment, not the message. To have Jack right all the time, and have those who are against torture come off as bumbling idiots, I think it makes it seem as though the show is trying to push an agenda. I’m fine with them showing examples of torture being necessary, but I’d rather they’d explore it as a grey area rather than something to be done at all times.
How about getting these half-assed posts up faster than 2 days after the episode aired???
Because of Commenters who post things like this:
“I HATE CLIQUECLACK THEY ALWAYS SPOILER I’M NEVER GOING TO READ THIS WEBSITE AGAIN I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU”.
Seriously people, you can’t get it right, can you. If you start discussing stuff right after the episode aired you are wrong and if you do it two days later you are wrong too. Give Jane a break. And calling the article “Half-assed” is kind of a joke because if she’d take any kind of stance and lean in ANY direction she would get criticized for being a left wing propagandist or part of the liberal media.
You just can’t discuss 24 with US citizens I guess.
IMHO 24 is just ridiculous. It’s just as real as The A-Team’s firing of guns just the other way round. On the A-Team, guns didn’t kill people. On 24 torture always works.
I mean seriously, in the last episode Jack got fuzzy intel and thought he could get his informations via torture. The guy who was tortured knew that the attack would take place within minutes. He’d just have to hold out longer. The only reason torture works is because people who don’t have any beliefs are tortured AKA weak capitalists who are just in it for the money. Dubaku giving up his secrets due to Jack threatening his family was a joke. “I’m Jack Bauer, I know where your family lives” – I don’t fight other people but when a turk here in germany at the disco tries to intimidate me with “I know where you live” I laugh about it. If you have a strong belief system you lie while tortured. If you lose that system you start making things up just not to be tortured more – and you usually don’t get tortured as long as you are able to tell stories. As long as you “deliver”. And seperating fairy tales by tortured people from real information is what makes gathering intel from captives so hard and unreliable. That doesn’t come across on 24 and I guess they don’t put it in because their audience either doesn’t want to know it, won’t believe it or already knows better.
You can just take 24 as what it is. Popcorn television. Don’t think about it and if you do laugh about it. Only dimwhits are able to believe that intel gathered by torture is believable.
Seriously, put yourself into the position of someone who has to plan or act based on intel gathered by torture. You only need to send your Navy Seals onto a mission that is based on bogus intel ONCE to know that there are more reliable ways to plan your missions on. Once someone DIES because of lies you got told by prisoners you won’t trust any tortured person again and just rely on hard evidence. And that’s just it.