34-24-34?

It's Tuesday again, which for me means it's 24 night. Yes, I am among those TV geeks who never miss an episode. It's now season 3, and I'm still going out of my way to catch every second of this ridiculous show. Don't get me wrong, it's good TV: exciting, creative presentation, great production values, strong acting, etc. However...c'mon, it's pretty absurd. As super-agent Jack Bauer, Kiefer Sutherland has been injured more in 3 seasons than Mickey Mantle was in 18, and still never misses a beat, not to mention the wild turns the plots and characters take at the drop of a dime. Last season Kiefer had a hunk of wood lodged in his leg after a plane crash. He tore it out, limped around with a grimace for about 5 minutes, and then resumed running all over Southern California to foil the bad guys. An episode later, you'd never have had any idea he'd suffered such an egregious injury.
However, for most 24 fans, our main source of angst is Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert), Jack's daughter. I think most fans, especially males, really want to like her. First of all, she's extremely hot, with that sexy yet innocent "You can bring me home to your parents with pride and you can also bend me over the sofa at 2 am" look, and besides, she's the beloved daughter of the hero...but sheesh, do the writers of this show make her look stupid. Half the time she seems very with-it, sharp and tough, and then the writers always contrive to make her do the dumbest thing possible. In both of the first two seasons, she's gotten stuck in ridiculous "Perils of Pauline" type emergency situations that no thinking person would ever get themselves into. So far this season, that's eluded her, but she's spent the first three hours of the latest international crisis worrying about when she can tell her Daddy she's dating his new partner. As Ed Pancreas summed it up: "Daddy, I know dere's a viral coming and killing peoples but me got a boyfriend! Me got a boyfriend! Teeheeheehee!"
If I were Elisha Cuthbert (and I think we can all be thankful that I'm not), I'd be planning my hissy fit for the writers and producers. Hey, a couple seasons ago she was a kid, largely unknown (at least in the US) and thankful to have such a great gig. Now, she's getting movie offers (like looking adorably sexy in the way I described earlier in Old School), her picture is constantly being splashed around in celeb mags and the internet...in short, she's a rising young star, and pretty essential to the show. They've already killed off Jack's wife and had his ex-adulterous lover turn out to be an evil double-agent (who wound up killing said wife), chances are they're not going to kill off the daughter. So, Elisha, now is your time to demand that your character stop being so freaking stupid and self-absorbed. Let Kim save the freakin' day, just one time, please? Because even with that questionable new hairdo, she's really, really hot.