10 Silliest Things On 24 (And The Lessons To Be Learned From Them)

10. Marwan's Plan Within A Plan Within A Plan (Day 4)

I dare you to sit through the fourth season of 24 and then try to describe Habib Marwan's master plan. You'll probably have a hard time doing this, because Marwan's plan doesn't make a lick of sense. For those readers who have forgotten the salient details, let me try to briefly recount Marwan's plot. First, Marwan blows up a commuter train. Is this his endgame? No, it's a means of stealing the Dobson Override (a device which can remotely melt down all of the nuclear power plants in the United States, which happened to in the possession of a passenger). Next, Marwan captures the Secretary of Defense, James Heller, and his daughter. He begins streaming video of their "trial" on the internet and plans to do the same when it comes time for their execution. Is this his endgame? No, it's a means of distracting from a massive cyber-attack to break the firewalls of as many nuclear power plants as possible, so that Marwan can melt them down with the Dobson Override. Thanks to CTU, Marwan is only able to initiate the meltdown of six reactors, rather than his initial target of 106. Still, this leads to the deaths of tens of thousands. Is this Marwan's endgame? Of course not! It's all been a distraction to allow one of his men to steal a stealth fighter and shoot down Air Force One with the President onboard (which happens to be in Los Angeles airspace). Is this his endgame? Nope. It turns out Air Force One was a target because it contains the nuclear football, a device with the codes that can activate any nuclear weapon in the United States. At the same time, some of Marwan's men in Iowa attack a military convoy and steal a cruise missile with a nuclear warhead. With the codes from the nuclear football, they manage to launch the missile. Its destination? Not New York, Washington, D.C., or any other nearby target. Instead, the missile is fired at Los Angeles, which gives Jack, CTU, and the rest time to locate the missile and shoot it down. And that's the short version. The Lesson: Plan ahead. Marwan's scheme became more and more complicated, reliant on coincidences, and ultimately nonsensical (why not launch the missile at a closer target?) as the season progressed because the writers never took the time to plan ahead. They didn't even decide that Marwan would be day four's main villain until half-way through the season. It all adds up to a season that is less than the sum of its parts.