4. Less Brutality
One of the best scenes in the first series is when Jack has one of the terrorists trapped in a limo, and psyches him out with the THREAT of torture. The scene works well as the suggestion of how he will do it is graphic, without having to resort to unrealistic and needlessly graphic sequences of actual torture. Had this scene been in an episode of series 6, Jack would have inserted the keys to the limo somewhere deeply unpleasant without even barking a greeting first. Detractors of 24 have always used the show's abundance of scenes where they show torture to be effective and a necessary evil as a stick with which to beat it. Janeane Garafalo played Janis Gold in season 7, and almost turned down the role due to her real-life opposition to the use of torture as a plot device. If she hoped that her character might be able to debate the point on the show, she would be disappointed; There are several scenes where Gold attempts to criticise Jack's methodology, only to be shot down by an angry Bauer. The show shouldn't have to rely so heavily on torture, not because of any political or moral objections on my part, but because it becomes a lazy and predictable plot device to speed along a tricky situation when it is used for the umpteenth time in a season. Earlier uses, such as Jack interrogating Sayeed Ali in season 2, worked extremely well as you felt the desperation of the character, being used as a last resort. By the midpoint of series 6 CTU were torturing everything they could get their hands on. It wasn't just morally objectionable by that point, it was getting silly and actually quite boring to watch. Keep the brutality to a necessary minimum please, Fox.