Fox's "24" will end its run with the season finale on May 24.

I'm not surprised. Not only have their been rumblings this would be the case, but at least so far, it's been a very badly plotted season.

What's been most troubling for me is the show's reliance on not one or two, but three stereotypes of flawed, weak women. First, there's FBI Agent Renee Walker, who they turned into a zombie-like suicidal crazy person, blaming it on a past rape. Then there is Dana, who they stereotype as white trash jail bait who, despite being somehow smart enough to work at CTU, is dumb enough to slide right back and risk her job to help her ex-boyfriend, also white trash, pull off a robbery. (Now she's about to be the mole, so it remains to be seen how they finish her story. I won't be surprised if her motive turns out to be nothing more than she fell for a terrorist and is acting out of blind devotion.) Third, there's Kayla, the daughter of President Hassan, who's portrayed as weak (again because she's hopelessly over her head in love with a traitor/terrorist. [More...]