The Questions about Curtis Continue to Swirl (Spoiler)
It seems that there is quite the mixed feelings about Curtis Manning’s death on 24. Some people feel that Curtis shouldn’t have been killed at all, other people feel like Jack should’ve just shot Curtis in the leg. Yet other people feel that the actions Curtis decided to take against Assad were completely against his character.
I for one am not sad that Curtis is gone, not because I didn’t like him, but I thought that it made for better storytelling and some intense drama.
Could Jack have popped Curtis in the knee? Sure. But, does that mean that while still alive Curtis would’ve still shot at Assad? If he really wanted Assad dead a leg wound wouldn’t have stopped him.
Responding to how Curtis reacted I think that it was well within his character. As a Special Forces soldier I’m sure that Curtis felt a lot of respect and loyalty for his fellow soldiers. I’m sure that while he was a very straight forward upright guy, that this was the one thing that could really set him off. We all have those things. It doesn’t matter how well disciplined you are, everyone has a breaking point, and Assad was Curtis’.
What does everyone else think? Do you think the death of Curtis was uncalled for?
24, Cutis Manning, CTU, FOX
January 17th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Curtis’ death didn’t bother me one bit. Like you said, it made for good story-telling. Plus I always felt Curtis was a one-dimensional character who had lasted beyond his shelf life. Not to mention that he never really had Jack’s back when it came down to it. He was always a follow the rules type guy, which is why some people think his final actions were out of character.
January 17th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
Yeah, it’s not really a surprise that a major character will die. It’s the show’s signature. So I don’t mind what they’ve done. I do like Curtis tho and he will be missed.
January 17th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Wait, is he really dead, I wasn’t clear on that. I will miss Curtis for many reasons, but mainly because I can’t call him “Black Bauer” anymore.
January 17th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
I do feel that Jack was doing the right thing to shoot curtis in the situation, however i would have much rather seen him kill assad. just because when it comes down to it i like curtis a lot more then Assad. and for the things that he has done in the past he really does deserve to die!
January 17th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
I think it is kind of interesting comparing this situation to one of the past seasons when Jack had to deal with Nina getting a pardon. He had to suck it up, even though she killed his wife, because it was for the greater good. Too bad Curtis didn’t have it in him to “play along” for a while. As Jack demonstrated, there is time for revenge later.
January 17th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
I completely agree that the writers did the right thing by killing off curtis. He had pretty much had no real storyline in any of the seasons except with Marianne in season 4. I also disgree with people think that he still may be alive. They built it up too much just to have him ‘injured’.
January 17th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Curtis was moody and sullen through all four episodes of this season - we thought it was because of his history with Assad, but we now know its because he was going to get written out of the series. He really should have known better - not the first time Jack’s whacked one of his fellow CTU colleagues.
Will they bring in someone from “division” to replace him? Will Jack just take on the terrorists literally single handed? Or will they give Milo a gun?
January 17th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
steve,
You bring up a good point. This may be why Ricky Schroder has to come into the picture.
Aaron.
January 18th, 2007 at 8:26 am
I totally agree with what you said. He definitely would have shot Assad if he hadn’t been killed. What really confused me though, was why did Curtis hold Assad up right then and there? I thought he was going to get him in the car and then take further away from the other CTU agents so they wouldn’t stop him. I guess he was just too anxious. If was smarter, or had more patience, he could have killed Assad and gotten away with it by making it look like he had to.
January 18th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
Yeah, what happened to popping him in the leg? That was totally ridiculous. As was Jack throwing up– as my husband pointed out, “when did Jack eat?” He barely had time to shave and recover from 2 years of silence/imprisonment/torture and being knifed or shot or whatever. I’ve already repressed it, maybe he did, too. But come on. Every season I vow not to watch, but then… I got sucked in yet again. I kind of miss Edgar. I’m just sayin’.
January 19th, 2007 at 9:09 am
The “popping him in the leg” point has already been discussed. Curtis would have had plenty of opportunity to kill Assad.
“When did Jack eat?” Well, you don’t always have to have eaten to feel nauseous.
The other point that I wanted to make was all the talk of how Curtis was out of character.
Yes, we have seen him be the calm and cool sort, but keep in mind that we have only seen a few hours of the man’s life. We don’t know how he responds to personal situations, (of which this is one to him). Anything else we have ever seen Curtis do is in the line of duty, and not necessarily something that affected him on a personal level.
January 21st, 2007 at 9:11 pm
I second the person who questioned if he’s really dead. Please recall Tony Almeida’s shot in the neck from a few seasons ago. There was an EMT working on Curtis, so I guess we’ll find out.
January 29th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Whenever Jack needed help, Curtis was always there to COVER him. I think its disappointing because its only really Jack, Chloe, Bill and possibly Wayne Palmer who are the only recognized characters. Last series there were so many killed off and i think we should have learnt more about Curtis before his death. He was going to be killed off but i feel it was too early, maybe towards the end when they will come face to face with Fayed. I guess it had to happen becasue the tag team was killed off so whats the point in keeping the leader when his team have been killed. Really liked Curtis and he will be sorely missed because he did everything and was right beside Jack when he really needed him.