24

I haven't watched this show in awhile, I heard it went downhill, and indeed, it has.

Most of this episode dealt with the issue of torture. There is a nuclear bomb loose and a bunch of guys want to torture the only suspect who knows something about it. Some other figures of authority can't decide whether torturing the suspect is justified - so they don't authorize it.

My issue is this: if you truly believe that torturing a suspect will lead to saving millions of lives, why in God's name would you let your boss stop you from getting the information? I mean, couldn't you justify forcibly doing whatever you thought necessary if it meant stopping a nuclear bomb going off? I don't understand why the agents are willing to torture to find information, but unwilling to circumvent procedural rules. It makes no sense. And hence, one of the big problems with allowing or even opening the slippery slope to torture as a legitimate means to find information...it creates a vaccuum of responsibility, because once the initial premise is accepted (that torture will save millions of lives) nearly anything and everything becomes justified.