NY Magazine Thinks Curtis Got The Shaft
New York Magazine recently named Curtis Manning as #6 on their ‘Ten Beloved Characters, Ten Ignoble Deaths’ list. Here’s an excerpt of why they think Curtis got the shaft,
At the start of the sixth season, Curtis’s third on the show, Jack cuts a deal with a terrorist turned informer. But uh-oh! It turns out that the now-helpful baddie is on Curtis’s shit list for killing his buddies after Desert Storm. So, naturally, by-the-book Curtis holds a gun to the informer’s head and says he has to die, and Jack shoots Curtis in the neck. The end. Note that though the rest of the season takes place in the same day, Curtis’s grisly passing and entirely out-of-character final moments are quickly forgotten, and the poor bastard is hardly mentioned at all.
What do you guys think, did Curtis get ripped off? I’d have to agree with NYM just because I can’t even remember if he got the silent clock or not. The only early season six event that I haven’t tried to forget was the nuclear bomb going off, and unfortunately, that overshadowed poor Curtis.
Tags: 24, Curtis Manning, FOX, Jack Bauer, Kiefer Sutherland, Roger CrossRelated Stories
POSTED IN: 24 Characters, Roger Cross, The 24 Cast, season-6
7 opinions for NY Magazine Thinks Curtis Got The Shaft
Bauer Power
Feb 29, 2008 at 10:08 am
Curtis didn’t get a silent clock. Pretty lame unless they’re going to pull another Almeida on us!
matt
Feb 29, 2008 at 12:58 pm
he didn’t “get the shaft”. you never know what to expect w/ 24, that’s what makes it good! yea curtis was one of my faves, but did you see jack break down (like he did w/ curtis) when he had to shoot chappelle? NO. that should count for something. i still think chappelle’s scene was much more moving than curtis’ death scene.
CW
Feb 29, 2008 at 7:13 pm
I thought Manning’s death was poorly done. In an episode where the main shocker was the nuclear bomb going off, we did not need Manning’s death. Two shocking events were not necessary, since the emotional power resulting from a detonated nuclear bomb was sufficient enough.
Ashley
Feb 29, 2008 at 9:49 pm
I HAAAATED Curtis’s death. I did kind of feel that he was acting out-of-character right there at the end .. I dunno why they decided to cut him. He was one of the coolest underrated characters on the show.
groundhogday
Mar 1, 2008 at 1:41 pm
I agree that it was bad writing to get rid of Curtis that way. If they were going to get rid of him why did they even have him start off in season 6? just so they could have more drama. Like CW said, the nuke going off was enough drama for one episode. Plus he was a good guy and they made him out to be kind of a bad guy. The only thing I don’t like about 24 is that almost all the characters eventually die. Did Michelle really have to die? Sherri’s death was lame too.
CW
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:03 pm
re: groundhogday (The only thing I don’t like about 24 is that almost all the characters eventually die)
When this series ends, I really hope the writers do NOT kill Jack Bauer. The writers need to show the character some respect and let him live. Bauer is the anti-James Bond. James Bond gets all the girls, the cool cars, the awesome gadgets, the nice hotels, etc. Bauer rarely gets any of that. Instead, Bauer gets a dead wife, an estranged daughter, imprisoned in China, and a million other horrible things. And what does he get in the end? A simple thank you from the President. Bauer deserves to live at the end of the series….and possibly get several medals too..haha
James
Mar 2, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Curtis Manning’s death is probably the most wasted death in the entire series without a doubt. Bomb or not, there was no need for the writers’ to add a side of Curtis that the audience not only didn’t see but didn’t click with the audience. His death actually ruined the entire detonation of the bomb for me because I was so upset about Curtis’s death I didn’t care about the bomb. Besides, the bomb killed “people” but we never really got to know these people. It wasn’t like in previous seasons when we actually had an inside look at what the intended targets were (see David Palmer Season 1, the Chandler Plaza Hotel Season 3, the Sunshine Hills Mall Season 5). Instead, to make it more personal, they kill someone we know in the most illogical and inconceivable way imaginable that happens to be mere seconds apart from the nuclear bomb. Not only that, but the outcome of that was merely for Abu Fayed’s survival which amounted to almost nothing.
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