The Legacy Of 24, Ctd

A reader writes:

I'm surprised that the 24 defenders and detractors have missed a fairly obvious aspect of the show while debating torture.  Simply put, Jack Bauer isn't particularly skilled at stopping terrorist plots. Nuclear bombs exploded on US soil not once, but twice, in different seasons. There were successful chemical attacks, including one inside of CTU.  A president AND his ex-wife were both murdered on the same day. Each season degenerated into Jack Bauer either dealing with or taking revenge for the blowback of his team's failure to stop the terrorists to begin with.  So I always found it a bit comical that his methods were touted as so foolproof.

Another writes:

Torture did not "always work" on 24!  In fact, it quite often didn't work.  That scene where Jack shoots a suspect's wife in the leg?  The suspect still refused to talk.  Jack gave up and called an ambulance for the wife. 24's message on torture was a lot more ambiguous than is now remembered.