In Honor Of The Viral Video Of That Cougar Stalking A Hiker, Let's Rewatch The Scene From 24 Where A Cougar Stalked Elisha Cuthbert, Which May Be The Worst Scene In Television History

Clem10/14/2020 7:26 PM

YP blogged this video the other day and I'm sure the minds of most people watching were either how they would escape a cougar attack or how they could make a meme out of a cougar potentially attacking a human because that's the way the human brain works in 2020. However, my mind went directly back to 2003 when Kim Bauer and a cougar combined to make what may be the worst scene in TV history.

After rewatching it again, I think it's somehow even worse than I remember? Definitely funnier. I was OBSESSED with 24 back when it first came out. The dramatic ups, downs, and loopty loops of that first season had me hooked to the point I had the CTU ringtone on whatever flip phone was hot in the streets back then and if I was ever in danger, I would've chosen Jack Bauer over every living or fictional human in the universe to save me outside of John McClane. My heart would go directly into my throat every time they cut from one scene to another with that clock counting down in between beeps.

At least that was the case until Kim and the cougar's "chase" ended with them face-to-face and then going their separate ways like when you bring your grocery cart back to the cart corral right as the guy is leaving with the carts with his headphones on. Kind of a brief acknowledgement before heading your separate ways. I remember being physically angry and almost quitting one of my favorite shows on TV because of how stupid that scene was with no goddamn payoff before realizing this was just the way of the producers keeping Kim in the show without having to wedge a regular civilian following around her terrorist killing dad as he saves the world yet again for the greatest president in history, David Palmer.

I'm happy I didn't bail during Season 2 though because we got to meet Johnny Drama in another preposterous plot twist, the season had a good endings, and I enjoyed the last couple years of 24 that I watched before I actually did bail around Season 5 (I am ashamed to admit just how much I enjoyed watching what happened to that annoying asshole Edgar though).

I'm by no means the Jeff D. Lowe for TV, so I'm not sure if that's the worst scene in TV history, especially since the phrase Jump The Shark literally came from the show Happy Days taking a pronounced dive after The Fonz jumped a shark on the show.

But I figured the 24 scene was bad enough to blog regardless of where it stands in the pantheon of bad scenes. Nothing personal to Elisha Cuthbert though, who was just acting with the script she was given. Hope she's doing well wherever she may be. I didn't know how to end this blog so I'll just post the first gifs I found when I searched "Elisha Cuthbert".