OUR TAKE: The New Season of 24 Is Running Out of Ideas...Already

Rip-Off #1: Die Hard 2: Die Harder
In Die Harder, highly trained soldiers jack into the tower a Dulles Airport, which allows them to crash planes by fooling the pilots into thinking they're the tower.
On 24, terrorists have a special box that can override all major government systems, which allows them to crash planes by jacking into control towers and fooling the pilots. Almost crash two planes at JFK to prove a point.
Rip-Off Meter: Friggen Blatant. That's the entire plot of the movie. The only thing worse would be if Jack got on a bus that had to stay about 50 MPH.

Rip-Off #2: Live Free or Die Hard
In Live Free, cyber terrorists have the ability to control all major utilities in the US, shutting down transportation, power, water. The one thing they can't control? That snarky Mac Guy.
On 24, they still have that box that can not only jack into towers (not nearly as dirty as it sounds), but it can also turn off all the power.
Rip-Off Meter: Medium Blatant. Terrorists always want to turn off the power, but coupled with the airplane thing, it's clear someone's been watching the Die Hard series on Blu-ray as much as we have.

Rip-Off #3: The Bourne Ultimatum
In Ultimatum, our favorite super assassin is trapped on the roof of a parking garage. To escape he jams the car into reverse, bends down over the passenger seat, and goes over the edge. He runs away shaken up but with minor injuries.
On 24, Jack's stuck in a parking garage helping his undercover buddy escape. He's pinned down so he breaks into a car, hot-wires it, jams it into gear, and goes through a pillar and over the edge. Of course, he's fine.
Rip-Off Meter: Friggen Blatant. If you're gonna steal from Bourne, make sure it's not a stunt so big it was even featured in the trailer. (40 second mark of the video below.)

Rip-off #4: Panic Room
In Panic Room, Jodie Foster and her daughter run into a panic room to stay safe from burglars. The bad guys try everything to get them out, including pumping in noxious fumes.
On 24, Jack's kidnapping victim locks himself and his wife up in a panic room. In scenes for next week, Jack's crew is pumping noxious fumes in there.
Rip-Off Meter: Borderline. Panic rooms aren't new and it's understandable why a major politician would have one in his residence. (Especially if Jack's in town.) But when the former African president and his wife ran in there, leaving Jack and company freaking out, it felt a lot like David Fincher's thriller. If Bauer is sporting cornrows like Jared Leto, then we'll bump this up to "blatant rip-off."

We still enjoy the show -- at least until they start revealing a new mole every week—but we're already a little skeptical about this season. What's your take? We being too harsh on the show or are there other rip-offs we're missing? Tell us now! We're doing our job! We're running out of time. Damn It! (Beep...Beep...Beep...)