The backlash over the Dana Walsh character has apparently gotten so out of hand that 24 showrunner Howard Gordon has issued a response to EW telling fans to be patient:
“God almighty there has been a Dana backlash,” bemoans Gordon, who argues that “thrillers have a finite number of tropes. It’s like saying, ‘Another murder on CSI? Are you kidding?!’ Moles and betrayals are the stock and trade of the show.
“I understand how it appears [to be] tiresome and lazy storytelling, but I really would betray anyone to try to sit in our chair and figure out how to do 24 continuous, real time episodes, without using certain devices,” the exec continues. “I would implore people to be more patient with Dana.”
I myself didn’t care for Dana’s antics with Kevin Wade in the earlier episodes, but after the twist at the end of episode 13 she has finally become an interesting character and I’m enjoying her scenes now. I really loved her “Tick Tock, Mr. Bauer – you are running out of time” line from the new promo and am looking forward to seeing her face off against Jack.