I have always been a fan of the show 24. However, extenuating circumstances have made it virtually impossible for me to view this season and it just so happens this season is it's last. This is year 8 and in my mind, the show had a hell of a run. I have viewed every episode in years 1-7 and can honestly say this show has brought me a lot of joy.
Why am I reminiscing? Because I was poking around netflix this weekend and found out that season 1-7 are all on instant view. If you have a subscription, I highly recommend you at least watch the first season. I started the viewing this Sunday, and am already on episode 8. I remember watching it in it's first run, which surprisingly was back all the way in November of 2001. After watching the first episode, I was instantly hooked again. Good dialogue, quick scenes, decent acting, and amounts of sex and violence that hadn't been seen on network TV in a long time. I mean seriously, they had a terrorist blow up a plane less than 6 weeks after September 11th. Very ballsy FOX. The first season works at a lightning fast pace and bucked many TV cliches. They killed off main characters, had plot twists every hour, and effectively used a format that really hadn't been utilized ever.
I was surprised how young Kiefer Sutherland looked, but it was nearly a decade ago, and Jack Bauer has had 8 long ass days since this time. Just something about that first season is awesome. The concept was new, so I think everything caught everyone off-guard. Part of the problem of the latter seasons were that the show became a cliche of itself. Who's getting killed? The twist is coming right now! So through no fault of it's own the show created an expectation and there is honestly only so many story lines you can have about one guy saving the world year after year.
If I had to rank the seasons that I enjoyed the most, I would say 1, 3, and 5 were the best of the best. Season 1 had the best all around story, and you had no idea what was coming. Season 3 had my favorite scene, which included Jack cutting off his partner's hand, because a bomb with an air pathogen was attached to it. Jack then threw the hand bomb into a fridge and let it go off with no repercussions. And season 5 was a culmination of the show finally getting it's due with Sutherland winning a Best Actor Emmy, and the show winning Best Drama. Having a great story where it turns out the President of the United States is harboring terrorists will do that for you. And if you truly do not want to see a dying breed please steer away from season 6. It is bad news bears.
So I salute you 24. You were on my list of top shows of the decade and I would be hard pressed to keep you out of my top 5 favorite shows of all-time. Granted in your later years you got a little stale, but all in all a good run. And I look forward to my 16 hours I have left in season 1.
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