Submitted for your approval is one of the greatest espionage television series of all time, 24.
I remember hearing about this show in tenth grade. My civics teacher talked about this show and explained the concept, it was really intriguing and I wanted to watch it when I could. Eight years later, I finally decided to watch “24,” because I had heard nothing but critical acclaim from both audiences and critics. After watching the first episode, I was immediately hooked into the show for it’s concept, and eventually, Jack Bauer.
The concept of 24 is simple, each season premiere starts on a certain time like midnight or 5:00 pm, then events will start to take place and a clock will start to run. Throughout the episode, events will run the clock until it hits an hour, the end of the hour marks the start of the next episode. When the show was on TV, events would occur in real time, even during commercial breaks, so for example, a four minute commercial break would run four minutes against the clock adding to the detail of Real-Time flow. Events are split up into different storylines that run simultaneously against the clock and they all eventually connect in the end. Every season is twenty four episodes total, twenty four hours in a day, hence the title of the show.
24 revolves around the Counter Terrorist Unit (C.T.U), the US Government, and mainly Jack Bauer played brilliantly by Kiefer Sutherland. Each season, Jack Bauer and his team uncover a threat to the United States whether it’s an assassination plot, a bioterrorist threat, nuclear bomb threat, or a conspiracy that involves corrupted figures and moles. Throughout the show, decisions are made, heartbreak occurs, betrayals are revealed, and lives are changed dramatically. All of it is driven through the actions of Agent Jack Bauer and company.
What I love the most about 24 is the tension-building, twists and turns, dramatic storytelling, and compelling characters. Every episode, I became eager to find out what would happen, and it was very satisfying to my taste. I even cried during one scene and that was when I knew that I was watching an excellent series.
Jack Bauer is one of my favorite espionage figures such as James Bond and Ethan Hunt, you start out knowing him as your average father figure and husband with a very good profession but you learn more about him and see him change into a ticking time bomb who will not hesitate to kill or hurt anyone who messes with him. Bauer is incredibly skilled in his profession as he goes beyond his limitations as a professional agent to resolve the threats to the United States. Jack Bauer is a man who has seen everything and does whatever he thinks is right, even if it negatively effects the people around him. I would best describe Jack Bauer as James Bond if he showed more emotion and only became cold when driven off the deep end.
Each season has different supporting characters, but the most notable ones to me are Chloe O’Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub), President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert aka the Allstate guy), Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert), Bill Buchanan (James Morrison), Aaron Pierce (Glenn Morshower), President Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones), Renee Walker (Annie Wersching), Audrey Raines (Kim Raver), and Vice President Noah Daniels (Powers Boothe). Like I said, each season revolves around different characters, but Jack Bauer is the main character that drives the entire series.
If I had any flaws with the show, I would say that sometimes there are formulaic moments and repetitive story developments in later seasons. But honestly, that doesn’t matter much to me as it’s the characters, tension, drama, and concept that drove me to watch it all the way through. I would say that Seasons 1-6 are the best seasons to watch, with Season 7-8 and the “Live Another Day” revival season being good but flawed with familiarity and formulaic development of supporting characters.
24 is a series that is worth every single minute of your free time, it is incredibly binge-worthy, has a very good main character, and has a one of a kind concept that makes you want to see it all the way to the end.
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