24 is an espionage thriller franchise created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, which began in 2001 with the release of the main series that concluded in 2014. The series starred Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, a CTU Agent going to desperate lengths to thwart terrorist plots over the course of a day each season.
Plot
Federal Agent Jack Bauer works with the CTU to thwart extremely dangerous and destructive terrorist plots to the United States, going to desperate measures to ensure the safety of his country and his family and friends. With each season taking place over the course of a single day and each episode taking place over a single hour, Bauer goes to equally desperate measures to maintain the security of the free world, which also causes him to be seen as just as bad as the terrorists he's fighting.
Why it Rocks
- A very unique premise for any kind of TV show, where events more or less are depicted in real time, and it builds on the overall theme that a lot can happen even within a single day, especially when it comes to matters of national security.
- Each episode takes place within an hour, which makes the pacing absolutely feverish especially as many use this as a reason to end on a cliffhanger, considering there's still more threats to contend with.
- It uses it's series structure to the fullest extent possible, putting in plenty of plot points per season that become more complex as it goes on, with a great deal of plot twists happening as well and making you feel like you're directly experiencing the chaos with the characters.
- Unlike what it may imply, and some accusations of islamophobia and the like, the series is not just a perfunctory pro-american series as it more concerns international terrorist plots. And it also tries to depict Islam and other cultures as not being blanket terrorists as there's plenty of people within those cultures who condemn the actions of the terrorists and even those who actively help the CTU or the UN.
- Amazing acting all around, with Kiefer Sutherland absolutely nailing his role as Jack Bauer, giving an amazing and iconic performance that quite literally saved his career.
- Each season has a unique terrorist threat and plenty of unique subplots, like in season one (which got the series off to a very strong start) having Jack trying to prevent the assassination of Presidential Primary David Palmer while also trying to protect his family who are being used as leverage against him.
- Awesome action sequences, with extremely intense firefights and fist fights as well as a lot of great chase and espionage sequences.
- Despite the plot of it, there's plenty of moments dedicated to character drama and the like, with characters trying to fix their personal relationships, though the job often gets in the way, and plenty of subplots of them even facing potential legal trouble. This also works well because not every episode has fighting or intense conflict in it, instead dedicating their time to certain plans and building up the tension slowly without having any of those dramatic moments feel rushed.
- Amazing musical score that greatly helps the atmosphere of each given situation, even if, again, it's not all directly confrontational.
- Loads of great plot twists throughout and plenty of unexpected moments, like the reveal of the mole's identity in season one and the deaths of many major characters, which motivates further plot points.
- Lots of great characters, with Jack himself being a very morally grey person who often does reprehensible things to, as he believes, reinforce security, which includes a whole lot of killing and becomes a major part of his character as the series goes on.
- David Palmer is another beloved character as not only was he the first black President on television (long before Barack Obama in the real world), but he's also a personal friend of Jack's and tries to help thwart the plots even despite stonewalling from both his own organization and family, not to mention how wonderful Dennis Haysbert is in the role.
- It also deals with a lot of major international conflicts and how difficult it is to be allies with certain countries, especially considering the recent war crimes of Russia and how the UN often has to swallow their pride for the ideal of peace, though also showing that said peace might not really be a solution in the long run.
- The whole show has a pretty timeless feel to it, dealing with plenty of relevant issues both in and out of politics and potential solutions to them, though also acknowledging that we might never see an absolute end to these problems.
- The show often uses commercial breaks to cut to slightly later points in time, often starting it with a scene of a character following another and then continuing afterwards to a few minutes later.
- Season 5 is often voted the best of the series for it's greater complexity, killing off major characters, and setting up even more complexity for the remainder of the series to come.
- The finale is often voted one of the best of all time for it's moral ambiguity fitting the series as a whole and still giving a satisfying conclusion to the series overall, and the ultimate series finale (for Live Another Day) is often voted to be even better.
Bad Qualities
- Season 6 is often voted the one that killed the show as it starts out promising, but then has a plot twist that reveals some of Jack's own family were part of the terrorist plot. Many felt that this pretty much just made him into a terrorist magnet and lead to it being the lowest rated season as well as the last three, though better received, still somewhat suffering from it's reputation.
- Some plot holes in plenty of seasons, such as some relatively major villains disappearing and never being seen again.
- Chase Edmunds is somewhat of a wasted character as he only appears in one season and then is killed off rather unceremoniously outside of the show.
- The sheer length of the main series alone (at least 192 episodes, not including Redemption or Live Another Day) makes it downright exhausting to watch at times.
- Some mediocre villains, especially in the aforementioned season 6.
- The series can definitely feel a little xenophobic at times, despite trying to deconstruct that kind of behavior.
- Kim Bauer is often voted the worst part of the show, as she often becomes a damsel in distress for Jack to save and contains a lot of plot armor in a show that prides itself on having little to no plot armor. Some have even mockingly called her "Television's Luckiest Character".
- The spin-offs can be very hit-or-miss, with 24: India being praised for it's acting and new plot points while 24: Japan was criticized for being a shot to shot remake of the main series' first season and also being impractical as Japan hasn't had a major terrorist attack since 1995.
- 24: Legacy was often criticized for it's writing, retconning of the series finale, and not including Jack Bauer (since his storyline was concluded by then)
Trivia
- Jack has personally killed 309 people throughout the series.
- Kiefer Sutherland asked his father, Donald, to play Jack Bauer's father in the series, but he declined as he didn't want to play a character who actively tried to kill his own son.
- A tattoo on Jack's left arm for his undercover operation was real as Kiefer Sutherland wanted to circumvent makeup for it.
- Every even numbered season deals with a nuclear threat to the country.
- The final episode of Live Another Day (and the main series as a whole) is the only one in the entire series with a timeskip, skipping 11 hours.