24 (Season 1)

24 is built off of a fairly gimmicky premise, an entire season built around a 24-hour-day that essentially takes place in real time. It shouldn't work, and at times, it doesn't, but at its best, 24 is one of the most tense and exciting TV thrillers out there.

Season 1 of 24 has a fairly simple story. Jack Bauer's daughter Kim has been kidnapped, so now he has to save him. There are also plot threads about David Palmer dealing with attempted assassinations while running for president, a mole at CTU, and a crime family, all of which are great and manage to tie together with the main storyline while still keeping things personal for Jack. The acting is also spectacular and manages to carry the season even further, especially for Kiefer Sutherland. While the real-time concept might seem like a gimmick, 24 executes it flawlessly and it rarely feels like the show is stretching to fit that time constraint. For the first thirteen episodes of the season, 24 is a tense, briskly-paced show with some great twists, fun action, and memorable characters.

Despite what you'd think, most of the faults of Season 1 of 24 weren't caused by the real-time gimmick, but rather the way the season was written to begin with. Season 1 was expected to get only 13 episodes rather than the 24 it ended up with, so the storyline of Kim Bauer's kidnapping was mostly resolved at that point. As a result, the second half of Season 1 is generally pretty weak, as it seems like the creators had no idea what to do during it. Kim got kidnapped a second time, Jack was running around aimlessly without making a single bit of progress, and the worst of all, Jack's wife Teri gets amnesia. I despise amnesia plotlines, and this might have been one of the worst I've ever seen in a TV show. Thankfully, it is mercifully short. A few episodes before the finale, 24 managed to pick up the slack by introducing several amazing villains, adding some shocking twists, and ending the season on one of the great finales of all time.

Each season of 24 is essentially one complete, uninterrupted 24-hour-long story, but there are a few hours that manage to stick out from the rest:

7am-8am: The initial assassination attempt of David Palmer has been slowly built up to for the first third of the season, and this hour is the moment where it all comes to a head. Seeing Jack Bauer try to stop the hit is incredibly tense, and the subplot about Jamey (presumably) being the mole works well too.

11am-12pm: The twelfth episode in the season, this hour had Jack Bauer storm the compound in which Kim and Teri were being held, all culminating in one of the craziest balls-to-the-walls action setpieces of the season. It was 24 at its maximum intensity, and worked as great set-up for what was thought to be the finale.

7pm-8pm: After an awful stretch of episodes, this was the point in the second half of Season 1 where it felt like the show regained its initial confidence. Victor Drazen is a great villain and his first appearance was excellent, as Jack's attempts at keeping him in prison ended up failing horribly.

10pm-11pm: A fairly solid penultimate episode that solidifies the mutual respect between David Palmer and Jack Bauer after another assassination attempt. But what really made this episode stand out is the insane reveal that Nina, Jack's partner for most of the season, was the mole the whole time.

11pm-12am: One of the greatest finales of all time and one of the best episodes in 24, this final hour was stuffed with phenomenal action (the harbor shootout), crazy twists (Nina killed Jamey!), satisfying defeats (David cutting ties with Sherry), and a devastating ending (Teri's death). It has everything you'd want from a 24 episode, and is pretty much the perfect way to end the season.

Season 1 of 24 was a solid start for the show, with a simple but personal story to ground the crazy twists and fun action. However, the second half of the season reached some incredibly low and meandering points, at least until the last few episodes picked everything back up for a strong finale.

3/5 Stars