24 (Season 2)

Season 2 is an absolutely beautiful mess, eschewing the personal aspects of Season 1 for a much faster pace, massive world-ending stakes, and tons of action. While not all of it works, Season 2 definitely feels like a much more confident and consistently enjoyable season than the first.

Season 2's storyline is way more complicated then the first overall. It starts with CTU blowing up and the threat of a nuke, then Nina returns, George Mason sacrifices himself to stop the nuke, Jack tries to stop WWIII by finding a recording, Sherry becomes a good guy (kinda), and the season ends with David Palmer getting poisoned. It's a lot to take in, and it's kind of hard to believe this all took place in a day, unlike Season 1. But on the other hand, I like how batshit insane this season can get, and it rarely feels like it's stalling for time like Season 1 did. 

Nina's return is handled excellently, and I loved seeing her have a villainous role. Sherry's role was great and turned her into a much more compelling character than in Season 1. The CTU Bombing was excellent and shocking, and George Mason's sacrifice was emotional. Even more, the action was an improvement overall, especially during a setpiece where Jack jumped on the wing of a moving place which gave me serious Die Hard 2 vibes. The first fifteen episodes of Season 2, which most of this stuff happened in, are particularly excellent, at which point the season does start to slow down a bit.

Sadly, once again, the second half of Season 2 is generally weaker than the first. The storyline of Jack trying to get the Cyprus recording is fine on its own, but he never makes any progress until he teams up with Sherry in the penultimate episode. It's almost comical how every single opportunity for Jack to make some sort of headway ends in disaster, and it becomes obvious the show is stalling until the finale. And while I like seeing David Palmer as president this season, I found it frustrating to watch the show misuse the 25th amendment for some cheap drama near the end. That kangaroo court episode in particular was just plain uncomfortable to watch. And I'd be remiss not the mention the Kim subplot that's doesn't amount to anything and just has her running around. The cougar scene is particularly egregious here, but I can't say it wasn't a little bit funny.

Here are some hours in the day that stuck out to me:

10am-11am: A nail-biting and suspenseful episode where Jack Bauer tries to stop the CTU bombing. You'd think they wouldn't actually bomb the place so early on in the season, right? Wrong, they did it. Brilliant way to kickstart Season 2.

12pm-1pm: Nina's return was brilliantly executed, and this episode was an excellent slow burn that set up her rivalry with Jack and left you excited for their several confrontations throughout the next few episodes of the season.

5pm-6pm: The resolution of the Nina storyline is excellent, ending with a tense hostage situation that finally has them confront their hatred for each other. There's also the excellent reveal of who set Reza up, a stunning twist given the time period this season was filmed in.

10pm-11pm: Easily the season's best episode, pretty much entirely focused on Jack Bauer's attempts at sacrificing himself to remove the nuke, only for George Mason to sneak on the ship and offer to sacrifice himself instead. It's a devastating sendoff to a really great character and one of the high points of the show.

7am-8am: While I'm not a massive fan of this second half of the season, I really do love this finale. The final confrontation at the colosseum brings all of the plot threads and conflicts together and ends the season with one of the series' best action setpieces. It was also satisfying to see the villains get their comeuppances, and the cliffhanger was great, even if it wasn't really followed up on.

Overall, I think Season 2 is a crazier, more ambitious, and generally more consistent season than the first. While it does have some odd moments and another weaker second half, Season 2 has a confidence and surety to it that I just can't hate.

4/5 Stars