24 (Season 3)

Season 3 of 24 is pretty much a perfect season of the show. With strong action, shocking twists, a great cast that's utilized to its fullest, and a consistently strong final act, this is 24 at its best.

After the sheer chaos of Season 2, Season 3 dials things down a bit and focuses almost entirely on Jack Bauer and the rest of CTU trying to stop a biological virus from circulating. Pretty much the entire season hinges on this storyline, which lends the season a great sense of cohesion. Season 3 has been criticized for a slow start compared to the second season, but I think it all becomes worth it after the reveal that it was all part of a secret infiltration. From then on, Season 3 goes full throttle, containing the return and eventual death of Nina, a Michelle-centric storyline about her attempts to quarantine a hotel that has been exposed to the virus, Ryan Chapelle's death, Tony being blackmailed to help the villain, and Chloe taking care of a baby. All of these arcs were a lot of fun, and work in service of the main virus storyline while allowing for pretty much no padding whatsoever. The consistency in episode quality this season, especially in the second half, is absolutely outstanding.

Part of what makes Season 3 work so well, however, are the characters, as this season probably has the single greatest cast out of any 24 season, while giving everyone their own time to shine. Jack and David Palmer are great as always, but characters like Tony Almeida and Michelle Dessler finally get more of a focus and entire story arcs to themselves. Even Kim is utilized well, as she gets to work at CTU and actually factors into the plot. Even the new characters are great. Chloe is hilarious awkward and is responsible for some great comic relief, Chase is a solid partner for Jack who heads some great action scenes of his own, Gael turns out to be one of the nicest and selfless members of the cast once you learn he isn't a mole, and even the villains are top-notch. Stephen Saunders's back-and-forth with Jack is a lot of fun to watch, and I love the fact that the Salazars end up causing each other's downfall by the end.

There are a lot of really great hours this season, but here are some of my absolute favorites:

7pm-8pm: The final scene of the episode completely pulls the rug out from under the viewer, revealing that Jack's supposed going against CTU, Tony getting shot, and Gael presumably being a mole was all part of a plan to allow Jack to go undercover with the Salazars. An absolutely genius twist that made the first seven episodes so much better knowing what they were all building up to.

4am-5am: Easily one of my favorite 24 episodes, this hour pretty much focuses entirely on Michelle as she tries to quarantine the Chandler Plaza Hotel without inciting panic. Reiko Aylesworth really gets to flex her acting chops here as she struggles to take control of the situation and things slowly becomes more and more dire.

6am-7am: This episode is incredibly dour and grim, with Jack spending the whole hour struggling to find a way out of killing Chapelle. Even worse, Michelle had to start distributing suicide capsules in the hotel for people who didn't want to deal with the virus. It's shocking just how dark 24 got in this episode.

10am-11am: Tony's story arc comes to a big end here, as he and Jack spend the whole episode butting heads over how to save Michelle. The episode culminates with the main villain Stephen Saunders getting defeated and arrested two episodes before the finale, which left me wondering what would happen next.

11am-12pm: This episode has two particularly strong moments. One is the surprisingly brutal scene of Jack threatening to subject Saunders's daughter to the virus, and the other is Sherry's karmic death. Both are probably some of my favorite scenes of the series.

12pm-1pm: Despite its small scale compared to the other finales, this episode still had some really tense action and a lot of strong character moments like Tony Almeida being imprisoned, Chase losing an arm, and David Palmer leaving the presidency. Instead of a cliffhanger, this time the season ends on a subdued note with Jack finally breaking down in tears over everything that's happened.

Season 3 of 24 is the series at its absolute best. It has a strong cast, great action, solid pacing, and a really intense second half resulting in one of the most gripping seasons of TV I have ever watched.

5/5 Stars