Overview
If you have been in a cave for the past several years and are unfamiliar with 24 (much like my-self) is a current hit TV spy/thriller series that is currently planned for its seventh – that’s right, seventh season sometime in 2009. The first season of 24 follows four main stories that are interconnected with one another that takes place in “real time”. Each episode spans an hour of real time, but actual run time is about 42 to 45 minutes (to allot for commercials).
The Plot to Season One
The series starts out with the hero, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) dealing with a sketchy marriage and tries to deal with his rebellious daughter, Kim (Elisha Cuthbert) whom happens to run off with her friend and two boys for a “night on the town”. But Jack has more pressing matters at the moment as he gets an important call from his boss around midnight and has to come into work right away. It turns out Jack Bauer works for the California CTU (Counter Terrorism Unit) and there has been a hit placed on the first black presidential hopeful, David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert, whom is famous for doing all of those Allstate commercials). Jack currently has to drop all matters homebound and rush off to take care of things at work while he leaves his wife to deal with their run-away daughter. When Jack gets to work, he is told by his boss that he is the only one his boss can trust on an important matter – that someone in the CTU is a double agent working for the assassins that want to take down David Palmer. Reasons why they think they want palmer dead stems from something as petty due to the fact he is black, but it turns out Palmer is not too keen on the CTU, and if elected has plans on shutting it down for good, leaving plenty of people without employment. Without trying to give too much of the story away, eventually things go from bad for worse for Jacks wife trying to find their daughter and her friend, David Palmer is dealt with some serious issues right before the polls open in California and Jack Bauer is constantly breaking the rules to get his job done fast and efficient. Jack isn’t one for protocol and plays by his own rules. A true bad ass, and what is even more impressive with all the rules he breaks he gets away with it. Truly an amazing feat, I wish I could get away with stuff like there where I work, but of course my line of work is rather dull in comparison.
Impressions
I’ve been completely oblivious on what is the current trend on prime time TV for years now. I don’t know if it has to be with the fact I have been busy with my college work, or my for my disdain for “reality” television that has managed to become a ubiquitous cancerous boil on the brain of all television networks. 24 is wrought with great writing and well developed characters. Twist and turns are almost around every corner, but sometimes it is painstakingly obvious on what is going to happen to each character. Although, I do think the development of the terrorist related characters are rather weak. The acting by the two female leads are extremely weak and seems rather forced, but the focus is not left on them for too long to become an annoyance. The way the writers and editors have worked in the transitions of scenes is rather interesting as well. There are so many phone calls, that they decided to have asymmetrical “boxes” of video showing who is calling whom, and sometimes use this method right before they cut to a commercial to show you what is going on during all four separate story lines with the ominous “ticking clock” that counts down for you as the show progresses. I was kept on the edge of my seat to see what was Jack and the others were going to do next. 24 is definitely an interesting series and if you’re a big fan and have picked up watching this on a later season, I really recommend picking this up.
Special Features
Sadly, this is where the DVD collection falters. For a “special edition” I was expecting a lot more. What you get is what is expected from any standard DVD. Such as deleted or extended scenes. I was expecting maybe some out takes and more commentary although the only commentary provided was commentary for the final episode. The only “saving grace” that keeps this from entering into the abysmal category is the fact there are two little shorts called “The Rookie” which follows a young agent trying to prove his worth to the CTU. For a “special edition” I was expecting much more, but the case is rather nice. It’s aluminum and features a digital clock that counts down to “24:00” and can be reset to start the count down again. It’s nice, but the novelty wears out rather fast. The “Making of 24” feature was rather interesting. It gives you an insight on how the show was dreamt up, and Kiefer’s thoughts on his character and the show in general. It would have been nice if they would have got more actor commentary on the making of the show. The enitre special features DVD is rather weak.