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[Chrono]

I've had the season one box set lying for months now, opened it a few days ago, and here I am typing this after 15 hours of 24. o_o

Holy fuck.

So anybody else a n00b and just got into 24? I think I'll have to restrain myself from getting seasons 2 and 3 before summer. I swear I've never watched (or even done) anything for more than a few hours in at least a year. Hell I don't think I'll be able to enjoy anything like I did because 24 set the standard pretty freakin' high.

Spoiler

Ok I do have one complaint, and I'm wondering what's the general reaction other people had regarding this: nina is a traitor. Now she helped jack all day long, it's impossible that she works for the dravens and they patch that plot hole with that 'you'll never know who I really work for' stuff? =\

(Btw do they go into that in the later seasons (the people nina is working for)? If so then which one?)

And then there's teri's death. When everybody started partying at CTU I just knew teri will 'wonder' around and end up as some sort of hostage by the new evil figure, nina. And what happens? Almost exactly that. It's almost like the creators thought 24's ending was too good and they wanted that extra shot of drama so they thought about elilminating teri at the last minute.

Alright enough complaints.

I've got a few questions on the latest season (4) though.. Thanks in advance for any info.

1) I haven't kept up with it, but doing a search on GAF brings up the topic for the second episode and it's from last month. I thought it started way before that? How long until this season ends?

2) Season 4 DVDs -- I'm guessing december of this year, correct?

3) How would you (24 fans) rate other season compared to 1? I heard season 2 is the 'worst' for example.

 

[Prospero]

3) How would you (24 fans) rate other season compared to 1? I heard season 2 is the 'worst' for example.

I don't watch the seasons until they hit DVD, so I can only answer this one.

Season 1 is good because it's a really fresh idea. Most people tend to say that Season 2 isn't as good as season 1, but I rank season 1 and 2 equally--they're both good, just for different reasons. (Season 2 has a less "realistic" plot, but Season 1 isn't all that realistic anyway, when you think about it.)

Season 3, on the other hand, has major plot holes, and it's clear that the writers were just making it up as they went along. You get a sense of improvisation in seasons 1 and 2 as well, but it's not quite so obvious--with season 3 the writers just blew it. It's not exactly bad, but it isn't up to the standard of seasons 1 and 2.

 

[Crazymoogle]

I've had the season one box set lying for months now, opened it a few days ago, and here I am typing this after 15 hours of 24. o_o

:lol

Yeah, I basically did the same thing twice with Season 1 and 2 by renting through blockbuster last year. At the time it was pretty enthralling, but the slapdash writing has really hurt it the last couple of years. It's still fun to watch though.

1) I haven't kept up with it, but doing a search on GAF brings up the topic for the second episode and it's from last month. I thought it started way before that? How long until this season ends?

3 more episodes, if the TV commercial is to be believed?

2) Season 4 DVDs -- I'm guessing december of this year, correct?

Probably.

3) How would you (24 fans) rate other season compared to 1? I heard season 2 is the 'worst' for example.

Season 1 = great
Season 2 = good with great and/or hilarious moments
Season 3 = okay
Season 4 = wavering wildly

Jack's dwindling homelife and the elimination of some important characters has managed to change the balance of the show over time, too.

 

[Doom_Bringer]

OMG yesterday's episode was soo awesome. I fucking love this show, must get season 1 dvd box!!!11

 

[suaveric]

The DVDs usually come out about a month before the next season starts. So if they start it in the fall, it'll be out around the end of the summer. Most likely it won't start until January again, which means the DVD won't be out until December.

 

[Memles]

Season One - Deep, Intriguing Political and Action-Filled Mystery
Season Two - OMG! The Terrorists are attacking!
Season Three - OMG! The Terrorists are attacking!
Season Four - OMG! The Terrorists are raping us up the ass!

Season One has it's problems. There are small little plots that honestly annoy, but on the whole the plot is relatively grounded. It is about a kidnapping that seems localized but is in fact only part of a huge, intriguing history between Jack and

Spoiler

The Drazens

. On the whole, it was fantastic, gripping television.

Season Two...just wow. See, I disagree with most people on this one. This season does signal the change in tone of the series. It becomes less about Jack personally, and more about general fear of some large scale attack. This is the new way of the series...and up until a point the season is solid. After that, however, it spirals into boredom. The conclusion never really comes, and it's an annoying, annoying last half of the season.

Season Three...I'm not sure about the harshness going around about this one. While it was never as good as the good parts of Season Two or Season One, it was able to remain relatively cohesive throughout. It never seemed like there was a stop in the story, and it never really got off track. It lacked the REALLY annoying subplots of Season Two, and in general it came together as a better season, if not better in parts.

Season Four...similar to Season Two at the moment. It started off very well through the first half, but now it continues to walk the fine line between logical fallacies and contrivance. While individual episodes are action-packed, and well acted and well-planned individually, the entire plot has spiralled deeply, and this season in particular has seemed like their attempt to reach out to the casuals with the non-stop action concept. It's when it settles down, gets back to the intrigue and suspense, that it is really entertaining.

Season One>>Season Three>Season Four>>>Season Two

Season Four could move up to second if it ends well, or fall to last if it continues to spiral.

 

[Chrono]

Spoiler

So we never get to know who Nina was working for? :'(

 

[JPRaup]

1) I haven't kept up with it, but doing a search on GAF brings up the topic for the second episode and it's from last month. I thought it started way before that? How long until this season ends? Dec/Nov to May/June Every Year

2) Season 4 DVDs -- I'm guessing december of this year, correct? Actually I heard this July, but it will come out no later than sept.

3) How would you (24 fans) rate other season compared to 1? I heard season 2 is the 'worst' for example. 1>4>3>2

 

[Wario64]

i didn't think season 2 was that bad. it was full of action, if that's your thing. and it still carries the best episode from all 4 seasons

season 4 started in January this year (it usually starts in october but they changed it this year). this is a good thing though cause they're able to air 1 episode of 24 every week instead of having to wait like 2-4 weeks for a new episode. and the season is still ending in may

 

[JPRaup]

Here is info about the DVD release, July 19th

24 Season 4

 

[Wario64]

that's for the UK release btw. i wouldn't expect till after september for a US release

 

[Crazymoogle]

Spoiler

So we never get to know who Nina was working for? :'(

Spoiler

You get to know, vaguely, who she is working for. But it's not a part of any grand conspiracy or anything. Nina wasn't a one season character, by the way, but she turns into a throw-in rather than the real series villain she should have been. I would say more but I don't think you intended these tags to cover S2/S3 spoilers beyond vague answers.

 

[Fifty]

i didn't think season 2 was that bad. it was full of action, if that's your thing. and it still carries the best episode from all 4 seasons

Which one was that?

I'm considering buying the season 2 DVDs, even though I watched it when it was on the air. Now I'm wondering if that'll be a stupid decision. I love the show, but if I can see most of the big twists coming...

 

[Wario64]

Which one was that?

Spoiler

the one with the nuke

it wasn't action packed or anything, but it was very emotional and had a very good music score for a tv show

 

[CajoleJuice]

That was a great episode, but I still like the...

Spoiler

Ryan Chapelle episode more for emotion. But maybe that's because I didn't see Season 1 until a few months ago, so I didn't know George Mason all that well.

The episode this week was actually really good too.

 

[Teddman]

I'd say Season 4 is second only to Season 1. At first I didn't like it, but it quickly became about Jack kicking terrorist ass and more terrorist ass with very little downtime. I like how older characters gradually rejoined the show too, some nice twists. It's also probably the most thought-out in advance since Season 1. Years 2 and 3 seemed to be written week to week.

Lots of over-the-top moments this year, who cares about believeability any more... At this point they're going on their fourth 24-hour terrorist scare in a row, you have to forget about it being plausible and just enjoy the action and suspense (which is being delivered in spades).

AND NO DUMB DAUGHTER SUBPLOT THIS TIME.

So far, I'd rank them:

Season 1 > Season 4 > Season 2 > Season 3

 

[Bauer Action Hour]

I've always maintained that S2 is the best season in the series. The action was great, as was having Jack w/ a really hard edge, and I enjoyed the national threat and political backstabbing storyline. Great season.

However, after reading many people's takes on S1 over the last 2-3 years, it's starting to creep closer to a tie. I miss the more localized, realistic (in a TV drama sense) storyline S1 had compared to the other seasons. The character interaction was also much better (the CTU stuff in particular). Great action and the best season plot in the series make it a great season.

I actually hated S3 1/3 of the way into the season. It was boring as fuck since so many new characters had to be added for the CTU scenes, which had to be fleshed out so you got a feel for the characters. Since most of them sucked complete ass, it made those scenes drag on forever. There wasn't much action up to that point either. Tony

Spoiler

getting shot

was the turning point in the season, but even then the storyline was over the top and went all over the place. I still end up rating S3 as pretty solid, but only because the action the last 2/3 of the season was outstanding.

Season 4 has been very good so far. I'll leave it at that...

 

[Ristamar]

S1 > S3 > S2

Season 4, should it finish strong, will probably end up between Seasons 1 & 3. Season 2 was good, but it climaxed too early. The last few hours didn't really have the same payoff as other seasons, IMO.

 

[Kuroyume]

I thought season 3 climaxed too early. After capturing what's his name (main bad guy) they want after some terrorist nobody to finish correcting the problem... Season 2's ending was awesome with Palmer and Jack saving you know who...

SC 2> SC 3 > SC 1

The torture scene with the naked guy, electric saw, and acid makes season 2 a must watch...

 

[Cold-Steel]

Season 2 > Season 1 > Season 3.

I'll wait on the ending of Season 4 before I judge it.

Personally, I agree on the fact that Season 3 climaxed too early and I thought that Season 2 was by far and above the best season of 24 to date. The character development was incredible in this season, almost every major and supporting character had a role to play in shaping the future of the series.

I can't say the same thing about Season 3 at all, other than the fact that I thought it had some great villains and a few moments which wrapped up ties from the previous seasons.

 

[Zerodoppler]

Hell yes! Started watching this show last week and I've seen eight episodes so far. I agree that 24 makes other tv series less enjoyable. I've been following the first season of Lost which airs here right now, but compared to 24 that show is sooo slow it's not even funny. I need to order myself season 2 stat.

 

[AniHawk]

I'd say Season 4 is second only to Season 1. At first I didn't like it, but it quickly became about Jack kicking terrorist ass and more terrorist ass with very little downtime. I like how older characters gradually rejoined the show too, some nice twists. It's also probably the most thought-out in advance since Season 1. Years 2 and 3 seemed to be written week to week.

Lots of over-the-top moments this year, who cares about believeability any more... At this point they're going on their fourth 24-hour terrorist scare in a row, you have to forget about it being plausible and just enjoy the action and suspense (which is being delivered in spades).

AND NO DUMB DAUGHTER SUBPLOT THIS TIME.

So far, I'd rank them:

Season 1 > Season 4 > Season 2 > Season 3

Yes, you have the order right.

 

[Baron Aloha]

I would rate the seasons as follows:

Season 2 - A more interesting plot (both with the nuke and with the president), good pacing, good action, good twists, every character comes into their own during this season.

Season 4 - Its already better than seasons 1 or 3 but I don't think it will top season 2 for me.

Season 3 - People hate this season but I'd place it slightly ahead of season 1. It had a very good start and a good ending but the middle brought it down.

Season 1 - This season is way overrated. The pacing goes into the crapper 4-5 hours into the season. There are too many kidnappings and too many "oh come on!" moments. There are too many "you thought he was the main bad guy but he's actually someone else's subordinate" moments (the original kidnappers, that mid-level guy, then Dennis Hopper). It was predictable. At least one person dies in every episode but on average its maybe 2. The bodies pile up so quickly that after a while it becomes a joke. Terrible acting on the part of Jack's wife (thank goodness they got rid of her). And lets not forget the amnesia. The Nina turn at the end made no sense whatsoever (who was the man in the hospital that she was worried about a few episodes earlier and why was she concerned about him harming Jack's wife and daughter if she was working with him?) and felt completely tacked on.I know people like to put it near the top because it was the first season but speaking objectively this season was not that good.

 

[Memles]

I would rate the seasons as follows:

Season 2 - A more interesting plot (both with the nuke and with the president), good pacing, good action, good twists, every character comes into their own during this season.

I'll give you action and character, won't bother challenging on plot (Manner of opinion) but PACING? Dear god, no. The season more or less DIED after the nuke storyline. No real questions were answered at the end of the season, the entire bomb plot seemed to get lost in the shuffle, and the entire second half of the season was a crapfest. Pacing requires that it is spread out well enough to work as an ENTIRE season...and Season Two's second half was really quite terrible.

I don't think it's pure nostalgia that makes Season One the best season...I think it's that it was so much more grounded. It was a personal drama, not an action drama. Was the amnesia subplot crappy? Yes. Were there some problems? Definitely. The first half of the season was full of intrigue and suspense, and the second half created an awesome political web that took the Palmer/Bauer storylines and brought them together for a great finale. I don't think there was anything wrong with the acting (Teri), and I think it was by far the most personal season. After that point, the show became about a balance of work and family, rather than a person's personal struggle to save the day.

This is the type of show that 24 began as. While the last three seasons have had great episodes, the seasons as a whole attempt to balance personal interaction and wide-scale terrorist threats and to be honest I don't think it makes for the same quality of television. The show isn't just about great episodes; despite my general negativity of this season on the whole due to its general plot, there have been fantastic episodes. The episode with the Nuclear Football was an awesome suspense episode, and the one with the switch between Jack and Behrooz was a great exercise of dramatic irony. But, it isn't about cool individual moments for me; it's about how those moments fit into 24 episodes of television.

And, by that criteria, Season One was the most cohesive and interesting day of television. Season Two had a great first half, lame second half. Season Three never had any episodes full of fantastic moments, but on the whole it flowed better than Season 2. And, Season 4 has begun to fall apart by cramming in as much terrorism as possible.

We all have our own criteria for this...I don't think anyone's judgment is clouded. It's all subjective.

 

[Chrono]

I just finished seasons 2 and 3 . @_@

I honestly loved them. Yeah, they're not as good as season 1 but still rocked. I think the only complaint I have is too many annoying random occurrences messing up the plot just to stir things up. For example in season 2 there's

Spoiler

rednecks attacking kate and yousef, taking the chip

and season 3 has

Spoiler

gael's recently turned psycho wife killing stephen just before he identifies the carrier

and I'm sure there are a few others but I'm forgetting them now. Only season 1's

Spoiler

amnesia subplot

is worse.


Last set of questions...

1) Just watched the teaser/promo for S4, exactly what is it about and who are the villains?

2) Does Tony really end up in jail? No presidential pardon!?

3) What is Chase doing - is he in S4?

4) Now that S4 ended, what's the consensus on how it ranks with the other season?

 

[MIMIC]

1) Just watched the teaser/promo for S4, exactly what is it about and who are the villains?

It's about a LOT of things. But unlike some people here *cough* Memles *cough*, I think you'll like it.

2) Does Tony really end up in jail? No presidential pardon!?

They mention his situation, but what I DO know...I don't want to spoil for you.

3) What is Chase doing - is he in S4?

Chase isn't in season 4.

4) Now that S4 ended, what's the consensus on how it ranks with the other season?

Honestly, I love them all the same.

 

[Chrono]

They mention his situation, but what I DO know...I don't want to spoil for you.
.

Spoil please.


Btw I've been thinking about this just now, anybody know if the real CTU (or any government agency) actually tortures suspects (or do crazy stuff like taking their daughters hostage and threaten to kill her)? I mean if they want to... I could see people there condone it when a lot is at stake (and I mean really a lot at stake, just like in 24) and the existence of people like richards (needles guy...) isn't totally unbelievable. o_o

 

[Fifty]

Or you could just read

http://www.fox.com/24/episodes/guide.html

;p

 

[Chrono]

Or you could just read

http://www.fox.com/24/episodes/guide.html

;p

Dammit I just read 3 lines and ended up with enough spoilers for half a season. Well ok not that much but I just want to know if he

Spoiler

gets out of jail

and how. :'(

 

[Fifty]

Well that's not an issue. You never really see him until he's back in the fold, and it's not talked about much.

 

[Archaix]

Dammit I just read 3 lines and ended up with enough spoilers for half a season. Well ok not that much but I just want to know if he

Spoiler

gets out of jail

and how. :'(

I'll try to spoil as little as possible.

Spoiler

Tony is out of prison by the time season 4 starts. He served some time, 6 months I believe, and things have changed but they all deal with at least minor plot points so I won't say exactly what. I think he got pardoned as Palmer left office, but I could be pulling that out of nowhere just because six months for treason seems like a small penalty.

 

[xsarien]

The ol' ranking game, eh?

From best to worst:

Season 2:
A lot of people give season 2 a lot of flack, I'm not sure why. I think the pacing is much more balanced than season 1, and outside of The Cougar Incident, it never really stumbled with the tension.

Season 1:
I had to watch this one on DVD because I became interested in the series way too late to start watching it on TV. For a first go at the whole "real-time" angle, it worked amazingly well. But I didn't like how the series started to focus more on the subplots towards the end; It climaxed way too soon.

Season 3:
Between this and season 4, I'm going to voice a *little* bit of concern for the show. With Jack's 3rd bad day, it started to venture into supervillain territory, the kind with goals as big as their bank accounts. Whereas the outcome of seasons 1 and 2 were wholly unpredictable, common sense guided you to the resolution that eventually became reality.

Season 4:
Fun? Yes. Suspensful? Kinda. Bordering self-parody? Getting there. As glued to my seat as I was for the whole season, a lot of what happened was either predictable, or so "big" that it was unintentionally funny. There was only one point that I felt the honest-to-goodness "24 suspense," and that was

Spoiler

when the whole Chinese Embassy thread opened up, and you got to play a little mental game of "Who's going to kill Jack first?" Thankfully it was no one, but I'd be a liar if I said I didn't expect a bullet to go through his head right up until the final counter beep.

 

[Memles]

It's about a LOT of things. But unlike some people here *cough* Memles *cough*, I think you'll like it.

Just because I didn't give it a 9.9 doesn't mean I didn't like it, jerk. Stop making me out to be a raving cynic already!

xsarien, while I agree completely on Season 4 (Which ended really, really well, as you point out), I really don't know how you can say that Season Two had good pacing. While I will agree that the first half had good pacing (Season Four Comment:

Spoiler

I think families tend to ground the show and keep it from getting all terrorist attack happy. Araz and Marie/Reza/etc. were good devices.

) the second half of the season never really found it's rythym in terms of story. While it may have been paced well when it comes to action, it blew its collective load with the bomb and never got back onto a cohesive storyline. While I concur that some of the action beats were well timed, story-wise it more or less had NOTHING of interest after the bomb. Nothing was clearly defined, nothing seemed overly planned, and even Sherry couldn't keep me really intrigued by where it was going. Maybe it's a different belief in what pacing is...I look at it as almost purely story, to be honest, especially in a show like 24.

 

[Fxp]

Bought 24 Seasons 1-3 ($24 each w00t!), watched up to episode 16 from S1 yesterday. Is it only me or 1) script writers should be murdered for bringing

Spoiler

amnesia

into the series and making Bauer's wife stupidest bitch she is in S1?

 

[Ristamar]

Bought 24 Seasons 1-3 ($24 each w00t!), watched up to episode 16 from S1 yesterday. Is it only me or 1) script writers should be murdered for bringing

Spoiler

amnesia

into the series and making Bauer's wife stupidest bitch she is in S1?

That is definitely the weaskest part of Season 1. The Season 1 finale is hard to top, though, which is probably why it's my favorite season and why I felt Season 2 was notably weaker.

 

[Gibbo]

Just finished watching Season 4. Holy shit . It is IMO, the best season ever. The action and suspense hardly ever slows down. And although the ending leaves you with this good feeling, it really does not leave any room for the reintroduction of many of the old cast in Season 5.

Am I the only one who thinks Richards is cool? " What are you going to do to him?" " I'll use... Richards"

 

[goodcow]

Bought 24 Seasons 1-3 ($24 each w00t!), watched up to episode 16 from S1 yesterday. Is it only me or 1) script writers should be murdered for bringing

Spoiler

amnesia

into the series and making Bauer's wife stupidest bitch she is in S1?

The writers WANTED Terri to be out of the show for several episodes, but FOX forced them into making her have airtime, hence the stupid plot.

 

[LakeEarth]

My idea for season 5, no CTU for the first half of the season. Add some freshness to the series.

 

[goodcow]

My idea for season 5, no CTU for the first half of the season. Add some freshness to the series.

Jack can cross the border and work for CTU-O.

 

[AssMan]

What was Jack's last job before working for CTU? Did they explain that in season 1? Was he in the military?

 

[Memles]

What was Jack's last job before working for CTU? Did they explain that in season 1? Was he in the military?

Well, he was a part of the insurgence into the Drazen compound so I'd say he was definitely working for the government in some military capacity, or perhaps CIA? I'm not sure exactly what the raid was, if someone can help out here that would be kickass.

And, my brother suggested the same thing LakeEarth, what with the lack of CTU for the first half of the season. To be honest, I think the show needs it. Less nationwide emergencies, less personal era, more Jack Bauer evading criminals and setting up elaborate sting operations. Give Bauer his own little strike force to work with, have a small-time drug lord somewhere in the world be the target, and develop it into a large storyline that could then involve Bauer being forced to reveal himself and take the problem to CTU.

However, considering the fact that the ratings were so high for the "OMG TERRORIST ATTACK OVERLOAD" season, Fox may pressure them into more of the same. I'm not holding out much hope for a lack of CTU, but it would be perfect.

 

[AssMan]

I found it. He has a masters in criminology and law, basic SWAT training, and was apart of some kind of special forces in the military.