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Television Review: Twenty-Four
Twenty-four is not for everyone. If you are the type of person who gets angry at cliff-hangers that span three weeks,
you may not want to watch this show. If you are the kind of person who hated Die Hard 2 and 3 based on the
“how many times can this happen to the same guy” logic, you may not want to watch this show.
If you don’t have a bit of a stomach for violence, you may not want to watch this show.
Now, for the rest of you, I will only say this once. Twenty-four just might be the best show on network television.
No other show currently on the air brings the mix of great performances, high energy non-stop action,
inventive camera work, and heart-stopping suspense that twenty-four brings to the table.
What is even more amazing is that this happens in nearly every episode.
Keifer Sutherland plays agent Jack Bauer, a CTU (counter-terrorism unit) agent, and all around bad mutha.
He won the Golden Globe last season for best actor in a television drama and deservedly so. He approaches the role
with an amazing intensity
and honesty. Even when forced to do the unthinkable (behead a bad guy with a hacksaw for example), Sutherland does it with
heart and we end up liking him for it. Whether he is attempting to save his family and avert an assassination
attempt (as he did in season one) or stop a nuclear war from happening (as he is this season), Jack Bauer is always working
for the side of good so we always find ourselves pulling for him.
Much has been written about the show's creative use of real time (each episode is an hour of real time.
The season is 24 one hour shows, thus the title) but the real genius of the show is its split screen camera work.
We often see 3 or 4 different scenes on the screen at one time to see what the characters are up to.
Jack in the midst of a chase may fade to the bottom left so we can see that the president is in a meeting,
Tony is sitting at his desk looking pensive, and Jack’s daughter Kim is being eaten by a bobcat.
Speaking of Kim, she is the one thing about the show that I do not like. In two seasons, Kim has had the
following things happen to her:
- Kidnapped by druggies
- Watched her best friend get her arm broken and then run-over by a car
- Nearly eaten by a bobcat
- Taken hostage in a convenience store
- Involved in 2 fiery car crashes
- Arrested for murder
- Nearly raped
- Held prisoner by a lunatic drifter in the mountains
- Taken captive by eastern European terrorists
- Discovered the body of the woman she was working for in the trunk of a car
- Kidnapped a child from a hospital
You get the picture. I mean, I know to enjoy this show we have to suspend reality a little bit but a bobcat? Geez.
The only other gripe I have with twenty-four is that once you’ve missed the first few episodes,
you have no chance of following what is going on. Fortunately, the first season has been released on DVD.
I have already lent it out to 3 different friends just so they can understand who Nina is and why she is important.
Like many of the great shows on television, these characters have a back story and knowing it is important.
Twenty-four airs Tuesday nights at 9:00 on Fox. If you enjoy high-tech gadgetry, spy games,
and suspenseful cliffhangers (which happen just about every week),
twenty-four is a show you will quickly fall in love with. Of course, you might have to wait for
season three to really know what’s going on.
Review by Greg Adkins
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