TV Show Review: 24 - Season One

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Innovative approach put to good use. Great storytelling.

Cons: Afternoon episodes a little slow.

The Bottom Line:

As minutes tick by

You'll be glued to your TV

Innovative fun

Bet You Can't Watch Just One

It's just after midnight at the Bauer home. They're getting ready for bed when Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) gets a phone call asking him to report to work at the Counter Terrorism Unit in Los Angeles. There he's briefed on a plot to assassinate Presidential candidate David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert), the first African American candidate with a real chance at victory. Meanwhile, Jack's daughter Kim (Elisha Cuthbert) has snuck out of the house to meet some guys who are a whole lot more trouble than she realizes. His wife Terri (Leslie Hope) is out searching for Kim but in a world of trouble all her own. Both women are merely pawns in the hands of the villains out to destroy Palmer and Jack. Meanwhile, Palmer is facing a crisis as well. Something in his family's past he didn't even know about is about to surface and could destroy his chance at the oval office. It's going to be a long day for everyone.

This thriller series is innovative. Each episode represents just one hour in the same day with events occurring in real time. I wasn't sure the writers could pull if off, but they managed to keep all the plots going and make the gaps between seeing characters believable.

The story starts a little slowly while they are establishing characters and setting up the situation. The first few episodes didn't grab me, but they held my interest. That changed quickly, and it soon turned into a weekly addiction that had me glued to my seat and dreading commercials more than normal. Some of the plots lose steam in the afternoon, but it builds up tension again for the climax, which was the best hour of television that season, period.

The characters do suffer. One reason that it took me a few episodes to get into the story was because it took me that long to care for them. As with most thrillers, the focus is on the story. But if you give them a disc, you'll really care these people.

What really makes the series work is the acting. Yes, the series was inventive. Yes, it was plot driven with little character development. It was the actors who took the potentially stereotypical roles and made them full people. Even when a few plots drifted into the absurd in the afternoon, the actors still did the best they could with the material.

I have the original six disc set that was rushed into production to help build an audience for season two.  The extra here were limited; the most interesting of them being the alternative, happy ending of season one.  While I like happy endings, the original works better.  They've released it now as a seven disc set with disc seven packed full of extras.  Since I haven't seen it, I can't comment on them.

This is a great show and one of the best seasons.  If you want to see what all the fuss was about, pick up 24 - Season One, and I'll see you in 24 hours.