24 Season One | TV Review

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24 Season One

Air Date: Nov. 2001

Station: Fox

Cast: Kiefer Sutherland, Dennis Haysbert, Elisha Cuthbert

MEGAN’S REVIEW:
            I love the concept of this show. Each season consists of 24 episodes that are made to appear as shot in real time and equal the total amount of time for one day. I wasn’t sure that I would like the story though. I can enjoy an action story, but it’s not usually my first choice. It was recommended to Nathan and I from someone on Twitter, so my mind was made up for me!

            We just finished season 1 and it starts at 12 a.m. on the day of the California Presidential primary. The story is about Jack Bauer, who works for CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) protecting presidential candidate David Palmer. While doing this he also has to protect his wife and daughter who are targeted because of a past occurrence with Jack and the people behind the assassination.

            The show is shown from different perspectives. For the most part they stick with the more main characters and sometimes will show the views of other characters to explain the story in more detail.

Impressions:
             I go back and forth on whether I like the show’s split screen shots. They do it intermittently through each episode and at times it seems necessary to remind the viewer of the situation going on from all sides. At other times it just annoys me. Usually the shot is after the commercial break and it’ll show each character in a transition. Often they’re just sitting in a car or staring into space. These times I think maybe they could cut out a few of.
I also noticed that major climatic parts of the story are coincidentally happening on the hour mark, or when one episode ends and makes the show a cliffhanger. Some of this is ok for script writing, but in a show with 24 episodes only, explaining one day, it would help if there were some variety.
              Another impression would be that even for a drama/action TV show there are too many things that happen to characters repeatedly. For example, Jack’s daughter Kim could use a break during the first season. She always has just one more incredibly terrible thing happen to her, as soon as she’s been saved from the previous one.
When watching an action movie/show I think there has to be plenty of action to keep it interesting. I’ll give this to 24-they always keep the story moving.

             Overall I liked the show. I think there are some areas that could use improving, but I look forward to the future seasons to see where they develop the story. By the end of season 1 I was ready to go and rent season 2 just to find out what happens.

BTW- By the time this is posted we will have finished season 2. Yes, Nathan and I are that impatient and had to know what happened. We rented season 2 when we returned the first. 

NATHAN’S REVIEW:
             Unlike the first few episodes of 24, Season One, I’m going to dive right into this review. The beginning of this season was slow. So slow, in fact, I was starting to get bored with it. I know, I know you guys that are huge 24 fans have probably already stopped reading, but hear me out. I was afraid this show was going to be another one of those rouge anti-hero cop runs after the bad guys, then runs away from the bad guys while they shoot at him but always somehow miss, and at the end of the hour the cop saves the planet. Well. Jack Bauer kinda does do all that stuff.
             So what sets this series apart? The writers. The best part of this show you can’t even see. Don’t get me wrong here, I did end up liking the first season, especially after the plane explosion. The writing is great. 24 is not like other TV shows that have a new main theme or subject the next time you tube in. 24 has to be written like a long movie, just cutting when the time slot is up. That kinda writing has got to be hard to do and keep with pace, all while fitting in cliffhangers.
             Now that I think about it, production would be difficult too. Can you imagine the time crunch and scene shuffling required to get the correct outdoor light lighting for this entire show?! The actors and crew probably don’t get a lot of second chances.
By the end of the season I really started to get hooked on 24. I also learned to like Kiefer Sutherland , which I never did before. I’m discovering that maybe what I didn’t like about him was just the roles he had played up until now.
              If I were a first season of 24, I might decide to lay off some of the character and let them play a smaller part, so I could focus more of the main characters task at hand. AT the same time, does this show really have a main character? You tell me. I mean ya, sure, Jack Bauer, but it’s also the President David Palmer, and Kim, Jacks Daughter, too.
All in all I’m glad our Twitter followers chose this one for us to watch. I felt it had enough entertaining character drama, and a good amount of action (although unbelievable at times, seriously, but maybe that’s what this genre is all about) that we’ve moved on to season two. Thanks everyone!