Plot Details: This opinion reveals everything about the movie's plot.

I only ever saw the first episode of 24, way back in 2001. Unfortunately, there were other things going on in the world at that point that made me lose track of the show, and I haven't picked it back up until a couple of days ago. I'm glad I did, though.

As for my review, I'll give a broad overview and then give you my impressions of it. I'll leave the pages-long specifics to other reviewers who've already done a better job of that than I could ever hope to do.

The Concept

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last five years, you've probably got a pretty good handle on the concept of 24. Each episode of the show is a successive hour, in "real time," of a very, very long day. Terrorism, assassination plots, double crosses, triple crosses, kidnapping, amnesia, this show's got it all and then some. And if you can get past having to believe that the characters only eat and use the bathroom during the brief periods when they're off screen, then you've pretty much got it.

The Plot

Action.

That's pretty much it. The action comes in all shapes in sizes. It starts ten minutes into the first episode, and it doesn't let up until the end of the last episode.

That's not to say that the action doesn't get absurd at times, because it certainly does. Let me start at the beginning.

*spoilers ahead*

Agent Jack Bauer of the Los Angeles Bureau of CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) gets a call shortly after midnight, mobilizing him to deal with a plot to assassinate Senator and Presidential candidate David Palmer. Jack's daughter Kim goes out with a friend to party with some older boys who turn out to be nothing but trouble. Jack's wife Teri goes out to look for her daughter with a man who turns out not to be who he seems. Meanwhile, David Palmer tries to deal with some stunning revelations about his son Keith's involvement in a death seven years ago. Also, a hot girl crashes a passenger jet and delivers a photographer's ID to a terrorist organization looking to assassinate Palmer.

Got it? OK, take a breath.

Kim's friend gets hit by a car and is ultimately murdered by the terrorist masquerading as her father (and riding around with Teri). Jack alternately suspects just about everyone at CTU of being a double agent, and has to pretend to kill one of them to satisfy the terrorists. The real mole at CTU is revealed and kills herself. Teri escapes but is kidnapped and thrown into a shed at an armed compound with Kim. Teri is raped, Kim's surviving kidnapper helps them escape, Jack finds them, there's a big shootout, Palmer thinks he's solved the problem with his son, and the assassination attempt is foiled (but only after Jack is taken into custody as a suspect by the FBI, only to escape narrowly in steam-filled corridors underneath the power plant where the assassination attempt took place).

With me so far? Good.

Turns out the whole assassination attempt had nothing to do with Palmer's candidacy, but with a vendetta against Palmer and Jack for the death of a man named Victor Drazen in Kosovo two years ago to the day. The people who kidnapped Jack's wife and daughter are using them as leverage to try to get Jack to kill Palmer, then get himself killed by the federal authorities. Meanwhile, Palmer's wife reveals herself to be quite the conniver, and things go downhill between them. Many more plot twists later, including Kim getting arrested in a drug bust and Teri enduring a bout of amnesia, and we're nearing the end of the day.

Think it can't get any more twisted? Pshaw.

Jack finds a secret prison facility underneath a field where he discovers that Victor Drazen isn't really dead. Senator Palmer holds a press conference and airs the truth with the voters, just before an explosion nearly kills him (and Jack, for that matter). Teri waits for Jack at CTU, while Kim is kidnapped (again!) while being transported by the police to CTU. The Drazens tell Jack that his daughter is dead, and he storms their compound, killing them all in the process. Through it all, he discovers that his trusted compatriot Nina Meyers was a double agent all along, and had in fact killed the other double agent who'd appeared to commit suicide. Somewhere in here, Palmer leaves his wife. Jack rushes back to CTU, but not in time to save his wife, who was fatally shot by Nina right before her capture.

Phew.

*end spoilers*

What I Liked

Like I said, the show is non-stop action. Even when it gets absurd, even when it has you shaking your head and laughing, you still can't stop watching. And when you've got the DVDs, that means you can't stop watching as many episodes as you have time for, and then some.

There were a number of strong performances, including Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer and Xander Berkeley's George Mason. Although I didn't think his performance was as strong, I really liked Carlos Bernard's Tony Almeida. He's a stand-up dude, and it's nice to have had an anchor like him in the show. Someone without ulterior motives or allegiances, who's just out to do what's right.

What I Didn't Like

As for the DVDs, the lack of extras was disappointing. I don't normally feel like I need a lot of extras, but it's part of the standard package now, so their absence is palpable.

Some of the plot twists were heady and exciting, but watching the show almost all in a row as I did, they didn't quite add up. When, near the end of the season, a major twist was revealed, I thought back to previous episodes, and for the most part, they completely did not make sense, given what I now knew. Given that plot twist, it seemed that many things in the early episodes of the show should have gone differently, or that the entire mission could easily have been derailed, but it wasn't, and there was no reason given. Almost like with some of the twists, the writers were trying to be clever simply for clever's sake.

Also, I didn't like the fact that Lou Diamond Phillips only got about ten minutes of screen time. It was like a Young Guns reunion there for a minute.

There are a few more minor things that I won't mention, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how terribly miscast Dennis Hopper was. A Serb? Seriously? Come on.

The Final Verdict

There were and are some serious flaws in 24, but that doesn't stop it from being a rollicking good time. It's always suspenseful, and it's brazen enough about everything that it does that even if you can't forgive its flaws, you can overlook them for a while.

Other TV Reviews!

Scrubs - The Complete First Season
Scrubs - The Complete Second Season
Smallville - Season One

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older