24: Day 2

As I heard someone eloquently say about the debate between watching a series all at once on DVD or every week on TV, "I digest them more thoroughly and glean them of their enjoyment instead of just blowing through them like I've got the runs."

To be frank, I can't disagree. I love my marathons of 24 (or any other series), but by the 6th episode in I start to forget what happened 4 episodes prior. Did X happen in Y episode? Have we really not seen character A since episode B?

Since I'm familiar with the story already it makes it really easy to follow what happened because I was able to watch the show week by week with enough time to discuss and think about what happened in the episode itself. I recall watching season one of Lost with my old roommates in two days (only one break to sleep/study for finals). By the end of the run I had to remind them of events that occurred just a few episodes back. The same can even be said about the current format that 24 plays itself out on TV which is for the first week of the new season they air 2 episodes Sunday night, 2 Monday night, with one episode every Monday from there on. After the 4th episode airs I have to evaluate what the heck just happened before being able to move on.

I've just come off watching what I consider the best season of 24 they've made so far. This is not to say that the subsequent seasons are not good, but that the seasons aren't just as good. This season deals with a terrorist plot to detonate a nuclear bomb on US soil and what the reaction from the White House would be if such an event occurred. The only downside to this wonderful season is the dire Kim Bauer subplot that is painfully shoehorned into a story that's just 2 sizes too small to fit this. It becomes forced and nearly laughable (especially Kim's martial art's boyfriend who nearly does a round-house to her would-be killer). Couple that with Kevin Dillon's short stint as a crazy man in the woods (plus a cougar trap that Kim gets trapped in), makes it the low point of the season.

Other than that the season has as much action and suspense as a theatrical film. And yep, that's Jack's dad from Lost as Bob Warner.

Staring: Kiefer Sutherland, Sarah Wynter, Elisha Cuthbert, Xander Berkeley, Penny Johnson Jerald, Carlos Bernard, Dennis Haysbert, Reiko Aylesworth, Michelle Forbes, Jude Ciccolella

****/*****