24 - Season 1 [2002]

Creator Robert Cochran and his team of writers and directors have done a pretty impressive job in putting the jigsaw together and keeping the tension ratcheted up high, as Federal Agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) hares around LA trying to stall an assassination attempt on a black Presidential candidate and rescue his wife and daughter from the clutches of the Balkan baddies. Twists, turns, revelations and cliffhangers are tossed at us with satisfying regularity. It's not perfect: we get some hokey plot devices (instant amnesia, anybody?) and the final twist, once you start thinking back, makes no sense whatsoever. There are altogether too many huggy family moments ("I love you, Dad." "I love you, son"); and as for überbaddie Dennis Hopper's "Serbian" accent…

Even so, this is undeniably mould-breaking TV. Sutherland, rescuing his career from the doldrums in one heroic leap, fully deserves his Golden Globe. Sets and locations are artfully deployed--we gain a real sense of LA's splayed-out geography--and Sean Callery's score is a powerful, brooding presence. Like Murder One and The Sopranos, 24 is one of those series future TV thrillers will have to measure themselves against.

On the DVDs:24 is released in a six-disc box set. On discs 1- 5 there are no extras, but disc 6 includes the "alternative" ending and a preview of Series 2, presented by an urbane Kiefer Sutherland, that tells us precisely nothing. The transfer, in 16x9 widescreen and 2.0 Dolby Digital sound, does the high production values of the original every justice.--Philip Kemp

Customer reviews:

Fatuous Ending, 2008-01-24
I watched this avidly, all the episodes, and concluded that the ending was written by someone who just did not see or read the scripts for the previous episodes. Nobody who watched the whole show had any chance of working out who the mole was.
I was so disappointed with this that I have not watched it since and am amazed that it got a second let alone a third series.

Great concept, just loses some steam in the middle, 2008-01-07
24 is a thrilling tv series, set over 24 episodes, each representing an hour within one day. It stars Kiefer Sutherland who excels in his role as Jack Bauwer.

The story follows Jack, who works for CTU (the Counter Terrorist Unit) as he tries to stop an assasination attempt on a presidential candidate. What follows are twists and turns as Jack's family are caught up in the action.

The series, on the whole, is excellent. It has many great aspects, the Palmer political story is captivating, as is the Jack Bauwer thread. I felt the mother / daughter side was the weakest. It really was short on ideas and treads a lot of the same ground and reaches absurdness with the events following the car on the cliff.

From there on it picks up to a great climax.

You have to invest a lot of time into this series, many episodes will pass where you learn little, or few significant events happen. On the whole I think it's worth it. If your a fan of thrillers or Kiefer, this is a must.