"24": Unwatchable or Unbelievable?

TVWatch Week 2

Ishaan Golding

      WARNING: SPOILERS ARE IN THIS ARTICLE.

     If you read my last column, you would know that I love reality shows. However, in the spirit of the season, I have given them up for lent (except Survivor, of course, I have to stay alive till lent is over!) I'll tell you right now- it's worse than heroin withdrawal. I know that for a fact- I'm a faithful viewer of Intervention and My Strange Addiction, and those people deserved what they got anyway.

     Moving on- TV has so much to offer that it's hard to know where to turn next. But I enjoy controversy as much as the next person, so I decided to profile 24. 24 is a revolutionary show, for many reasons. It pushes the boundaries of what you can and can't show on TV. Since its airing in 2001, it has captivated the minds of its viewers and given them a whole new perspective on law enforcement.

 

The cast of Season 1 of 24- Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert), Teri Bauer (Leslie Hope), Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert), and Nina Myers (Sarah Clarke).

PROS:

     One of the best things about 24 is the format of the show. Each episode consists of one hour in the day of the Counter Terrorist Unit, a government agency dedicated to stopping foreign nationals from using their horrible nuclear/biological/conventional/kidnapping tactics on the unsuspecting population. In the meantime, each character has some sort of personal problem, which ranges from a heroin addiction to a secret baby hidden under a desk to being a mole (there is at least one mole every season, and it's always ridiculous when they're exposed, because there's no way they could possibly be a secret agent, but it's still great fun to watch anyway.) It's very smooth presentation all the way around, minus the fact that Jack Bauer can drive anywhere in southern California during a commercial break.

     Another fantastic part of 24 is the casting. Admittedly, it's not perfect (Janeane Garofolo is the. worst. FBI. agent. ever) and somehow all data analysts are women in their 20s, but for the most part, the casting is amazing. Kiefer Sutherland portrays Jack Bauer convincingly and with just the right emotional touch to make him tough yet sympathetic.

CONS: 

     Anyone can operate a gun, hack into government servers, and operate helicopters, boats, planes, and aerial drones, even when wounded. I'm willing to suspend logic for a while, but some of it is just too much.

I don't think so, blondie.

You're a senior data analyst? How old are you, 25?

   Some of the plot lines are a little shaky, too. I'm sorry- a small little African country cannot afford to bribe like half the secret service and the FBI at the same time. All government buildings are not, contrary to 24, easy to walk in and out of. Prisoners can be tortured for hours on end without anyone noticing (or caring). Sometimes, it's just ridiculous.


  Overall, despite some strange or ridiculous scenes, 24 is a fantastic show, and I give it 4 stars.