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I've watched this show since the first season, but have stayed away from this topic. I used to get caught up on the official 24 fan forum, and trust me, that's soul-killing, so I've tried to steer clear of any online 24 chatting.
But fuck it.
I'll start off by saying this current season is probably the best. It's been no-holds barred, with hardly any of the dumb stuff that harmed past seasons -- no amnesia, no cougars, no useless Kyle Singer subplots, no mentally-unbalanced children of CTU directors. Also, this is the first season which has pretty much run in a linear line...there have been various threats (Russians taking people hostage, nerve gas, president-ruining audio recording), but things have held together pretty well, with multiple mentionings of things that happened several hours before.
But I have to digres...and this is one of the things that kept me so busy on the 24 forum last year. What's with all the negativity towards Season 4? I thought it was the best season overall (until this year, that is), and especially better than the muddled, make-it-up-as-we-go-along Season 3.
Now, I've watched Season 3 (and all the other seasons) twice, and I agree, there's something unique and unusual about it. Like it's the alternate reality version of 24. But there's just so much wrong with it. The half-assed "sting" operation revealed a few episodes in made no sense (especially when one takes into consideration the conversation Jack and Tony had, in the first episode of the season, worrying bout the dangers of the virus if the Salazars were to release it...a conversation which NO ONE ELSE took part in, yet later we discovered Jack and Tony were in on the "sting" together!!! WTF??), and Jack's heroin addiction was an obvious "this should be cool" ploy from the producers that just didn't pan out. In fact, Sutherland reported that he approached them halfway through the season and said he just couldn't do it anymore...the addiction would have to go. And it's no coincidence that Season 3 saw a lot of people dropping off...Fox took the approach of sending TV reviewers tapes containing the 3 of the later-season eps (specifically the great one in which Chappelle met his end) with an intro from Sutherland saying they'd "fixed up" the season and that the show had never been better. So even when the producers and actors knew something was wrong with Season 3, something so wrong that they had to fix it up and change the entire narrative over halfway through, then I think it's strange so many fans claim it was the best season...
Sure, Season 4 didn't feature the deaths of any "major" characters, but it didn't have any stupid quirks like 3 did. And it also had the best action sequences in the show's history, something this season hasn't given us yet. Last year we had the terrorist-compound raid where Jack rescued Audrey and Heller, plus the nightime battle with the McLenan-Forster commandoes with Jack and Paul in the gunshop. But it must be admitted Season 4 lost some steam towards the end -- until Mandy showed up, that is. And as for main characters coming back throughout Season 4, I thought that was a great idea. The producers pulled a fast one on us; after telling us it would be an all-new cast, the old crew had pretty much returned by the end of the season. A much better "fool" on the audience than the lame-brained sting operation in Season 3, I'd say.
As for Season 1, people always say how great it is, and it's true. But usually what they're thinking of is the stuff with Jack in episodes 1-13. The last-minute twists and reveals. What they're NOT thinking of is all the stupid shit with Kim and her teenage abducters, Palmer's constant "I love you" talks with his son, and Terri Bauer's handwrining, scenes all of which, trust me, do NOT warrant repeat viewings. Same for most of the content of episodes 14 - 22, which are some of the most boring television I've ever seen. Combined with the low budget (compared to later seasons), herky-jerky directing, and Sutherland's ultra-blonde hair, I'd say Season 1 is a far cry from being the best season of 24.
Season 2 I thought was much better, and was my favorite season until season 4. In fact, I think Season 2 had all you could want from 24. Good action, good suspense, another clingy woman for Jack (for such a tough guy, Jack sure likes neurotic women, doesn't he?), less melodrama with the Palmer family, and lots of surreal dark comedy for Kim Bauer. I really think the writers tried to one-up each other for the dumbest thing they could think of for Kim to endure, that season..."Okay, how about she meets some freak in a nuclear bunker??"
Anyway, this season has been mostly flawless, save for last week's episode, which I thought was pretty slow, and guilty of regurgitating information from one scene to the next; constant scenes of characters telling us stuff we already knew. I'm wondering if Fox asked the producers to tone down the scenes of Jack taking the plane hostage? And also, the preview for next week's episode looks like an exact lift of an early Season 3 episode...the one where Jack and Salazar were in the helicopter, with jets in hot pursuit.
Oh yeah, and Curtis is the first character I'd say who could actually carry this show, if Sutherland left. Another problem with Season 3 was the introduction of Chase. Obviously introduced as a young face for the audience to respond to, to hopefully carry the show if Jack were to die...it didn't work out. I've always said Season 3 would've been pretty damn great if the producers had stuck with their original idea, that Jack went rogue, stole Salazar, and Chase went after him. In fact one of the producers revealed this is WHY they named the character Chase, because he would "chase" afer Jack. Unfortunately one of the producers later came up with the sting operation idea, which threw everything into a tailspin that took them half a season to get out of. |
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