I remember back when the original series of 24 was first aired on UK television my younger brother refused to watch it because he didn't believe too much could really happen in one day. Needless to say he was staying at my place when series 2 was showing and I made him watch an episode. After 15 minutes though he decided to go to bed rather than admit a lot more had happened in those 15 minutes than most shows manage in an entire season. Those of you familiar with the series will understand what I'm talking about because 24 is a series with more twists and turns than an extra large packet of pasta twists. You can guarantee when watching this show that nothing is what it seems and that nobody can be trusted, no matter how long you've known them. Unfortunately this makes writing a review a very challenging experience. I need to describe how great the plot is, but spoiling it for anyone who hasn't seen it would be a crime. Needless to say, the good man inside me has won out and so I'm going to tell you all about the technical details of this classic series but any characters, plot details or events that aren't known in the first episode will remain anonymous.
To start off then I'll get the basic plot of the series out of the way first. Set 18 months after season 1 it opens in south Korea to a scene where a man is being brutally tortured using electric shocks. Eventually he snaps and reveals everything he knows to his captors. The leader, who had been doing the torturing, then leaves the room to tell his superiors what he knows, but his superiors are, shock horror, American. The American government had been doing the torture and the man being tortured was a terrorist. What he revealed to them was that there is a terrorist operation taking place in a US city involving plans to set off a nuclear bomb sometime within the next 24 hours. With time running out and no solid leads the government agencies decide to pursue any minor leads they do have. One of them is a known terrorist named Joe, but his location is unknown at this time and the fastest way to find him is to recall an agent who was previously undercover in Joe's gang. That agent is the now retired former head of CTU (counter terrorist unit) Jack Bauer, who is not happy about returning to government service due to the consequences his employment had 18 months ago.
Now believe me I am well aware that my plot description makes 24 sound like every other action thriller you've ever seen, so I'll reiterate my point. That is just the most basic plot description possible, it covers a fraction of the first episode and the story that follows is just too amazing to spoil. For the sake of those who are familiar with the original series I will say this one thing though. Season 2 is a much darker, grittier series than the first. The opening that depicts the American government torturing a terrorist really is just the start of a series which represents a society no longer willing to mollycoddle their terrorists. The things Jack does when undercover will shock you and will most likely disturb you when you realize that this sort of thing probably happens every day. That's the spirit of 24 though, it doesn't shy away from the gritty specifics but provides a gripping look into anti terrorism.
Enough about the plot though because I really am getting too close to spoiling it, but thankfully it's not necessary as 24 is a technical marvel in it's own right. The soundtrack is probably the most cinematic, intensely emotional soundtracks to make it onto a television show yet. However the stand out area in the technicalities is the cinematography that has been carried over from the original. There's 2 aspects to this which I'll describe here. The first is that at a few set intervals, meaning when the Americans had their adverts, the screen will split into 4 screens each showing the different aspects of the story that are playing out at that particular moment. It works very well in tieing the story together and keeping all aspects of the drama at boiling point. Yet it is still only at intervals when this happens and the rest of the time is spent using a less noticeable but equally effective form of cinematography. The camera will hang steady on a close-up for a period of time, often when the character is not saying anything. This let's the facial expressions, particularly the eyes, tell you what the characters refuse. It works amazing in both instances, and both the soundtrack and cinematography help make even scenes where nothing at all happens gripping.
Of course the technical details can't take the full credit because no matter how long you focus on an actors face, if they're not very skillful then they wont be telling you much. Yet the casters of 24 have succeeded in getting together a quality cast of very good actors in even the most minor roles. I can't get into all of them but needless to say that the new cast members manage to slide into their roles very well, and the returning cast members manage to fit their roles like a comfortable pair of slippers. The highlights though are the exact same actors as the first season. Dennis Haysbert returns as President Palmer and absolutely blew me away despite the fact that he was already my favorite actor from the first series. The man is simply intensity personified and manages to add thousands of nuances to the character of David Palmer. The close up cinematography seems to have been invented for this actor as he is at times called to bring out the anger of David palmer whilst keeping a calm demeanor, or even the opposite can also be true. He will at times be required to make David a cold and calculating president, but he keeps the good man through regretful eyes.
There's more burning intensity to be found in the field though. Keifer Sutherland returns as Jack Bouer but this time has to play the character with much more of an edge. If you thought he was a scary, no nonsense guy in the original series then you haven't seen him without rules. Jack is still very angry at the consequences of his career and when Sutherland is required to release that rage the result is an explosion of emotion bigger than any nuclear bomb could muster. He even shares a lot of chemistry with Elisha Cuthbert who plays his daughter Kim. It's actually a real shame because the role is not very good, in fact serves no purpose to the story at all. In the first series she was kidnapped by the terrorists and provided added drama to Jacks situation. In the second series though Jack hardly hears about her exploits and so she is relegated to running around in a tight top meeting the random psycho of the week. Like I said though, Cuthbert still does very well. She adds an emotional attachment that her section doesn't really deserve, and causes you to care about a character who was otherwise just an annoying bimbo.
Anyway I better be drawing this review to a close, but I've saved the best till last. Those familiar with the series will already be familiar with the real time aspect of the story, and it's back. It's not just a cheap gimmick like it was in Nick Of Time though because the real time story of 24 really is used to heighten the drama. A character waiting at a stop sign will be drawn out, a bomb timer ticking down. It all adds up to the tension, as does the events in the story. Seeing a character told he only has a few hours to live means that the character has a few hours to live, and doesn't mean that your about to cut to their funeral. Instead you'll have to watch them slowly die over a matter of weeks, seeing how they react to their doom and the effect it has on those around them. The real time really is the best concept ever dreamed up for a show like this, and it works to enhance a technically excellent show into the best entertainment ever conceived (even though an hour is actually about 40-45 minutes, to allow room for the commercial breaks in America).
Season 2 of 24 has been treated to a much better box set than season 1 which was pretty much a bare bones set. I'm a big fan of audio commentaries and so when I read the news that there would be a commentary on the episodes I got very excited. Sadly it turns out to be just 6 episodes that have a commentary, which I'm going to be listing here.
Please bare in mind now that some of the actors commenting are not introduced until later on in the series and so the commentary section will contain spoilers about who returns. Also some of the documentaries talk about major events in the series so If you don't want to know anything then you'll probably want to skip the section on special features.
11AM-12PM
The first commentary is by 3 of the actors from the show. Sarah Winter (Kate Warner), Carlos Bernard (Tony Almeida) and Michelle Forbes (Lynne Kresge). They actually work really well together by being both informative and funny. They reveal a few details about filming the scenes, and for once reveal them during the scene, but they still share a lot of banter that makes it one of the easiest to watch commentaries I have ever seen.
1PM-2PM
I am so glad this episode was treated to a commentary as it really is my favorite episode out of either series. Obviously Director Jon Cassar agrees as this is the episode he has chosen to comment on, and he's helped along by actress Sarah Clarke (Nina Myers). They add a lot of insightful comments on how they achieved the raw emotion that permeates each and every plot point of the episode. Not as easy a commentary to watch due to the fact that they're not really trying to be funny, but this is how I like my commentaries and they are never boring.
5PM-6PM
Another great episode another great commentary. This time featuring the executive producer Joel Surnow and actress Penny Johnson (Sherry Palmer) who again bring in a bit of humour to the proceedings. They still manages to bring out the technical details, and offers a fascinating insight into how the decided to write certain scenes.
10PM-11PM
Xander Berkeley (George Mason) is the strongest part of this commentary, probably because the episode meant a lot to him. Executive producer on the show Robert Cochran joins him and they highlight certain points that they liked in the episode. They comment on the different acting style's, particularly how Berkeley's sarcasm helped add some humour to the series without destroying the drama.
3AM-4AM
The man himself Kiefer Sutherland comments on this episode. Executive producer Joel Surnow is commenting as well but he isn't given credit anywhere on the disk. Both of them make a good commentary as they comment on the way the episode comments on how society deals with terrorism. Sutherland himself is a funny guy and he makes jokes about scenes not involving him, but on the whole it's a serious commentary on the episode.
4AM-5AM
I was actually pretty surprised that this episode was chosen for a commentary over the series finale, but I don't mind. This is my second favorite episode of the series as it allows the political aspect of the show to reach it's peak. Dennis Haysbert (President Palmer) does the commentary along with the episodes writer Howard Gordon. Haysbert does very at conveying the different feelings he had, and what he felt he brought to the role. You can tell from the way he talks that he really did become David Palmer when he was doing the show. Sadly Gordon doesn't do much more than comment on the series as a whole and point out the things we already knew.
Deleted Scenes
The DVD also contains a whole 49 deleted scenes which can be viewed independently or in each episode. They're all perfectly acted and none of them feel bad. Watching the show with them included fleshes each episode out to closer to an hour whilst not sacrificing quality, and some of the scenes even offer a new perspective on characters and events. On the seventh disk each of these scenes comes with a directors commentary on why they were deleted.
The Rest
There's quite a few documentaries on the disk including On The Button-The Destruction Of CTU an interesting look into how they made the scene where terrorists blew up the CTU offices. It provides an insight into the techniques they used for the explosions, and what risks were involved. Those of you who missed the series when it was shown on TV I hope you're not reading this. I did post a warning that the special features section contained spoilers and that was the biggest one. Never mind, the rest of the review is now safe to read.
There's also a 2 part Documentary entitles 24 Exposed and this is quite possibly the best documentary I have ever seen on a DVD. It looks into every aspect of the filming, looking at the actors and finding their motivations. Explaining the sort of things that inspired the series. You get to see the actors training for the more physical action scenes, as well as describing the difficulties inherent in writing a show like that and finding locations to shoot. The best part of it is in it's style though. It uses the split screen cinematography of the series in order to build it's own atmosphere, as well as showing a scene being prepared whilst simultaneously showing the completed product.
24 was the greatest series ever made, and the second series has continued that legacy. Forget Kim because 24 is back and it's been treated to a fantastic DVD set.
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