24: Days Go By

Around the time of its third season, 24 became a huge hit. It had amassed a good-sized following in its first two years, but it exploded on Day Three and became a cultural phenomenon. Suddenly, people were making the CTU phone chime their cell phone ringtones, politicians were referencing the show, and parodies were made. Many many parodies. As much as I love this show, there is a lot to parody, and this post is about both the triumphs and tragedies of the series (though all political discussions will be reserved for the next post).

As I've said, the real-time aspect allows the writers to tell very tight and very intense stories, and although it is in many ways a gimmick, it is a gimmick that works very well and achieved its goal. 24 effectively mixed action with political intrigue over the course of (most of) the days and the real-time element gave both sets of stories immediacy. The time constraints often required Bauer, his coworkers, and government officials to choose between two (or more) very undesirable situations in order to stop teh various terrorist threats. Jack once held up a convenience store in order to stall a person who likely had information on that day's terrorist plot. There was also a time when President Palmer, against his better judgment, allowed his (crazy) wife to try and "handle" a situation that could threaten his reelection campaign when it appeared as if there were no other options. Some spoilers below.

Unfortunately, because each season involves a terrorist plot and a political plot, there are only so many things that can happen before the show has to go back to the well for ideas. I can't even remember how many times there has been a mole in CTU or in the government. Granted, there was a mole plotline in Season 5 that was effective both because of who the mole was and that the identity revelation was also the revelation of the existence of the mole. But aside from that one, no other mole story has lived up to the Season 1 mole story. Also, being President in the 24 universe should come with the world's greatest life insurance policy, because there is a near-100% mortality rate. Finally, nuclear weapons are the most recurring threat used on the show. The best nuclear plotline was Season 2, but that was mainly because it was novel. The Season 4 nuclear storyline was very good, but it did not strike me the same way as the Season 2 story did because there were multiple small (relatively) threats in 4 as opposed to the single enormous threat in 2. And, um, let's not talk about the Season 6 nuclear storyline (or Season 6 at all, for that matter).

I'll admit that 24 tends to sacrifice character for story. I'm not saying that people act out of character in order to further the story (although I do believe that has happened once or twice); rather, the show is plot-driven, and often glosses over characterization because there either isn't time or it isn't warranted. Normally, I would not let a show off so easily for sacrificing character development, but on a show like 24 I'm willing to let it slide to a degree. We don't see much of the characters in a home setting (though there are some exceptions, and one of the earliest scenes in the series is one of them), so we don't always see how their home lives shape their work lives. The characters are so busy stopping terrorist threats that there is little time left over to delve deep into their personalities. Personalities show themselves in the characters' chocies, but we usually aren't privy to the events that made the various characters believe the things they believe.

Every now and then, we see a bit of the various characters' personal lives. The best examples are Jack's relationship with his wife Teri in Season 1 (which was integral to the plot) and Tony and Michelle's relationship. Tony and Michelle's courting and marriage was not integral to the plot, but it was an effective background story that helped give them a human side and affected some of the choices they made (especially in Season 3). Sadly, adding personal lives to the mix didn't always work. The best (or should I say worst?) example was Chloe's pregnancy in Season 6. I don't know if I just didn't find it compelling or if it was written like a soap opera storyline, but that story absolutely infuriated me (and I like Chloe). Also, because Kim was usually not associated with CTU, most of her storylines were rather silly.

Finally, I will end with something that will carry over into the next post. Jack seems to have only two tones of voice: gruff and loud. And torture is his answer for nearly any situation, even if the person he is about to torture is a civilian. This is probably the aspect of the series that is the most heavily parodied. This is partly because the torture aspect is at the center of the political debates about this show. But with the frequency and intensity of some of the scenes, they tend to be the ones that get ingrained in the fans' minds. Jack's humorless demeanor is heavily referenced when fans talk about the series. Often, they try and pull off their best Bauer impression as these videos will demonstrate (I'm the guy in the squirrel costume):





Up next: A rare political post...