24: Events Occur In Real Time

24 was set to premiere right around the 9/11 attacks, and while that horrible event likely had a short-term detrimental effect on the show (it pushed back its premiere and required some editing for sensitivity), I can't help but think how much the resulting cultural change in our country has fostered a show like 24. The series follows Jack Bauer, an agent of the CIA's (fictional) Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU). If you couldn't tell from the name, CTU's purpose is to monitor, intercept, and prevent terrorist activity and keep America safe. But this wasn't what the press reported on in the early days. The format got the attention.

Each season is comprised of 24 one-hour episodes, each representing one hour of one day in the life of Jack Bauer. Over the course of a single day, we Bauer and CTU as they learn of a terrorist plot, follow various leads, and attempt to stop said plot. The time constraint is both a strength and a weakness for the show; on one hand, it gives an immediacy to the threat at hand, and requires that Bauer and his team act as fast as possible to figure out and neutralize the threat. On the other hand (and let's not get into the logistical nightmare of having Bauer navigate Los Angeles as fast as he does in a car), the writers have to fill 24 hours, and sometimes we have to endure lulls in the main story or B stories we wish we could forget about (case in point: Teri's amnesia and almost anything having to do with Kim, with special mention going to the cougar). Still, in the first five seasons at least, the good far outweighs the bad, and 24 delivered some of the most action-packed and intense television in recent memory.

I still find it amazing how different the terrorists were in the first season, because it was written before the advent of Homeland Security and the color-coded terror alert system. But in Season 1, pretty much every villain was white (this did change, but even in the most recent seasons, the show isn't nearly as racist as some people make it out to be, but more on that in a subsequent post). The Season 1 villains included American mercenaries and Serbian nationalists who were intent on assassinating Senator David Palmer, who was likely going to become the first black Presidential candidate (sorry Barack). Season 1 followed Bauer trying to track down the assassins, who he and CTU initially thought were planning to kill Palmer for racial reasons, but as the season unfolded, a greater mystery was revealed regarding the motives. The first season also established the eventual friendship between Bauer and Palmer that would be mutually beneficial for the two characters, and set up the pivotal characters of Tony Almeida (a fan favorite) and Nina Myers.

Although I believe that the fifth season is the best because of the political story, Season 1 does have many of the best elements, everything was new (once again, more on this subject in a subsequent post), and the story was extremely personal to its two main characters. The next seasons involved various other terrorist plots, ranging from a nuclear bomb being brought to Los Angeles, biological warfare, and chemical warfare. The political storylines have also run the gamut from showing Palmer's first term as president, a rocky reelection campaign, and government corruption.

24 is nowhere near perfect, but for its first five seasons, it knew how to deliver thrills and twists extremely effectively.

Up next: Rise and fall...