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24 - Season One Customer Reviews (7 - 9 of 44 Reviews)

24 Season 1 (DVD)
For most of us, a busy day might include a meeting, a nice dinner and a night on the town. For Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) that would be a lazy Sunday in the warm August sunshine compared to the single day that makes up the debut season of 24, one of the most daring and exciting television series I've ever seen.

Time - there's lots in a day: 1,440 minutes, 86,400 seconds, one spin of the earth. The attempt to make a film documenting an entire day, virtually in real time, might have worked in The Truman Show, but I'm sorry to say that my interest would have been less than enthusiastic if anyone other than Jim Carrey had been cast in the starring role. It's just that difficult to make true real-time seem exciting. But that's what 24 does. Going from midnight to midnight on Super Tuesday, the day that would-be United States presidential hopefuls find out if they're going to enter the horse race for the White House, the show's first season is conveniently made up of 24 episodes, each lasting one hour.

John Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) stands a better than good chance of becoming the first black U.S. President, but someone's set up an elaborate plot to assassinate him on the day when his pending nomination is to become official. Enter Bauer, an esteemed member of California's counter-terrorist unit, and the only person with a chance of cracking the case.

Although the time aspect of 24 could be viewed as a gimmick (it is), it's also what makes the show unique and sets the intensity of every episode. As the day carries on, the plot unravels and thickens, and the stakes are raised to near unbearable points for all the characters involved, you're left guessing what's going to happen up until the very last second. This is suspense at its best. Everything is laid out methodically, so that when surprises pop up (and they do every few minutes), they make sense. The writers are not afraid to challenge the audience's expectations, often taking the route least predictable.

With everything that's going on, there's never a shortage of action, especially in the closing seconds of every hour. This is where a lot of the twists happen, as the makers try to hook viewers to tune in again next week. This is where the real-time format shows its greatest weakness. It's strange how everyone seems to get shot in the 59th minute of an episode. This may not have been as noticeable while watching on television during its initial run, but when you watch the whole season over a short period of time on DVD, it becomes obvious that the producers worked to pique interest at the end of every hour. The spins follow a time pattern, but it's still tough to figure out which way the spin's going to go.

We live in an age of conspiracy theories and uncertain global relations. Who are we watching? Who's watching us? The first season of 24 is all about the loss of trust. Bauer, his family, his co-workers, Palmer, even the public at large see the most sacred and intimate of emotions wither away, sacrifices to the television gods, and to my delight. Anyone you play with might just be playing you. Anything can happen in an instant. That's the thrill of time. It's only predictable in the present. 24 starts out by playing with the form of time, simply by letting it run. How long can the gimmick last? Who cares? Season one ranks among the best debuts I've seen.

Addicting
I had never watched this show until I finally gave in to all the buzz and watched an episode on Fox. Even though I didn't understand quite everything that was going on, I was sucked in almost immediately. So, I got the wife to get me Season 1 on DVD for Valentine's day, and we have basically spent the last two days plowing through episode after episode.

Things happen slowly, so you're not going to get a huge payoff after just one episode. But each episode builds on the previous one and I cannot wait to get to the end. My only regret with this purchase was that I didn't purchase the multi-season bundle. I am hooked!

Totally addictive. . .
My wife and I started watchin 24 with the current season (season 5) and got hooked. So far we've also watched the second and part of the third seasons on DVD. However, while the first season does not have many special features, it is still by far the best.

BE WARNED-- do not start watching this unless you are ready to devote all your spare time to doing so, because that's what you'll want to do. It's addictive. . . but in the best of ways.

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