This is only my second season watching 24, and I’m thoroughly hooked on the adrenaline jolt the show gives me. (I particularly appreciate that it doesn’t get caught up in a bunch of bullshit hiatuses; you can count on that ticking clock every Monday night.)
One of the 24’s essential intangibles is its unpredictability. Other than the fact that Jack Bauer isn’t going to buy it (although my guess is that someday he will), pretty much everyone else seems like fair game. And when, early this season, a small nuclear bomb obliterated a section of L.A. — that left me slack-jawed. Sat there shaking my head and muttering “fuuuuuck.†The show’s cred went up even further in my book.
There’s one area where its cred doesn’t quite hold up, though, and that’s in its supposed real-time framework. Luckily, I’m so wrapped up in the rush that I no longer look for holes in that particular conceit. I can’t really site you any particular breakdowns in the real-time concept, but there has to be some, don’t ya think?. If any hardcore 24 viewers can present specific examples of the real-time bit breaking down, please send them along.
All I’ll say by way of general comment is that is sure seems convenient that all the dastardly goings-on seem to happen within a 10- or 15-minute drive of the CTU headquarters. Silly me, I always thought L.A. was a sprawling metropolis with traffic jams galore.
This article appears in Apr 4-10, 2007.