24 Season Two Review

Reviewer's Note: Because Season Two's storyline is inextricably intertwined with that of Season One, any review of this seven-disc set of 24 will refer to pivotal characters and/or events that may be "spoilers" for readers who have not seen the Fox TV series from Day One.

Although over the past few years I've been watching less television than I used to before I had an Internet connection, there are a few noteworthy programs that I still will make time for.

Some have nothing whatsoever to do with entertainment, of course.  As a former journalism major and history minor in college, I tend to watch local newscasts, ABC World News, and various "infotainment" programs along the lines of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" and "Verdict with Dan Abrams."  I also used to watch History (aka The History Channel) until it began to divest itself of its military history shows and added reality shows such as "Axe Men" and "Ice Road Truckers" to its prime time lineup.

For all that, I still have a handful of series that I'll watch: The Simpsons, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Two and a Half Men, Everybody Loves Raymond repeats, and 24, which is an action-suspense series that chronicles the events of a single day in a 24-episode-long season.

Created by Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow, 24 pits Jack Bauer and his colleagues at the elite Counter Terrorist Unit against various enemies - both foreign and domestic - who plan and try to execute truly devastating terror strikes against the United States. 

Although each season of 24 focuses on a specific set of villains and their intricate schemes, there is a definite sense of continuity where events in one "day" will have an effect of some kind on the next.  In some cases, some story threads are not resolved until a few seasons have passed by in the 24 universe.

There is also a definite two-act structure to each Day of 24.  The first act normally shows Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) and his CTU colleagues dealing with one crisis or terrorist plot, while the second act delves into even more complex issues and ramifications that branch out from the initial crisis, then leads to a conclusion that is sometimes more shocking than what went on during the 23 hours and 50-something minutes that went on before.

Day Two: 8 AM - 8 AM: (2002-2003 Season) 

24 - Season Two picks up the narrative 18 months after the events of Day One. Senator David Palmer is now President Palmer, but Jack, devastated by the death of his wife, has resigned from CTU and become estranged from his daughter Kim (Elisha Cuthbert), who has moved out and become an au pair for a well-off couple (Billy Burke, Tracy Middendorf) and their daughter Megan (Skye McCole Bartusiak).

However, Bauer's retirement from CTU ends abruptly when information gathered by a Korean-U.S. intelligence operation reveals the unimaginable specter of an atomic threat against the city of Los Angeles. Apparently, a Middle Eastern group called Second Wave has managed to sneak a nuclear weapon into the city and is prepared to set it off within the next 24 hours.

For Jack Bauer, the challenge will be a tough one, especially because the death of his wife and his estrangement from Kim are the "collateral damage" from his efforts to save President Palmer from the Drazen family's violent vendetta. He is a much edgier and darker fellow, and his new ruthlessness will come to the fore in Day Two, particularly when he discovers that the traitorous Nina Meyers is somehow involved in the terrorist plot. Thus, part of this season's tension stems from the question Can Jack put his need for personal revenge aside and use Nina as an asset to complete the larger mission?

Another part of the second season's tension comes from President Palmer's story arc from the end of Day One and leading to Day Two's cataclysmic events. He has become the nation's first African-American Chief Executive, but he has problems of his own. Popular with the average American for his steadfast leadership, moral fortitude, and unprecedented honesty, Palmer nevertheless has enemies both within and outside his Administration. Some, such as Vice President Jim Prescott (Alan Dale) and Roger Stanton (Harris Yulin) are hawkish conservatives concerned that the President's foreign and defense policies are too liberal and "lack balls," while his bitter ex-wife Sherry lurks in the shadows, Lady Macbeth-like, leaving the seasoned 24 viewer to wonder if her efforts to help her ex-husband in this crisis are genuine or just a ploy to help destroy his Administration.

As in the first season, 24 challenges the viewer to figure out who is going to help the two main heroes (Bauer and Palmer) cope with the sudden worse than Sept. 11 threat of a nuclear bomb that will kill millions, not only in Los Angeles as a result of the blast, but also those on the receiving end of America's retaliation. Characters who seem to be innocent bystanders caught up in the chaos will turn out to be more-than-wiling-participants, and people who audiences have distrusted, such as CTU director George Mason (Xander Berkeley), will redeem themselves in a shocking and unexpected fashion.

And, of course, there will be violence, mayhem, and suffering. The season begins with a nasty torture of a terrorist suspect somewhere in Seoul, South Korea, and by the final episode, bombs will go off, shots will be exchanged, and several characters will undergo physical and psychological torture, including dismemberment and electrocution. And as is customary in the series, new players, such as Michelle Dessler (Reiko Aylesworth) and Kate Warner (Sarah Wynter) will be introduced, while others, such as Palmer's right-hand man Mike Novick (Jude Ciccolela) will gradually undergo unexpected character changes that will confound and even stun the audience. 

Assets:  24 - Season Two manages to top the thrill-and-chill-a-minute roller-coaster ride of Day One, partly because the stakes in this storyline are far greater, but mostly because the writing, directing, and performances are so good that the series' flaws are overruled by its strengths.

Take, for instance, the body language employed by the actors in any given sequence of Season Two.  One intense stare from Sutherland's hard-bitten Bauer, the subtle twitch of a lip by Haysbert's President Palmer as he tries to control his anger, the sly nuances of Jerald Johnson's Sherry, and the fierce look of hatred on Francesco Quinn's Syed Ali's face tell the viewer far more than a dozen lines of dialogue.

In Day Two, the pacing is a nice combination of tension-and-release mixed in with moments of "shock and awe."  Not only are the scripts well-written and intricately plotted, but  the various episode directors are adept at using lights and shadows to add menace and suspense to the many locations as the good guys look for the nuclear bomb. 
 

Add to this composer Sean Callery's effective musical score, the many nifty editing tricks in which sometimes the screen will break up and several simultaneous events are shown, and the complicated little twists and turns the plot takes, and you have an intensely gripping (and highly addictive) drama that keeps you watching breathlessly and, at the end of each episode, leaves you wanting more.

Liabilities:  Although I like actress Elisha Cuthbert a great deal  -- she's beautiful, she acts well, and we get a sense that her character  does have real emotions, particularly toward her father -- the writers have saddled her with too many "Perils of Pauline" situations, ranging from having to escape from her psychotic employer's home along with his daughter Megan, getting arrested as a murder suspect, surviving a car accident, running away from the police and ending up with a loony survivalist in the woods, evading cougars, getting into a hostage situation, and more "downers" than I thought were necessary.. This misuse of Kim Bauer is a holdover from the first season of 24, and while the "Kim in Danger" device might have added dramatic tension on Day One, it seems a bit superfluous here.

Nevertheless, despite its narrative missteps and often violent content, 24 is one of the best dramatic series on television. It sometimes stretches a viewer's credulity, of course, but it also explores issues of importance on various levels, ranging from a character's moral and ethical choices to the awesome power at the hands of a President and the darker side of political and personal ambition.

Furthermore, it depicts its heroes and villains as complex individuals not in simple terms of black and white but in varying shades of gray, with human desires and flaws that make them believable.

The Season Two DVD Box Set:  When 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the original Season One box set in 2002, it came with few extras along with its six DVDs other than a bunch of deleted/alternate scenes, the unaired "conventional TV resolution" alternate ending, and a booklet with 24 episode summaries.  (The 2008 Season One: Special Edition  re-release corrects this and adds a seventh disc with all-new extras.)

Fortunately for fans of the show who also like loads of extra features, the Season Two box set  started the trend of including a seventh disc with more behind-the-scenes stuff related to the 2002-2003 batch of episodes.  (Each of the six discs featuring the day's events also had alternate/deleted scenes and/or audio commentary tracks by cast and production crew members on selected episodes.)

Disc Seven of the Season Two box set includes the following extras:

Featurettes: "On the Button: The Destruction of CTU,"

"Making of an Episode: Production,"

"Making of an Episode: Post-Production"

Multi-angle studies: scene 1, scene 2

 44 deleted scenes with optional commentary