Another season of “24” drew to a close last night, and although the reboot wasn’t quite as exciting as past seasons, I think most fans would rather have some form of 24 than nothing. But what about new fans who maybe are wondering which of the show’s first 8 seasons to watch or skip on Netflix? Well, wonder no more…
[Ranked from “worst” to “best”]
Season 6…It should be noted that even the “worst” season of 24 is pretty good, and this one is still decent. It’s just that there’s not really anything of interest that happens, the villains are pretty weak, the president barely registers, the usual season cliffhanger is lackluster, the interesting set-up (is a tortured, weak, and recently-freed Jack still the man he used to be?) is quickly abandoned, and it’s the most ridiculous season of the sometimes-far fetched series. What do I mean by ludicrous? For starters, Jack’s brother and father being the chief villains even though they’re never mentioned at all by him before this season, and never mentioned again in subsequent seasons. And an atomic bomb going off on American soil in the first couple episodes, but that’s not the main threat? Head-smackingly unrealistic. Grade: C-
Season 9…Otherwise known as the season we just finished. I’ll admit that I haven’t seen the final episode yet, so I’ll hold off a formal grade until then, but something about this shortened season didn’t feel epic or urgent enough. Still, Yvonne is a nice addition and Michelle Fairley ruled as the villain, but only a drone vs. car chase really registered in terms of suspense or action. Although it is nice to see a London set 24, and opens up the series to other countries as well. [No grade, and an asterisk by its placing on this list until finale is seen.]
Season 7…This season isn’t bad, but it’s just not particularly memorable. Really, every season after season 5 has suffered from slacker pacing and a general feeling of fatigue around the margins. Still, Jon Voight’s deranged defense contractor is arguably the best “corrupt military CEO” 24 has had, and Annie Wersching (the red-headed Renee Walker) is my pick for Jack’s best departed girlfriend and arguably the only one to generate real heat with Jack. Grade: C+
Season 8…The “final” season before 24 was brought back and a movie version was cancelled, and the first couple thirds are way too slow. It’s nice to see the L.A.-based show move to NYC (all the terrorist plots in L.A. also seemed far-fetched), but it only really gets going in the final stretch. I hated seeing Renee’s death, but watching Jack fully, finally lose it—-this is only the 50th person he’s close to that’s died—-in the final episodes temporarily reinvigorated this series. Grade: B-
Season 2…Out of the first five seasons, this is by far the weakest. It’s infamously known as the season where stray-daughter Kim got caught in a cougar trap and they kept inventing increasingly dumb ways to put her in peril. The overall nuclear-bomb-in-L.A. plot would be better in other seasons, and the only thing that really delivers is the terrific first third of the season, particularly Jack’s ruthlessness and interactions with nemesis Nina (my pick as 24’s best villain). Grade: B-
Season 4…With both Nina and former first lady Sherry Palmer out of commission, this season could have suffered from a major villain void but Shohreh Aghdashloo (the prototype for Michelle Fairley’s bonkers terrorist mom) filled it and then some. Sure, the Muslim-next-door paranoid fantasy is something out of a Glenn Beck fever dream but this season (the first to feature not one large threat but several carried out by the same villain) is firing on all cylinders. Grade: B+
[All of the top three are really worth watching, and it’s just a matter of taste on which is “best.”]
Season 3…Sure, this season is uneven and somewhat crazy, but it’s also unevenly terrific and crazy underrated. You never know what’s going to happen next: will Jack really kill his cowardly boss so a terrorist won’t release a toxic virus? Will his heroin addiction overcome him at the worst possible moment? Will Kim’s bangs eat her face? The answers to these questions were a wild ride and I thoroughly enjoyed getting there, plus the season’s main villain has been largely underrated and forgotten. And the ending of Jack finally crying might be the craziest twist of them. Grade: A-
Season 5…This season opens with the craziest twist of them all (a thoroughly unexpected death) and ends with one too (the revelation of the real villain behind it all). Unrealistic, wild, and completely engrossing, this season is 24 at its insane best—-hey, if people can abandon their sense of realism while watching the parody-of-itself Scandal, then why not cut Jack and Co. some slack? This season was the last broadcast show to win the Best Dramatic Series Emmy and you can almost see why. Grade: A
Season 1…The season that started it all, and is still the definitive one to watch. I can remember when it first came out, waiting each week to see what twists and turns the show would throw out. It’s easy to dismiss “24” now, but when it came out there was truly nothing on TV that had ever been like it. Along with “Alias” (a show that’s legacy hasn’t held up nearly as well), it led a small-scale revolution for what broadcast network TV could be…it’s something the increasingly-risk-averse broadcasters desperately need to do again. Anyway, go back and watch this first season and marvel at how human the not-yet-superheroic Jack is, and savor the shocking moments before they felt played out: the reveal of the first traitor, the first game-changing death, the horrific-but-awesome season ending cliffhanger, and the general sense of stylish danger that some of the later seasons are missing. Grade: A
Only watched two seasons of 24. This and the first. So thanks for the synopsis.
Cheers,