24: Season Three
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Movie Reviews of 24: Season Three
Movie Review: Riveting! The Terror is Contagious!
Summary: 5 Stars
Thus reads the back of the boxed DVD set.
Fox's primetime hit series =24= has peaked new heights in edge-of-your-seat storytelling with its third - and best - season. Commercials provide the only pause, the only letup, in this colossally suspenseful terror-trip.
For those who would do so, there is no need to bash it for being less than perfect - nobody could expect absolute flawlessness from 980 minutes of television drama, no matter how refined. I will briefly mention the two foremost problems. (1) That so many events of such large and interrelated significance would take place, all within twenty-four hours, stretches probability way beyond the breaking point. (2) I have had the privilege of working occasionally with a substantial number of Spanish speakers; consequently, I can say that, for the show, the Mexicans should have spoken to and among each other always in Spanish, very nearly never in English (a problem with the Czecks in the first season as well). But the handling of the story is so very good that, understanding and accepting these and other minor flaws, most of us can suspend our disbelief.
Jack is back! - this time to stop terrorists from unleashing a weaponized virus into the American public. The quest to capture it takes him through twists and turns, to a Los Angeles prison, northern Mexico, run-down neighborhoods, a hotel, subway, and an elementary school. This time the threat is biological ... on a virtually unimaginable scale.
Since the series began in the fall of 2001, coinciding, as it would, with the awful tragedy of 9/11, the characters have become quite distinguishable, possessing interesting personalities, and colorful - if in some cases annoying - subtleties. Most of the acting appears quite convincing; as network dramas go, there is minimal contrivance. I shall go quickly through those at CTU and the president's company, first; followed by the terrorists, second. Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) has a secret this time, and he seems genuinely fearful of being exposed. We have a Tony (Carlos Bernard) who, not suprisingly, is down-to-earth, sometimes rigidly so, yet every now and then we see that he carries at his side a sense of compassion. Michelle (Reiko Aylesworth) has married, and though occasionally it doesn't look like she's handling things splendidly at first, we see quite the turnaround later. Kim Baeur works at CTU, not far removed from boyfriend Chase Edmunds, a newbie to the team. Those who like having Kim remain in the series but dislike the idea of her working for CTU should consider the alternative: Kim, on the outside, getting herself into further trouble. We watched this during Season One, then we were thrown the same KIND of thing in Season Two. Chase Edmunds is a tough guy; the more we see of him, the more we think, `Here is a would-be Jack'. Chloe (a quirky, annoying, protocol-wary technician), Adam (efficiency-loving), and Gaiel (cautious, ostensibly a mole) are new sign-ons as well. Finally, getting much more screen time than in Season Two, Regional Director Ryan Chappelle - a no-nonsense, give-it-to-me-straight boss. President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) remains the strong moral compass we grew to admire in the first two seasons. But this time, it's not just him dealing with interpersonal problems within his own campaign and the ensuing damage to the outside world. Here we see how he responds to new situations, posed by the competing political party (Republicans, we may say, given Sherry's Season One statement to that effect) toward his own campaign, as opposed to the press and personal staff adversaries of the earlier seasons. And later in the third, we come upon a nasty and inevitable dirty struggle between the president and his much-needed contributor, Alan, who tries to extort him. In the middle is Alan's wife, Julia, not wanting to get involved but eventually forced to. How will David deal with new problems that tempt new compromises, as his steadfast morality goes head to head with the convenience of relativism? Taking Mike's place as chief advisor is his brother Wayne, whose broader philosophy is at least faintly like, however much less devious than, Sherry's. She, too, is back ... with intent more malicious than anything we've seen from her yet.
Now, for the terrorists. In particular, Joaquim de Almeida does a terrific job portraying Ramon Salazar, the initially incarcerated leader of a north Mexican drug cartel. He looks, feels, and smells like a bad guy in every conventional way. His younger brother Hector is believable as a second-man in charge (even if the director should not have cast them as brothers; they don't `look' at all like family). Nina returns, escaping confinement in North Africa, and as we've seen what she is capable of in One and Two, it is not that difficult to imagine. Former CTU mole, conspirator in a domestic nuclear attack, and now buyer of a biological superweapon, Nina is more of a matter-of-fact `bad guy': a cold, sinister, `I-just-enjoy-this'-type killer. Michael Amador is an arms dealer, reserved in nature, and we think we know his intentions .... Alvers is a loyal agent in Stephen Saunders' plan, sent to distribute the virus in L.A. Saunders himself is the worst terrorist - a man with a single weakness - as he sets into motion a diabolical arrangement that more terrible than anything that's come before it. A final note: a teenager named Kyle Singer, while not a terrorist per se, constitutes part of the plan to deliver the package.
Several hours into the season, a drastic plot shift will hit most first-time viewers more or less like a freight train. As in One and Two, perhaps the best reason the bad guys keep falling is, well, they underestimate Jack. Consistently: from Hector to Jack's airplane guard to Ramon to Amador to Alvers and even Saunders. Nina seems to be the only exception ... which makes sense enough, given their past. (Sorry, I can't reveal what happens to her.)
I don't think I've ever seen one other network series attempt what =24= has. It would not be exaggerating, nor employing hyperbole, to say that if enough things went wrong over the course of trying to take and contain the virus, it is entirely possible that the vast majority of the WORLD's population might have perished, probably within several weeks. In no other show have I witnessed TV drama so carefully weave together a tapestry of plot and subplot, push the limits of suspense, raise the stakes as high - with so very, very many lives caught in the balance - or represent so tenacious, so persistent, or so very deadly-serious a counter-terrorist agent as Jack Baeur.
The DVD set contains six episode discs, as well as a seventh for commentary, deleted scenes, and other extras.
Movie Review: 24: Season Three (2003-2004)
Summary: 5 Stars
24 has returned to us fans for a third round of thrills and chills as Jack Bauer comes head on collision with his third worst day of his life.
It has been three years since the events of Season Two. JACK BAUER (again played by Kiefer Sutherland) has long since returned to CTU and is again working as the head of CTU. TONY ALMEIDA (again played by Carlos Bernard) is sort of assisting Jack in running CTU. MICHELLE DESSLER (again played by Reiko Aylesworth) is still in her usual position at CTU, as well as being married to Tony. But CTU has three new employees since the events of Season Two. First, we have CHLOE O'BRIAN (played by Mary Lynn Rajskub), a computer programmer who is very rude (without trying to be) to her co-workers, but Chloe is a good person deep down inside. The second new employee is...KIM BAUER (again played by Elisha Cuthbert), Jack's beautiful daughter. Jack has gotten Kim the job, for he wants to make sure that she is close to him whenever something out of hand comes up. The third is CHASE EDMUNDS (played by James Badge Dale), who goes out on Field Ops, with Jack by his side, for he is Jack's partner. Chase is even dating Kim.
The FBI receives a dead body that has been infected with a deadly virus. The FBI informs CTU of the situation, and as it would turn out, CTU and the FBI reveal that the U.S. could be under attack of another deadly terrorist attack. This time, the terrorists are releasing a deadly virus that is extremely fatal.
Working with CTU on this day's threats is none other than...PRESIDENT DAVID PALMER (again played by Dennis Haysbert). Side by side, David and CTU do all they can to stop this deadly virus from escaping. In order for Jack to do this right, he has to break a former nemisis out of jail...Ramone Salazaar. Six months ago, Jack had been on assignment, under cover. He had been tracking down Ramone and his brother, Hector, two Druglord Mexicans. In order for Jack to have caught Ramone, he had to become addicted to heroine. But now, after throwing him in jail, Jack has to break him out, since Ramone is connected to today's attacks. He breaks him out, but Ramone has dooped Jack, by kidnapping him in revenge of being betrayed and thrown in Jail.
Ramone arrives in Mexico with Jack, where Ramone and Hector will be buying the deadly virus. Jack works up his charm as he did six months ago and earns their trust again. But Jack is interested in buying the virus in order to destroy it. As Jack and the Salazaar's head into the building where the virus will be sold to them, Jack is shocked to learn there is another buyer and that mystery buyer is...NINA MYERS (again played by Sarah Clarke). Ramone gets the virus, but Nina had dooped him, where that particular virus vial was rigged with bomb, blowing up both Ramone and Hector. But there are more terrorists involved with this virus. Arriving in Mexico to Jack's rescue is Chase. He and Jack take Nina back to CTU for questioning.
Jack and Chase arrive at CTU with Nina, where Tony questions Nina, but Nina tries for an attempted suicide, just to make an escape. Since Nina has arrived, Kim has been feeling a severe anger, since Nina is the one who killed Kim's mother. She heads downstairs and finds Nina trying to escape again. With a gun aimed at her, Kim warns Nina to stand back or she'll shoot. But Nina, with her gun, aims right at Kim. Before she could shoot, Jack comes in and shoots Nina in the shoulder. He has Kim head upstairs. He stands over Nina and shoots Nina to death. All I have to say is simply this...DING-DONG! THE B*TCH IS DEAD!
As Jack tries to handle today's events from his end, David has SHERRY PALMER (again played by Penny Johnson Jerald) come in and help. Mainly because David's biggest campaign advisor, Alan Milikan, is giving David problems, for David's brother, who is there with David, had an affair with Alan's wife Julia. But Sherry really messed up this time, for she intentionly killed Alan screaming at him horribly for his threats against David, which leads him into a fatal heartattack. Hours later, Sherry and her brother-in-law show up at Julia's where Julia shoots Sherry to death and then kills herself.
Jack and Chase are still on the hunt for the last of the virus vials. They have since settled the terrorists by killing them. They find and destroy each and every vial. Kim and Chase have been dating, as I said earlier, for three months. Jack, at first, had been enraged, but has come to approve and accept that. Tony's life has now been drastically altered, for during this ordeal, he had committed treason. Michelle had been kidnapped, which led Tony into saving his wife, while risking the lives of millions of innocent American people. But the ordeal of today's events has been successfully settled one again by Jack Bauer, along with the help of Michelle, Tony (considering his act of treason), Chloe, Chase, and Kim, while David reveals to Jack, his one true friend, that this term of his Presidency will be his one and only term.
WHOA! This season had me on the edge of my seat way more than the first two seasons had. I'm just glad that Sherry and Nina had got what those two b*tches had coming to them, with Jack, once again, saving the day. This is season is awaiting your buy.
Episode List
1pm-2pm
2pm-3pm
3pm-4pm
4pm-5pm
5pm-6pm
7pm-8pm
8pm-9pm
9pm-10pm
10pm-11pm
11pm-12am
12am-1am
1am-2am
2am-3am
3am-4am
4am-5am
5am-6am
6am-7am
8am-9am
9am-10am
10am-11am
11am-12pm
12pm-1pm
24 Season Three Castlist
Kiefer Sutherland: JACK BAUER
Elisha Cuthbert: KIM BAUER
James Badge Dale: CHASE EDMUNDS
Carlos Bernard: TONY ALMEIDA
Reiko Aylesworth: MICHELLE DESSLER
Mary Lynn Rajskub: CHLOE O'BRIAN
Sarah Clarke: NINA MYERS
Penny Johnson Jerald: SHERRY PALMER
Dennis Haysbert: PRESIDENT DAVILD PALMER
Movie Review: A Different Storyline From Seasons 1 & 2, But it Works
Summary: 5 Stars
Anyone who's tired of Kim Bauer running around, don't worry. She's pretty much done with that here. I know a lot of fans of the show were sick of her after Season 2, if not already from Season 1. While she does have a very minor storyline here, it's small enough to not really have an impact on the rest of the plot. Thank God!
Season 3 introduces a new storyline and plot. I think you'll find that it is not like what we found in the first two seasons. This is good. I think the writers of 24 realized that they needed to come up with something different, and they also needed to add a new dimension to the character of Jack Bauer. There is also more of a "shock" element in this season, which is why I actually liked this season better than the first two. The surprises caught me off guard, and, for the most part, the story didn't wander into the bounds of the "oh, come on, that wouldn't happen," which is good. The story is more even as well.
The first two seasons, we saw Bauer doing some amazing things, but here, you may start to question if he's doing more harm than good on this mission. Bauer puts himself in a situation that might have you quickly asking, "what is he doing?!?" I know I did. I won't say more than this, because to do so would give away a key plot-point. In any case, you'll see Kiefer Sutherland add more characterization to Jack. He has more depth in this season as he has new struggles and issues to deal with. The question now being, can he deal with it? Or is Jack Bauer finally in over his head?
The plot in this season has to do with a deadly virus. This is mentioned on the back of the box in the synopsis, so I know I'm not giving anything away here. Everyone in the world knows the seriousness of biological warfare. This was a good direction for 24 to go in. You figure that after the threat of a nuclear bomb in Season 2, the most logical place to go next would be the threat of a deadly virus.
Once again, the supporting cast is tremendous. Dennis Haysbert as President Palmer is back and seeking a second term in office. However, something comes up that might threaten his chances of staying in office. D.B. Woodside plays Wayne Palmer, David's brother. He's also the Chief of Staff. I know it's stepping outside the boundaries to have your own brother as the second most powerful man in the government, but just go with it. You'll find that this relationship is not all that's cracked up to be, and David turns to an unlikely ally to help him. Will it work? Or will it backfire? The answer might surprise you.
Carlos Bernard is back as Tony Almeida. I like Almeida because there is a lot of depth to his character. Almeida is much like Jack as far as dedication goes, but just how far is Tony willing to go? What is he willing to give up? These are questions that will plague him during this season. Tony is now the director of C.T.U Los Angeles. His second-in-command is his wife, Michelle Dessler, played by the lovely actress, Reiko Alyesworth.
Reiko does a great job with Michelle. She's able to find the balance between being sensitive and compassionate, and being tough and gritty. She'll do what it takes, and her focus never really strays. Aside from Jack, she's the one person you want helping you in a crisis.
Kim Bauer is back in this season, but she's got a job at C.T.U. as a computer analyst. I know, I know...you have to wonder about this. Trust me, just let this story arc go. She's basically been relegated to a much more secondary role than before. Also, this story takes place three years later from season 2, so one could argue that she's acquired the necessary training. Kim also has a new love in her life, Chase Edmunds.
Chase Edmunds is Jack's partner, played by actor, James Badge Dale. He does a good job with the part. Jack already has issues with Kim becoming involved with a field agent.
Season 3 is very effective because there are several surprising events that take place that I doubt you will see coming. One of the things that I like so much about 24, is the willingness of the writers to do anything. These guys are not afraid to kill off main characters or instill severe tragedy into the storyline. In short, nothing is untouchable as far as their concern. They are always willing to push the envelope further and further. 24 is a show where anything can happen. And much like the first two seasons, the episodic power of the show is still intact. In other words, you simply can't stop with one episode. You HAVE to find out what happens next! And it's this element that keeps 24 aloft as one of the best shows in television.
Movie Review: The end of the first trilogy!
Summary: 5 Stars
This series starts off as a slow burn and builds the tension to breaking point. The first episode sets up the game pieces and characters that we are about to see for the next 24 hours. The first hour while slow establishes that it is 3 years on from the last series and the people that we know and love have moved on with their lives. Michelle and Tony are married and re happy. Kim is working at CTU (where hopefully she stays out of trouble, YEAH RIGHT!) and Jack is the most intrigueing of all, he has spent the last year of his life bringing down a Pablo Escobar-like drug lord Ramon Sallazar played deliciously by Joaquim De Almeida, in doing so he has pushed away Kate Warner (the woman he met in Season 2) and developed an addiction which could seriously effect his performance as head of Field Operations for CTU. Jack also has a protege named Chase who is almost as resourceful as Jack but who is also seeing Jack's daughter Kim. President Palmer, we learn, survived his poisoning at the cliffhanger end of season 2 and is returning to LA to compete in a presidential debate with Republican opponent Senator Keeler.
With that out of the way we come to the plot, a body is left at health services by terrorists. The body shows that the person died from exposure to a weaponized virus (think of it as fast acting ebola). Terrorists demand the release of Ramon Sallazar from prison, if the authorities fail to comply they will release the virus upon the public. Being that America does not negotiate with terrorists it looks like there is gonna be a lot of dead bodies, as CTU has no way of stopping it's release, it could come from anywhere.
This series throws most conventions set by the previous 2 out the proverbial window. A lot of the characters that we know and love make some tough life-altering decisions and not necessarily for the better. Jack is just flat-out ruthless this season, he is a workaholic who is still dealing with his wife's murder almost five years on, all he has is the job, he has just about pushed away all who care about him. He does whatever he has to do to accomplish the mission even if it means hurting friends and collegues, the man is separated from his humanity, which makes the ending so powerful, more on that later.
Palmer is almost aloof this season but I think he was meant to be written that way as he has developed a certain hubris from being in power, what he sows comes back to haunt him at the end of day.
Series 3 rips it's characters to shreds sometimes physically, always emotionally and we can't help but watch. The theme of this series seems to be about sacrifice, Jack, Tony, Michelle, Palmer, and Chase all lose something. Even Palmers brother loses the proverbial love of his life in a major subplot.
I feel that this series concludes a trilogy. There is no big suprise cliffhanger ending like the last two seasons, no silent clock, essentially the producers could have ended the series at 3 and I would have been satisfied. This series wraps up the whole Jack-Nina and Palmer-Sherry saga. Which have been the crux of three seasons.
Buy this series, the acting is superb and the themes are almost Shakespearean when you look closer. The plot as I said is a slow starter but delivers a great pay-off with scenes and scenarios that rival those of a Hollywood blockbuster, this folks is TV at it's best.
Movie Review: TV? This a 24 Hour Movie That Satisfies Every Time...
Summary: 5 Stars
I am continually impressed with the way 24 delivers on all levels, especially going into season 3.
I am a late bloomer to the series. I try not to get addicted to television and suspected I might with this show. I had a few shows I already watched and didn't want to add another.
But during a seminar by Robert McKee, he told us a story about becoming addicted to the show that finally made me go the video store and rent it. I don't need to tell you that I bought the first two seasons and after two weeks ordered the third from amazon.
What I do need to tell anyone who might read this review is that it very quickly became my favorite show on television and it achieved that status by telling one of the most interesting, heart pounding, nail biting stories I've ever sat down to watch - beginning, middle and end.
Most shows offer a captivating premise and get lost from the original idea. (Most movies do the same for that matter). Most shows have a gimmick or a great cast with chemistry that quickly fades with each passing season and most shows tell a story we've all seen at least one hundred thousand times. 24 doesn't make any of those mistakes - not in seasons 1, 2 or 3.
24 delivers. It plays more like a film than a TV show and the restraints forced on the creators, writers, producers, actors, directors and crew somehow makes the show even stronger.
For anyone out there who has tried to write any kind of story, imagine how hard it would be to effectively tell a story as capivating as 24 over the course of one single day -- and now try to make every single hour of it a show stopping hour of drama on television. To me, it seems a near impossible task. And having the love of storytelling that I do, I've actually taken notes from this show. Yes, it's THAT good.
In response to the constant badgering the show receives for its use of torture and violence, yes - it's brutal. One 30 second clip communicates that rather effectively. No, torture is not glorified on this show. It shows the consequences of what violence does to people, about the consequences people must face - professionally and personally - as a result of their choices, including Jack Bauer. And it is important to remember that this is also a FICTIONAL storyline. It's unfortunate our world has changed to a point where we can see the parallels between the show and real life, but this is a healthy way to release those fears that are maybe a little too real to us today.
I love the show. I love that there's a crew of people who put themselves out - I can't even imagine their exhaustion - for working so hard to stay one step ahead of the audience. To raise the bar so high that they don't even know if they'll make it is a pretty amazing thing.
I wonder about how Kiefer is able to stay maxed out for 14 hours a day, six days week to make 24 hours of our entertainment so satisfying. And he produces the show. I don't know how one human being can expend so much energy without fizzling. I'm in awe of him and of all of the people who are behind the camera doing the same thing. I appreciate their hard work and am pleased to be addicted to such a groundbreaking show.