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24

Just a quick hello from Cucch. I know I have not had much to post here over the last week, but rest assured, for the dozens (if I am lucky) who enjoy my ramblings, I shall return shortly, as I am reading Tim Hornbaker's excellent write-up on the history of the NWA.

That said, in decompressing from reading these books, I have been watching a metric shit-ton of 24 Season's. I was completely turned off of 24 by Season 7, but people have been imploring me to explore Season 8. Also, for those that have DirecTV, the Audience Network plays four hour blocks of the show, with very little commercial interruption, every Tuesday night at 8pm, eastern. (Replayed Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.) Audience is currently up to Season (Day) 6, and it has been pretty enjoyable thus far.

So my question is this, off the beaten path of wrestling, what do you, the Bloggers of Doom, feel is the best season of 24. The season most representative of the spirit, the character, of the show. I ranked them on my page, and excuse me if I feel the need to shamelessly plug my own site:

http://marianosaves.wordpress.com/2013/08/10/the-return-of-24-ranking-the-days-turmoils-and-triumphs-of-jack-bauer/

For years, I considered either Day 2 or Day 3 as the best. Yet, as I watched the episodes back many years later, one Day really stood out: Day 5. President Charles Logan as the main heel. I rank it as numero uno. What thinks the fine folks here? Just some fodder for an otherwise benign Saturday night.


Comments

  1. 2
    5
    4
    1
    3
    6
    7
    8


    6 had it's moments but the last 3 seasons were pretty terrible.

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  2. Day/Season 5.


    Charles Logan is top 5 among TV heels. What a sniveling weasel.

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  3. **GAME OF THRONES SPOILERS*** (for those that haven't caught up yet










    Hey, I know I'm always late to TV shows since I like the marathon feel of it and I'm usually good at avoiding spoilers. With that said, I finished GOT season 3 in a furious marathon the last 2 days. Wow...just, wow....the Starks have to be the Tv equivalent of the Von Erich family. Jesus Christ! Can they fuck them over any harder? Of course the wedding episode was glorious in its viciousness, but man, it made me sick to my stomach. Here's for "The Khaleesi" to finally put an end to the Lannister's once and for all, although I'm also holding out hope that Jamie Lannister has turned a new leaf and does some damage.


    What a fucking great show!

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  4. Charles Logan is just an unbelievable heel. Saunders and Marwan were excellent as well.

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  5. davidbonzaisaldanamontgomeryAugust 10, 2013 at 9:49 PM

    Yeah, it's a pretty fucking awesome show.

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  6. I posted this as a thread to 24. Game of Thrones is a damned fine show, but this is a 24 thread. Stop hijacking it.

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  7. **Spoilers abound, but the show ended years ago. Get with the times, people!**


    I really need to re-watch the series. I haven't seen an episode since the final episode but I really enjoyed it. Except for Season 6, even bad seasons were still pretty good. Just don't think too hard about everything. How many nuclear attacks, moles, traitors, and dead bodies are in the show anyway??



    5 - Charles Logan *made* Season 5. He is one of the best TV villains ever concocted. Jack's most formidable opponent. The first episode alone cemented it as the best season.



    3 - Jack battling heroin addiction, an awesome jailbreak, a trip to Mexico, and Chase aka Lil Bauer. Fun stuff. And can't forget that little shit Ryan Chappelle's death.



    4 - Loved Marwan and the whole sleeper cell angle. It was also a nice change to see Jack no longer part of CTU but still getting shit done. I really liked James Heller too.



    2 - It starts with Jack beheading some guy in the 2nd episode. I mean come on, that's badass shit! The whole scene with Jack and George Mason in the plane is probably my favorite scene in the entire show. Heart-wrenching shit. After hating him for getting in Jack's way all Day 1, Mason really wins you over in the end. He's also a funny cranky asshole.



    1 - Due to the nature of the first half of the season (it was set up for Jack saving Terri and Kim to be the end if they weren't picked up), it was very disjointed overall. But it only comes in 5th due to the greatness of the previous 4 more than any lack in quality. And like a lot of first seasons, it needed time to lay the groundwork for the characters so Jack, David Palmer, Sherry Palmer, and Nina Meyers could become the tremendous characters they would.


    7 - Nice return to form. I liked the new characters as well as the return of old favorites. Plus Tony Fucking Todd! Really had me pumped for the final season, but it was for naught.


    8 - Dana Walsh can die in a fire. Her entire presence pretty much ruined the season. I didn't mind Freddie Prinze, but they didn't do a whole bunch with his character besides make him a knockoff generic Jack.


    6 - Ugh, President Wayne Palmer. Couldn't get beyond that. And involving Jack's brother and father as the Big Bads. James Cromwell is great, but the whole "It's PERSONAL!" story fell flat for me. And I hated the abrupt loss of Curtis.

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  8. I want to rewatch it too but they haven't released it on blu ray yet.

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  9. Yeah, I'd have to go with Season/Day 5 as well. Charles Logan was such an awesome character and villain that he elevates that year to the top of the pile. It was so interesting to see a cowardly, inept president serving as an impediment to Jack after four years of the heroic David Palmer and the underused-but-decent-guy President Keeler.


    S1: kinda shaky since they were still getting the kinks out, plus they thought they'd be canceled halfway through so the midseason "wrapup" kind of sticks out. That said, an incredible ending.

    S2: The first two-thirds of this season represented 24 at its peak, in my opinion. After the nuclear threat is extinguished, however, the whole secondary plot with the hidden tape recordings is kind of tacked-on.


    S3: Lots of goofy stuff with the Salazars, Jack's weird drug addiction and Chase, but it picks up more momentum as the series goes on.


    S4: Probably the second-best year due to Marwan being a great villain, Logan's emergence, and a relatively-nonsense free plot.


    S5: Already discussed, but I'll add that Gregory Itzin should've hands-down won the Emmy this year. He lost to Alan Alda for Alda's borderline cameo role on The West Wing.


    S6: Easily the worst season and one of the most overall disappointing years of TV I've ever seen.

    S7: Not a bad rebound but still not up to its peak. President Taylor's administration came off as a weak copy of Palmer's.


    S8: Better than S7 but still a step below the classic years.

    I'd rank the seasons as 5, 4, 2, 3, 1...dropoff...8, 7.......BIG dropoff.....6

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  10. Season 5 for me.


    Also, never use an apostrophe to make something plural.


    Never.

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  11. Day Two like a mofo. The heroin addiction in day 3 was pretty badass as well, because Jack can shake that shit off. All the rest were just playing catchup to those two seasons.

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  12. This guy gets it.

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  13. For me, the first half of Day 1 is the purest 24; they actually had a planned story arc with loads of shock moments (the plane blowing up, the death of Kim's friend, the horrible rape) and a satisfying bad-ass gunfight conclusion. It all made sense and one event logically flowed into the next - although in surprising ways.
    The second half - with the amnesia and everything - not as good, but still unlike anything we'd seen before.

    After that, I'd say Day 5. By this point it'd become more of a cartoon - but Logan is such a great wease-ly villain - it's very enjoyable.
    Day 6 is by far the weakest - it's the only season where I skipped an episode because I was getting bored (the Chinese siege IIRC) - and they wasted the use of Dr Bashir.
    I think it's interesting that Day 4 is getting so much love. Even after the magical heroin addiction of Day 3, I really struggled to suspend my disbelief with all of Marwan's incredible plots (nuclear meltdown's, an EMP, blowing up Air Force One, the nuclear football et al). The first four episodes are good - and I loved the rescue of the Def Sec and his daughter - but it's my second least favourite season.
    I think I go with:
    1
    5
    8 (I just love Jack going after Logan)
    3
    2
    Then a slight drop to...
    7
    Then a more noticeable drop to
    4
    And then this one goes off a cliff...
    6.

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  14. Actually, this is a pretty good list - wouldn't disagree with it:

    http://tvsurveillance.com/2010/05/26/the-list-ranking-the-days-of-24/

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  15. Based on my abbreviated viewing (first three seasons only), I agree with Paul: The first half of the first season was perfection, with the second half and most of season 2 right behind.

    Season 3 was where it became clear to me that the writers were losing any interest in plotting, and you could see them taking the obvious path every time. Then the show completely jumped the shark for me when Jack simply killed Ryan on the bad guy's orders because the writers couldn't be bothered having him outsmart anyone any more.

    Then they take this creative laziness even further by having this master interrogator who can intimidate anyone, even people who know him, into spilling their guts without doing a thing to them, simply become a thug/torturer.

    Meanwhile, one of the showrunners acknowledged in an interview that they were writing on the fly and tried to justify it by claiming that it suited the seat-of-your-pants nature of the show. Translation: We don't care and it won't get better.


    It was a great idea for a show and mostly wonderfully executed those first two years, but it amazes me that it lasted six more after that.

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  16. and season 3 is only the first half of book 3! that means one more season before the maligned book 4

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  17. 2 and 5 are the top ones but I felt season 7 was underrated, great move to Washington, really brings up Jack's feelings on his actions of the past, Renee was a great addition and the White House siege episodes put both "Olympus Has Fallen" and "White House Down" to shame, really holds up considering it was spread out in shooting due to the writer's strike.

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  18. Season 3 will always be my favorite of all time.


    My wife and I were watching the show on DVD and I was telling her around episode 4 or so of the season that I was so annoyed that all of the plots seemed recycled - there's a mole at CTU, Jack is in a no way out situation, etc. etc.


    Then the "Good job Jack" and it BLEW MY MIND. Inverted absolutely all of my expectations. Honestly, no twist on 24 (save the initial moments of season 5, except those were hyped for months before the season started) ever matched it.


    We actually got cable to watch Season 5 (we didn't have it previously), and of all people, my *grandmother* got into the show because of how hyped she heard I was about it since I don't watch *any* TV. My wife and I actually would hang out with my grandparents for any of the 2 hour episodes from Season 5 onwards. Good memories.

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