Customer Reviews

24: Season Two

5 star:		(251)
4 star:		(47)
3 star:		(28)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Jack Bauer ( Kiefer Sutherland) is still recovering from the death of his wife and the events that took place in season 1. He no longer works for the CTU, and he is trying to move on with his life by rebuilding a solid relationship with his daughter Kim (Elisha Cuthbert). Unfortunately, a terrorist threat has been announced, and over the course of the next 24 hours, a nuclear bomb is going to be detonated in Los Angeles. David Palmer ( Dennis Hayworth) is now president, and is faced with the challenge of containing the threat. The only person Palmer can turn to is obviously Jack Bauer- the man who saved his life. Now Jack must become the man he once was, and find out who is behind the nuclear bomb before it is too late...

I was originally very skeptical when it came to season 2 of Fox's ground-breaking show "24". Season 1 had incredible acting, nail-biting suspense, and a totally original format of airing each episode as an hour over the course of one day. I figured there was no way that FOX could pull off a second season that even came close. However, the show managed to become even better for season 2. The plot behind season 2 really hits home because of the events of 9/11. Another thing that was great, was the fact that season 2 managed to build off of the previous season when it came to the characters. Even though season 1 was based on a different set of events, the emotional fall out from that day is carried over into season 2, because of how great the acting was. Kiefer Sutherland, Dennis Hayworth, Elisha Cuthbert, Carlos Bernard ( Tony Almeida), Sarah Clarke ( Nina Myers), and Penny Johnson ( Sherry Palmer) are all back and are all fantastic. In fact, it was one of the most well rounded performances from a cast I have ever seen.

The second season was even better than the first season in my opinion. However, the show was not the only thing that improved. The DVD itself took a complete 180 when it came to the special features that were offered. The first season DVD set did not really have any special features at all, or even any scene selection. The second time around, FOX made sure to correct their mistake. First of all, there is actually scene selection. You do not have to manually skip through the whole episode just to find a particular scene. The special features are great as well. The show itself fits over six discs. However, a seventh disc was created that contains nothing but extras. There are 44 deleted scenes, three incredible featuretes, and much more. If you were a fan of the first season, there is definately no way you can afford to pass this up. A must buy!!

Season Two is the true test of this show's mettle. Can 24 sustain itself now that the novelty of its groundbreaking real-time conceit has worn off?

The answer is yes. 24's writers and producers are smart enough to know that it wasn't so much the real-time aspect which connected with people, but the array of insurmountable obstacles and impossible odds with which Jack Bauer is faced episode after episode, as befits a good suspense thriller.

Season Two's nuclear-bomb plot is much more ambitious than Season One. And yes, there comes a point in the middle where the action lapses quite badly, when the threat of detonation diminishes. And the show underutilizes Jack's character for a good four, five episodes -- a mistake. It's Kiefer Sutherland's edgy, aggressive portrayal of this dogged, often morally questionable character that anchors the tone of the show, and the first quarter of the show has far too much Kate Warner (Sarah Wynter) and not enough jack Bauer.

The Kate Warner subplot, while a good one in conception, goes awry in execution for a good 50 per cent of the show. Sarah Wynter does an adequate job, but every single character in this subplot remains paper-thin up until the midpoint of the season. It's like the gooey family love-in in Season One without the physical danger. Since the characters have no weight (Laura Harris as Marie Warner is especially irritating), their fussy interactions also ring hollow, especially ranked alongside Jack's apocalyptic nuclear threat and even the Kim Bauer kidnapping subplot. Once Kate and Jack meet and she is incorporated into the conspiracy through-line, she becomes a much better character and Wynter's appeal comes through.

Sutherland remains the center of everything, befittingly. The loss of Sarah Clarke in the main cast does hurt; Reiko Aylesworth does a fine job as replacement Michelle Dessler, but she just doesn't have Clarke's arresting presence. Fans of Season One looking for closure in the Nina Myers subplot can stop looking -- Season Two gives Clarke a wonderful opportunity to chew scenery and play an insidious villainess and Clarke is terrific in this role, but don't expect any attempt to explain just how Nina Myers went from saintly sidekick to vicious double agent. Elisha Cuthbert continues to impress with acting nuances uncommon among actresses her age; she's a pro at making interesting choices at emotional moments. Dennis Haysbert is stately and subtly powerful as President Palmer, and happily, Penny Johnson Jerald as Sherry Palmer is given a more human dimension in the scripts, rather than the blindly destructive saboteur of Season One, and Jerald rises to the occasion. The best performance of the season, however, belongs to Xander Berkeley. Finally this fine actor is given a character arc worthy of his abilities, and Berkeley's portrayal of George Mason's metamorphosis is emotionally devastating, while retaining the character's defining irreverence and scuzziness. I wonder why he was locked out of the Emmys?

Suffice to say that I stayed up for another 20 hours straight watching this thing. This show has a hypnotic quality not found in any other, and you can bet I'll be first in line for Season Three -- especially since Season Two ends on the mother of all cliffhangers. I just hope the writers can keep this up.

Two weeks ago I went into a large electronics store and they were giving away a free DVD with the first 2 episodes of 24 season 2 as a promotion for the boxed set being released. I had never watched the show, but it seemed really interesting to me. One night I threw in the free DVD and watched the 2 episodes. From that point on I was hooked.

A couple days later I was home from work sick and I asked my wife to pick up the entire season 2 box set. By the time I felt better and went back to work I had watched the whole thing. I now wonder if I could of watched it on TV having to wait a whole week between episodes.

All in all the entire season was excellent. My only complaint would be the story line with Jack Bauer's daughter, Kim Bauer. About half-way through the season I found her storyline to be so unbeleivable that I didn't really care what happened with her. However the other story lines were so good it didn't really matter.

If you are a fan of the show, you don't need this review. If you have never seen the show and are thinking about purchasing it - do it! I highly doubt you will be disappointed.

-Mike from Dayton

It's been rightly said of 24 that it's "not good, but never boring". I think that's true of the first 2 seasons, but by the 4th it had actually become good, and still never boring. I was surprised that season 2 is as "not good" as it is.

Could it be any more contrived? Take for example the way the hero's daughter, Kim, manages to find her way into a different dangerous situation in just about every hour of this long day. The father of the child she is nannying happens to be a psychotic killer; She's in a city that's about to get nuked; she gets falsely accused of kidnapping and murder and is arrested; she gets in a car wreck; She gets caught in a bear trap; She is threatened by a cougar while alone in the woods; She's taken prisoner by a love struck hermit/survivalist; While hitch-hiking she has to pull a gun to stop an attacker; She's taken hostage in a liquor store; and then just when you think she's finally safe, she has to kill or be killed in the final episode. And these random threats are mostly unrelated to each other and totally unrelated to the main action of the series. The only thing that connects her to the story at all is that she just happens to be Jack Bauer's daughter, and all the while he's mostly unaware of any of her crises. This is all FILLER. Not just not good, but boring.

Most of the suspense this season is caused by the unimaginable incompetence and poor judgment of people in the highest positions of the US government. Most of the urgency in the second half of the season is due to their ridiculous insistence that the US must retaliate NOW, by the end of the day, because to wait even another few hours would show weakness and lose the element of surprise. Come on. How long did it take the US to go to war in Afghanistan after 9/11? Months. Did that show weakness? Did it matter? Then why are we supposed to believe it would matter so much to so many otherwise intelligent people in this series?

Here's the screenwriter's recipe for this series. Always put prisoners and codefendants in the same cell (a practice that's strictly forbidden in the real world) so they can plot and plan and create drama. When Jack tortures someone, let him do it in full view or at least in ear shot of someone not accustomed to Jack's ways so they can lose faith in Jack or at least object. Have CTU employees bring their relatives right into the office to create drama. Have rational characters become suddenly irrational; once the damage is done, they can become rational again. Have bickering CTU employees risk world destruction just to spite each other. This is really not good.

I was always skeptical about 24 going into a second season. It ended near perfectly at the end of the first season. Buy when I checked out season two, I was hooked all over again. Not only is the season more interesting, it involves issues that our world is currently dealing with. Not only that, but the action has been pumped up 400%, that acting keeps getting better, and Jack (Keifer Sutherland) is one of the best characters to follow on TV.

With the finale just around the corner, and a new third season on the way, I think it is safe to say this DVD is a perfect buy for any fan of the show, or anybody who missed its initial run and wants to see what all the hype is about. Surely it will have many more special features than season 1 did, since the first season DVD was produced and created in about 2 months. Most likely as well as the stuff season one's had, like preview for season three, and quite possibly an alernate ending. Hopefully they will put in some commentaries in the mix as well.

But anyway.....

Fox is doing a great job with their TV on DVD lately. They started off slow, but with sales growing and growing, they are picking up the pace, and seem to be producing better quality DVD's.

Now I just need to wait for the rest of Angel, The Shield, Farscape, The Dead Zone, and The Simpsons to be released.....

Of all of the seasons of 24, this one contains the smallest amount of intelligent writing and plotlines. Many of the subplots are gimmicky and poorly written at best. The cliffhanger endings and attempts at being "spontaneous" at the end and beginning of every show are overabundant and weak. Most of all, everything involving Kim Bauer makes me want to throw my TV out the window. The stories involving her and the psychotic, abusive parent of Megan, the hermit with the bomb shelter and the moron who holds up the liquor store. How is it that she always gets into trouble, again and again and again? It's ridiculous, and it goes to ridiculous lengths.

In terms of "far-fetchedness," I believe this season bests even the incontrovertable Season 4 in terms of poor writing. Of all the people in the Warner family subplot a viewer expects to be a terrorist, it turns out to be the last one of them anybody would expect. She promptly kills 2 CTU agents AND her fiance without even hesitating. She almost kills her own sister. I still chuckle when people find that to be less far fetched than the myriad events of Season 4. Somehow, some way, every effort Jack makes is undermined by some ridiculous and unbelievable happening. He is flatline for like 6 total minutes, withstands pain that would cripple almost any human being, yet 3 hours later he is just fine, no sign of any duress. Every link Jack finds is broken, or killed, or circumvented by chain of command crap that delivers nothing but frustration, not the intended drama, as I watch the show. Overall, expect some superficial thrills from the action involving the nuke, but the last 8 episodes are complete garbage.

"24" is hands down the most remarkable, unique, and enthralling show to grace television screens in quite some time. Better still, the second season somehow manages to outdo the first by expounding upon the ingenuity of the real time elements. The characters evolve nicely and transition well into a plot with higher stakes and the potential for devastating outcome. You'd be hard pressed to find a character cooler, tougher, and even more complex than Jack Bauer. Kiefer Sutherland rocks, as do castmates such as Xander Berkeley, Michelle Forbes, Sarah Clarke, and of course, Dennis Haysbert. And the techinical aspects of this show, from the editing to the camerawork, to the photography, are all simply incredible. Great writing and superior execution of an enganging gimmick place "24" on a higher plane than most television dramas.

And as for those turned off by the terrorist plot, one would be remiss to simply label it 'propaganda.' The show effectively incorporates a new standard of living imposed on the US since the events of 9/11. "24" deserves credit for tackling such issues in an appropriate manner rather than circumvent them altogether. It's not a political commentary - its simply entertainment that one can relate to rather than escape from.

The second season of 24 was sensational in terms of Suspense, action,plot and specially character development. Also some people complained that this was just another way of America exploiting the war on terrorism. Well i am a MUSLIM and i disagree. Its just a tv series not a documentary. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously or inflict more hatred of Americans towards the Arab World. In a lot of the James Bond movies the villains were mostly Russian but that wasn't because Americans had a grudge against Russia. And in Speed Dennis Hopper played an American terrorist but it didn't mean that the writers of Speed hated their country. It was just a movie. So if you didn't like it just say so but don't say that you didn't like ONLY because of the refrence to the war on terrorism!

Anyway in Season 2 a nuclear bomb has been planted in Los Angeles. President David Palmer has no choice but to call Jack back to CTU for another day of hardships. Mason, the new head, is, of course, not happy about this. Now, his daughter Kim is running from her employer, who is threatening to kill her. Palmer now must deal with his political staff, most of which are plotting against his actions on how to deal with the crisis. And Jack must face the toughest challenge of his life... finding the bomb with aid from the woman who killed his wife, Nina Myers. The clock is ticking...

A small warning though. Season 2 is a lot more violent than the first. TWO THUMBS UP!!!!!!!

2.5 stars. I'll admit that most of what was going on in season 1 really stretched the envelope of believeability, but it was still wildly addictive. Season 2--really felt like a group of writers who had already shot their load. The whole storyline with Kim Bauer, as most of the reviewers have reported, had absolutely nothing to do with nothing and was nowhere in the realm of believabilty. Plus,was it just me, but did the story just fold in on itself after the bomb went off in like episode 16? The Warner storyline was the most interesting-but again, after the explosion, even that went away. I like the actor Dennis Haysbert (Are you in good hands?) but the whole 25th Amendment angle was laughable. I hear the seasons get better after this one, so I'm going to continue trudging on, but I don't know if I could go through another season like this one.

If season one gets 5 stars (which I gave it), season two gets 3 and 1/2 stars.

Yes there is more action, yes the stakes are much higher, but the personal and gritty feel that made the first season a thriller is sadly absent.

For starters, I wish that they had shaken up the cast to avoid the smell of a typical Hollywood sequel. In fact all of the major characters (except Terri, of course) are back again. I was disappointed with their decision to bring Sherri and Nina back even though I'm a fan of Nina. But, if 24 were as real as it thinks it is, Nina should have spent the rest of her life in jail (though, I loved the interrogation scenes between Nina and Jack!). Fortunately, by season four they wisely decided to put a lot of fresh faces in the cast.

By far, the worst thing about this season was their decision to give Kim a huge chunk of the time. Whereas in the first season she played an important role in being the bad guys' leverage against Jack, this time she is utterly irrelevent to the main plot of the nuke threat. The writers did an abysmal job with the role they assigned her this time.

How did this girl live to be in her late teens when on a typical day she's kidnapped, held hostage, arrested for murder, and chased by wild animals?!? Note that those were independent events that I listed! Some people think Chloe (seasons 3, 4, 5) is annoying but at least Mary Rajskub can act and can come across as caring without being condescending.

Overall, this is a good season. If you are a fan of 24 by all means buy it. BUT the magic that made 24 brilliant is in season one.