I got a bit addicted to Dexter over the past month, and with this it revived a sudden memory of over a year ago to which I also started to get a bit addicted to the show 24. I watched the first season to which I absolutely loved, but I sort of forgot about the show after that when I went travelling. I have to admit, I got a bit of burnout with Dexter as I reached the conclusion of the fourth season, and it started to feel a bit stale. And now, I'm replacing that addiction with 24. Revisiting Jack Bauer is a lot of fun. But I also completely forgot that this is a show that is riddled with really dumb character decisions. I looked back at 24's first season and remembered how many moments characters made really dumb decisions out of nowhere, things that got them into more trouble or maintained their presence within danger. This was often with how Jack's wife and daughter were kidnapped and would often choose the route that ended up getting them kidnapped yet again. In moments where one would usually seek help in any place but instead the characters choose to remain in remote areas or run down alleyways, for example. Such moments are so frustrating to see! But I think that's what makes 24 an engaging show. You hate what you see, it frustrates you, but it keeps you on the edge and not really knowing what's coming next. I have to say: season two is much similar in this regard. Instantly pulling out the idiotic moves from characters.
This season focuses on Jack's return as he's called in for another job despite it being a year later since the first season's events. With each episode, it's meant to be an hour of a single day within Jack's life as he investigates something massive that threatens the nation. In this season, a Soviet era nuclear bomb has been stolen and is said to be in the hands of a terrorist organisation that aims to use that bomb somewhere in the United States, the President personally requesting Jack's help on this one due to his expertise. Jack is a bit all over the place after losing his wife, and with his daughter essentially disowning him; in season one he had a bit of a rough relationship with his family due to his chaotic work life, and in this season it's more that his daughter is just incapable of forgiving him for the death of her mother. Jack wants to fix things, now has a bit of a beard, and doesn't seem to be working anymore. Though it doesn't seem to take much to pull him back in. This season pretty much jumps straight into that chaos though, and it doesn't take long for Jack to be back in the office, getting briefs and realising the threat. But something I've been really liking so far about this season is the focus on other characters, and it feels as if the tensions have been increased from the very first episode with all sorts of plot directions that aren't directly involved in the greater scheme of things.
Primarily in Jack's daughter which has found herself in a babysitter's position, to which she's now experiencing the struggles that come with the conflict of trying to do the right thing for a child that is stuck in the middle of a very abusive relationship to which the father is actively hunting the two down. This comes after she witnesses first-hand the violence, and decides to remove the young child out of the situation entirely. It seems a bit funny that she ends up finding herself back in the drama, suddenly surrounded by more dangerous environments as she's now running around the city and hiding in various parking lots and back streets. Of course she doesn't learn her lesson from before where she was kidnapped, and instead of asking people for help it leads to a series of cat-and-mouse type of scenarios in which she's constantly in some form of danger. But her decisions exacerbate things. I rolled my eyes at a particular series of events in the earlier episodes where she's being chased, but ignores the fact that the child she's protecting has a head injury. And when she finally gets to a hospital, blame is put on her with the police notified. Rather than telling the people straight up what happened, she remains quiet. So many instances of this happening are seen in the season. I both hate and love it.
This season pulls on your heart a bit more too, with how characters are thrown into unfortunate circumstances that they really do not deserve to be in. Good people that are given really harsh outcomes to which they either die or are faced with the reality of upcoming death. And these are characters that we have either seen a bit of before, or haven't seen much of but have been given glimpses into their more innocent, good and caring personalities. It added weight to certain situations like the CTU building getting bombed, despite Jack trying to warm them in advance and in fact having a direct participation in while remaining undercover. I think I'm actually preferring this season to the first, which is a surprise. It feels a bit more tightly kept, a bit more in motion and a lot more chaos to it. Each hour genuinely feels like it's one with a ton of uncertainty and heightened tension. I'm curious as to how it'll progress.
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STOPI loved Dexter but while 24 was a show I wanted to like, I had a hard time getting into it for some reason. I forget how many episodes I watched. I might have to give it another try.
Another show to watch if you haven't already is Designated Survivor, also starring Kiefer Sutherland. I really liked this one.
We watched some of 24 when it was first out, but I just never could get excited enough about it to stay with it for very long. Or maybe there was too much otehr good shows available.
Dexter, on the other hand, was always a regular feature here!
We're currently in the middle of a re-run binge of Falling Skies... worthwhile, if you like alien/apocalyptic sort of stuff.
@namiks, I'm refunding 0.431 HIVE and 0.123 HBD, because there are no comments to reward.