I've been a long time fan of the TV show '24' and back in April I finally got round to watching the final season, season 8 as it became available on Netflix. I've got the rest of the series on DVD but had been waiting for the price on iTunes to drop below £20 – so I was very thankful when all 8 seasons appeared on Netflix.
For those of you who don't know by now, the premise of the show is that it follows Jack Bauer a federal agent over 24 hours, in real time. I've never been disappointed by a season of 24, although by about season 6 it did seem like it was starting to repeat itself. Season 7 added something new to the mix by moving the show out of Los Angeles and into Washington and so I was quite looking forward to season 8. Spoiler alert: Seeing terrorists raid the Whitehouse was a truly shocking moment (especially for fans of 'The West Wing')
This time we get a day in New York City. It starts with Jack Bauer sitting at home with his Granddaughter. Quickly events unfold that require Jack to return to action. The first 10 – 16 hours of this show were good TV, very good. However the final 8 episodes were AMAZING TV, adrenaline filled suspense with just enough intelligence to pass itself off.
After I watched Homeland I feared I'd find 24 outdated, and in some respects it did – the over-the-top set design of CTU, the inevitable mole, the fact that dramatic events only ever seem to happen at 55 minutes past the hour – however I was very impressed with this season, and I'm so glad that 24 is to return for a 9th season, albeit for only 12 episodes. The last 5 minutes were almost tear-jerking.
So if you have Netflix, block out a week in your schedule and catchup on this brilliant show.
