reviewed by Charity Bishop

      

This season had arguably one of the best endings to the popular series based around attempts to prevent terrorist strikes on homeland property. It's also one of the most gut-wrenching, nail-biting, un-politically-correct shows on television.

A train is derailed and a suitcase stolen from one of the passengers, who is then murdered. When a hacker stumbles across lethal information on the internet, he is barely able to pass it along to his friend Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) at the Counter Terrorist Unit before he is hunted down by Arabs. His disappearance is perpetrated only hours before the kidnapping of Secretary of Defense James Heller ( Logan Marshall-Green) and his daughter Audrey (Kim Raver). Former special agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) is placed in command of the recovery operation, but soon discovers it was merely a distraction tactic for other, more deadly intentions. Little does anyone know that Jack and Audrey have been seeing another for several months, while waiting for her divorce to be finalized. Her kidnapping has rejuvenated the interest of her husband Paul (James Frain), who returns hoping to repair their broken marriage and start again. 

The kidnapping is merely the tip of the iceberg, as Air Force one is intercepted by a seeker missile and sent plunging to earth. The nation is left in the incapable hands of the vice president, who in desperation sends for former President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) to assist him in making the necessary security decisions. Working beneath the radar of CTU, Bauer recruits friend and former operative Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) to assist him in a sleek underground operation to root out the terrorists. Tony's presence becomes something of an issue when his ex-wife, Michelle Dessler (Reiko Aylesworth) is brought in to replace the leadership of CTU. Knowing that terrorists nationwide are planning a nuclear strike that will devastate the United States, Bauer must take extreme tactics to unearth the conspirators and stop them before it's too late.

Attempting to summarize this season is extremely difficult, because there are a dozen or more main characters, spread out through an equal number of plot lines. The computer programmer whose mother is unable to get out of the way of a nuclear strike. The young Arab boy who realizes the depravity of his evil father only when it requires the death of his innocent Caucasian girlfriend. There is no end to the twists and turns, to kidnappings, assassinations, hostage situations, hold-ups, and near misses. Bauer comes close to catching the bad guys multiple times, only to have them escape through higher intervention, sheer dumb luck, or a political miscalculation. For the most part, with 24 all bets are off. If you think everyone will live through it, think again. If you believe the situation is nearly resolved, take another look.

One of the better seasons due to its lack of sexual content, this year brought us numerous heartfelt moments in addition to depictions of hair-raising escapades. I am not a die-hard fan of the series for the simple reason that it promotes a worldview that the outcome makes up for the means of getting there. There are numerous instances of torture tactics, not only used by the terrorists but government operatives as well. People are electrocuted, shot in the leg and have the wound pressed to increase the pain, have their arms broken, and cut with knives. Violence is extreme. Cars are overturned. Fire and explosions consume buildings. Spew of gunfire leaves many dead and others wounded. Women are slapped, punched, and shoved around by angry, evil men. Bauer makes many decisions in the heat of the moment that have devastating consequences for civilians.

It is implied Bauer and Audrey are involved in a sexual relationship, despite the fact that her divorce has not yet been finalized. A woman seduces men and murders them and/or uses them to her own evil advantage, but we're only given two "afterglow" shots. There's a scattered amount of language. Tony is living with a girl. On the up side, Tony and Michelle work to resolve their issues and repair their broken marriage. It's not something I would recommend to everyone simply because it is such a difficult program to watch, but for lovers of intense drama, 24 is definitely impacting.