Too Much 24?

[AluminumDuke]

While doing medical mission work in Bolivia back in June, my fellow anesthesiologist there transferred the first season of 24 from his Arcos onto my laptop. I'd never followed the show and, to be honest, never expected to watch it when he gave it to me. On a slow call weekend back home, however, I became bored and decided to watch the first episode. I was instantly hooked and finished the first season in just a few days. Since that time I have acquired and watched seasons 2 through 5 on DVD, and am now halfway through season 6 after downloading it from iTunes. I must admit, however, that watching so much 24 over such a short period of time has resulted in certain, shall we say, side effects. In case you or someone you know suffers from this affliction, I have made a list of symptoms which may help you identify the problem:

#1 - When asked by your children to get them on the internet to visit "Playhouse Disney", you respond "Hold on, let me open you a secure socket."

#2 - You are unable to get technical support on your computer because every time someone with a foreign accent puts you on hold you hang up and unplug your DSL modem, convinced that they are using your system as part of a terrorist plot.

#3 - You refuse to allow a cell phone conversation to exceed a minute in length, convinced that someone may be trying to triangulate your location.

#4 - You develop an unusual pre-occupation with your digital watch, stopping to observe the seconds ticking away about 3 or 4 times an hour.

#5 - Every time you pop the trunk on your car, you're secretly disappointed not to find a "weapons package."

#6 - When someone doesn't know the answer to your question, you contemplate means of interrogation which might be the most likely to make them break.

#7 - You keep looking for a button on the GPS system in your car which will provide an infra-red overlay to see if there's already someone in the restroom of the gas station you're approaching.

#8 - You breath a sigh of relief every time you open a car door without an explosion.

#9 - Your friends look at you funny because you always insist that you will "run point" when approaching a home or building.

#10 - You become highly suspicious of anyone running their own business, convinced that it is just a cover for some covert terrorist operation.

I'm sure that there are others as well, but these are the symptoms I've observed in myself over the past several months. Feel free to describe other symptoms you may have observed, as I'm sure that getting this information out there will help others identify the problem.

[YmoBeThere]

I still have yet to see an episode of 24. Maybe with the writer's strike now is the time for me to get it on DVD...

[snowdenscold]

How have you felt about the quality of the show from season to season?

Most people love the first season they watch - whereas others may dislike that season if they've seen earlier ones. I've thought every season was worse than the one before it. I liked seasons 1 and 2, though 3 was so-so, hated 4, really hated 5 and didn't even bother watching 6 (which I heard was the worst to date so than justified my quitting).

Just curious on your thoughts since you've watched so many consecutively in such a short time period.

[billybreen]

I still have yet to see an episode of 24. Maybe with the writer's strike now is the time for me to get it on DVD...

Ditto on the first, but I don't think even a protracted strike will inspire me to catch up. Maybe I'll finally start watching Lost from where I dropped it early in season 2.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

#8 - You breath a sigh of relief every time you open a car door without an explosion.

Well, yeah. Doesn't everybody?

[AluminumDuke]

How have you felt about the quality of the show from season to season?

Most people love the first season they watch - whereas others may dislike that season if they've seen earlier ones. I've thought every season was worse than the one before it. I liked seasons 1 and 2, though 3 was so-so, hated 4, really hated 5 and didn't even bother watching 6 (which I heard was the worst to date so than justified my quitting).

Just curious on your thoughts since you've watched so many consecutively in such a short time period.

My assessment is a little different from yours. I don't know whether this is from watching them so close together or just a difference in perspective.

I really liked Season 1 obviously, as it was good enough to inspire me to watch seasons 2 through 6. My only real complaint with season 1 was the amnesia angle, which I found overly "soapy", completely unnecessary, and absolutely ridiculous in the scope of the 24 hour concept.

I thought Season 2, as a whole, was the weakest of the bunch, as Kim Bauer was a tremendously annoying distraction and the nuke on the plane / parachuting idea was both predictable and unrealistic to the point of insulting the viewer (I realize that the entire show is unrealistic, but this one required turning your brain completely off). The worst of it, though, was when Jack was captured by "hostiles" in the urgent care clinic, tortured to the point of "death", resuscitated with a shot of epinephrine to the heart by some cut-rate doctor that the hostiles held at gun-point, and then is back up and fighting within an hour later. As an anesthesiologist, I've seen a lot of "codes" (resuscitations). Not only are the vast majority unsuccessful, but also the few patients that do survive are in no shape to walk, much less fight, for days if not weeks. If the friend that loaned me seasons 2 through 5 on DVD hadn't told me that seasons 3 to 5 were much better, I may have quit in the middle of season 2.

Season 3 started off just as bad as season 2, as Jack's heroine addiction was dealt with very unrealistically and the concept of buying a virus to keep it out of the hands of terrorists was pretty stupid (couldn't the lab turn around and make more?). Kim Bauer working at CTU was only slightly less annoying than having her run around getting into trouble. The second half got much better, though, as the willingness of the writers to have an entire hotel full of people, including some of the CTU agents, suffer a gruesome death from a virus helped make me forget about the previously mentioned shortcomings.

I liked Season 4, as the concept of covering aspects of the story from the point of view of the terrorists and their families was new and different. The involvement of President Palmer's ex-wife and his brother was somewhat annoying, but as a whole I thought the season was pretty strong.

I enjoyed Season 5 as well. Having such an unlikable president made it seem somehow more real, although the mentally unstable first lady brought things back into the soap opera realm a little too frequently. Kim Bauer's reappearance was also pretty annoying.

As I said, I'm only about halfway through Season 6. I've been pretty satisfied with most of it so far. I like the racial profiling angle, as well as the concept of different enemies of the U.S. trying to use one another for their own gain. Pulling President Logan and the former first lady in for a couple of episodes was again pretty soapy, but about par for the course. The actor that plays Wayne Palmer is also really bad, but is fortunately not too integral a part of the action. Jack Bauer's ability to regain his strength so soon after being freed from the brutalities he is supposed to have endured while held captive by the Chinese is also pretty hard to believe, but not nearly as bad as the resuscitation in season 2.

I guess the timing of the writer's strike is convenient for Kiefer Sutherland, as I understand he's serving a jail term for DWI. I would have liked to have seen the series shift to a new, younger agent. Kiefer's beginning to look a bit old for the part, and the storyline would suggest that Jack Bauer is even older. I'd also like to see the show return to a greater emphasis on the events happening within a 24 hour period. I think it would be more intriguing to believe that terrorist plots are going on and being thwarted by CTU without the public ever knowing about it. Although I obviously have a lot of criticisms of the show (more than I realized until asked to assess the seasons), I really like the concept and find the show to be a nice escape from reality.