24 - Fifth Season DVDs 4-6 - Down To The Razor Wire

May

5

24 - Fifth Season DVDs 4-6 - Down To The Razor Wire

≡ Category: Action, Essential, Movie Reviews By Country, United States |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

Country: United States
Genre: Action
Director: Various
Year: 2006

Rating:

TRASH CINEMA ESSENTIAL MOVIE

I still think the nasty surprises the creators of 24 sprang on it’s viewers in the first half of the 5th season were a mistake, but I’ll grudgingly admit that the second half of the season goes a long way towards making up for their poor judgement and insensitivity.

As I hinted in my review of the first half of the season, Jack and the team at CTU have a much bigger problem than a bunch of Chechnyan terrorists. The real problem lies within the government, and I’m not just referring to the usual moles and opportunists inside CTU itself. There’s almost a shadow government operating, with goals that have little or nothing to do with democracy as the average American citizen understands it. If anyone thinks this plotline is farfetched, then they haven’t been paying attention for the last eight years.

Think about it for a minute. It’s hard enough to fight terrorist cells on American soil (at least the hyper-competent ones depicted in 24), but what if you had to fight a war on two fronts: against the terrorists on one hand, and then against the resources of your own government. What if rogue elements within the government were able to bring to bear the massive power of the combined forces of the military and the intelligence community against you. What then?

That’s the question that 24 answers, and the situation for Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) and his colleagues at CTU has never been more desperate. The tension for the last 10 hours of the season is unremitting and excruciating. The ending is in doubt literally down to the 11th hour. And after everything seems to be over, the creators still have one last surprise to spring on us. I laughed out loud in delight (I have a pretty dark sense of humor), so I guess it’s safe to say that season 5 of 24 ends on a fun note.

Also, you’ve got to give the creators of 24 some credit for making the rotten surprises they sprung on us in the first half of the season as palatable as possible. The conspiracy that caused these heartbreaking developments is almost huge enough to justify the hard feelings engendered in the audience. Not quite, but reasonably close. The creators of 24 are clever enough to provide Jack with a worthy adversary, who provides some wonderful surprises of his own.

And in truth, the big strength of this season of 24 is the villains. They are incredibly hateful, and in some cases, quite complex. For example, President Logan (Gregory Itzin) emerges as one of the most layered characters the series has ever had.

Where the creators of 24 do less well is our heroes. Heroes that the audience will love are not easy to write. They need to be carefully nurtured along, and to treat them so perfunctorily borders on disrespect for the audience.

Still, it must be said that the writers do some great work with the character of Aaron Pierce (Glenn Morshower), the loyal Secret Service agent deployed at the White House, and first lady Martha Logan (Jean Smart). Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) continues to be a delight. Watch for how she deals with a drunk bar patron who makes the mistake of hitting on her while she’s in the middle of a national security crisis.

Despite the rocky start to season 5, 24 still has a lot of life left in it. The last half of the season is as taut and compelling as 24 has ever been.