Rank the 24 Seasons

1 through 5 are pretty much great to me, and I go back and forth between favorites. But anyway, here’s how I feel now…

TOP TIER:
Season 3 – Despite some weird shifts in threats and subplots, there are a lot of things I like about this season: the focus on Tony and Michelle, Kiefer’s acting was top-notch, Kim was used better, I liked Chase, and it felt like the stakes were higher with some high-profile, surprising deaths.

Season 5 – This is nearly perfect, starting with the shocking deaths and ending with a really cool conspiracy. The introduction of new great characters (Buchanan, although he started in S4, Logan obviously), and I loved how it tied with the previous season.

Season 1 – First things first, I had the ending spoiled… but still, I thought this was top-notch. Great characters, great twists (Alan York? Nina Myers?), I loved Ira Gaines, as well as the whole political subplot of Palmer and Sherry. I pretty much hate the whole “Teri has amnesia” subplot, though.

Season 2 – One of my favorite things of this season was the focus on Palmer. Love the Mike Novick character and how it played out. I also loved the introduction of Michelle, such a great character. I wasn’t a huge fan of Kate Warner, and of course, we had Kim, Miguel, and the cougar.

MIDDLE TIER:
Season 7 – To be honest, I’m sometimes tempted to put this on my top tier. I really like how tight the script and the story felt, and it was kinda obvious that the writers had an extra year to work things out. For the most part, things doesn’t feel as ham-fisted or convoluted (White House raid aside), but it all felt more cohesive. Bringing back Tony was risky and, well, a bit convoluted; but hey, it’s Tony! I didn’t care. I liked Renee Walker, Jonas Hodges, and seeing Buchanan and Chloe again.

Season 4 – On first view, this used to be one of the weakest. The introduction of so many new characters felt a bit off. However, a second viewing really improved my opinion of it. Habib Marwan could’ve been worked better, but it was great to see new characters connect with old ones like Tony, Michelle, and Palmer. And I might be a lone in this, but I really liked how they worked the Erin Driscoll character.

Live Another Day – This one is falling a bit more into the lower tier, but it was still a fun ride. I thought Margot Al-Harazi and her children were pretty weak, but it was great to see Jack and Chloe paired again. Plus, the addition of Kate Morgan and Mark Boudreau, plus bringing back Cheng and Audrey were great moves. It got better as it went on and finished quite strong.

Season 8 – Similar to LAD, but raised to 11. The first half was borderline awful. Villains were underused, some bad characters popping around (*cough*Kayla*cough*), stale writing… I was about to give up on it, but the shift mid-season was such a 180 degree turn. Bringing back Logan was perfect, and the whole “Jack descends into hell” thing worked great. Plus, I really liked the whole Omar Hassan subplot and how it ended. Really bold.

BOTTOM TIER:
Season 6 – Where to begin? I never bought Wayne Palmer as President. Heck! Not even DB Woodside bought how he was written. The use of Jack’s family was a mess, plus it deflated whatever goodwill they had won near the end of Season 5 with Graem. I hated Mike Doyle, and didn’t like Morris that much, plus the way they killed Curtis? Ugh… but anyway, even the bottom tier has some enjoyable things: Milo’s death was one of the most shocking deaths I’ve seen on TV, I liked Nadia, Tom Lennox, Karen Hayes, and Noah Daniels.

Legacy – *sigh* Last and least… I plan to write something about this soon, but overall, this was a mess. One of the most disappointing seasons of TV I’ve experienced. Despite some good talent involved in cast and crew, the lazy writing was, well, lazy. Past subplots were rehashed, new subplots were thrown at us with little to no discern of what to do with them, some mediocre performances (although I blame some on the script), silly bad guys, it was a mish-mash of mediocrity to be honest. I liked Corey Hawkins. I think that, all things considered, he did a nice job. I liked some of the supporting cast, but they were plagued with an awful script and it felt in most of the performances. Oh, and Tony? wow, what a way to waste such a great character. The master interrogator that can’t even break an old man. Luckily they saved him with the mercenary part near the end, but still… easily the worst season.

I noticed something really interesting that I’ve never seen before… Well, I actually “see it”, but never compare:

Ryan Chappelle -> Killed by Jack
George Mason -> Replaced Jack in the airplane
Bill Buchanan -> Took the initiative been next to Jack
Paul Raines -> Killed by Jack (by inaction?)
(Where is Curtis in this poll???) -> Killed by Jack

I love every single season.

While I’ll rank them, I feel there are certainties in groups where they can almost be interchangeable in position, so I’ll put them in groups.

Day 2
Day 1

Day 3

Day 4
Day 8

Day 6
Day 7

Day 5

Live Another Day

Legacy

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Day 2 is the most fun I’ve ever had (and engaged in) watching a television series.
It was the first of its kind as every season after this one pretty much used its formula.
Day 1 was more noir (slow, chill, and calm) whereas Day 2 became a run for life because there’s a ticking time bomb that can go off at any moment.

It was highly relevant and mirrored 9/11 and the aftermath.
As a war was about to happen on 24, a war was about to happen in our world (the only difference is that we didn’t have Jack Bauer to stop it).
The writers called out the real-life events like it was: America is its own worst enemy and were responsible for the attacks.

I loved every single moment.
This was back when you could watch 24 week to week with promos and still be surprised.
We didn’t know the 24 formula and it was all new.
Shocks were guaranteed.

I always dreamed of a show in real-time similar to this season, though I never imagined it to be this engaging.

The whole father-daughter dynamic between Jack and Kim make up the heart of the series.
The goodbye between them as Jack flies the bomb to his impending death in the desert is everything.
The ticking nuclear bomb represented the rift between them (Teri’s death) and Jack was trying to find it and heal that wound.
That lead to Jack getting his daughter back and the bomb going off was the emotional weight being freed from him as he learned (from George Mason) that life is short and he needs to forgive himself for what happened.

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Day 1 is, in a way, the best 24.
There’s no season like it as its a slow-burn carefully timed masterpiece that would have sufficed by itself. I remember revisiting it after the series had many seasons completed.
It’s really unique and different from all that followed.
I wish it could get back to that confidence it had instead of the false need to be fast and action-packed (which was perfect for Day 2, but didn’t need to be a permanent fixture).

The real-time aspect was cherished and appreciated here.
In later seasons, real-time had seeming liberties taken with it (it got lost in the background).

You felt the weight of the day in this season.
The characters were tired and actually slept at moments.

Nina Myers and Jack Bauer.
(Come on. That poll above didn’t mention them when they were the best partners and potentially the best love-interests, which made the twists in the end even more devastating).

The ending changed television.
The series changed television.
It pretty much popularized binge-watching via DVD (and the download-age).
Television became more serial with added gravitas.
Bolder choices were made.
24 ushered in the golden-age of television and its thanks to this season and that ending.
Shocked the fuck out of me for sure.
It was at that moment that I realized how great 24 was.
24 (Day 1) was pretty great and interesting before, but that moment, that ending solidified the season to something greater; it defined what 24 meant.
It’s what made Day 2 so wonderful: Anything can happen.

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Day 3 was a wonderful follow-up to the best pair of seasons from television.

Dark and moody with a sense of dread.
Perfectly fitting when the threat was a virus and addiction (to heroin and the job) in your blood.

Still had that classic 24 feel to it while still filled with genuine surprises (the last of its kind).

I love the subtle nature of the ending: No big explosions or shootouts.
There’s an intentional feeling of emptiness and mourning in the end.
It was such a dark and dreary day and yet all of the main cast (that are likable, unlike Sherry) survives.
There were people killed and each death meant something and added to the weight that’s compounded to that moment in Jack’s car in the last scene.
Jack’s done his job but lost everything including himself.
Saunders (a former colleage) being a warning of what’s ahead for his future (and for Tony’s).
His government will betray him (them).
The enemy was always himself (the government he worked for).

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Day 4 was the classic ending of 24.
It was the last with the lovable main cast (alive).
It felt fresh this season (with a mostly new cast) while surprising us (with nearly everyone returning).

Those first six episodes felt the most coherent, kinetic, and focused that 24 has ever been.
Of course, this was the season where they started airing 24 in January so there would be no breaks and they’d have extra time in post-production to ensure more coherency to the whole of a season (they’d have time to go back to the early episodes and maybe ensure consistency to any plans they have).
Not that it was a problem in the early seasons, but it would be easier on the creators to have a little more leeway and freedom to maybe help with continuity and any changes.

I loved the ramifications that this season had on the rest of the series.
The entirety of seasons 5-9 are pretty much a result of Jack and Palmer’s choice in raiding that Chinese consulate (a mirror to Operation Nightfall, which was the reason for Days 1 and 3).

Day 4 closed the book in a satisfying manner.
A happy ending with a warning of doom.

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Day 8

I absolutely fucking love this season.
I put it up there with classic 24.
If classic 24 wasn’t so original, Day 8 would be wedged in with them.
It feels like classic 24 with a perfected coherency and high-tech sheen.
It’s like 24 went into the future and came back around again to meet up with classic 24.

I love Jack’s constant turning down of the duty which he’s already been called to do so many times.
It felt genuine and realistic.
He does everything in his power throughout most of the season to get the hell out of there but there’s always something pulling him in for one quick errand.

I love the Dana Walsh character.
Closest thing to Nina Myers.
The spy who loved me type vibe with Cole.

The futuristic high-tech CTU New York was very pleasant to witness.

Renee’s character development and her and Jack going on classic 24 adventures.

Jack Bauer becoming the bad guy (finally, just like Tony) and Chloe becoming director of CTU opposing him.

The uncompromising leader (Allison Taylor) being compromised was realistic and I was with her every step of the way.
The world peace scenario (as far-fetched and ridiculous as that sounds) was actually plausible in this scenario (I didn’t know that was possible).

Hasan dedicating his life in earnest to a peaceful world and those final moments with his character was so fucking powerful.

Fucking brilliant season and I really really really love it enough to want to wedge it in there with the very top seasons.
I feel that the first four seasons of 24 make a nice whole though and Day 5 kind of created a permanent rift between all future seasons.

It’s the last full season of 24 and yet feels so fresh and new while reminding me of classic 24, everything I fell in love with in the beginning.

Combine that with the fact that it was THE ending of 24 as a series was very emotional.
Jack’s last message he records (something you can only see in the deleted scenes though) to his daughter and President Taylor and his last words to Chloe as 24 said goodbye, was transcending.

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Day 6 is fucking awesome, misunderstood, wrongfully-hated, symbolic, and the most underrated.

Day 6 delves into the mind of Jack Bauer while we get to live his nightmare with him.
It’s like he’s returning to a bad dream of reality.

‘Jack, remember that Chinese Consulate you raided that got you and the world into this shit? Let’s bring you back to that moment (Russian Consulate). Would you do it again, knowing what you know now, going through hell for 2 years? Would you?’

‘… yes’

Jack is running a gauntlet of his nightmares incarnate.
The love of his life dead.
His daughter wants nothing to do with him.
His government betrayed him and used him as an expendable bargaining chip.
His own family, his own blood, that he’s been running from his whole life, has killed his friends and marked him for dead.
America is under attack.
He was forced to kill a colleague of his in order to save the life of a former terrorist.
A nuclear bomb just went off in a highly populated area.
He’s betrayed by everyone.
His own torture tactics has been used on him for so long that he doesn’t know if he can do it again and be like the people he fights.
Everything is upside down and nothing makes sense anymore.

This is Jack Bauer clawing his way out of hell, the hell that Fate and his decisions had waiting for him from long ago.

There’s a turning point where Jack gets a grip on a branch out of hell.
Audrey’s alive.
Suddenly, Jack finds hope.
For once, instead of sacrificing himself strictly for his government, he starts fighting for himself.
He takes what the government is after, what he was supposed to retrieve, and uses it to save Audrey, endangering millions of lives in the process.
Jack turns to face his demons: his father who has symbolically captured his innocence and youth (his nephew) and Heller (the head of government).
Jack takes his life back.
It’s an emotional rollercoaster through Jack Bauer’s psyche.

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Day 7
What a wonderfully crafted dream season.

I remember theories during the early Days of 24 where we wondered if Tony was bad and if Jack would contract a deadly virus and find himself on a race to find a cure.
Wondered if there was an organization behind all these mysterious villains/terrorists we encountered.
Day 7 was fan wish fulfillment done beautifully.

Just because this is low on the ranking column does not mean that I dislike it in any way; I just like the above seasons that much more.

This is a phenomenal season.

The beautifully woven theme of ‘Does the end justify the means?’

They pulled off Tony coming back.
I remember when they first announced it in a press release and I was in shock that the creators caved in to the idiots that screamed for Tony to come back.
They were bringing a character back from the dead and it felt like such a ludicrous thing to even entertain.
But once they released the first trailer for the season, I was hooked.
They pulled it off.
And I loved the emotional scene at the end revealing Tony’s reasoning for doing what he did.

I really love this season.
The ending …. so poignant and fitting: Jack dying and never knowing that his daughter came back to save him…
until they made Day 8.
But that’s how I saw the ending of Day 7 (I’m a poetic realist).

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Day 5 was wonderful.
I see it as a low point in the series because it became The Jack Bauer Power Hour where there is a required gunfight and action with things moving at a super-fast pace to attract a bigger crowd of retards (and it worked).
Not that any of it was bad, its just not preferable to the more thoughtful and more realistic pace of the earlier seasons.
I really do love this season, just not like the others.
They killed off way too many characters immediately for shock value.

The first hour could have been stretched out to like 5 episodes filled with tension and dread, but instead … here’s how ridiculous the first hour is:
Palmer is assassinated,
Jack finds out about it on the news,
Jack comes out of hiding,
Michelle dies,
Jack goes to investigate Palmer’s death (coming from a far away location),
Jack evades secret service,
Jack finds Chloe,
Jack tracks down Palmer’s killer,
and sends him to hell.

Look that’s cool and all, but not as cool as the slower burn (and yet still intense) early seasons.
Day 5 was the action blockbuster movie of the franchise.
And that’s cool that we got something like that.
It’s really fast-paced and really smart while juggling so many things in a rhythmic fashion that flows very nicely.
It is impressive on that level.
The President Logan stuff is absolutely riveting.

It’s just that it took 24 to a Bond-level of reality.
There was a Russian baddie with a scar that was perfect Bond material.

Look, its fun, but it lost some of that hyper-realism the series had perfected before.
There’s a division in the whole of the 24 series and this is where the line was drawn (between Day 4 and Day 5): the early classic seasons and the newer flashier seasons.

I do feel that the following seasons make up for it (while somewhat returning some of that classic 24 feel), but the damage was already done by Day 5.

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Live Another Day

Easily the weakest of Jack Bauer’s seasons.
Firstly, because its shorter and loses the true 24 feel when we only experience 12 of those hours.
And everything was a repeat of the series.
Everything.
Not that everything wasn’t repeated before, but this season actually felt tired, even after a long absence.

I did really love the purpose of the season: Jack Bauer facing the demons he has been running from since Day 1.
I loved how it brought closure to Audrey, Heller, and Cheng while Jack had the ghosts of his past, present, and future:
Kate Morgan (the Jack that lost his spouse to a friend turned traitor)
Mark Boudreau (the Jack of Day 4 that made the decision which sacrificed his future for what he thought was best for the country)
Chloe O’Brian (the Jack that lost everything and went on the run)

Jack relives everything he’s running from in his life:

– He loses Audrey (Teri) (Renee) as Kate (Classic Jack) holds her dying body feeling sorry (saying the exact same words he did to a dying Teri).

– He breaks into a Russian consulate (Mark Boudreau) to give up his life with Audrey for country. Notice how Mark reacts to Jack incredulously as Jack decides to risk Audrey’s life to retrieve something important (“… she loves you” “Shut up!!”)

– He faces the person he has become in Chloe and tells her (himself) that none of this is her (his) fault, that its time for her (him) to go home.

Chloe is the innocent side of himself, the scared victim that’s running from the past.
He decides to face the past completely and take all responsibility, coming to a peace for himself, while allowing the better half of himself to be free.

I can think of no better ending for Jack Bauer than this.

I don’t want a sappy happy ending where he goes home scott free or an unnecessary ending where he dies.
There has to be a sacrifice to Jack Bauer (that’s the whole point of his character).

When he turns himself in, he’s no longer running and is finally at peace, literally ascending and the weight no longer on his shoulders.

(Though, I did think it would have been amazing if everything was wrapped up in the penultimate episode and the final hour was 12 hours later where Jack is home and in that whole hour, there’s no rushing, no threats, no harm, no tension, no duties or missions. No ticking clock. Just Jack arriving home, looking around, talking to a friend, reuniting with his daughter, meeting his second granddaughter, being alone, having a meal, reflecting, looking out at the horizon. Scarred. Incredulous and a little uneasy at the peace around him.)

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Legacy

I really didn’t like it when it first began because it felt like the same shit all over (and 24 already repeated itself again and again) but now we have someone else (Carter) acting just like Jack Bauer and we have the CTU people and the White House-types all acting the same.
It felt insulting.

But I decided to not judge it until it was all over.

And I just finished watching it a few hours ago… I really enjoyed it.
It was 24.

And they won me over.

I agree with the producers and with Kiefer, that the real-time format is the star.
But they made Jack Bauer the star, so it really was about him, ultimately.

Though, I always felt sticking with CTU and politicians was a hindrance to 24.
I thought they should do more personal Season 1 type things but without CTU and politicians.
Have a group of people stranded on a cruise with pirates.
Or maybe a comedy with someone going apeshit and leaving their job/life and following their ensuing crazy day (ala Nothing To Lose).
Or make it sci-fi and have the world ending with the last group of humanity needing to escape on a ship to carry on survival.
Then have future seasons of them finding a new world and dealing with aliens and the troubles of surviving the unknown.
( Yea, I know, leaving the planet kind of makes 24 hours kinda meaningless as time is determined by the rotation of the earth around the sun, etc.)
But you get my point.

But, like all seasons of 24, I’m surprised once again and enraptured in another story of terrorists and CTU.

It worked.

And I can see future seasons with this cast.
You have the Jack Bauer character,
the lovable Senator/President David Palmer character,
the vulnerable and likable CTU techies,
the relatable young terrorist, etc.

And it felt a little more down to earth, probably the closest we got to Day 1.

Yea, by comparison to what came before, its at the bottom, but look at what its following (and emulating).

I very much enjoyed it and if they can keep it this interesting for future seasons, no matter who is in it, then I’m looking forward to that fun.

Legacy was such a joke!! Lazy writing, Corey did a horrible job of acting. He didn’t capture the dramatic range that was needed. He constantly acted like he was mad. That’s it.
Nobody cared about the gay subplot between the tech guy & field guy. Just overall ridiculous!! And Teddy Sears was horrible.

I came across this just as I have finished a summer re-watch of the whole series, so here’s what I’ve decided on for my rankings:

1. Live Another Day
The shortened season kept the show moving faster and more focused on what mattered. The show never stopped, and this season had the best trio of any season’s main villains in Margot, Adrian, and Cheng. Kate Morgan and Mark Boudreau were excellent additions to the cast, and I thought sending Chloe to her darkest place ever really gave this character a new element. Best season of all to me.

2. Season 5
With where the show left off in Season 4, I don’t think you could start in a better way than how Season 5 started. The opening deaths gave Jack and the audience a real reason to care. Best B Plot of the series with Martha Logan. Charles Logan is one of the series’ best recurring villains. So many twists and turns, and it was excellent all the way.

3. Season 4
Habib Marwan, I think, is the best main villain of any terror attack in the show. He is the only villain that is always able to stay ahead of Jack. His solutions to keeping CTU off his tracks sometimes seem oddly simple, but end up extremely effective. Also, best season of 24 for Tony Almeida.

4. Season 1
The season finale of season 1 was the best episode of 24 ever. That was what made 24 the show that it is. The personal feel this season has for Jack is very exciting. Teri’s amnesia, surprisingly, didn’t bother me too much. The only side plot that I really didn’t enjoy was the stuff at the end where Sherry sets Palmer up with his speechwriter, Patty. Otherwise, original and classic.

5. Season 7
Tony going bad after Michelle dies makes absolute sense to me, looking back at how far he was willing to go to protect her in Season 3. White House raid was absolutely epic. Kim finally played a fun part in a season. Renee Walker rocks, and so does Allison Taylor (this season). Larry Moss is the perfect opposite to Jack, and adds to Renee’s story well. Henry Taylor is boring, but at least his story lines up with the main events eventually.

6. Season 2
Take away the first 8 hours of the Warner’s day and most of what happens to Kim and this could be #1. It drags the season down that much. This may seem odd, but the matchup of Jack Bauer and Sherry Palmer at the end of the day is, to this day, my favorite pairing on 24. George Mason’s story is beyond excellent and truly compelling. Nina time is way more fun on this day than the next.

6.5. Redemption
I enjoyed watching this way more than I did in the past. Fun way to get Jack back to America, and a fun glimpse of what was waiting in Season 7 by showing Allison Taylor and Jonas Hodges.

7. Season 3
I’ve often struggled deciding if Season 2 or 3 is better. While Season 3 does not nearly have as bad of subplots as Season 2 (even though David Palmer is trying), the high points of Season 3 do not compare with Season 2. Decent attempt at involving Kim better, but the Kim storyline still takes its best turn after this season. Tony and Michelle’s relationship is awesome to watch this season. Chappelle’s death is horrifying, and just a small example of the lengths Jack will go to save lives. Nina’s reemergence seems too forced, Palmer’s day is bad, and Chloe with a baby is weird to see. Good thing we don’t see Prescott O’Brian until he’s 4.

8. Season 8
Dana Walsh is CTU’s most annoying mole, because we know for 12 hours that she’s been bad before the reveal that she’s still bad. Bringing Logan back was fun, but I still question how much of an effect he should have been able to have on Allison Taylor, considering her hard stances on her daughter killing Jonas Hodges a season ago. Hassan is a cool, brave dude, though.

9. Season 6
I don’t dislike this season like other people do, but it is Jack’s worst season. Jack’s dad does not have a great storyline, but I liked the idea of making the guy behind Logan Jack’s brother. Wayne Palmer could have been such a better President, and should have been, but I don’t like Daniels much more. Cheng was made for better days, one where he does not call for Phillip Bauer to help. Sandra Palmer does absolutely nothing. Tom Lennox and Karen Hayes were really fun characters to have, though.

10. Legacy
I don’t even mind that it is 24 without Jack Bauer, I mind that the writers entirely dropped the ball. Tony Almeida returns purely as a publicity stunt, with the writers doing very little with the character. He’s essentially the less extreme version of Nina Myers, as Jacks describes her: “You’re worse than a traitor, Nina. You don’t even have a cause, you don’t believe in anything. You would sell anyone and anything out to the highest bidder.” Doesn’t fit well with me, as this time, it has nothing to do with Michelle. Isaac’s drug deal and the terrorist family with the teacher compare to the horrible storylines of Kim Bauer. I couldn’t build a connection with many of these characters, I lacked a reason to care about them. That one time Keith Mullins choked a guy out was really cool, though. And credit where it’s due, the Legacy premiere was one of 24’s best. It just went downhill from there.

#1 Day 5 – Absolutely flawless from its explosive premiere to its jaw-dropping cliffhanger. The plot was strong as was the direction, action sequences, and performances. There were also some great emotional scenes and memorable villains. The major character deaths were sad but very well executed and added to the unpredictable nature of the series. Might be close to the greatest season of any tv show in history.

#2 Day 7 – After a lot of the same stuff in previous seasons, a change in setting was very refreshing. The plot was very engaging and there were some great action scenes. Renee Walker has cemented her status as one of the greatest 24 characters and the best match to Jack Bauer. Tony Almeida’s return was a real hook to this season and his turn to the dark side, while loathed by many, to me felt right for the character. The only thing stopping it from being as good as season 5 was the last few episodes that were not as compelling but were still great.

#3 Day 3 – A lot of people may argue with this one but Day 3 for me was absolutely amazing. Agreed, the first half was not very captivating and the political subplot is definitely the worst in the series history but it all makes up in the second half. Completely edge of the seat, the second half of season 3 had my heart racing the entire time. Stephen Saunders is definitely one of the greatest 24 villains ever because didn’t just kill people, he made them suffer, feel what he felt when he was in captivity. And who could forget that scene where Jack was forced to execute Chapelle, a character who was despised in earlier seasons and made a hero in just one episode. Season 3 also developed Jack’s character more and allowed us to see the pain behind his hard expression.

#4 Day 2 – Put Jack together with a threat of a nuclear attack and what do you get? An action-packed, nail-biting thriller that won’t let you blink for 24 hours. This was the season when Jack became a true badass and would do whatever was necessary to save his country. Episode 15 (George Jason’s sacrifice) is one of the greatest 24 episodes ever written. The political subplot is also the greatest in this season as we get to see David Palmer unleashing his full potential as president. However, this season is not without its flaws as we are forced to sit through Kim Bauer’s subplot, which was the real torture in 24. And when you think about it, the villains this season aren’t as menacing as other 24 villains. But when you’re watching the actual storyline, these flaws can be overlooked for the most part.

#5 Day 1 – The first of many bad days to come for Jack, though that is in no way a criticism of the season. From the first episode, I was hooked as I watched Jack race against time to save his family and Senator Palmer. The season also felt more realistic than other seasons, mainly because Jack was a more human and relatable character as compared to the dark anti-hero in later seasons. Only complaint, putting Jack in holding for 3 episodes which kind of slowed down the season. Also when viewing the season a second time, the threat of assassination isn’t much when you compare it with the threat nukes. The finale is definitely the best in 24 history because it was action packed and the ending was shocking, emotional and took the show to a whole new level. Definitely an amazing start to an amazing show.

#6 Day 4 – Great season, held my interest through the entire run, though the plot was inconsistent at times as Marwan moved from one threat to the next as if he was anticipating the failure of each one so he could move on to the next. Most of the new characters were not that great (except for Curtis Manning and James Heller) and I was grateful when Tony and Michelle were brought back. The finale of this season is definitely the third best, behind season 1 and 5, and I think if 24 were to end here forever, I would be okay with that because it’s bittersweet and not tragic.

#7 Day 8 – Average first half followed by stellar second half. Jack going rogue and defying his government should have been the entirety of season 8. High Points: Anil Kapoor as Omar Hassan, Chloe becoming head of CTU, Logan’s return, and Jack’s killing spree. Low Points: Dana Walsh, Brian Hastings, and President Taylor’s downfall. Renee’s death was not a low point but definitely gut-wrenching and it really affected me during the rest of the season. The finale was good, no action, but still very emotional equipped with the best piece that Sean Callery has ever composed (3 things that make 24 great: The clock, Kiefer Sutherland, and the music).

#8 Day 9 – Great action scenes and performances (mainly Sutherland, Devane, and Strahovski) and I liked the change to London. But this season of 24 didn’t quite feel like 24 which should be a good thing but for me, it felt a little too different. The finale is definitely better than the season 8 finale because it had more action and an equally emotional ending.

#9 Day 6 – One word: Disappointing. After season 5, I was hoping that the show would maintain its high standards, and during the first four episodes I thought I was right, but then it all went to hell. This was because the season kept dropping major plot points like Curtis’s death and the nuke in Valencia. The Bauer family subplot sucked bigtime. But there were also some good things, like Abu Fayed, Morris O’Brian, Jack killing Fayed and Jack confronting Heller. The political subplot was also quite good and at times, better than the real story.

#10 Legacy – Purely average. Took me awhile to actually finish the season, but even if I didn’t I knew I wouldn’t be missing anything. The fact that Tony was used so poorly is a major insult to the character and the fans and I was glad when this god awful ‘reboot’ was canceled.

Season 2 was the best season by far, the colliseom fight was one of my favorites jack bauer moments, and overall this season was entertaning and thrilling. (except for the kim bauer plot which was kinda stupid but I didn’t care cause the main plot was awesome.

Season 5- was amazing season but i felt season 2 was a little bit better. Charles Logan, Henderson, Bierko, they were some of the best villains. also killing a lot of characters was a brave move and unexpected.

Season 3 – I’ll admit, didnt very like it at the first few episode, but it got wayy better, especially the 2nd half of the season with Steven Saunders. episdoe 18 was one of the best of the series.

Season 4 – Overall, a good season. Marwan was always one step ahead of CTU. the finale was amazing.

Season 9 (LAD) – Awesome plot, very good comeback.

Season 1 – Day 1 was actually pretty weak IMO. but it still was an average season.

Season 7 – An Okay season, not too good but not that bad.

Season 8 – first half of the season was terrible but the last 10 episdoes were awesome tho. If the first half was good as the second this season would be way higher in the list.

Season 6 – Bad season. Wayne Palmer as president just didn’t work for me and Curtis death was so unnecessary.

Legacy – Easially the worst season. I quit after the 6th episdoe. Didn’t like it at all.

2
4
5
LAD
8
7
3
Redemption
1
Legacy
6