19 Dec 05
Originally posted by Bosse de NageThe reason I liked season 2 so much is because it felt like they used the 'hour' (about 44 minutes once the ads are included) so much more effectively. I often felt in season 1 that they had to pad things out so that the 'dramatic moment' would happen at 59 minutes and 45 seconds. In season 4 that tendency was back with a vengeance - something could be forecast at 15 minutes past the hour, and you just KNEW it would take until the end of the episode before anything happened.
I'm up to episode 5 of season 2. I watched the first season last month--although the content is not precisely innovative, the way it's put together is utterly compelling.
To me, season 2 rarely felt like the pace was being altered just so the 'dramatic moment' would happen at 59 minutes. Things were happening all the time. And the different parts seemed to fit together better. Season 4 is full of characters that turn up just so they can get wiped off the face of the earth.
19 Dec 05
Originally posted by orfeoI do love season two, Kim aside (and contrary to popular belief, she provides arguably the most moving scenes in season two, Jack's flight over the desert), but I prefer season one precisely because it didn't use cliffhangers like the seasons after it - if you look very closely, very few episodes end with a twist, most of them just used atmosphere, sound and tilesets to consolidate character. Stephen Hopkins was a better director of 24 than anyone else, too - the characterisations and use of pace is so much more powerful in the first season.
The reason I liked season 2 so much is because it felt like they used the 'hour' (about 44 minutes once the ads are included) so much more effectively. I often felt in season 1 that they had to pad things out so that the 'dramatic moment' would happen at 59 minutes and 45 seconds. In season 4 that tendency was back with a vengeance - something could be f ...[text shortened]... eason 4 is full of characters that turn up just so they can get wiped off the face of the earth.
It's also worth remembering that the first season was the only season which could really be called "realtime" - it wasn't perfect, but if Jack was one hour away from CTU, that's how long it would take him to get there: there's one beautiful shot of Jack dashing down a flight of stairs which is terrifically handled by the director, but in later seasons the direction was much lazier and more formulaic. By the time season four arrived, characters were teleporting about as if time had no meaning. Season two is the best of the "big", event-based seasons, I think, but I must admit to liking the last story arc in season three.
28 Mar 06
Originally posted by AmauroteUgh. I was cringing watching last night's episode. Who in their right mind would let Jack interrogate Audrey?
I take it all back, season 5 is 24 back on form - more of a series of riffs on old themes than anything else, but in terms of watchability you can't get much better than watching Warlock, Master Samwise, Robocop, C Thomas "Hitcher" Howell and Jack Bauer duke it out for supremacy.
28 Mar 06
Originally posted by darvlayYes, that was a reach (approaching a natural gas plant with a helicopter and the explanation that natural gas plants are so noisy the sentries would never detect the sound was easily the greatest), but the Bierko scenes were excellent - looks like the end of Julian Sands' role, although personally it looked to me like the explosion occurred from Jack's side of the car, not Bierko's.
Ugh. I was cringing watching last night's episode. Who in their right mind would let Jack interrogate Audrey?
28 Mar 06
Originally posted by AmauroteAlso, doesn't the United States government give their new counter-terrorism staff a thorough psychological evaluation before hiring them?
Yes, that was a reach (approaching a natural gas plant with a helicopter and the explanation that natural gas plants are so noisy the sentries would never detect the sound was easily the greatest), but the Bierko scenes were excellent - looks like the end of Julian Sands' role, although personally it looked to me like the explosion occurred from Jack's side of the car, not Bierko's.
28 Mar 06
Originally posted by darvlayIt does, so we're told, but there's a building just next door to CTU Los Angeles which prints free personality disorder passes to anyone who fancies a job there. In the writers' defence, Bierko massacred so many CTU employees that I'm surprised they still have anyone left to put behind a desk.
Also, doesn't the United States government give their new counter-terrorism staff a thorough psychological evaluation before hiring them?