As hinted at in my review for season four (here), the fifth season is where I started to see the slow decline of 24. And not because of any one thing; it was more about the accumulation of several things, like killing off a couple of favourite characters right at the beginning of the season to a conspiracy that goes so deep, it pretty much proves why would any government conspiracy like that not stay secret for too long. But the main struggle I had was “the tape”. I will have to go to some spoilers for it, for this entire season pretty much from the beginning of this review, for this to make sense, so here’s your official warning, as I am about to talk about quite a few things that happen this season.

Beware, SPOILERS are coming!

We start this season by saying goodbye to two (well, technically three since one character dies later on) beloved characters, Michelle (Reiko Aylesworth), ex-president David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert), and shortly after a few hours of him being in “critical condition” for a couple of episodes, Tony (Carlos Bernard) also gets killed. And I understand that is how you establish stakes to your drama, that “anyone can go at any moment”, but to me, it seemed more like an attempt at stakes, as those characters haven’t been an integral part of 24 for at least a season. But ok, they are all dead, and there is a new threat to be stopped, so let’s address that.

I liked the main crux of this story, deadly gas in the hands of terrorists who got it from somebody within the government. And the more we untangle who is behind this, the less sense it makes. Now, I am not saying it’s not possible for the president to be as morally corrupt as this one was (brilliantly portrayed by Gregory Itzin), no. Charles Logan was somebody I loved to hate at first because of his perceived weak character/temper, but after we learn he is the puppet master, most things he did throughout this season made sense. Now, I think making him the “big bad” of this season is a double-edged sword because it is a cool idea how do you go up against the president? How would you convince everyone that he plotted against his nation? But the more this season goes on, the more it shows you how, in reality, it would fall apart quickly, given how many people had to know he was behind it. And, of course, the more people know, the more likely it is for others to find out or use that information to blackmail him. But alright, let’s put the “reality” factor aside and focus on the show and how they went about proving that the president is behind it. Because without any proof, not even Jack Bauer could bring the president down. So, of course, there is a tape.

Oh yeah, the tape. The moment you learn about it, get ready to get frustrated with not only hearing about it around 34.529 times per episode but also how many times it gets retrieved and lost. It happens a few times, but here is the thing, I wouldn’t mind. Because in reality, somebody like Jack Bauer, who had been shown as this unkillable, unbreakable, loyal machine of a man with an IQ of 250, would have made a copy!!! The moment the tape first fell into his hands, he would have made sure that somehow, he would have made a copy of it. And yet, that idea never crosses his mind. I understand this season aired in 2006; therefore, smartphones weren’t a thing, but phones were, PDAs were, and all agents, him included, have been shown consistently utilising that technology many times for hard-to-believe things/tasks. It bothered me to an unreasonable degree that he didn’t find two minutes to make a copy of that tape and send that recording to the CTU, and they could have done much much more than relying on him to retrieve it like five times.

At the end of this season, how they actually get the president is… let’s say questionable, at best. So many things had to align for that situation to work out the way it did; this is where this season lost me a bit. Also, I hope you remember the Chinese and what happened at the Chinese consulate during the last season because that becomes relevant in the last couple of minutes of the final episode. And knowing what happens in season six, I am not sure whether I liked this cliffhanger.

I understand all seasons of 24 have asked us to suspend our disbelief to a point, but this season stretched it out too much for my liking. I realise the temptation from the screenwriting point of view, as there is pretty much nobody “bigger” Jack can go after than the sitting president of the United States. But the way the show went about it felt rushed and not thought through enough. It felt like the writers relied on us being so entertained we would not stop and question the details. Another thing about this move is, what happens after that? When your “big bad” is the ultimate big bad, what’s left? How do you top that? Again, knowing of season six, they tried, but whether they succeeded is a different story altogether.

Overall, the fifth season of 24 is best described as an enjoyable mess. There are still things to like, and Kiefer Sutherland was born to play this role, so he makes it worth watching. And if I am being honest, the first half of this season is great; it’s just the conspiracy stuff gets tiring after a while, especially the deeper we go, the more I get disconnected from any reality this show wanted me to believe. I think it’s still worth a watch, but the show peaked in season four.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke