Kathmandu:

If like me you want spies action, intrigue in high places and cross and double cross and triple cross, you got to see the award winning series 24.

Writes critic Philip Kemp, “Such a simple idea, yet so fiendishly complex in the execution. 24, as surely everyone knows by now, is a thriller that takes places over 24 hours, midnight to midnight, in 24 one-hour episodes. Everything takes place in real time. Every strand of the plot has to be dovetailed and interlocked so things happen just when they should, in the right amount of time. Not that easy. Creator Robert Cochran has done an impressive job of putting the jigsaw together and keeping the tension ratcheted up high, as federal agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) runs around LA trying to stall an assassination attempt on an African-American presidential candidate and rescue his wife and daughter from the clutches of Balkan baddies. Twists, turns, revelations, and cliffhangers are tossed at us with satisfying regularity. Even so, this is undeniably mold-breaking TV. Sutherland, rescuing his career from the doldrums in one heroic leap, fully deserves his Golden Globe.”

Season II on 24 got even better with suspense mounting from the very first of the 24 segments. In the words Kristen Bowditch, “Once again the hours are ticking by with more guaranteed cliffhangers than a convention of mountain climbers. Holed up in a Los Angeles condo and estranged from his daughter, Jack Bauer is no longer on the government payroll; unfortunately for him, this small fact doesn’t seem to matter to President David Palmer and the NSA, who call him back to the CTU and give him 24 hours to infiltrate a terrorist organisation that is planning to detonate a dirty bomb in the City of Angels. There are more than enough shock moments in the first few hours to hint at the climactic build-up to come, while newcomers can quickly get involved in the lives of Jack and his family. There are some new characters to bolster the veteran cast and, interestingly Jack’s character has taken an altogether darker, more psychopathic turn.”

I am reveling in the third season and by now I have my favourite characters. As does Jeff Shannon (critic) who writes, “After Jack Bauer’s daughter Kim (Elisha Cuthbert) survived hokey hazards in Season 2, she’s now a full-time staffer at CTU, the LA-based intelligence beehive that’s abuzz once again. When a vengeful terrorist threatens to release a lethal virus that could wipe out much of the country’s population, Jack attempts to broker a deal for the virus involving drug kingpin Ramon Salazar (Joaquim de Almeida), whose operation Jack successfully infiltrated at high personal cost: to maintain his cover, he got hooked on heroin. That potentially deadly triangle — drug lords, addiction, and bioterrorism on a massive scale — sets the 24-hour clock ticking in a tight, action-packed plot involving a potential traitor in CTU’s midst; the return of TV’s greatest villainesses in Nina Meyers (Sarah Clarke) and former First Lady Sherry Palmer (Penny Johnson Jerald); a troubled romance between Kim and Jack’s new partner Chase (James Badge Dale); and a scandalised re-election campaign by president David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert), who monitors CTU as they struggle to (literally) save the day with the annoying but well-intentioned Chloe O’Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub), who makes pivotal contributions with by-the-book efficiency. It’s 24’s superior casting that overcomes the series’ occasional lapses in credibility, and Season 3’s twists make marathon viewing a nerve-wracking delight.”