Another day with Jack means another rollercoaster ride, ups and downs (same thing!), tension, edge of your seat stuff and from what we have learnt over the 6 years, story 6 years, of Jack that people close to him generally tend to either end up dead or in a considerably worse position than they were when they met him. The loyalty for his country that this man shows, is beyond that of a normal american and in my opinion borders on insanity but what a legend and what another good series this is. I felt that this season fell slightly short of the previous one, it would be difficult to match the standard the creators set themselves but i still give it 5 stars. Maybe it took viewers a while to get used to the new characters and Jack not working at CTU anymore but you know what to expect from a 24 series, although this one for me missed something. maybe i need to go and watch it again, shame lol!!
PLOT -
As with my other 24 reviews i will attempt to give you some detail of the start plot but not too much then onwards as what you end up with after 24 episodes is usually something different from what you started with!!
Day 4 is set 18 months after the end of day 3, this means we have known Jack for 6 years now. We learn that Jack has been fired from the counter terrorist unit (CTU) due to his drug addiction in Day 3 but his record has given him the responsibility of being the lead bodyguard for secretary of defence James
Heller. A recent train explosion has kept CTU occupied and investigations are beginning on that threat when another plot unfolds involving the kidnapping of Hellerby middle eastern terrorists. His daughter Audrey Raines, doubles up as his chief of staff type thing and Jacks lover, is also kidnapped and Jack pursues the possibility of getting back into CTU so he can start to look for Heller and Audrey, being feeling personally responsible for their kidnapping. The plan is to broadcast the execution of Heller unless the US pull troops out of their country.
CHARACTERS -
Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland, Young Guns) is now working for the Secretary of Defence James Heller. He has finally found love again with Audrey Raines, Heller's daughter. Rather than having responsibility for a whole country, Bauer looks after just one man but still harbours thoughts of helping his country.
Audrey Raines (Kim Raver, Night at the Museum) is her father, James Heller's, chief of policy. She has a reputation of being good at her job and her involvement with Jack is kept secret as to not distract her or her father from their work. Audrey is currently going through divorce proceedings wife husband Paul.
Erin Driscoll (Alberta Watson, Hackers) is now head of CTU following Tony's misdemeanor in day 3. She immediately fired Jack and has a brand new team of analysts and field ops. Her mentally ill daughter is always a concern for her
Curtis Manning (Roger Cross, First Wave) is part of the new field ops team. He is highly skilled and highly thought of within CTU, especially by Driscoll. He is determined to follow protocal at all times.
James Heller (William Devane, The West Wing) is US Secretary of Defence and a target for a terrorist kidnap and execution plot. He has hired Jack as his personal bodyguard but does not know of his romance with daughter Audrey. He also has a son who is massively against his policies and in turn aims to scupper any plans to implement them
Habib Marwan (Arnold Vosloo, GI Joe) is a middle eastern terrorist who controls multiple terrorist cells. He is the main bad guy throughout the day.
Chloe O'Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub, Little Miss Sunshine) is still employed by CTU as an analyst, she brings some comic relief to the days tension but still finds it difficult to socially interact with other staff
Edgar Styles (Louis Lombardi, Sopranos) is a new analyst into CTU working below Chloe. They do however have a good relationship and Edgar is patient towards her attitude
Other characters past and present come in later in the day to either aid or disrupt the events.
PERFORMANCE -
More of the same from Kiefer Sutherland when playing Jack Bauer, he again starts in a situation away from the norm but is at home dealing with suspects, close up. We find Kiefer getting up close and personal in a lot of torture sequences in this season so we are witnessed to seeing more of his interogation style which is pretty impressive!
The character of Habib Marwan played by Arnold Vosloo is very good and probably one of the better 'bad guys' throughout the whole series
TECHNICAL STUFF -
Runtime for the season is about 1015 minutes with each episode around 42 minutes long. It would span the whole hour if watched on TV incorporating adverts. DVD extras include deleted and extended scenes, breaking ground; building the new CTU featurette, blood on the tracks featurette, lock and load featurette, longest day music video, some nissan short film which is a waste of time and a behind the scenes look at 24 the game which settles itself in nicely between day 2 and 3. Again most episodes directed by trusty Jon Cassar who has had a hand in all previous seasons
OVERALL -
I think personally, it took me a while to accomodate to the new characters and new layout of CTU. The viewer will have to learn to get to know a number of new personel within the department and the lack of leadership from new president Keeler keeps the government side of things rather low key. There is however some shocking moments during the day which delights all 24 fans and keeps people glued to the action but instead of taking its usual layout of A) Terrorist plot due to happen and B) Locate and find the terrorists, its breaks it up into a variety of plots keeping the story moving. It is interesting to watch Bauer's relationships throughout the day not only with Audrey but her husband Paul, team mate Curtis and analyst Chloe who he now trusts fully and considers a friend. Its definitely worth a watch and worth the 5 stars but with the massive heights hit in day 3 this one just falls slightly short.
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Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
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![24: Complete Season 4 [DVD] [2004]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78496931.jpg "24: Complete Season 4 [DVD] [2004]")
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