24 hit our screens hard with the intense, fast-paced and emotionally charged first season. Its second season forwent a lot of the personal involvement for even more intensity and some truly brilliant plotting.

But 24's third season ... at least to begin with, is fairly standard fare when compared with its forebearers. This is a spoiler-free review, so let me just say that 8-10 episodes in the middle are pretty ordinary and uninspriing for 24. However, this series ends with a BANG that rivals and in some ways, surpasses any ending they have done before, so it's all worth it in the end.

And a bad season every now and again can be a good thing, because the writers and producers know which pitfalls to avoid now.

Let me just say this: 24 season 4 is all the reason you should need to watch season 3!

[NO spoilers]

I have to say I watched season one, six hours at a time. I probably didn't sleep a couple of nights staying until the morning. The idea was brilliant, one hour, real-time, multiple screens, multiple plots converging. OK, that daughter of Bauer wouldn't just stay put as her father said, but can you do ...

The ending also was different than the obvious, and I appreciated that too.

Season two didn't seem right. The plot seemed weak, but something from season one propelled me ahead. I do have to tell you though that I am watching season three out of misplaced sense of ... duty to finish it up. (In between I watched two superb seasons of "The Wire" (HBO), and season 3 of "The Shield" (FOX), excellent as well. I am half way through, so unless something spectacular about the show happens, I must say I am very disappointed. Unfortunately I cannot see how ...

In it's not so much about the plot and the sudden turns. That also becomes somehow predictable. The secret, I think, a good story depends a lot on the capacity contain enough true elements that we can relate to, so that the "unreal" ones become possible. Not the case here. So may things seem impossible. For example the decision-making in the White House. We read newspapers, we watch the news, we even watch other movies to have a general sense on how a Presidency works, and how it couldn't. I have no problem having a President developing an unprecedented relationship to an agent so that they are calling each other on the phone more than I call my best friends, but there is no way on earth that decisions on serious matters like - I am using an unrelated example to the story - a hijacking of a plane that include foreign dignitaries held for ransom money is decided between a President, his brother and his ex-wife (who mind you repeatedly and over and again convinced us that is worthy of no trust). As you watch the movie you go "come on..." way too often. And that's just one example of many.

The characters are thin. They exhibit no real emotion. Death, sickness, loss, threat, sacrifice, heroism, treason, all exist, but there is nothing under the surface.

I was a big fan of `24' in the beginning, but if you haven't bought any of the series, I would say go and buy season one and leave it there. It was a stroke of brilliance that was followed by mediocrity, despite all efforts.

24 has become one of my favorite shows becuase of its tight, fast-paced, edge-of-the-seat action and suspense. It's a race to the finish through twists and turns which leave you breathless, exhausted, and at the end, strangely satisfied.

In season 3, two evil, world-class villainesses, Sherry Palmer (President's ex-wife) and Nina Myers (Jack's ex-girlfriend/colleague) reappear full of venom and mischief. They really are forces to contend with.

24/3 is all about action and relationships. This season is a showcase for Tony and Michelle's love and marriage, Chase and Kim finding themselves, and President and Mrs. Palmer using each other again, and President Palmer working things out with his brother Wayne. We are also introduced to the eccentric Chloe who is terrific; if quirky beyond repair. Finally, the boss we love to hate, Ryan Chappelle, leaves us stunned and sad with a wrenching story line. Only the writers of 24 could make me sympathetic to Ryan Chappelle.

All in all, the season ends in a satisfying way - wrung out emotionally, exhausted from the frenetic pace, and anxious to see 24/4.

First airing in November 2001, 24 quickly established itself as one of the best television series around and solidified itself as a cult classic icon. Utilizing a novel premise, each season of 24 comprises a single day in lives of its characters, with each of the 24 episodes representing a one-hour time segment of that day. Kiefer Sutherland stars in the imminent role of Jack Bauer, a government agent periodically faced with enormous challenges within a single day. Each season is reminiscent of a fast-paced Hollywood action thriller, but it's only a busy day in the life of the heroic Bauer...

Season 3 begins almost three years after Jack's successful thwarting of a terrorist conspiracy to nuke Los Angeles. An extremely powerful drug kingpin, Ramon Salazar, has recently been captured and imprisoned due to Jack's efforts, but the Salazar case is far from over. Ramon's brother contacts federal authorities and threatens to release a deadly virus on the American public unless his brother is immediately freed. Yet again, Jack is tasked with hunting down the terrorists in a 24 hour timeframe... Will he succeed? Or will innocent people die in mass?

The 24 (Season 3) DVD features a number of breathtaking episodes including the season premiere in which a dead body is tossed just outside of a healthcare facility in Los Angeles. The Counter Terrorism Unit quickly learns that the body is infected with a deadly virus, a blatant signal of blackmail when the unit learns of a threat to release the virus at large unless drug lord Ramon Salazar is let out of prison. Meanwhile, President Palmer is preparing a presidential debate in the company of his brother (also his chief-of-staff) and his doctor (also his girlfriend), and Kim who now works at CTU with Jack has secretly been dating her father's partner, Chase Edmunds... Other notable episodes from Season 3 include (#53) in which Jack is taken hostage in an inmate riot while trying to break Ramon out of prison, and (#71) in which Jack is on the verge of discovering the location of the deadly vials...

The DVD Report

Season 3 starts off rather slowly, so one might not be that enthusiastic about watching the first few episodes at a stretch. But proceed beyond 6 episodes and watch the drama unfold with alarming alacrity and suspense! The script is great (as usual), the acting immaculate, the timing precise and the plot, though having a few glitches, immersive and wholly absorbing.

Kim's very own storyline may be irksome, and it's just not fair if people call her annoying; I mean, it's not her fault that she keeps recurring her role in sub-standard sub-plots! At least there are no cougars roaming anywhere on the set. Personally, the number of demands needed to be narrowed down to 2. I mean, the "sky is falling" thingy truly annoyed the heck out of me. And that social escort? Her relevance was absolutely temporary and insignificant to be wasting valuable on-screen time. Oh, and it gets weirdly melodramatic sometimes, even in mid-conversation. That's something they have to resolve separately, not while simultaneously trying to track down terrorists. The disconnect is obvious and awkward, to say the least. Character development is top-notch, though; can't say the same for the relationship between Jack and Kim.

Those who criticise the third season as less than what they would have expected after 3 seasons should ask themselves this: after 24 blazed the pioneering path to real-time drama, did anything in its genre even come close to challenging it for supremacy? The unarguable truth is NO. This show, however flawed, is truly in a league of its own.