02.16 | The 24 greatest '24' moments
Television is bad now. Really bad. It has been for a long time. If you like watching a group of wealthy people have sex with each other and then talk profusely about this sex, television is great. If you like watching a group of policemen, lawyers, or doctors stand in a room and discuss something for an hour, television is great. If you like finding out what your next door neighbor (who is also a sexy stripper) will and will not eat for money, television is great. But for those of us who want something more, television is empty. It's the same stuff over and over. Car chase. Gunshots. Man down, call for backup. Tom Selleck races to the scene. Don Johnson has a nice car. Jack is gay. Boring, bland, and an exercise in futility.
'24' changed all that for me. It's the best hour on television for people who want to simultaneously feel anxiety, joy, and release. It's not a "guilty pleasure" because it's nothing to feel guilty about. The writing is great. The acting is great. The situations are COMPLETELY UNREALISTIC AND INSANE, but they know this, and they continue to turn up the volume to make things even MORE unrealistic and even MORE insane. It's twist and turns that actually matter, and even when they don't make sense or are poorly resolved the damn tension you feel from it is unreal. It makes you want to break the time space continuum to travel forward and watch the next episode immediately. BUT YOU CAN'T WATCH THE NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW OR YOU'LL BE SPOILED.
It's all hyperbole because the show works in hyperbole. It LIVES in hyperbole. It's what life would be like if we were always on the brink of death.
This list of the 24 Greatest '24' moments not only has a brilliant intro, but is hilariously funny. Contains a tonne of spoilers for the first three seasons, though.
'24' changed all that for me. It's the best hour on television for people who want to simultaneously feel anxiety, joy, and release. It's not a "guilty pleasure" because it's nothing to feel guilty about. The writing is great. The acting is great. The situations are COMPLETELY UNREALISTIC AND INSANE, but they know this, and they continue to turn up the volume to make things even MORE unrealistic and even MORE insane. It's twist and turns that actually matter, and even when they don't make sense or are poorly resolved the damn tension you feel from it is unreal. It makes you want to break the time space continuum to travel forward and watch the next episode immediately. BUT YOU CAN'T WATCH THE NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW OR YOU'LL BE SPOILED.
It's all hyperbole because the show works in hyperbole. It LIVES in hyperbole. It's what life would be like if we were always on the brink of death.
