Still Lovin' 24

So, it has been like 6 years since 24 was on the air (okay, so just over one year), but I have been watching through some of the previous seasons again. At Costco, they were selling each season for only $25. I already had 1, 2, and 4, so I bought 3 and 5. I like to pretend that Season 6 didn't happen because it was so inferior to the first five.
Anyway, watching 24 again (I have been sick lately, so I have watched a bunch) had just reminded me of how great a show it truly is. I hope they bring it back to form for Season 7.
Watching it again also reminded me of just how great some of the twists have been. If you haven't watched the show (and if you plan to), then let me throw out the spoiler warning now. Because I am going to talk about surprises and twists, it will ruin the show for you (or at least make it far less engaging) if you know these things.

Without Further Ado. . .

The Top Ten Twists of Twenty-Four
10. Sherry Palmer is involved in the nuclear threat (Season 2). Jack is staking out the house of the man who forged a recording that could start a war, when in walks Sherry Palmer. She is there is get the same man, to try to silence him from exposing her role in the smuggling of a nuclear bomb into the country. Great stuff. We knew she was bad, but wow!

9. George Mason is on the plane! (Season 2) One of the best strands ever on 24 was when Geroge Mason was exposed to lethal doses of plutonium and responded with newfound courage and focus. When someone had to fly the nuclear bomb and crash the plane into the desert, Jack volunteered. Thankfully, an already dying George snuck onto the plane so that Jack could parachute out while Mason finished the job. It would be higher on the list, but there was a certain part of everyone watching that was at least hoping for it to happen. More for George's sake than for Jack's. We all knew Jack was going to live somehow.

8. Kyle Singer is fine (Season 3) The first 4-6 episodes of season 3 revolved around CTU trying to find a young man named Kyle Singer who had been infected with a deadly virus. We all watch the gut-wrenching process as both Kyle and his parents go through the process of accepting his oncoming death, and saying their final farewells to one another. It turns out to be a major bluff by the terrorists and Kyle is freed to go back to his parents.

7. Victor Drazen is alive (Season 1) The first season found Jack's family being targetted for revenge because he had assassinated Victor Drazen several years prior. Drazen's two sons are the main perpetrators of the attacks on Jack and Senator David Palmer. Toward the end of the season Jack discovers that Drazen (played by Dennis Hopper) is still living and has been in secret prisons for years.

6. That's not Janet York's father!!! (Season 1) Jack's wife Teri is looking for their daughter Kim, who was kidnapped with her best friend Janet York. Janet's dad is driving around with Teri looking for the girls, until CTU identifies a dead body as belonging to Alan York, Janet's father. The fake Alan York then leads Teri to the terrorists, where she is captured.

5. Tony saves Jack (Season 4) Jack and Audrey are trapped with gunmen closing in on them. Jack calls the only person he can trust (but we don't get to hear who it is that he called). Suddenly Tony Almeida saves the day by taking down the hostiles. The last time we saw Tony, he was being led away to prison at the end of season 3.

4. President Logan is in on the plot (Season 5) No one liked President Logan anyway, but when it was revealed that he was in on the plot that led to the assassination of former President Palmer, it was a total shocker. Jack had suspected that someone high up in the administration was helping the terrorists, but he never suspected it was Logan. Then we see him on the phone with the head bad guy and we know the truth.The end of season 5 chronicled Jack's attempts to bring the president to justice.

3. Marie Warner (Season 2) CTU knows that someone has been using Bob Warner's company to fund terrorists, but the focus is on Bob himself, and his Middle-Eastern son-in-law-to-be Reza Nair. It is finally revealed that Bob's daughter, and Reza's fiancee, Marie is the one who is in league with the terrorists. This is revealed when she ambushes two CTU agents and shoots Reza.

2. Jack is Back Undercover with the Salazars (Season 3) In season 3 Jack breaks terrorist Ramon Salazar out of prison in order to meet a demand by his brother Hector. When he gets Ramon back to Mexico, it is revealed that Jack and Hector planned the whole escape. What Hector doesn't know, though, is that Jack, Tony, and Gael all planned it as a secret sting operation kept from everyone in the U.S. government. Jack is now back undercover to thwart the Salazar's attempt to buy a weaponized virus. This twist also reveals that Gael, who was thought to be a mole helping the terrorists, was actually a double agent helping Jack and Tony.

1. Nina (Season 1) I wish I had experienced this in all its glory, but I already knew that Nina turned bad by the time I watched the first season. When she does, though, the betrayal is just horrific. Jack's most trusted partner and advocate had been playing him the whole time. Then they brought her back in season 2. . .and then again in season 3. Thankfully, then she met her end because I don't think they could possibly have justifed bringing her back a third time. She was just such an amazing bad guy (gal) that they couldn't resist.

Great show. I hear now that they are planning a 2-hour special in November that will be a sort-of prequel to Season 7. It is supposed to take place in Africa, and will bridge the gap between seasons 6 and 7. As far as I know, they are still planning on doing the season that they filmed 8 episodes of, that did not air this year because of the strike.