[andreas_g4]

I find it really hard to say, most probably I will change my mind from time to time.

I would appreciate if commments like "24 is so unrealistic" would be omitted, since a show that is that suspenseful in real time has to have some flaws. As I said, I'd appreciate, not that I'm really thinking nobody will bring this up...

[osxisfun]

I would have to say Day 1 since it was so new and original and had the single greatest "Oh my god" moment when Nina (bad bad spank her nina) revealed her true self.

[hyperb0le]

Best: Day 1. Aside from all the plot twists, etc (which were great), day 1 rocked purely because of the dramatic transformation that happened to Jack over 24 hours. He went from a happy, smiling guy playing chess with his daughter to a broken, sad, betrayed man holding his dead wife on the floor of his office building.

Most Thrilling: Day 2. There were only two major plots (as opposed to Day 4's 4 or 5 different terrorist plots), so the viewer became much more involved; things didn't move so fast that you got lost or overwhelmed, but they didn't move so slowly that you got bored. [edit]That is, if you ignore the more stupid sideplots (like everything Kim did)...[/edit]

[jonasmac]

Day 1. It was so new and original at the time (to me, anyway).

[lavar78]

I've enjoyed every season, but I had to vote for the first one. Jack is always excellent, but Nina, Terry, and Sherry made the first season a blast.

[discotronic]

Season one was the best.

I am just glad they finally did away with Jack's daughter in the series. If this last season would have had her in it, I don't think I would have watched it.

[nforcer]

Day one all the way. The writers really need to stop being stupid about things and plan ahead. I don't want to see any more:

(spoiler warning)
1) Internal fights (CTU employees bitching at eachother every 5 minutes about whatever technology).
2) Stupid romances (we've learned by now that they simply won't work for Jack and never will).
3) West Wing moments (moments involving the whitehouse or the president and a "tough decision" that is almost always overturned or ignored if it's the bad choice anyway (because Jack doesn't care), and when it's not the consequences turn out to be not as dire as expected).
4) Stupid unexpected twists just for the shock factor (the chinese being able to track a CTU helicopter and beat it to its location, kill all the CTU guys waiting to pick up the passenger, and then abduct him without anyone knowing).
5) BS escapes. They almost captured Marwan 4, 5 times? Every time he had a perfect exit. Even when he was captured he still managed to escape.
6) Abuses of realtime (Jack tends to take very little time to travel long distances and more time to travel shorter distances).
7) Nuclear bombs, nuclear meltdowns, lethal bio weapons, emp blasts, etc. The "takeover the world" thing or "destroy america once and for all" thing has been done so many times before and with the same WMDs. Lets focus on a smaller conflict and have some creativity. That's what day 1 had that days 2-4 have (mostly) lacked.

I have suggested for a while now that they move beyond CTU. Day 1 was fun because resources were limited, everyone was against him at some point, he went out alone to fix a problem. Now the show has mostly become "Have a problem? Storm the building with a platoon of expendable CTU troops, conveniently ignore nearby buildings with other possible enemy troops, conveniently ignore obvious escape routes (sewers, etc.), repeat until day ends". Or "Have a problem? Use whatever-technology to track or fix it". Etc.

[Agasthya]

(5) can be fixed if they just get better perimeter teams How many times have we heard "He slipped through our perimeter teams"

[dzhim]

Seasons 1 and 3 were both excellent, although I could have done without Nina's return or especially without Sherry's in the third season. Don't get me wrong, they were great characters, and terrific foils for Jack and David, respectively... but their characters had run their course. Sure, it was nice to get closure about Nina, but we really didn't get any answers about who she worked for or what (besides money) motivated her.

Overall I'd give a slight edge to the first season, but they were both excellent television. Seasons 2 and 4 both rank somewhat lower.

The second season had its moments, but there was also a run where it felt like they really had no idea how to make a good show anymore. Jack's "death" was just one of a series of how-stupid-do-you-think-we-are cliffhangers, each of which was completely resolved within the first minute or two of the next episode.

I've been kind of down on Season 4 because it felt like everyone on the show had ADD. Everybody forgot about the meltdowns, even the people still at work in that cubicle farm at 6PM on a Saturday. Lights were back on in L.A. mere hours after the EMP blast. Right now I'd say it was the worst season, but given enough time I might give that honor back to Season 2. I really hated Kate Warner.

They did get several things right this year, though:
- No peripheral storylines like Kim's kooky escapades or Palmer's reelection campaign.
- Bill Buchanan was intelligent, savvy, and willing to play on both sides of the fence. Probably the best boss that Division ever sent over.
- Curtis stepped up in the latter half of the season and got some work in the field. It's nice to have someone competent in the field (besides Jack, who as we know is invincible and never makes mistakes).

Things they still screwed up on:
- CTU bickering. I know, they're high-strung, they've been up 24 hours straight. How about, rather than having everyone sit around bitching at each other, send the whiners home early and call in the second shift. Bring Milo back if you have to. At the very least, when you fire somebody, fire the fatass mumbly guy and not the hot one.
- Los Angeles's 100-yard radius. I don't expect travel times to be down to the minute, but at least give lip service to the real-time aspect. You might be able to get some places in 5 minutes, but not everywhere in the state. It should take awhile for Jack to get places once in awhile. And if it takes 7 minutes to get somewhere, it shouldn't take 20 minutes to get back.
- Moles. I don't think I should even have to explain this. It's old, played-out, and frankly plain ridiculous how many moles there've been. And Marianne literally did not do anything for the bad guys.

[dlefebvre]

Really enjoyed season 1 and 3. Season 2 was good but I could have lived without the series of unfortunate events happening to Jack's daughter. It was a major distraction from the principal plot. To be honest, the more the season was progressing, the more I was watching those scenes in fast forward. I was glad her involvement in season 3 was more in direct line with the plot.

[lavar78]

Originally Posted by dzhim

Moles. I don't think I should even have to explain this. It's old, played-out, and frankly plain ridiculous how many moles there've been. And Marianne literally did not do anything for the bad guys.

She let them know where Jack was. That's how they were ambushed looking at the tape of that party.

[dzhim]

Originally Posted by lavar78

She let them know where Jack was. That's how they were ambushed looking at the tape of that party.

You're right, I forgot about that. And in hindsight I'm realizing the point of it (from the writers' standpoint) was almost certainly to bring about Tony's return, since Jack couldn't trust anyone at CTU. But ultimately, I still didn't like it. With three complete full-out moles at CTU and some fake/partial molery thrown in for good measure, it's about time they retire that plot device.

Incidentally, after Marianne framed Sarah, I enjoyed Driscoll's line: ~"Sarah doesn't fit the profile for being a mole." What's the profile, then? Between Jamie, Nina, and Tony, CTU's mole profile should have been: Watch out for women, hispanics, and thirty-year-olds.

[lavar78]

Originally Posted by dzhim

You're right, I forgot about that. And in hindsight I'm realizing the point of it (from the writers' standpoint) was almost certainly to bring about Tony's return, since Jack couldn't trust anyone at CTU. But ultimately, I still didn't like it. With three complete full-out moles at CTU and some fake/partial molery thrown in for good measure, it's about time they retire that plot device.

IMO, the return of Soul Patch justifies all. Still, I agree with you: no more moles.