In the wake of 9/11, the way Americans viewed terrorism and violence on a large scale was forever changed. This, in turn, led to greater paranoia, which made the premiere of 24 that same year all the more timely.
Spanning multiple seasons plus a movie and spin-off series, the show primarily focuses on Jack Bauer, who works for a counter-terrorist unit. Together, they seek to foil terrorists and uncover conspiracies within 24 hours (hence the title). While 24 is still praised to this day, it is a product of its time as some of its concepts haven’t aged well.
Aged Poorly: The Lackluster Subplots
Aside from the main plot of each episode, there were occasional subplots thrown in. However, not all of these were liked by viewers. What many consider to be the most infamous of these lackluster subplots happened in Season 2 of 24.
It revolved around Kim Bauer, Jack’s daughter, babysitting a girl whose father turns out to be abusive. So the two escape and then in the episode “Day 2: 6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.” Kim stumbles into a trap and gets confronted by a cougar. Not only did this subplot have no relation to the main plot, which involved a bomb threat in LA, but the cougar itself became a notable pop-culture reference for a time.
Timeless: The Ticking Time-Bomb
Originating in the 1800s, the Ticking Time-Bomb is an imagined scenario where someone who has knowledge of an event that’s going to harm a large group of people is in custody. However, they theoretically won’t tell the authorities what they know unless they’re tortured.
So this leads to the ethical question of whether the authorities are justified in torturing the individual for the information or not. To this day, this scenario has been debated in real-life and explored in fiction. In fact, 24uses the Ticking Time-Bomb quite frequently when it comes to its depiction of dealing with terrorism.
Aged Poorly: The Inaccuracies Of Counter-Terrorism
When it comes to television shows that supposedly take place in the real world, they ideally should be viewed with a grain of salt in terms of their accuracy. After all, dramatic storytelling often does not reflect what really happens because it wouldn’t be interesting to watch. In this regard, 24 is no different.
Every season has Jack and his comrades in the counter-terrorist unit dealing with major threats on a daily basis. Though in reality, such threats don’t happen very often. Within agencies like the CIA, for instance, The Guardianclaims “Real office drama is beyond banal: 30-minute dissertations over the color-coding of government forms, not 30 minutes to the end of the world”.
Timeless: No Character Is Safe From Dying
Though Game of Thrones arguably perfected this style of drama, prior shows like 24 had their share of character deaths that were not only unexpected but also impactful. After all, one gets to know the characters fairly well in the course of a season despite taking place within 24 hours of a single day in real-time.
Depending on their role, a character’s death may further the story. Yet the stakes are arguably raised further if characters are killed off regardless of their role, which throws the audience off emotionally and gets them more invested. Then in combination with putting the characters in dangerous scenarios like a hostage situation, we get successful modern television shows.
Aged Poorly: Kim Bauer’s Tendency To Be Put In Perilous Situations
Following the infamous cougar scene in Season 2, Kim went from a relatively harmless supporting character on 24 to one of the most hated in recent television history. Some critics have even gone so far as to claim that Kim debased any sense of believability the show had.
Now, what is it about Kim that makes her unbelievable? Mainly, it’s because she often got put in danger as a result of her own ill-thought-out decisions. This not only comes across as bad writing but, as Kim was one of the few significant female characters in the show, painted the series in a bad light.
Timeless: Having A Flawed Yet Relatable Protagonist
While having flawed protagonists who are still relatable may seem to have gained steam in recent years, there are examples in both literature and movies prior to the Twenty-First Century. That said, the current atmosphere of high-quality television shows has arguably brought about more antihero-type characters than ever before.
Some examples include Walter White and Dexter, yet 24’s protagonist Jack Bauer fits this archetype fairly well. He may resort to questionable methods when it comes to stopping terrorists, but he’s arguably doing it out of deep-rooted patriotism for his country and for his family which justifies his actions to an extent.
Aged Poorly: The Depiction Of Terrorists
Much like Jeff Dunham’s Achmed the Dead Terrorist puppet, the way 24 portrays Islamic terrorists is considered to be dated or even racist by today’s standards. When the series came out, though, the latter aspect was practically ignored due to the fears Americans had following 9/11.
In fact, Vultureargues a major reason why 24was so popular was that it “tapped into America’s fears” regarding terrorists. But with more characters from Arab and/or Muslim backgrounds appearing in television shows lately such as Quantico, it may represent a growing awareness that the terrorist issue is more complicated than it looks.
Timeless: Action Scenes That Are An Adrenaline Rush
Regardless of the context, a good action scene is always thrilling to watch. Yet they’re not easy to make, and it depends on the tastes of the viewers. After all, what may have been an exciting action scene in the past may not hold up today.
However, 24is arguably an exception, as the action scenes in most episodes use fast-paced editing and decent fight choreography to make them exciting in a short amount of time. It’s like the equivalent to an adrenaline rush as many things happen all at once and then they end just as quickly, though it makes the viewer crave more.
Aged Poorly: The Excessive Amount Of Torture
When it comes to modern television, torture scenes are one of the less pleasant elements to become popular. In the past, villains in television shows were the ones who did the torturing. These days, though, the protagonists of the shows resort to torturing the bad guys in turn as demonstrated in shows like Chicago P.D.
Though 24 used this trope the most frequently, which was heavily criticized both at the time and even now. It ties into the show’s belief that in order to deal with terrorists, extremely tough tactics may be necessary. With that said, it doesn’t excuse the show’s abundance of torture.
Timeless: The Conflict Between Liberty And Security
In spite of 24’s questionable beliefs when it comes to dealing with the ongoing threat of terrorism, it ties into a much deeper conflict; mainly, liberty versus security. Arguably present since the United States was formed, the correlation of these two elements has shaped government policies and actions by the military overseas.
Even popular media has brought up the issue numerous times throughout history, as was the case recently with Captain America: Civil War. Though how the issue is addressed has certainly changed over the years, with 24taking the simplified approach while successors like Homeland tried to be more complex.
