A year and a half after the events that led to the death of his wife and an estrangement from his daughter Kim, Jack Bauer is called out of retirement by President David Palmer to track down a nuclear device set to detonate somewhere in Los Angeles that same day. At first it seems like a straightforward terrorist attack, but as Jack endures the second longest day of his life, he discovers a truth that is far more disturbing...
I can't believe that it's possible to say this, but it is: the second season of 24 is even better than the first. You'd think by now that the novelty of the real-time gimmick would have worn off, or that now that we know about all the reversals in the first season we'd be better prepared for them in the second. But 24 still manages to confuse and delight us. It's also downright eerie to watch the second season, which ends with a race against time to stop a war in the Middle East, and knowing that it was airing at exactly the same time that such a similar war was being prepared in the real world - a war which we had far less luck stopping than our fictional counterparts. Additionally, it's a testament to the sheer power of this series that once you've started it, you won't be able to stop until you've watched all the way through to the very last moment, when everything seems to have worked out fine - until your expectations are upset again. Only a series like 24 would have the balls to end every single episode on the cliffhanger and then end the entire series on a bigger one. Most series do things like that to ensure they'll be picked up again the following year, but this one never had to worry about that.
Suffice it to say that I have no wish to ruin any surprises for you, so I'll confine my comments to what I can tell you. For one thing, the plot (or should I say, the plots, since the season shifts direction midway through in a completely logical way) coheres far better than last year's did - amazing, considering that once again, the writers made it up as they went along. It's an astounding achievement, considering that some series that do plot an entire season in advance can't do as well as this. Also, there are fewer red herrings this time of the "Teri gets an attack of spontaneous amnesia" type, and while the writers put Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert) in even more trouble than they did last time (including a job as an au pair for the Abusive Father From Hell , an accusation of murder, a run from the police, an encounter with a weird survivalist, and a hostage situation), most of these situations feel more believable than anything she got into last year. (Kevin Dillon's performance as the aforementioned survivalist is very good, but it's the only situation that feels really odd.)
Excellent use is made of returning characters, such as the scheming ex-wife of President Palmer (Penny Johnson Jerald), the traitorous ex-CTU employee Nina Myers (Sarah Clarke), and the initially cowardly yet ultimately heroic CTU head George Mason (Xander Berkeley) - in the case of Mason, rarely has a character ever been so thoroughly redeemed by events in a series. Watch and you'll see why. Equally good use is made of brand new characters, such as presidential aide Lynne Kresge (ST:TNG's Michelle Forbes), Chief of Staff Mike Novick (Jude Ciccolella), new CTU employee Michelle Dressler (Reiko Aylesworth), and winner of the Family With The Most Secrets Award Kate Warner (Sarah Wynter). But the characters who develop most in this season are Jack himself, who becomes a far, far darker character than previously, and President Palmer, whose own character arc takes a devastating turn - and then takes another one. (Again, watch and see.) There's so much good to be said about this season - and I can't tell you even half of it. Otherwise, I'd have to kill you.
What I can tell you about in detail is how much better this DVD set is than its predecessor. The First Season set had only one alternate scene with commentary by producer-creator Joel Surnow and brief teasers for both Seasons One and Two. That's it. As if to make up for the complete dearth of extras last time, the producers of this DVD have decided to justify the extra $10 on the price tag (and quite well they justify it, too) with more extras than I've seen in a TV season boxed set in quite a long time - perhaps ever. There are no less than six different commentaries, one on each of the episode discs. How often have you seen a set boast this many commentaries, especially on a season that just aired the previous year? While the commentaries by Sutherland and Surnow and by co-creator Robert Cochran and Berkeley are a bit disappointing - Sutherland oddly doesn't have as much to say here as we'd hope - the others are popcorn, especially the first one with Bernard, Wynter, and Forbes. Wynter in particular is fun to listen to, and not just because of her natural Australian accent - she has a silly habit of commenting on how "hot" everyone is, which sets Bernard and Forbes off every time. Jerald's commentary with Surnow is a bit strange - at one point when describing how much Sherry Palmer wants President Palmer, she makes a bizarre comment about "just want[ing] my Hershey's chocolate bar" - but still entertaining, as is Haysbert and Clarke's turns at the mike. Additionally, there's the option of having a "24" symbol pop up on-screen whenever a deleted or extended scene comes up so that it can be watched in the context of the episode - quite a treat, as there are no less than 44 of these puppies! The downside is that this feature doesn't work while the integrated subtitles are on, which as a result must be turned on in the episode menu every single time. The upside is that if you're really that hard of hearing, you don't have to miss the extra scenes at all - they're all included on the seventh disc, all fifty minutes' worth of them, with commentary. Some may feel this is an unnecessary duplication of effort, but I think it's a damned good idea.
And the best idea of all is having that seventh disc devoted solely to even more extras. There are two 45-minute featurettes, "24 Exposed" Parts One and Two, which detail the production and post-production of the season's last episode. And I do mean detail: we get extensive interviews with the producers and cast, we get to watch the writers plan the episode, we get to watch scenes being filmed, we get to watch the ambitious fight scene being choreographed with Sutherland, we get to watch an April Fool's Joke pulled on the writing staff when a fake season ending is revealed (though, admittedly, the fake ending sounds just as exciting as the real one), we get to watch the episode being edited, we get to watch the surprise ending planned (including the way the producers kept it from being spoiled by the extras)... In short, we get to see every single aspect of this production, and every minute of it is fascinating. (Granted, a little of producer-writer-director Jon Cassar goes a long way, and we're with him for most of the time, but I'd rather be guided through the process by someone who takes the show a little too seriously than by someone who couldn't get a pair of brass monkeys.)
And if all that's not enough, we get a fifteen minute behind-the-scenes featurette showing how the terrorist bombing of CTU was created (sorry, folks, but if they mention it on the packaging, it's not technically a spoiler); and we get one of the best features for a DVD player's multi-angle function ever: a multi-angle scene study of Jack's interrogation of Nina from "1:00PM-2:00PM." Since the entire show is shot with at least two cameras for every scene, the only disappointment is that there's not more of these multi-angle studies. And, surprisingly, there's no Easter Eggs. But with all this stuff, who needs any? For this and so much more, the 24 Second Season boxed set has got to be one of the best values out there. At least, until the Third Season set arrives... and that can't happen until long after the new season premieres on October 29th. If this doesn't whet your appetite for it, I don't know what will.
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