24 Complete Series Box Art
24 Complete Series Box Art

Rank the 24 Seasons

Now that 24: Legacy is over and you’ve had a bit of time to think about it, let’s rank every season from best to worst. Which season was your favorite? Least favorite? Where would you rank 24: Legacy amongst them? Leave your answers in the comments below.

Also have a couple of fun polls you can vote in. Don’t be offended if your favorite moment wasn’t listed – not trying to snub characters, just keeping each poll to a reasonable number of options.

Favorite Multi-Season Villain

Saddest Death on 24?

Which format do you prefer?

Jack Bauer's best field partner / sidekick

Jack Bauer's best love interest

Best Threat

Favorite President

Favorite setting

New poll:

Favorite Season Finale

Now that you’ve voted in these polls, let’s see your rankings!

55 Comments

Comments Closed
The Predictor
May 2, 2017 at 2:50 pm
From Best to Worst:

1. Season 4 – It is true that Marwan escaped too many times and the season was unrealistic with the many many threats that the terrorists had planned. Despite this, season 4 is the best edge of your seat thriller of ’24. With the kidnapping of Heller, EMP, taking down air force one, nuclear football, Chinese embassy, there were more great episodes than in any other season. Marwan and the Araz family are the best villains. Season finale was the best of the series.
2. Season 2 – The 8 episodes leading up to and including Mason taking down the plane is the best stretch ever of ’24’. Mason taking down the plane is the best episode of the series. The Marie Warner twist is the best of the series. If not for the idiotic Kim subplot, this would be the best season.
3. Season 5 – Action packed. Logan family dynamics was great. Many emotional moments especially the killing of Palmer and Michele at the beginning and the killing of Edgar in the middle. Can’t rank higher because the Russian terrorists weren’t that interesting. Also, when you re-watch it, the Logan twist doesn’t make much sense.
4. Season 1 – The original. Slow start and weak finish, but the middle episodes are great. When you re-watch it, you’ll see the Nina twist also doesn’t make any sense.
5. Season 7 – Renee is the best female character. Storming of the White House episodes were great.
6. LAD – liked 12 episode format. 2nd half of season was great until the season finale.
7. Season 3 – The ’24’ writers admitted that they wrote themselves into a corner with the Salazar stuff. Gael’s triple agent stuff made no sense.
8. Season 8 – mostly forgettable season. Jack’s crazy turn at the end was strange. Blonde villain (can’t recall her name) was very annoying.
9. Season 6 – Horrible. Reveal that main villains were Jack’s brother and father were jumping the shark moments.
10. 24 Legacy – Found a way to be even worse than season 6.

Mariah Tahmisian
November 6, 2017 at 10:25 am
I almost totally agree!

I think none of the twists surrounding the moles (Nina Myers, Charles Logan) made much sense if you rewatch it

These are my choices on what I voted for in the Polls:

1. Favorite Multi-Season Villain – Nina Myers

2. Saddest Death on 24? – (George Mason – his exit was very sad and the music during on the helicopter with Jack, was the most saddest scene in 24’s hisory)

3. Which format do you prefer? – (24 episodes, no doubt about it, 12 episodes is not a lot of storylines to fit in an all 24 hours for only 12 episodes, this 12 episodes is a stupid idea).

4. Jack Bauer’s best field partner / sidekick – (Chase Edmunds, it was such a shame he didn’t return after Day 3, James Badge Dale who played him is a fantastic and very sexy actor).

5. Jack Bauer’s best love interest (Audrey Raines).

6. Best Threat – (Nerve Gas (Day 5) – Day 5 was the most explosive season of 24, every episode was action packed, suspense, shocking cliffhangers. This season is my favourite.

7. Favorite President – (David Palmer – I can’t believe he was killed off in the fifth season premiere).

8. Favorite setting – (Los Angeles).

Gerry Mander
May 3, 2017 at 7:58 am
Dude, do you fancy every male cast member on this show???

Jesús Sánchez
May 2, 2017 at 5:15 pm
My personal ranking:

Season 5 tied with Season 1 [Both were perfect to me: the first because of the novelty, the fifth because the formula worked best from start to finish].

Season 9 (AKA Live Another Day) [An epic comeback, a wonderfully harsh effect thanks to the time jump done right, an a perfect final season to me due to finally believe on its own tragic terms].

Season 2 tied with Season 4 [At the same remarkable level].

Season 3 [A terrific second half can`t totally overcome an erratic paced first half].

Season 7 [Good, but not great].

Season 8 [Just an OK Season].

Season 6 [Not really awful, but forced on plotting terms. If only the writers would have left the Jack/Fayed plot alone, that would have been really much better].

24: Legacy [Dreadful so laughable Season].

Jesús Sánchez
May 2, 2017 at 5:16 pm
Also, thanks 24Spoilers to make one of the most requested polls in this site finally a truth.

Thank you very much for your dedication!
Greetings from Spain!

JohnGormleyJG
May 2, 2017 at 5:43 pm
Ok Let’s go

Season 5 – Just an all round brilliant season. Great plot, great threat, great action and twists. Amazing villains (Henderson and Logan). And Jack is a living legend in this season.

Season 4 – Starts off good and gradually, then rapidly gets amazing. Nice new set of fresh faces too. Marwan although he’s not the best actor he is by far 24 smartest villain, always 1 step ahead of Jack and the gang which was fun to see.

Season 1 – pretty universal among most fans the season 1 was a killer. Directed beautifully and actually felt like a day because (almost) everything was focused on one event and I don’t really mind the Kim stuff until the re-kidnapping and most of her later season stuff. Kim stuff in eps 1-13 were watchable material.

Season 3 – Chase stands out in this season, I don’t mind that we didn’t see him again as that makes S3 just that more special. Then Tony, Michelle and the Salazar’s just add so much to making this a great season.

Season 9 – LAD I liked addition of Adrian Cross, Audrey’s husband and to some extent Kate Morgan. Felt good getting a new season after a long time of hype. Nothing made this season like President Heller did. Will deserved a giant Emmy for that role.

Season 8 – Boring boring first half. Dana stuff is boring and Cole is a weak character. With that said the last 8-10 episodes may just be the golden era of the show – with Jack the ultimate star of the season. I thought it was bad them killing Renee but luckily the end of the season got to pull a lot of leverage from that.

Season 7 – some great episodes like the white house heist but the rest of the season was a hot mess. Was nice to see Tony again regardless of his condition.

Season 2 – I’m no way of a Season 2 fan bar so epic Bauer moments. Kim really ruins it, the wedding story felt corny. Didn’t like Kate Warner at all. And the whole sorta of “Islamic threat” seamed pretty weak. They pulled it off a bit better in S4, even though that’s not the best part of S4.

COMPLETE TIE – Legacy and S6 – Both started off well and enjoyable. But gradually soured my throat – S6 was more clumbsy and foolish writhing. Legacy was more cliché and massive let downs when there was easy room for much more potential. The only difference was S6 finished a nice high, Legacy jumped off that cliff.

Most of the seasons I really did enjoy and there’s still things I like about all of them tbh.

Gerry Mander
May 2, 2017 at 5:47 pm
Each season had it’s pro’s and con’s… but I think we can mostly agree that 5 was arguably a near-perfect season and 6 was largely a total trainwreck (with some good episodes and moments throughout)… everything else is relative and dependent on your own personal and subjective opinion.

Jesús Sánchez
May 2, 2017 at 6:31 pm
By the way 24Spoilers, will you take part in ranking the seasons? I`d love to see your personal take in this. If it`s not a problem to you. Thanks!! And thanks to all the people who takes part in this :)

I’ll post my rankings soon, just had to step out and run some quick errands (but my top three are 1, 5, 3).

It’s always interesting seeing people’s rankings, because like Gerry said, there’s only consensus on two seasons. The rest varies quite a bit.

I haven’t given this a great deal of thought lately, so I am overly influenced by your writings as I am reminded of tid-bits of details that influence my rankings. So to be fair, here are my tiered ranks as my feelings when I look at the jacket art and gut feelings:

“A” Tier: S5, S4, S1
“B” Tier: S9, S3, S2
“C” Tier: R, S7, S8
“D” Tier: S6
“F” Tier: Legacy

Morris and 24 Legacy pushes Season 6 into the “D” tier from the “F” tier.

1 through 5 are pretty much great to me, and I go back and forth between favorites. But anyway, here’s how I feel now…

TOP TIER:
Season 3 – Despite some weird shifts in threats and subplots, there are a lot of things I like about this season: the focus on Tony and Michelle, Kiefer’s acting was top-notch, Kim was used better, I liked Chase, and it felt like the stakes were higher with some high-profile, surprising deaths.

Season 5 – This is nearly perfect, starting with the shocking deaths and ending with a really cool conspiracy. The introduction of new great characters (Buchanan, although he started in S4, Logan obviously), and I loved how it tied with the previous season.

Season 1 – First things first, I had the ending spoiled… but still, I thought this was top-notch. Great characters, great twists (Alan York? Nina Myers?), I loved Ira Gaines, as well as the whole political subplot of Palmer and Sherry. I pretty much hate the whole “Teri has amnesia” subplot, though.

Season 2 – One of my favorite things of this season was the focus on Palmer. Love the Mike Novick character and how it played out. I also loved the introduction of Michelle, such a great character. I wasn’t a huge fan of Kate Warner, and of course, we had Kim, Miguel, and the cougar.

MIDDLE TIER:
Season 7 – To be honest, I’m sometimes tempted to put this on my top tier. I really like how tight the script and the story felt, and it was kinda obvious that the writers had an extra year to work things out. For the most part, things doesn’t feel as ham-fisted or convoluted (White House raid aside), but it all felt more cohesive. Bringing back Tony was risky and, well, a bit convoluted; but hey, it’s Tony! I didn’t care. I liked Renee Walker, Jonas Hodges, and seeing Buchanan and Chloe again.

Season 4 – On first view, this used to be one of the weakest. The introduction of so many new characters felt a bit off. However, a second viewing really improved my opinion of it. Habib Marwan could’ve been worked better, but it was great to see new characters connect with old ones like Tony, Michelle, and Palmer. And I might be a lone in this, but I really liked how they worked the Erin Driscoll character.

Live Another Day – This one is falling a bit more into the lower tier, but it was still a fun ride. I thought Margot Al-Harazi and her children were pretty weak, but it was great to see Jack and Chloe paired again. Plus, the addition of Kate Morgan and Mark Boudreau, plus bringing back Cheng and Audrey were great moves. It got better as it went on and finished quite strong.

Season 8 – Similar to LAD, but raised to 11. The first half was borderline awful. Villains were underused, some bad characters popping around (*cough*Kayla*cough*), stale writing… I was about to give up on it, but the shift mid-season was such a 180 degree turn. Bringing back Logan was perfect, and the whole “Jack descends into hell” thing worked great. Plus, I really liked the whole Omar Hassan subplot and how it ended. Really bold.

BOTTOM TIER:
Season 6 – Where to begin? I never bought Wayne Palmer as President. Heck! Not even DB Woodside bought how he was written. The use of Jack’s family was a mess, plus it deflated whatever goodwill they had won near the end of Season 5 with Graem. I hated Mike Doyle, and didn’t like Morris that much, plus the way they killed Curtis? Ugh… but anyway, even the bottom tier has some enjoyable things: Milo’s death was one of the most shocking deaths I’ve seen on TV, I liked Nadia, Tom Lennox, Karen Hayes, and Noah Daniels.

Legacy – *sigh* Last and least… I plan to write something about this soon, but overall, this was a mess. One of the most disappointing seasons of TV I’ve experienced. Despite some good talent involved in cast and crew, the lazy writing was, well, lazy. Past subplots were rehashed, new subplots were thrown at us with little to no discern of what to do with them, some mediocre performances (although I blame some on the script), silly bad guys, it was a mish-mash of mediocrity to be honest. I liked Corey Hawkins. I think that, all things considered, he did a nice job. I liked some of the supporting cast, but they were plagued with an awful script and it felt in most of the performances. Oh, and Tony? wow, what a way to waste such a great character. The master interrogator that can’t even break an old man. Luckily they saved him with the mercenary part near the end, but still… easily the worst season.

ELDER GOD TIER
1. Season 5: An epic conspiracy thriller with some of the best twists in the series. A nice mix of the “dude explosions lmao” action of Season 4 and the more intriguing elements of Season 1. Combine that with a great lineup of villains and some standout performances (Itzin, Smart) and you’ve got yourself a winner. Back when 24 was the undisputed king of television. :(
2. Season 1: Great atmosphere and cinematography, had the strongest all-around cast in the series, actually had a believable plot and characters you could sympathize with. Second half was admittedly weaker than the first half but the season did end on a (very) high note. Good shit.

GREAT TIER
3. Season 2: Was probably the last character-centric season before 24 more or less transitioned into an action show, and was the only time aside from Season 3 I cared about the “WMD of the week”. Second half wasn’t nearly as gripping as the first but it was still better than most other seasons. Oh, and “haha cougar”, I guess.
4. Season 3: Boring first half is offset by the absolutely fantastic second half. Arguably had the single best episode in series history (3x18). Episodes 15-onward were what 24 looked like on its game. Chloe was a mistake, though.

GOOD TIER
5. Season 4: A fun, action-oriented season. Most of the new cast was great but seeing old favorites return was also appreciated. The obvious filler episodes (4x15, 4x18) are not fun to rewatch but overall this season was pretty consistent. Not the smartest 24 has been but who cares?

MEH TIER
6. Season 7: Had some good action scenes and a few standout episodes but overall was a disjointed mess. None of the new additions to the cast were that appealing (except for Boss Moss) and the last few episodes were a fucking snorefest. And this season was supposedly planned in advance?
7. Live Another Day: A nice nostalgia trip and nothing more. Similar to Season 4’s mindless escapism only without most of the likable characters and with the production quality of a student film.

SHIT TIER
8. Season 8: A boring and forgettable season saved somewhat by its slightly better second half. Possibly had the weakest cast in the entire series (Freddie Prinze Jr., anyone?). Watching Jack chimp out near the end was pretty entertaining admittedly, but this was still a piss-poor way to end the original series.
9. Season 6: Similar to Season 8 only minus the good run of episodes. There were some iconic moments and good ideas scattered about but they were all pissed away in favor of rehashed stories and Kim Bauer-level subplots. The finale was pretty good, though.

PELICAN SHIT TIER
10. Legacy: The ultimate rehash season made worse by the fact it was supposed to be the “fresh reboot the series needed”. Tell me, what exactly did this new cast bring to the table? What exciting, new stories did the writers have to tell? Fuck all. The acting was stiff across the board and there weren’t even that many good action scenes to distract me from this trainwreck. This season could’ve been 48 episodes long and I still wouldn’t have cared about these characters. If this is the best Team 24 can manage then by all means let this series die.

There is a group of people out there who take something that is ‘good as is’ and tries to improve and make changes to. The Windows 8/10 comes immediately to mind. What was wrong with Windows XP/7? Both were awesome OS. I believe the same thing applies here. They took something that was completely awesome and turned it into absolute fucking crap and tried to pitch it as an improvement or on par with the existing product.

Why are people driven to do this? Profit?

I’ve grown ambivalent towards rankings because I find that they change too often. I won’t go into detail at this stage, but I think I’d grade the seasons as follows:

Day One – A+

Day Two – B

Day Three – B+

Day Four – A-

Day Five – A

Day Six – C

Day Seven – B+

Day Eight – A

Day Nine – B

Day Ten – D

Gerry Mander
May 3, 2017 at 7:51 am
Change Day 5 to an A+ and Day 6 to a a C- and I wholeheartedly agree with this ranking…

Day 2 would undoubtedly have been an A+ were it not for Kim Bauer’s utterly useless wacky adventures subplot, Days 3 and 8 are very similar in that they both have solid first halves but utterly stellar second halves that just SOAR, Redemption / Day 7 was a solid return to form, but the show never again fully recaptured that alchemical magic they had over Days 1-5, I’ll admit that even as a die-hard ’24’ fan… although they came damned close with the latter 13 episodes of Day 8 (starting with the heartbreaking Markos episode, after that, they were off like a rocket and never looked back!), some people may not like Jack and President Taylor’s collective and simultaneous turn to the dark side (a nice little commentary on how the sheer toxicity of politics can turn even the best of allies into mortal opponents), but both it and bringing Logan back were absolute masterstrokes in my humble opinion… plus Jack’s assault on Logan’s motorcade may just be the single best action setpiece in television history.

Going forward? Ignore Legacy, bring back Joel Surnow and Kiefer, and bring the action back to Los Angeles… it started there and it should finish there.

I was definitely being a tad generous with season six, Gerry. You’re probably right, actually. For me, a D suggests that the season has basic functional issues. Season 6 at least works (despite the quality of the material), so it should receive the lowest possible C grading.

Your rankings:

Day One
Day Five / Day Eight
Day Four
Day Three / Day Seven
Day Two / Day Nine
Day Six
Day Ten

8,5,3,4,1,9,7,6…………………………………………………………………………………………………………the shit legacy

I noticed something really interesting that I’ve never seen before… Well, I actually “see it”, but never compare:

Ryan Chappelle -> Killed by Jack
George Mason -> Replaced Jack in the airplane
Bill Buchanan -> Took the initiative been next to Jack
Paul Raines -> Killed by Jack (by inaction?)
(Where is Curtis in this poll???) -> Killed by Jack

TOP TIER:
Season 1 – Has a really unique feel to it. The midnight start time gave those early episodes a really dark and gritty vibe that has yet to be replicated. It felt the most authentic, the only season that seemed like it could take place in one day. It had the most suspense and intrigue, best twists, best cliffhangers. I like how they made Jack feel badass just through his dialogue (“I’ve killed two people since midnight…” and “You probably don’t think I can force this towel down your throat…” etc) – that to me is more impressive than just having him murder someone. I also like how they made normal everyday relatable things (like the Ted Coffell episode where Jack gets stuck in traffic, is late to his “meeting”, misses the elevator) have life-or-death stakes. It just had a lot of small touches that I loved. And then it ended on a high note with the Nina twist and Teri death.

Season 5 – incredible rollercoaster ride from start to finish, the show was firing on all cylinders that year. The season premiere sent a clear message to viewers that all bets were off, anything could happen. Christopher Henderson was my favorite villain. Had practically no filler or crappy subplots, just amazing all the way through.

Season 3 – Started off on shaky ground with Jack’s heroin addiction and the sting operation twist which kind of made the first couple of episodes feel pointless. Not only did it recover, it became incredible. The last ten episodes are some of the best in the entire series – Nina’s and Sherry’s death, Chapelle’s execution, the Tony/Michelle stuff, the hostage exchange turned shootout with fighter jets and exploding helicopters, Chase’s hand… But it was the amazing hotel arc that stood out for me most.

MID-TIER – I enjoy all of these seasons, they would be a B (or at worst a C) on the grade scale:

Season 2 – The main plot was terrific and it has some of my favorite scenes of the entire series, especially George Mason’s entire arc. The Jack and Nina scenes were so much fun, so much tension there. The first 15 episodes especially were very strong. But Kim’s absurd plot really drags this season down. I can’t list it as high as those others when I’m fast forwarding through like 30-40% of the show.

Season 4 – Really good action-packed season that successfully introduced some fantastic new characters along with several amazing character returns (Tony especially). One of the most fun to rewatch. What drops it down a bit for me was the huge number of large-scale threats carried out by a single man (and all of Marwan’s constant escapes). It felt like every threat was a diversion for a bigger threat and they lasted like two episodes. But that’s what also makes it fun to rewatch, so whatever. The final minutes of this season could’ve been a perfect series finale.

Season 7 – Great return to form after the terrible sixth season. Renee Walker was fantastic and I’m probably one of the few people that really liked Larry Moss. The Deep Sky twist and Bill/Jack/Tony/Chloe working together was really cool and should’ve been a bigger aspect of the season. Was fun to watch Jon Voight ham it up as Jonas Hodges. I liked this season a lot until the final arc which I found pretty bad – they sorta sidelined Jack and Renee, killed Larry, made Tony evil… meh. And Jack’s infection storyline kind of fell flat since we knew the show was renewed.

LAD – Very fun seeing Jack run around London. The new cast members were mostly good, especially Mark Boudreau. Heller’s dementia was a very cool angle to explore, especially how his story ended (with him saying that he won’t remember Audrey’s death or anything at all). Damn, that was really good stuff. Belcheck was awesome. I enjoyed this pretty much the entire way through, it just never reached the same heights as those other seasons for me.

Season 8 – hmm, I haven’t rewatched this season in quite a while, but I remember the first half being kind of weak and then it kicked into overdrive after Hassan’s daughter was kidnapped. Hassan’s death was very well done. Logan’s return and Jack’s killing spree at the end was fun.

GARBAGE TIER – these are the only two seasons I disliked, they have very few redeeming qualities:

Season 6- introducing previously unmentioned family members several years into a show is usually a sign that the writers are out of ideas. Curtis acting out of character and being killed like that was lame, and it was overshadowed by the nuke going off a minute later. And the nuke was pretty much forgotten about ten minutes later too. And those are considered the good episodes, it only goes downhill from there. It did have a few highlights (Fayed’s death, Jack/Heller convo in the finale) but those were few and far between.

Legacy – I never thought a season would be worse than 6, then Legacy happened. Almost nothing worked here. They had a completely clean slate and could’ve done something really original and fresh, and instead just lazily rehashed nearly everything. None of the new characters were really fleshed out, all of the villains sucked, there was no twists, no tension. When you know the flash drive is corrupted and the bad guys can’t launch any attacks, where’s the tension in that? The first half had that awful Amira high school shit and lame drug turf wars crap. The second half just became hostage victims exchanging places with each other, a laughably bad CTU attack, a terrible misuse of Tony Almeida, and a dozen more problems. I scrapped and restarted my review multiple times because I thought it sounded too negative, but after waiting two weeks and rewatching it, the season really was just that bad.

Great stuff, 24 Spoilers! Loved those explanations. Aside from the placement of season 2 and season 8, we have very similar reasons for why we like/dislike each season.

The Predictor
May 4, 2017 at 2:44 pm
It looks like most people here don’t like season 4 nearly as much as I do. The non-stop intensity and excitement of this season was bar-none. I will say that season 4 doesn’t work great if you’re binge watching the whole season in a week because it is totally unbelievable that Marwan had so many things planned for one day. But the season works great if you’re only watching a couple of episodes each week. I view season 4 as about 5 seasons all wrapped into one. And if we were to rank favorite episodes of ’24’, season 4 would have 3 or 4 episodes in my overall top 10. The nuclear football, Chinese embassy, and season finale are 3 of my all-time favorites.

Jesús Sánchez
May 4, 2017 at 8:28 pm
Thank You, 24Spoilers! Great ranking :)

1. S2….from start to finish, the best action, plot, return of Nina, Mason and stronger Palmer
2. S5…Logan vs.Jack was riveting enough to outweigh too many transitions of villains
3. S4…Marwan was the only villain for an entire season and the subplots of his network were good
5. S3…the Salazar first half had it’s high points but I liked the Saunders 2nd half with many twists – and the last episode of Jack breaking down from all the losses/pain was Kiefer’s pinnacle scene IMO
6. S7…the Washington setting, coupled with the Jonas Hodges plot, was strong but Jack’s infection near the end produced some ugly scenes and context
6a. Redemption…..nice change of pace to see Jack battle it out in the jungle
7. S8….to me, this was a merger of a weak 1st half and probably the best 2nd half of a season the series ever had. Once Renee died, that transition in Jack from mourning to revenge was some of the most compelling shows ever
8. S9….Chloe was more annoying and the Audrey/Heller/Cheng returns felt forced but I liked Jack as the renegade on the run and the London setting was also interesting
9. S1….Jack vs. Gaines was compelling; Palmer family soap opera, bratty Kim and needy Teri dragged the season down
10. S6…Fayed may have been the best villain but as soon Philp and Graham Bauer came in, season went downhill

As for Legacy, it was such a terrible spinoff that wouldn’t even make a top 100 list and thus is unworthy of including in any poll of ’24’ IMO.

Obviously, rank is from 1-9…..skipped # 4 inadvertently

I love the way they didn’t turn Redemption into some kind of Rambo-thing with Jack in Africa. I really appreciate that the core of the series was not lost.

I love every single season.

While I’ll rank them, I feel there are certainties in groups where they can almost be interchangeable in position, so I’ll put them in groups.

Day 2
Day 1

Day 3

Day 4
Day 8

Day 6
Day 7

Day 5

Live Another Day

Legacy

——————

Day 2 is the most fun I’ve ever had (and engaged in) watching a television series.
It was the first of its kind as every season after this one pretty much used its formula.
Day 1 was more noir (slow, chill, and calm) whereas Day 2 became a run for life because there’s a ticking time bomb that can go off at any moment.

It was highly relevant and mirrored 9/11 and the aftermath.
As a war was about to happen on 24, a war was about to happen in our world (the only difference is that we didn’t have Jack Bauer to stop it).
The writers called out the real-life events like it was: America is its own worst enemy and were responsible for the attacks.

I loved every single moment.
This was back when you could watch 24 week to week with promos and still be surprised.
We didn’t know the 24 formula and it was all new.
Shocks were guaranteed.

I always dreamed of a show in real-time similar to this season, though I never imagined it to be this engaging.

The whole father-daughter dynamic between Jack and Kim make up the heart of the series.
The goodbye between them as Jack flies the bomb to his impending death in the desert is everything.
The ticking nuclear bomb represented the rift between them (Teri’s death) and Jack was trying to find it and heal that wound.
That lead to Jack getting his daughter back and the bomb going off was the emotional weight being freed from him as he learned (from George Mason) that life is short and he needs to forgive himself for what happened.

—————————————

Day 1 is, in a way, the best 24.
There’s no season like it as its a slow-burn carefully timed masterpiece that would have sufficed by itself. I remember revisiting it after the series had many seasons completed.
It’s really unique and different from all that followed.
I wish it could get back to that confidence it had instead of the false need to be fast and action-packed (which was perfect for Day 2, but didn’t need to be a permanent fixture).

The real-time aspect was cherished and appreciated here.
In later seasons, real-time had seeming liberties taken with it (it got lost in the background).

You felt the weight of the day in this season.
The characters were tired and actually slept at moments.

Nina Myers and Jack Bauer.
(Come on. That poll above didn’t mention them when they were the best partners and potentially the best love-interests, which made the twists in the end even more devastating).

The ending changed television.
The series changed television.
It pretty much popularized binge-watching via DVD (and the download-age).
Television became more serial with added gravitas.
Bolder choices were made.
24 ushered in the golden-age of television and its thanks to this season and that ending.
Shocked the fuck out of me for sure.
It was at that moment that I realized how great 24 was.
24 (Day 1) was pretty great and interesting before, but that moment, that ending solidified the season to something greater; it defined what 24 meant.
It’s what made Day 2 so wonderful: Anything can happen.

———————————–

Day 3 was a wonderful follow-up to the best pair of seasons from television.

Dark and moody with a sense of dread.
Perfectly fitting when the threat was a virus and addiction (to heroin and the job) in your blood.

Still had that classic 24 feel to it while still filled with genuine surprises (the last of its kind).

I love the subtle nature of the ending: No big explosions or shootouts.
There’s an intentional feeling of emptiness and mourning in the end.
It was such a dark and dreary day and yet all of the main cast (that are likable, unlike Sherry) survives.
There were people killed and each death meant something and added to the weight that’s compounded to that moment in Jack’s car in the last scene.
Jack’s done his job but lost everything including himself.
Saunders (a former colleage) being a warning of what’s ahead for his future (and for Tony’s).
His government will betray him (them).
The enemy was always himself (the government he worked for).

—————————————–

Day 4 was the classic ending of 24.
It was the last with the lovable main cast (alive).
It felt fresh this season (with a mostly new cast) while surprising us (with nearly everyone returning).

Those first six episodes felt the most coherent, kinetic, and focused that 24 has ever been.
Of course, this was the season where they started airing 24 in January so there would be no breaks and they’d have extra time in post-production to ensure more coherency to the whole of a season (they’d have time to go back to the early episodes and maybe ensure consistency to any plans they have).
Not that it was a problem in the early seasons, but it would be easier on the creators to have a little more leeway and freedom to maybe help with continuity and any changes.

I loved the ramifications that this season had on the rest of the series.
The entirety of seasons 5-9 are pretty much a result of Jack and Palmer’s choice in raiding that Chinese consulate (a mirror to Operation Nightfall, which was the reason for Days 1 and 3).

Day 4 closed the book in a satisfying manner.
A happy ending with a warning of doom.

—————————————–

Day 8

I absolutely fucking love this season.
I put it up there with classic 24.
If classic 24 wasn’t so original, Day 8 would be wedged in with them.
It feels like classic 24 with a perfected coherency and high-tech sheen.
It’s like 24 went into the future and came back around again to meet up with classic 24.

I love Jack’s constant turning down of the duty which he’s already been called to do so many times.
It felt genuine and realistic.
He does everything in his power throughout most of the season to get the hell out of there but there’s always something pulling him in for one quick errand.

I love the Dana Walsh character.
Closest thing to Nina Myers.
The spy who loved me type vibe with Cole.

The futuristic high-tech CTU New York was very pleasant to witness.

Renee’s character development and her and Jack going on classic 24 adventures.

Jack Bauer becoming the bad guy (finally, just like Tony) and Chloe becoming director of CTU opposing him.

The uncompromising leader (Allison Taylor) being compromised was realistic and I was with her every step of the way.
The world peace scenario (as far-fetched and ridiculous as that sounds) was actually plausible in this scenario (I didn’t know that was possible).

Hasan dedicating his life in earnest to a peaceful world and those final moments with his character was so fucking powerful.

Fucking brilliant season and I really really really love it enough to want to wedge it in there with the very top seasons.
I feel that the first four seasons of 24 make a nice whole though and Day 5 kind of created a permanent rift between all future seasons.

It’s the last full season of 24 and yet feels so fresh and new while reminding me of classic 24, everything I fell in love with in the beginning.

Combine that with the fact that it was THE ending of 24 as a series was very emotional.
Jack’s last message he records (something you can only see in the deleted scenes though) to his daughter and President Taylor and his last words to Chloe as 24 said goodbye, was transcending.

——————————————

Day 6 is fucking awesome, misunderstood, wrongfully-hated, symbolic, and the most underrated.

Day 6 delves into the mind of Jack Bauer while we get to live his nightmare with him.
It’s like he’s returning to a bad dream of reality.

‘Jack, remember that Chinese Consulate you raided that got you and the world into this shit? Let’s bring you back to that moment (Russian Consulate). Would you do it again, knowing what you know now, going through hell for 2 years? Would you?’

‘… yes’

Jack is running a gauntlet of his nightmares incarnate.
The love of his life dead.
His daughter wants nothing to do with him.
His government betrayed him and used him as an expendable bargaining chip.
His own family, his own blood, that he’s been running from his whole life, has killed his friends and marked him for dead.
America is under attack.
He was forced to kill a colleague of his in order to save the life of a former terrorist.
A nuclear bomb just went off in a highly populated area.
He’s betrayed by everyone.
His own torture tactics has been used on him for so long that he doesn’t know if he can do it again and be like the people he fights.
Everything is upside down and nothing makes sense anymore.

This is Jack Bauer clawing his way out of hell, the hell that Fate and his decisions had waiting for him from long ago.

There’s a turning point where Jack gets a grip on a branch out of hell.
Audrey’s alive.
Suddenly, Jack finds hope.
For once, instead of sacrificing himself strictly for his government, he starts fighting for himself.
He takes what the government is after, what he was supposed to retrieve, and uses it to save Audrey, endangering millions of lives in the process.
Jack turns to face his demons: his father who has symbolically captured his innocence and youth (his nephew) and Heller (the head of government).
Jack takes his life back.
It’s an emotional rollercoaster through Jack Bauer’s psyche.

—————————————-

Day 7
What a wonderfully crafted dream season.

I remember theories during the early Days of 24 where we wondered if Tony was bad and if Jack would contract a deadly virus and find himself on a race to find a cure.
Wondered if there was an organization behind all these mysterious villains/terrorists we encountered.
Day 7 was fan wish fulfillment done beautifully.

Just because this is low on the ranking column does not mean that I dislike it in any way; I just like the above seasons that much more.

This is a phenomenal season.

The beautifully woven theme of ‘Does the end justify the means?’

They pulled off Tony coming back.
I remember when they first announced it in a press release and I was in shock that the creators caved in to the idiots that screamed for Tony to come back.
They were bringing a character back from the dead and it felt like such a ludicrous thing to even entertain.
But once they released the first trailer for the season, I was hooked.
They pulled it off.
And I loved the emotional scene at the end revealing Tony’s reasoning for doing what he did.

I really love this season.
The ending …. so poignant and fitting: Jack dying and never knowing that his daughter came back to save him…
until they made Day 8.
But that’s how I saw the ending of Day 7 (I’m a poetic realist).

—————————————-

Day 5 was wonderful.
I see it as a low point in the series because it became The Jack Bauer Power Hour where there is a required gunfight and action with things moving at a super-fast pace to attract a bigger crowd of retards (and it worked).
Not that any of it was bad, its just not preferable to the more thoughtful and more realistic pace of the earlier seasons.
I really do love this season, just not like the others.
They killed off way too many characters immediately for shock value.

The first hour could have been stretched out to like 5 episodes filled with tension and dread, but instead … here’s how ridiculous the first hour is:
Palmer is assassinated,
Jack finds out about it on the news,
Jack comes out of hiding,
Michelle dies,
Jack goes to investigate Palmer’s death (coming from a far away location),
Jack evades secret service,
Jack finds Chloe,
Jack tracks down Palmer’s killer,
and sends him to hell.

Look that’s cool and all, but not as cool as the slower burn (and yet still intense) early seasons.
Day 5 was the action blockbuster movie of the franchise.
And that’s cool that we got something like that.
It’s really fast-paced and really smart while juggling so many things in a rhythmic fashion that flows very nicely.
It is impressive on that level.
The President Logan stuff is absolutely riveting.

It’s just that it took 24 to a Bond-level of reality.
There was a Russian baddie with a scar that was perfect Bond material.

Look, its fun, but it lost some of that hyper-realism the series had perfected before.
There’s a division in the whole of the 24 series and this is where the line was drawn (between Day 4 and Day 5): the early classic seasons and the newer flashier seasons.

I do feel that the following seasons make up for it (while somewhat returning some of that classic 24 feel), but the damage was already done by Day 5.

————————-

Live Another Day

Easily the weakest of Jack Bauer’s seasons.
Firstly, because its shorter and loses the true 24 feel when we only experience 12 of those hours.
And everything was a repeat of the series.
Everything.
Not that everything wasn’t repeated before, but this season actually felt tired, even after a long absence.

I did really love the purpose of the season: Jack Bauer facing the demons he has been running from since Day 1.
I loved how it brought closure to Audrey, Heller, and Cheng while Jack had the ghosts of his past, present, and future:
Kate Morgan (the Jack that lost his spouse to a friend turned traitor)
Mark Boudreau (the Jack of Day 4 that made the decision which sacrificed his future for what he thought was best for the country)
Chloe O’Brian (the Jack that lost everything and went on the run)

Jack relives everything he’s running from in his life:

– He loses Audrey (Teri) (Renee) as Kate (Classic Jack) holds her dying body feeling sorry (saying the exact same words he did to a dying Teri).

– He breaks into a Russian consulate (Mark Boudreau) to give up his life with Audrey for country. Notice how Mark reacts to Jack incredulously as Jack decides to risk Audrey’s life to retrieve something important (“… she loves you” “Shut up!!”)

– He faces the person he has become in Chloe and tells her (himself) that none of this is her (his) fault, that its time for her (him) to go home.

Chloe is the innocent side of himself, the scared victim that’s running from the past.
He decides to face the past completely and take all responsibility, coming to a peace for himself, while allowing the better half of himself to be free.

I can think of no better ending for Jack Bauer than this.

I don’t want a sappy happy ending where he goes home scott free or an unnecessary ending where he dies.
There has to be a sacrifice to Jack Bauer (that’s the whole point of his character).

When he turns himself in, he’s no longer running and is finally at peace, literally ascending and the weight no longer on his shoulders.

(Though, I did think it would have been amazing if everything was wrapped up in the penultimate episode and the final hour was 12 hours later where Jack is home and in that whole hour, there’s no rushing, no threats, no harm, no tension, no duties or missions. No ticking clock. Just Jack arriving home, looking around, talking to a friend, reuniting with his daughter, meeting his second granddaughter, being alone, having a meal, reflecting, looking out at the horizon. Scarred. Incredulous and a little uneasy at the peace around him.)

————————————-

Legacy

I really didn’t like it when it first began because it felt like the same shit all over (and 24 already repeated itself again and again) but now we have someone else (Carter) acting just like Jack Bauer and we have the CTU people and the White House-types all acting the same.
It felt insulting.

But I decided to not judge it until it was all over.

And I just finished watching it a few hours ago… I really enjoyed it.
It was 24.

And they won me over.

I agree with the producers and with Kiefer, that the real-time format is the star.
But they made Jack Bauer the star, so it really was about him, ultimately.

Though, I always felt sticking with CTU and politicians was a hindrance to 24.
I thought they should do more personal Season 1 type things but without CTU and politicians.
Have a group of people stranded on a cruise with pirates.
Or maybe a comedy with someone going apeshit and leaving their job/life and following their ensuing crazy day (ala Nothing To Lose).
Or make it sci-fi and have the world ending with the last group of humanity needing to escape on a ship to carry on survival.
Then have future seasons of them finding a new world and dealing with aliens and the troubles of surviving the unknown.
( Yea, I know, leaving the planet kind of makes 24 hours kinda meaningless as time is determined by the rotation of the earth around the sun, etc.)
But you get my point.

But, like all seasons of 24, I’m surprised once again and enraptured in another story of terrorists and CTU.

It worked.

And I can see future seasons with this cast.
You have the Jack Bauer character,
the lovable Senator/President David Palmer character,
the vulnerable and likable CTU techies,
the relatable young terrorist, etc.

And it felt a little more down to earth, probably the closest we got to Day 1.

Yea, by comparison to what came before, its at the bottom, but look at what its following (and emulating).

I very much enjoyed it and if they can keep it this interesting for future seasons, no matter who is in it, then I’m looking forward to that fun.

my favourites
1: season 7
2: season 5
3: season 4
4: season 6
5: season 2
6: season 1
7: season 3
8: season 9
9: season 8

1) Season 1 – this is what got me into it. Plots, sub-plots, twists which got me into characters such as Jack Bauer, David Palmer and Tony Almeida.

2) Season 4-5 – a fresh start after the previous arc was over. I want to put these 2 seasons together as they are very closely linked. Season 5 trumps 4 in terms of storyline and twists for sure but I really enjoyed having Tony and Michelle back into Season 4 as well seeing new characters like Heller, Audrey and Manning in the mix. Heller’s son in particular was hugely entertaining.

3) Season 3 – thrilling season and emotional with Jack suffering with a heroin addiction, killing Chappelle and Nina, and the stress of the last few hours trying to contain the virus.

4) Season 7 – great to see 24 back after a year’s hiatus (wasn’t it?) – so I’m putting this in front of Season 2. Again, a fresh start with a new president, Renee and of course Tony – even if he was turned to the dark side. Rory Cochrane was under used here. and Jon Voight!!!!!

5) Season 2 – Not as compelling as Season 1 and difficult to stand-up to it. However, to give it credit we got to see a continuation of the David-Shelley clash, Mike Novic betraying Palmer, and Jack almost dying to save the recording.

6) Season 8 – Not sure why this is further down the list. Maybe I was bored at this point? Disappointed after Tony went to the dark side perhaps. Or maybe because we all knew it was the last season. I probably need to watch it again.

7) LAD – 12 episodes ain’t enough but I still think it was a ok season. Just loved seeing Jack on screen again.

8) Season 6 – ouch. Bringing Jack’s family into it could’ve been done a whole lot better. I couldn’t buy Wayne Palmer as president either but Lennox was awesome.

—–Legacy doesn’t stack up to any of the above. It is a spin-off so I won’t compare it to 24 as we know it. So, it ends up in it’s own list. A rubbish pile if you will.

I’m happy to put Redemption before Season 6 and after LAD.
I think it should count

I hope they look at and use these polls to create the best Season 10 they possibly can

The only way they could top all 9 of the first seasons is with the original main character and, sadly, that possibility doesn’t exist as Kiefer has clearly moved on…..

Steve Martinez
May 5, 2017 at 9:35 am
Legacy was such a joke!! Lazy writing, Corey did a horrible job of acting. He didn’t capture the dramatic range that was needed. He constantly acted like he was mad. That’s it.
Nobody cared about the gay subplot between the tech guy & field guy. Just overall ridiculous!! And Teddy Sears was horrible.

Jesús Sánchez
May 5, 2017 at 4:37 pm
If all of you allow me (specially, 24Spoilers) we have had polls like: best villian, best season, etc… But what about the FINALES? We could show our most favorite finales of the show? Only if it´s not annoying for you. At least, I´m going through it (even if I´m daring to be the only one in the end hahaha). Just for the good times :)

For me, every finale (from the original series + LAD) have something special. And Kiefer Sutherland´s show can be proud to not having one single lacking finale (that rotten honor belongs to “Legacy”). The least favorite would be grade as a B to me. But as a kind of ranking, I´ll go with this (From best to worst):

Season 1 (Jack´s revenge at the docks & Teri´s Death… Enough Said to me).

Season 5 (The most intense finale on every second it lasts: Logan´s downfall, Jack facing old enemies).

Season 4 (A perfect series finale on a “happy” way to Jack: That final shot with the sunrise has it all).

Season 9 AKA LAD (The most coherent closure to Jack Bauer for all he´s done since Season 4: Assault on Chinese Consulate, Audrey & Heller farewell, all the mirror plots & scenes to Seasons 1 and 5 at the docks so the final sacrifice/exchange).

Season 2 (That shootout at the Coliseum, so the first cliffhanger -at the finale- of the show with Palmer agonizing).

Season 3 (Chase hand & Jack crying: Powerful stuff).

Season 8 (I felt the finale was kind of coward in order to make us have hope for Jack´s bleak future, but -even back then when everyone thought that was the very last of Bauer´s story- the tension and the mixed emotions it brings deserves a good position).

Season 7 (Jack Vs. Tony delivered on drama -so Jack advising Renee about her upcoming future-, even if the whole episode could have been better in action and high stakes).

Season 6 (That final scene involving Jack, Audrey and Heller just make everything worthwhile – even if in the end that “farewell” was actually foreshadowing her death in Season 9).

Good idea, I just added a poll for favorite season finale.

You covered most of my thoughts, but my rankings would be a little different – 1, 4, 5, 3, 8, 9, 2, 7, 6.

Somebody voted for Season 3 as their favorite finale. Season 3 ended with Jack crying in his van. I can’t believe someone actually voted for that as their favorite.

I don’t think the season 3 finale is the best by any means, but you’ve clearly missed the point if you think it’s just ‘crying’.

Agreed – in terms of powerful endings, S1, S3, S4 and S6 have the most resonant emotional scenes IMO:

S1: Obviously, coming to grips that he fought the whole day to protect his family and still failed when Teri was killed.

– S3: Jack breaking down after a day of so many deaths and emotional swings (virus victims, killing of Nina, execution of Chappelle, Chase’s amputation). For his more-required portrayals of stoicism and being strong amidst hopeless situations, Kiefer’s acting in that scene was as credible and realistic as one could do – and was heartbreaking to watch. I don’t cry easily when actors/actresses have such scenes but that scene each time evokes tears in light of watching the full season and recalling the events.

– S4: Jack having to fake his death and going into hiding, even from his daughter. That ending had a little more power than the S8 finale, considering that at start of S8, he was already semi-retired and the prospect of going back into hiding wasn’t as unwanted as it was at end of S4.

– S6: After his family betrayal of him and father/son deaths, saying goodbye to Audrey with Heller’s condemnation left him adrift and wondering how much more loss he had to accept.

All 4 endings showed Jack in his most vulnerable, tortured states of emotion after being so instrumental each day in saving the “greater good” of the country and lives. To me, the bittersweet endings of Jack personally enduring suffering amidst the overall success his missions had were more compelling than the ones that left it open-ended as to what came next (S5 – we all knew Jack would not die in China; S2 & S7 – we all knew Jack would recover from the heart issues & biological virus).

S9/LAD had such an unresolved ending that we all are still wondering about closure that it’s hard to even rank.

Legacy was by far the worst mailed-in, anti-climactic ending not only of the series but in general. If the show gets canceled, it would be an appropriate swan-song for an abysmal 12-show effort.

Jesús Sánchez
May 6, 2017 at 10:30 am
Thank you, 24Spoilers!! Great ranking, really :)

24Spoilers, let me suggest two new polls: Best first episode of a season and Best “federal building”? (CTU L.A, NY, FBI…)

Here’s my ranking. I kinda disagree with people here though (LAD and Legacy not included, because I haven’t finished them) Season 6 was bearable because of Morris and Jack Bauer as always!
Season 1: B
Season 2:A+
Season 3: A+
Season 4:A+
Season 5:C (couldn’t stand Logan)
Season 6: D
Season 7:C+
Season 8:A

The Predictor
May 11, 2017 at 4:44 pm
I see several people on here really liked season 3. I am re-watching it now with my daughter. Unless I’m missing something, the plot development of the 1st half of the season defies common sense. The season opens with a dead body that has the deadly virus being tossed in front of a hospital. Salazar threatens that if his brother isn’t released, the virus will be spread in the U.S. Turns out the Salazars didn’t have the virus at all??? And are we to understand that Jack, Tony, and Gael were behind tossing that virus-infected dead body in order to … to make Salazar trust them so that it will easier to convince the Salazars to buy the virus? Jack is the one that brokered the deal in the first place so why does he need the Salazars. There could have been a much easier way getting the virus off the market than breaking Salazar out of prison, getting dozens of people killed along the way, lying to the President, falsely scaring the country of the immediate threat, etc.

If someone can logically explain Jack’s plan, I would love to hear it.

Bluetooth Group
May 15, 2017 at 11:47 am
My 24 Season Rankings:
Season 3
Season 5
Season 1
Season 2
Season 4
Season 7
season 8
Season 6
LAD
Legacy

can i divide season 8 in 2 parts? well i’m gonna.

1. season 8, episodes 13-24
2. season 7
3. season 9
4. season 2
5. season 1
6. season 5
7. season 3
8. season 4
9. season 6 (i really enjoyed it, but something had to be this low, right? sorry, season 6)
10. season 8, episodes 1-12
11. redemption
12. legacy (watched upto episode 5)

Ranked Best to Worst

5, 7, 3, 8, 2, 1, 4, Redemption, 9, 6, Legacy.

Charles Logan is the best 24 villain, he is very cunning and unlike other villains, he is a coward. He is willing to sell out anyone to keep himself alive but he still considers himself a patriot.

Renee Walker is Jack’s best love interest and partner and the saddest death. She was an amazing character and Jack’s equal in every way, she really didn’t deserve to die. I only wish she’d have played a larger role in season 8 than Nina Myers wannabe Dana Walsh.

David Palmer is the best president because like Jack, he is willing to do whatever is necessary to protect his country. Even if it means torture. All the other presidents banned torture and if weren’t for Jack, America would be nothing but a smoking crater.

I came across this just as I have finished a summer re-watch of the whole series, so here’s what I’ve decided on for my rankings:

1. Live Another Day
The shortened season kept the show moving faster and more focused on what mattered. The show never stopped, and this season had the best trio of any season’s main villains in Margot, Adrian, and Cheng. Kate Morgan and Mark Boudreau were excellent additions to the cast, and I thought sending Chloe to her darkest place ever really gave this character a new element. Best season of all to me.

2. Season 5
With where the show left off in Season 4, I don’t think you could start in a better way than how Season 5 started. The opening deaths gave Jack and the audience a real reason to care. Best B Plot of the series with Martha Logan. Charles Logan is one of the series’ best recurring villains. So many twists and turns, and it was excellent all the way.

3. Season 4
Habib Marwan, I think, is the best main villain of any terror attack in the show. He is the only villain that is always able to stay ahead of Jack. His solutions to keeping CTU off his tracks sometimes seem oddly simple, but end up extremely effective. Also, best season of 24 for Tony Almeida.

4. Season 1
The season finale of season 1 was the best episode of 24 ever. That was what made 24 the show that it is. The personal feel this season has for Jack is very exciting. Teri’s amnesia, surprisingly, didn’t bother me too much. The only side plot that I really didn’t enjoy was the stuff at the end where Sherry sets Palmer up with his speechwriter, Patty. Otherwise, original and classic.

5. Season 7
Tony going bad after Michelle dies makes absolute sense to me, looking back at how far he was willing to go to protect her in Season 3. White House raid was absolutely epic. Kim finally played a fun part in a season. Renee Walker rocks, and so does Allison Taylor (this season). Larry Moss is the perfect opposite to Jack, and adds to Renee’s story well. Henry Taylor is boring, but at least his story lines up with the main events eventually.

6. Season 2
Take away the first 8 hours of the Warner’s day and most of what happens to Kim and this could be #1. It drags the season down that much. This may seem odd, but the matchup of Jack Bauer and Sherry Palmer at the end of the day is, to this day, my favorite pairing on 24. George Mason’s story is beyond excellent and truly compelling. Nina time is way more fun on this day than the next.

6.5. Redemption
I enjoyed watching this way more than I did in the past. Fun way to get Jack back to America, and a fun glimpse of what was waiting in Season 7 by showing Allison Taylor and Jonas Hodges.

7. Season 3
I’ve often struggled deciding if Season 2 or 3 is better. While Season 3 does not nearly have as bad of subplots as Season 2 (even though David Palmer is trying), the high points of Season 3 do not compare with Season 2. Decent attempt at involving Kim better, but the Kim storyline still takes its best turn after this season. Tony and Michelle’s relationship is awesome to watch this season. Chappelle’s death is horrifying, and just a small example of the lengths Jack will go to save lives. Nina’s reemergence seems too forced, Palmer’s day is bad, and Chloe with a baby is weird to see. Good thing we don’t see Prescott O’Brian until he’s 4.

8. Season 8
Dana Walsh is CTU’s most annoying mole, because we know for 12 hours that she’s been bad before the reveal that she’s still bad. Bringing Logan back was fun, but I still question how much of an effect he should have been able to have on Allison Taylor, considering her hard stances on her daughter killing Jonas Hodges a season ago. Hassan is a cool, brave dude, though.

9. Season 6
I don’t dislike this season like other people do, but it is Jack’s worst season. Jack’s dad does not have a great storyline, but I liked the idea of making the guy behind Logan Jack’s brother. Wayne Palmer could have been such a better President, and should have been, but I don’t like Daniels much more. Cheng was made for better days, one where he does not call for Phillip Bauer to help. Sandra Palmer does absolutely nothing. Tom Lennox and Karen Hayes were really fun characters to have, though.

10. Legacy
I don’t even mind that it is 24 without Jack Bauer, I mind that the writers entirely dropped the ball. Tony Almeida returns purely as a publicity stunt, with the writers doing very little with the character. He’s essentially the less extreme version of Nina Myers, as Jacks describes her: “You’re worse than a traitor, Nina. You don’t even have a cause, you don’t believe in anything. You would sell anyone and anything out to the highest bidder.” Doesn’t fit well with me, as this time, it has nothing to do with Michelle. Isaac’s drug deal and the terrorist family with the teacher compare to the horrible storylines of Kim Bauer. I couldn’t build a connection with many of these characters, I lacked a reason to care about them. That one time Keith Mullins choked a guy out was really cool, though. And credit where it’s due, the Legacy premiere was one of 24’s best. It just went downhill from there.

_s5
A terrific blockbuster, Jack Bauer at his best, each episode rocks, the most beatifully directed season with S1, Charles Logan twist is amazing

_s2
Extract the Kim adventures and then you’ve got the perfect saison.

_s3
The best threat, the best villain with Saunders (Marwan is just unreal), when they are back in LA it became extremly thrilling, all those ideas are great: the chandler plaza situation, the terrorist that can force the president to do anything he wants, the cutting of Chase arm etc.

_s4
The best crew with the original cast added to the new ones like Curtis Buchanan or Edgar, many powerful episodes like Bauer rescuing the Hellers, the death of Paul Raines and the season finale. Globally fun and good paced but too many threats to make this saison a realistic one.

_s8
Just like s3 the second part is awesome. But in the first part, the show really seemed to be tired and lackes of interest. Starting with the death of Renee, it turns out to be incredibly fun and exciting to watch, including the anger of Jack and the return of the Logan.

_s1
I remember watching it back in the time and felt totally addicted, and deeply shocked by the finale. But I have to admit that it is very less enjoying to rewatch, the rythme is seemingly pré-9/11, there is not so many events that take place.

_s9
I did not rewatch it since, but in my memory this wasn’t anymore the great 24, showrunner hadn’t anymore fresh ideas, Kate and Bourdreaux were good characters though.

_s7
Some good ideas but I still don’t accept:
_the white house being assaulted by a team of african mercenaries.
_Jack being once more sick and surviving the virus while we were all knowing that he’ll be back for the eighth season.
_The CTU team that work on their own.
_The ressurection of Almeyda

_s6
I remember watching it and saying to myself “it’s a nightmare”.
That season they really killed the show.
If one day I meet the showrunners, I ´d really like to ask them one question: how someone as devilish as Philip Bauer did manage to raise someone as righteous as Jack ??
Each idea they brought this year was garbage, including the death of Curtis, the story of Graham Bauer, the sister of the Palmers, the whole character of Morris, the CTU being once again assaulted.

#1 Day 5 – Absolutely flawless from its explosive premiere to its jaw-dropping cliffhanger. The plot was strong as was the direction, action sequences, and performances. There were also some great emotional scenes and memorable villains. The major character deaths were sad but very well executed and added to the unpredictable nature of the series. Might be close to the greatest season of any tv show in history.

#2 Day 7 – After a lot of the same stuff in previous seasons, a change in setting was very refreshing. The plot was very engaging and there were some great action scenes. Renee Walker has cemented her status as one of the greatest 24 characters and the best match to Jack Bauer. Tony Almeida’s return was a real hook to this season and his turn to the dark side, while loathed by many, to me felt right for the character. The only thing stopping it from being as good as season 5 was the last few episodes that were not as compelling but were still great.

#3 Day 3 – A lot of people may argue with this one but Day 3 for me was absolutely amazing. Agreed, the first half was not very captivating and the political subplot is definitely the worst in the series history but it all makes up in the second half. Completely edge of the seat, the second half of season 3 had my heart racing the entire time. Stephen Saunders is definitely one of the greatest 24 villains ever because didn’t just kill people, he made them suffer, feel what he felt when he was in captivity. And who could forget that scene where Jack was forced to execute Chapelle, a character who was despised in earlier seasons and made a hero in just one episode. Season 3 also developed Jack’s character more and allowed us to see the pain behind his hard expression.

#4 Day 2 – Put Jack together with a threat of a nuclear attack and what do you get? An action-packed, nail-biting thriller that won’t let you blink for 24 hours. This was the season when Jack became a true badass and would do whatever was necessary to save his country. Episode 15 (George Jason’s sacrifice) is one of the greatest 24 episodes ever written. The political subplot is also the greatest in this season as we get to see David Palmer unleashing his full potential as president. However, this season is not without its flaws as we are forced to sit through Kim Bauer’s subplot, which was the real torture in 24. And when you think about it, the villains this season aren’t as menacing as other 24 villains. But when you’re watching the actual storyline, these flaws can be overlooked for the most part.

#5 Day 1 – The first of many bad days to come for Jack, though that is in no way a criticism of the season. From the first episode, I was hooked as I watched Jack race against time to save his family and Senator Palmer. The season also felt more realistic than other seasons, mainly because Jack was a more human and relatable character as compared to the dark anti-hero in later seasons. Only complaint, putting Jack in holding for 3 episodes which kind of slowed down the season. Also when viewing the season a second time, the threat of assassination isn’t much when you compare it with the threat nukes. The finale is definitely the best in 24 history because it was action packed and the ending was shocking, emotional and took the show to a whole new level. Definitely an amazing start to an amazing show.

#6 Day 4 – Great season, held my interest through the entire run, though the plot was inconsistent at times as Marwan moved from one threat to the next as if he was anticipating the failure of each one so he could move on to the next. Most of the new characters were not that great (except for Curtis Manning and James Heller) and I was grateful when Tony and Michelle were brought back. The finale of this season is definitely the third best, behind season 1 and 5, and I think if 24 were to end here forever, I would be okay with that because it’s bittersweet and not tragic.

#7 Day 8 – Average first half followed by stellar second half. Jack going rogue and defying his government should have been the entirety of season 8. High Points: Anil Kapoor as Omar Hassan, Chloe becoming head of CTU, Logan’s return, and Jack’s killing spree. Low Points: Dana Walsh, Brian Hastings, and President Taylor’s downfall. Renee’s death was not a low point but definitely gut-wrenching and it really affected me during the rest of the season. The finale was good, no action, but still very emotional equipped with the best piece that Sean Callery has ever composed (3 things that make 24 great: The clock, Kiefer Sutherland, and the music).

#8 Day 9 – Great action scenes and performances (mainly Sutherland, Devane, and Strahovski) and I liked the change to London. But this season of 24 didn’t quite feel like 24 which should be a good thing but for me, it felt a little too different. The finale is definitely better than the season 8 finale because it had more action and an equally emotional ending.

#9 Day 6 – One word: Disappointing. After season 5, I was hoping that the show would maintain its high standards, and during the first four episodes I thought I was right, but then it all went to hell. This was because the season kept dropping major plot points like Curtis’s death and the nuke in Valencia. The Bauer family subplot sucked bigtime. But there were also some good things, like Abu Fayed, Morris O’Brian, Jack killing Fayed and Jack confronting Heller. The political subplot was also quite good and at times, better than the real story.

#10 Legacy – Purely average. Took me awhile to actually finish the season, but even if I didn’t I knew I wouldn’t be missing anything. The fact that Tony was used so poorly is a major insult to the character and the fans and I was glad when this god awful ‘reboot’ was canceled.

1. Season 5 – It’s a near toss up for me between seasons 2 & 5. But not having the annoying side story with Kim Bauer our season 5 ahead for me.

2. Season 2 – A lot of classic moments in this season, none more so to me than “I’m gonna need a hacksaw.”

3. Season 7 – I include Redemption as part of this, and for me that is enough to propel it ahead of others. Renee is great, and Jon Voight is great in all of his Jon Voight-ness.

4. Season 4 – Marwan was a bad dude.

5. Live Another Day – Great reintroduction to Jack and I loved Kate, but it would’ve ranked higher if it didn’t suffer from the 12-episode format.

6. Season 3 – A lot of things were being juggled in this season, and I thought it was done really well. And the final episode is still chilling to watch.

7. Season 1 – So much to like, but Teri Bauer annoys the crap out of me. And I still think it’s amazing the show survived the introduction of her stupid temporary amnesia trope in its 1st season.

8. Season 6 – Yes, there were some major goofy moments. But there was still enough vintage Bauer to keep this season out of the cellar for me.

9. Season 8 – Is this the most polarizing season of 24? Seems like some people love the 2nd half of the year when Jack goes off, but I really didn’t like it at all. I just didn’t buy that Jack would lose it like that over Renee and throw away his life with Kim and his granddaughter.

I didn’t watch Legacy.

Season 2 was the best season by far, the colliseom fight was one of my favorites jack bauer moments, and overall this season was entertaning and thrilling. (except for the kim bauer plot which was kinda stupid but I didn’t care cause the main plot was awesome.

Season 5- was amazing season but i felt season 2 was a little bit better. Charles Logan, Henderson, Bierko, they were some of the best villains. also killing a lot of characters was a brave move and unexpected.

Season 3 – I’ll admit, didnt very like it at the first few episode, but it got wayy better, especially the 2nd half of the season with Steven Saunders. episdoe 18 was one of the best of the series.

Season 4 – Overall, a good season. Marwan was always one step ahead of CTU. the finale was amazing.

Season 9 (LAD) – Awesome plot, very good comeback.

Season 1 – Day 1 was actually pretty weak IMO. but it still was an average season.

Season 7 – An Okay season, not too good but not that bad.

Season 8 – first half of the season was terrible but the last 10 episdoes were awesome tho. If the first half was good as the second this season would be way higher in the list.

Season 6 – Bad season. Wayne Palmer as president just didn’t work for me and Curtis death was so unnecessary.

Legacy – Easially the worst season. I quit after the 6th episdoe. Didn’t like it at all.

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and Live Another Day
Loved them all

2
4
5
LAD
8
7
3
Redemption
1
Legacy
6