Rating: 
Summary: 24 Stays Strong In It's 3rd Season
Review: The third season of the hit Fox drama "24" opens with an ultimatum made to the LA Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) to free a prisoned drug dealer (Ramon Salazar, played by Joaquim de-Almeida) or else his brother, who has terrorist ties, will infect Los Angeles with a deadly virus.
Once again, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), who went undercover between the 2nd and 3rd season to arrest Salazar, co-siding with Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), lead CTU to try to stop this virus. The tradition for office-affairs continue at CTU, as Kimberly Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert), who joined CTU as a computer analyst, has been dating her father's new partner Chase Edmunds (James Badge Dale). Also, during the 3-year time-frame Tony and Michelle Dessler (the magnificent Reiko Aylesworth) got married. President David Palmer (Dennis Hasbert) survived the failed assasination attempt, and is now campaigning for re-election. In the beginning of the season, it appears the format of the "day" will be similar to that of Season 2: trying to stop a deadly weapon before it's too late. Only this time the story is much more complex, and the plot thickens with each hour, with 24's famous surprising twists. The season's not perfect (as witnessed in the the baby sub-plot, and the Anne sub-plot), but I truly believe that as a whole, this season is the best one yet. The arc of episodes from the 15th episode up until the fantastic 18th episode, are all top-notch, with amazing performences from all actors, especially Reiko Aylesworth. The DVD features (commentaries by Kiefer, Carlos & co, deleted/extended scenes and 3 featurettes) look very promising, and so is the box cover, so there's no reason not to purchase this box-set.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice Long Day Leads To Lackluster Ending
Review: The third season of 24 had an awesome premiere; here is this drug lord in jail, whose brother is in possession of a deadly virus, and to top it all off, Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) now has a heroin addiction. Too bad the season never quite lived up to the premiere. All in all, the season wasn't bad, but it didn't really live up to previous 24 standards. Anyway, the Salazaar brothers are drug lords who were infiltrated by Jack during the three year interim between Day 2 and Day 3. One of them is in jail due to Jack and the other now threatens to release a deadly virus if his brother is not let out of prison. Furthermore, President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) is running for reelection, and it turns out that his new love interest may be an obstacle to the White House.
This season, nothing and no one is what or who they seem to be. There are more plot twists than ever this year, many of which are good, but a select few a big yawners. For example, there was a baby who turned out to be the child of Jack's partner, Chase Edmunds (James Badge Dale), but when fans reacted negatively to the idea, the baby was completely written out, never heard from again until the very end. Also, more major characters died this season than in the two previous seasons combined! All of the characters that died had love/hate relationships with fans. They were questionable characters, but fans loved them for the controversy they created.
I guess the biggest problem that I had for this season was how little it addressed the events from Day 2. Kate Warner (Sarah Wynter) was written out in five minutes, the near-death of the President was barely addressed, and the mysterious Max was nowhere to be found. Also, now we may never know who Nina Myers (Sarah Clarke Berkeley) was working for.
Finally, the end of this season was the worst yet. The season finale started out great, but kept spiraling downward until the final clock. Oh well. This season had many awesome moments as well. So far, this is the worst season of 24, but you have to keep in mind that I am comparing it to the other seasons of 24, so it is still a great show. P.S.
Pray for Tony (Carlos Bernard)!
Rating:
Summary: By Far The Most Intense Season By Far
Review: Season 3 starts the way season 2 ended. We are stuck in a plot that is completely unknown, and pointless. Half-way through the day, the action starts to really pump up and explode, and who cares that it has cornball plotting? Even before the day ends, 24 delivers more of it's unexpected formula, including a outbreak of a deadly virus killing nearly 1,000 people, which is shown very graphicly, and the final episode will leave your heart pounding. This season alone makes up for what season 2 failed in. This season finished with all barrels blazing. 24 is spectacular.
Rating:
Summary: The Most Compelling Season yet!
Review: I think about all that has happend and it's a lot. Jack races against time to stop a deadly virus from being spread. He has to make huge decisions to stop the virus from spreading and some are pretty contriversal. However you understand he's just doing what has to be done so millions don't die. President Palmer has to make huge choices as well in-order to save the careers of him and his brother. He also has to deal with a dangerous terrorist in-order to keep the virus from spreading. One is to have a CTU member killed. He has no choice to deal with the terrorist because he already knows what he's capable of after the virus is let loose in a motel building. 24 season 3 is the most unpredictible season yet. You never could predict who would live and who would die. When the seasons do end, none of them end with a happy ending. In season 1, Jack found his wife dead. In season 2 President Palmer passes out after getting some sort of flesh eating virus. So compared to those endings, seasons 3's ends a lot less shocking but still it's a fitting ending when you think about all Jack went through that one day.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth watching, but more uneven than Seasons One or Two
Review: Season three begins 3 years after season two. Jack Bauer has returned from a deep undercover assignment, where he infiltrated and won the trust of the Salazar brothers, two drug dealers with ties to terrorist cells. Jack's assignment ended successfully with the capture of Ramone Salazar, and the season begins with Jack paying a visit to Salazar in jail. At the same time, a mysterious van drops off a dead body at a National Health Services facility in Los Angeles. The body had been infected with a weaponized virus, and the delivery is clearly a signal that terrorists are threatening to unleash havoc in L.A. Are these two events connected? Jack has to find out, but he is struggling with an incredible burden that may affect his job performance. As in the previous seasons, Kiefer Sutherland again is exceptional, and easily worthy of the awards he's earned for his performance in 24. The third season brings back a few characters from Season Two, and introduces many new ones. Tony Almeida is back, and is running CTU side by side with Jack. Michelle Dessler, another CTU worker that was Tony's love interest in Season Two, is also back, and by the second half of Season Three, Michelle becomes a very important character. Reiko Aylesworth, who plays Michelle, really shines as her character takes on new importance and new responsibilities. And finally, Dave Chappelle, a by-the-book guy from "Division", returns from Season Two. Chappelle has the authority to oversee CTU, and usually disapproves of Jack's unorthodox methods. Chappelle played a minor role in Season Two, and does again in Season Three, except that he becomes the center of a particularly thrilling episode late in the Season. Season Three also sees the return of Nina Myers and Sherry Palmer, the two villians we love to hate. Nina's entrance into the storyline is too coincidental to be plausible, but you quickly forgive the writers for this, because her storyline is very good. If you are familiar with Jack and Nina's history, you will find the climax of Nina's storyline in Season Three to be thrilling. Both of these women are complex characters, and their relationships with their "men" (Nina to Jack and Sherry to the President) are complex and interesting.
Jack's daughter Kim is back, and is now working at CTU as a computer geek. It seems that Jack got her the job so that he could keep an eye on her and insure that she wouldn't get stuck in any mountain lion traps. The writers mostly avoid the mistakes they made with Kim's character in Season Two. There are new characters, I will only mention two. Jack has a new, young partner named Chase Edmunds. Chase is a young version of Jack, highly competent and willing to step over the line to get results. Chase also idolizes Jack, though events during Season Three will put their relationship to the test. The other new character is a young computer expert named Chloe. She has no social skills (she is frequently and unintentionally rude to her co-workers, and after a while this behavior gets to be a running joke), but Chloe makes up for it with exceptional skill at her job. There are many times when Jack, Tony, or Chappelle give her a near impossible task that would ordinarily take hours, but they need it done in minutes. Chloe always rises to the occasion. That's as much as I can tell you without giving anything away. Now, as to the quality of Season Three: There are some truly great episodes, and the plot has some really neat twists and turns. However, like most critics, I believe that Season Three is more uneven than Seasons One or Two, and has more episodes that are just "okay" rather than truly great. Still, Season Three is well worth watching, and I really respect the writers for reinventing "24" every season - they don't repeat the same formula every year, they work hard to come up with something new and different and exciting, and for the most part, they succeed. Another reviewer here said the season finale was lackluster. I respectfully disagree, I thought it was as good as the finale to Season Two. In order to appreciate the very last scene, you need to remember all the trauma that Jack has been through in this long day; viewers who didn't see every episode, or didn't remember everything, probably cannot feel the impact of the final scene. But if you watch Season 3 on DVD, you can see all the episodes without waiting a week or more between episodes, so you will remember everything and really enjoy the final scene. However, I agree with that reviewer's disappointment over the fact that Season Three brushes off major plot points from Season Two without satisfactorily explaining them - namely, the assassination attempt on President Palmer, and Jack's relationship with Kate. Clearly, the writers decided to abandon these storylines and wanted to wrap them up with minimal effort on their part.
Rating:
Summary: Stellar season from the most busy CTU agent in the west
Review: While some of the threats faced by CTU, Jack Bauer and his daughter Kim during the second season might have seemed hokey, it added a soap opera quality that enlivened the series a bit considering the glum situations they faced. With nuclear devices out of the way and assassination already addressed, this time Jack, Kim (who now works full time at CTU) and CTU face a bioterrorist. Jack infiltrates a drug lord's business operation to try and arrange a deal to purchase the virus in hopes of finding and stopping the terrorist. The only problem is that to convincingly work his way into the organization, Jack became a heroin addict.
While the situations faced in season two might be more mundane (Jack and a drug lord?) the sharp writing makes it all worthwhile to still through the entire run. There's a number of twists and turns that will keep fans guessing as to the final outcome of the series. Luckily a number of "24" regulars return including Jack's nemesis and former lover/co-worker Nina Meyers (Sarah Clarke) and the blunt political black widow former First Lady Sherry Palmer (Penny Johnson Jerald) continues to spin her webs. With a largely new cast working at CTU, it's nice to have some familiar faces and some nasty villains return to keep Bauer from appearing too heroic. Likewise Tony and Michelle return from last season giving a sense of continuity to the series.
Like the previous two sets, Fox has done a very good job in transferring this to DVD. With an anamorphic transfer, the higher resolution looks much better than conventional TV with richer colors, better clarity and solid deep blacks. The crisp, inventive soundtrack also keeps things lively here as well.
A number of great extras include a number of behind-the-scenes featurette, deleted scenes and alternate takes. Additionally, we get the original extended version of the premiere episode which is a big plus for fans of the series. "Boys and Their Toys" focuses on some of the devices Jack uses to aid his efforts to prevent the destruction of the world. There's also, for the first time, a multi-angle study of one of the action sequences and a discussion (albeit pretty superficial) of the real threat from bioterrorist to the United States and other countries. Finally we get a season four prequel that runs about 6 minutes on disc 7.
We get a number of great commentary tracks on this set. Writer Howard Gordon and actor Kiefer Sutherland provide commentary on the fourth episode on the first disc. Writer and co-executive producer Evan Katz and actress Kyle Singer provide a commentary on the first episode on the second disc and -JOY!- Sarah Clarke and Howard Gordon provide commentary on the the 10pm to 11 pm episode on disc three. There are three other commentary tracks with one on each disc. Additionally, there's also all the deleted scenes with optional commentary as well.
A winning boxed set for the third season, Fox continues to set the pace with some of the best DVD boxed sets out there. With a total of six commentary tracks, a number of very interesting featurettes and a sneak peak at the fourth season (which premieres in January 2005), season four of "24" will be everything that fans will want.
Rating:
Summary: "The man has more lives than a cat"
Review: The second season of this series ended with Jack Bauer (Sutherland) saving the country, but also with President David Palmer (Haysbert) being victim of vicious chemical attack that left him at the edge of death. This season starts three years later with Jack being in the process of obtaining important information about several terrorist groups from one of his prisoners, Rafael Salazar. Jack infiltrated the Salazar cartel, captured Rafael and now is making every effort to get the information he is looking for. But when Salazar is ready to close the deal of giving the information in exchange for a reduced sentence, he decides to kill his lawyer, and all hell breaks lose.
Rafael's brother is in possession of a deadly virus and is threatening to release it across different cities in the US. The virus is supposed to kill at a rapid pace, but it has been altered to kill in...want to guess? 24 Hours! So now, Jack has to find the terrorists before it is too late, because the policy of the US is not to negotiate in this situations and Palmer is not willing to yield. The president is still alive and going through the turmoil of another political campaign. He now has his brother as his right hand but is getting pressure from an important financial supporter to fire him.
The series is still very good and maintains the viewer on the edge of his seat almost at all times. Some aspects of the series however are starting to get old; for example the creators overuse the technique of keeping the suspense level high by interrupting a character that is going to reveal crucial information. Also, some characters keep coming back and getting second and third chances; they also keep going back to similar ploys to the ones they have attempted in the past and that are starting to get repetitive. On top of this, for a series that tries to make the events as believable as possible, they go over the top sometimes. I am not going to mention what some of these things are because I do not want to give away crucial plot elements, but anyone that watches this season will figure these out easily.
There are several things about the series, and this season in particular that I do like though. For example, I love the fact that the series is in real time; this was a novel concept when it started in its first season, but it still provides a special feeling in the third year. I have found though that I cannot watch this series on TV, because the suspense between episodes is too much to wait a whole week to see what happens next. I prefer to wait for the DVD release and watch it in longer batches. The other aspect I really enjoy is that Jack usually has to deal with personal problems that have an effect on the end result. In this case, he has problems with his addiction, which is a result of his undercover operation with the Salazar group. He also has to deal with the fact that his daughter is working in CTU and she is involved with one of the agents there. I think that the way in which the creators present Kim Bauer in this season solved one of the main flaws in the series in the past. In previous seasons she was always getting in trouble, and even after surviving a dangerous situation she would immediately get involved in a tighter one. I found that now she is a more believable character.
In conclusion, even though there are some aspects of the series that some people will probably see as flaws, like the ones I pointed out, I find this a highly enjoyable series. It would be great if they could improve on the aforementioned points for the next season. I am looking forward to it!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Season for the Best Show
Review: Ironically, the only thing that goes wrong for the show, besides terroist attacks and their schemes, president assassination plots, etc...is that it has to end sometime. What could be more exiting than 24 hours of nonstop, adrenaline rushing, and mind blowing action that revolves around the lives of some of the strongest characters ever to appear on television. Season three is no exception to the 24 rule: shoot or be shot...and finally Sherry Palmer %@*&!!!
Rating:
Summary: The best show on TV
Review: I'm a huge fan of the show and this eason was another great addition to the 24 collection. My only problem with the DVD is that disc 4 ( at least mine) was corrupted in some way. Some scenes would play on a loop until you skipped to the next one manually. also one of the submenu's on disc 4 came up as black on the screen. but you are still able to play the episode. aside from that weirdness it is a must have for any 24 fan.
Rating:
Summary: 24... hours of pure entertainment!!!
Review: I must say that I am not a big fan of much of what has been produced lately on televsion. The reason being is that much of the shows today seem to insult the viwers intelligence, and as a result I just stopped watching and opened up a great book to read(which isn't a bad thing either). What a breath of fresh air it was to discover this gripping series, known as 24. I can honestly say that I actually think this show's acting, characters and writting are better than alot of movies that are out there today. Thank you to Joel Surnow(the creator) for putting something creative and interesting on the market.
As Season 3 begins, we find our Hero Jack Bauer facing another bad and most eventful day. This Day takes place 3 years after the events in Day 2 (Season2). It is difficult to write a review of 24, as much has to do with Spoilers, but I will try and be as vague as possible.Season 3 features some of the best character development. In this season I felt characters were really fleshed out very well and offered the viewer an ability to connect with them on a new level. I also must point out that I would highly reccomend viewing or buying the 1st 2 seasons of 24 before watching this season. You won't really understand Bauer as much and the resentment he has for things and people if you don't start there first.
I also would like to comment on people who negatively give this a one star rating. I am aware that everyone is entitled to their opinion, but please give this show a chance. With so much junk out there that is infiltrating our televsions, it is refreshing to know that their is a show known as 24, which actually acknowledges intelligent viewers and what they watch. I guarantee you this season is no exception, and once you put your first disc in, good luck trying to stop consciously.
-Just a side note, it is rumoured that the Season 4 DVD BoxSet should be out by 4th Quarter of 2005(before Christmas), and may actually include a "Play All" button feature, which will make watching the show more seamless.
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