• Network: FOX
  • Series Premiere Date: Nov 6, 2001
  • Season #: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8
Metascore
67 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 19
  2. Negative: 3 out of 19
  1. Reviewed by: Verne Gay
    100
    Four immensely enjoyable hours. Alas, I can't speak to what happens during the remaining 20.
  2. 88
    After two flabby seasons, the Fox action series is back in bang-up shape. [25 Jan 2010, p.41]
  3. 88
    Though the premiere's twists are not as shocking as in years past, better ones are coming, and quickly. Trust me, the show has not lost its ability to surprise--or even to make you gasp.
  4. 80
    The first four hours are good. Very good. Certainly, 24 fans will enjoy them.
  5. That plot crystallizes through a pair of two-hour episodes, Sunday and Monday nights, and at times it crystallizes slowly.
  6. It's an old story rolled out with all the power of the new--meticulously plotted, irresistibly suspenseful.
  7. Reviewed by: Paige Wiser
    75
    The new season is solid - things really get good once Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) returns and contributes her unique expertise. But overall, I do have a few complaints.
  8. Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    75
    You can never tell how the uneven days of 24 will vary in quality, but here's hoping the show keeps doing all the right things it does in these opening hours.
  9. For some, it has become a mostly predictable, tired pattern that causes eyes to roll. But for those who can still check their critical capacities at the door--even after seven seasons--24 continues to make for pulse-pounding, nail-biting comfort food.
  10. 70
    If it's not an ingenious or very new device (see: Nina, Tony, Curtis, et. al.), the damaged soul who is Jack's Self Reflected re-raises and continues to complicate the questions that are typically understood as resolved in Jack. Patriotism and heroism, bad choices and hideous torture in the name of a big picture: it's 24 repeating.
  11. Despite the repetitions, the first four episodes are slick, fast-paced and engrossing, but that's not new either.
  12. Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    70
    24" works best when the show doesn't take itself too seriously -- incorporating just enough sobering geopolitics to establish a credible foundation before indulging in wild flights of counterespionage fancy. Moreover, having one villain drive the plot for a handful of episodes before being supplanted by another has added greater satisfaction and closure to the program's high-wire storytelling.
  13. Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    70
    Stick around past the disappointing opening night, and on Monday, you'll get a terrific third-hour cliffhanger and, in hour four, the arrival of a seriously damaged Renee Walker (Annie Wersching), who contributes to a shocking climax that, in fabled 24 tradition, leaves you wanting more.
  14. Reviewed by: Hank Stuever
    60
    Well, here's "24" again, with a renewed sense of dot-connecting purpose (fictional, yet symbolic) and a two-night premiere, Sunday and Monday -- a rollicking four-hour chunk in which the series seems on track to rediscover some of its original verve.
  15. 50
    This "24? seems more realistic than usual, and it offers many exciting moments. Yet there are many familiar distractions that underscore how "24? has aged. All in all, the new season is a mixed bag.
  16. From these four hours it's clear there are few new stories or twists for the show to employ. It's time has come and gone.
  17. 37
    The show's few interesting actors get little to do and the new characters aren't that compelling. Pass.
  18. 30
    In short, after watching the first four hours, I can tell you that the eighth season of 24 does not look good. You know how much I adore this stupid show, but please, don't waste your time.
  19. By the third episode, though, we've gone off the rails with another low-level blackmailer somehow getting over on an employee at the supposedly powerful and secretive CTU, and with Jack getting caught up in a plot-delaying detour that's even dumber than the survivalist who held Kim hostage for a few episodes in season two.
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 54 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 18
  2. Negative: 1 out of 18
  1. 10
    I actually liked this season the best, even with the uninteresting characters. I thought it had a darker context and something other than nukes and bioweapons. The bigger picture was a lot better placed, and Jack is driven by vengeance instead of political crap. It's still a russians and arabs hate america thing but, stereotypically, they do. Full Review »
  2. Not the best season, but defiantly worth watching if you're a 24 fan like me. I'd say this season is average with most of it's previous seasons, but falls short of being really good, great or amazing. Full Review »
  3. 8
    So, the clock finally runs out on the small screen for Jack Bauer. After a week of saving the world, Jack only has one more day to endure but we all know what that means. Season 7 brought renewed hope that 24 could still deliver to any doubters despite a disappointing final half to the season. But, Season 8 picks up around 18 months - 2 years after Jack seemingly on the verge of dying (yes, I know did anybody really believe Jack would die?) Jack has undergone the stem-cell treatment and seems fighting fit in New York City, even his little granddaughter Teri agrees, "you don't look like a grandpa." Then a face from Bauer's past appears warning Jack of an assassination plot to kill the President of the IRK (Fictional Middle Eastern country) portrayed by Anil Kapoor, who is in the Big Apple to sign a peace treaty, and once more Jack is brought back into action. Aiding an upgraded futuristic CTU against the clock to stop the plot to kill Hassan, this leads to a few familiar faces returning, including Renee Walker. We soon learn that Renee is in a much darker place and seemingly suicidal as she helps CTU in their quest to recover fuel rods. However her return changes things for Jack as he confides that he wants to be with Renee when the day is over. Of-course its never that simple and the first 8-10 hours are so with some really pointless character arcs. But in the second half the series shows some vintage 24. As the threat of a dirty bomb becomes very real, half way through the season brings an unexpected death, thus leads to Jack to declare his feelings to Renee but (if im being totally honest) a cheap and unsurprising twist brings about the biggest turning point leading Jack down a bitter and vengeful path as he seeks justice in the aftermath of the days the events. However the President has different ideas and despite knowing the truth about who is ultimately responsible for everything that has occurred, she, under the assistance of the crude and vindictive Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin, who's re-introduction was superb!) decides to cover the plot leaving Jack to become "Judge, jury and executioner" as he journeys on a path of retribution to find those responsible and make them pay, even at the cost of a third World War in what is an unmissable series finale. While it's not the best tv 24 has brought to out screens the second half of this season is simply sensational at times and that's largely down to the focus on Jack Bauer portrayed magnificently once more by Kiefer Sutherland and whilst their are some questionable decisions made it just about pays off, not the send-off i'd have imagined for such an iconic tv legend in Jack Bauer but by no means a disappointment this sets things up nicely for the inevitable movie. Full Review »