Aristotle (yes, THAT Aristotle) once remarked that great tragedy "attempts as far as possible to keep within one revolution of the sun," reflecting a belief that the importance of events is magnified greatly by keeping them as close to together as possible - namely, in one day.
Could Aristotle have given me a better lead-in to discuss - and spoil key plot aspects of - the show "24"?
In case you're from the planet Ignorant, "24" is the groundbreaking action-drama television series. As of this last Tuesday, it began its third season on FOX, a somewhat risky experiment that actually paid off.
The program is experimental because its 24-episode seasons take up one full day; one hour of viewing time for the audience equals one hour in the lives of the characters. It's not quite "real-time," but it certainly is riveting. The best way to describe watching it would be to say that it's like if Tom Clancy's 10 best books fused together into one giant book - but with all the slow parts taken out - and you had to read that book very quickly while John Williams' music played in the background.
In "24," the impeccably named Kiefer Sutherland stars as the slickly named Jack Bauer, a higher-up in Los Angeles' Counter Terrorism Unit, aka CTU. The first season had him fighting an uphill battle to protect his family from a group of well-prepared Serbian terrorists out for revenge. The second season had him tracking down terrorists with the considerably grander agenda of nuking Los Angeles.
Through it all, Bauer maintained a stoic selflessness and an unflagging dedication to his mission. For Jack, politics and history rearely entered into the equation; he had no ruminations on why the terrorists hated America enough to set off a nuclear bomb on the West Coast, only that they were very intent on doing so, and that they had to be stopped.
The same goes for the series' other hero, President David Palmer, played by actor Dennis Haysbert (who easily could take on two or three Martin Sheens). Although the first season occasionally mentioned then-Senator Palmer's political party (Democrat), his party affiliation has not been mentioned since. Palmer is also the first black president, but his race similarly has been ignored.
And for good reason. The hours in which we watch President Palmer are times when he is reduced to his most primal and essential role as commander in chief, out to protect American lives. Palmer is, in this sense, just like Jack Bauer, doing everything in his position of power to defend his country. Not as black or white, Republican or Democrat, but as an American and a human being.
The show, however, is not without its faults. The second season alone had several problems. Specifically, the Islamic fundamentalist bad guys turned out to be only the unwitting pawns in a scheme hatched by several wealthy oil tycoons out to start a war in the Middle East in order to make themselves richer. No, really.
But it's hardly fair to criticize the writers. Like Saturday Night Live, "24" has a format that both sets it apart from other television and makes the production of it exceptionally difficult. One can forgive the writers for not consistently creating absolute quality.
The perfect example: This Tuesday's premiere had President Palmer - after hearing info on the latest bio-terror threat to the populace - utter, "This is going to be one of those days."
Cheesy? Certainly. But it's still one of the best shows on television.
Eric Spratling is a journalism senior who loves to have marathon screenings of "24" on DVD. Reach him at eric.spratling@asu.edu.
