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How do you define a single day?
Is it 24 hours or maybe 1,440 minutes? How about breaking it down further to 86,400 seconds? Some might want to define it in a less precise way as being either a good day or a bad day. Whatever it may be, CTU agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), star of the new and exciting television series, "24", is about to experience an extremely bad 24 hours. Again.

Making its debut in the 2001-2002 season on Fox, "24" promises its viewers an experience like no other. Created by Joel Surnow (also the creator of the "La Femme Nikita" series) and Robert Cochran, "24" is unlike any regular television series. Innovation on television is crucial where the competition for eyeballs and subsequently ratings success is fierce and unrelenting. "24" has a very interesting gimmick to lure an audience in and keep them there for an hour each week. The entire series, all 24 episodes, is told in real-time, making the entire season of the show equal to 24 hours for its characters. So, every hourly episode that you watch equals to exactly an hour in terms of the plot´s timeline. Well, kind of. You see, you can never get away from those annoying commercial breaks. Therefore, liberty is taken to include those breaks as part of an episode´s timeline. A ticking digital clock comes on before and after every break to remind us of the current time. As you can imagine, the director and editors must have had a hard time compacting every single action on screen according to a set timeframe. These guys certainly did a great job because the constant flow of intense action, intercut with dramatic moments is so fluid and effortless that an hour seems to fly by before you even realize it.

Another innovation created by the producers of "24" is the simultaneous multiple video stream scenes. What that means is that at particular parts of an episode, mostly before and after the commercial breaks, multiple video streams that show what is happening with a chosen number of characters are shown simultaneously on the screen. It lets the audience experience the multiple activities that are happening at a single point in time, expanding further on the real-time nature of the series.

To recap, the first season involves the attempt on the life of the country´s first viable black presidential candidate, Senator David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert). Assuming that race might be a factor, Agent Jack Bauer and his team at CTU (Counter-Terrorist Unit) in Los Angeles are shocked to uncover a plot that goes beyond domestic politics and into the realm of international terrorism that involved a shadowy group from the Balkans. Kidnapping Jack´s daughter, Kim (Elisha Cuthbert) and wife, Teri (Leslie Hope) to use them as a bargaining chip to force Jack into helping them kill Senator Palmer, the bad guys think they had all the angles covered until they find out how resourceful Bauer can be. Through many twists and turns that include the ultimate betrayal and internal politics within CTU and other government organizations, Jack´s day just got worse and worse. The biggest shock came in the final minutes with the death of his wife Teri, who was killed by Jack´s most trusted CTU confidant, Nina Myers (Sarah Clarke), who turned out to be the most damaging mole inside CTU.

Season Two starts off a year and a half after the events depicted in Season One. Senator Palmer is now President Palmer. Starting at 8am, a new and more deadly threat has emerged in the form of a terrorist group from the Middle East who have gotten hold of a nuclear device that is set to go off later that day in Los Angeles. After saving Palmer´s life previously, Bauer is now held in the highest esteem by the President, who trusts his judgment and instincts. Which is why he is the first man the President requests to head up the search for the nuclear bomb. Problem is, Jack is now an inactive CTU agent and has been living in a depressive state ever since the death of his wife, putting the blame of her death squarely on himself. So, how does one deny the President of the United States when called upon to save the country from impending doom? Certainly not Jack. Thus begins another very long and extremely difficult day for our hero, scrambling to quickly clean himself up for this assignment and get back into the thick of the action. Luckily for Jack, being inactive for so long has not slowed him down one bit as he chase up leads to find the bomb and even confront an old enemy. To muddle things up further, there are also people inside the government and also in Palmer´s administration that are somehow involved with the plot, which makes Jack´s job that much harder.

While Season One deals with old enemies from Europe, Season Two puts a more contemporary face on the enemy. Even before 9/11, Middle Eastern terrorists have been the topic of past Hollywood movies. This time around, that same subject matter is even more recognizable and hits closer to home. The horrific idea of bringing in and detonating a nuclear device on U.S soil is the biggest fear for those tasked with defending the nation and this series´ writers´ approach to depicting this threat is, although credible, does add a big dose of conspiracy theories that would make any fiction writer proud.

However, the execution of the story is almost flawless. Never have I experienced a television series that is able to maintain the tension and excitement at such a high level throughout the entire season until now. "24" has a very linear and tightly integrated story, demanding constant attention from its audience. Miss a week´s episode and you will be lost. Watching the show as it unfolds week after week during the regular season is hard to do. Every episode leaves the audience with a cliffhanger of sorts at the end and it takes one to have the patience of a saint to wait an entire week to find out what happens next. Therefore it is a blessing to own a DVD set of the series as you can watch as many episodes as you want with time being your only constraint. Be warned that once you get hooked, there is no turning back!

Many of the central characters from the previous season return, with George Mason (Xander Berkeley) and Tony Almedia (Carlos Bernard) now heading up CTU in Jack´s absence. Together with newcomer Michelle Dessler (Reiko Aylesworth), CTU becomes the center that is both an asset and liability for Jack as he hunts for the bomb and the people behind it. Also new this season is the Warner family--father Bob (John Terry), daughters Kate (Sarah Wynter) and Marie (Laura Harris) and son-in-law-to-be Reza Naiyeer (Philip Rhys)--whose involvement in the bomb plot gets pulled and stretched in so many directions, you never know who is bad or who is good.

While the story involving Jack´s daughter, Kim was an integral part of the plot in the first season, this time around, her role is a major distraction that serves no purpose but to put her in peril for absolutely no reason other than to kill time. This subplot is perhaps the most frustrating part of an otherwise excellent show. As Kim´s story unfolds, the writers try to give you a sense that it is somehow connected to what´s going on with her Dad that day but when it doesn´t work out that way eventually, it only serves to widen the credibility gap between them and the audience. Also out of place in the overall story arc is the romance between two CTU agents. Do high-pressure stress and the imminent knowledge that death might be coming soon in the form of a nuclear explosion really promote romance?