Every Season Of 24 - Ranked From Worst To Best

One month prior to 24's debut, Time Magazine was warning America that its biggest threat came not from the sky, but from the sea. August's infamous Summer of the Shark cover debuted just before 24 - and 9/11.

24's hook was unique to television: a real-time format that every episode adhered to. Even the commercial breaks were worked in as part of the design, allowing characters to move as much as they could in four minutes. Season one, with Counter-Terrorist Unit Agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) trying to foil an assassination, was devoid of politics. Its plot resembled that of another real-time experiment, John Badham's Nick of Time. But 9/11 brought its fictional world a little closer to reality than expected.

By Season 2, "problematic" started appearing in reviews. A New York Times critic claimed it was the world through a Chuck Norris movie.

There's no denying 24 delves into some dicey territory race-wise, and its torture tactics bled uncomfortably into reality. But in fairness, the action genre has always hewed toward the conservative. Dirty Harry, let's not forget, was a vehement racist who gleefully tortured his prey.

Nevertheless, 24 was breathlessly entertaining, even at its worst. And though there are myriad issues we'll no doubt encounter, it still makes for good TV. What's most interesting watching with hindsight is the way one can track the popularity of Bush administration policies like the Patriot Act. In the end, it appears only Jack Bauer shouldered the blame.

Plot: Terrorism is everywhere. This is evident from the opening scene, where news narration tells us that the country has been under attack from a spate of suicide bombings for the past 11 weeks. A young Muslim man waits for the bus, nervous about getting on. But the bus driver isn't having it, so he drives on, leaving the Muslim shouting on the street. But the joke's on the bus driver because the real terrorist is already aboard, and the bus explodes.

Jack Bauer has a history with a terrorist known as Aby Fayed, who will give the location of the head terrorist in exchange for Bauer. Bauer, returned from Chinese prison, is ready to die for 'MERICA. But the joke's on 'MERICA, because it's a con. Bauer escapes again and the season begins in earnest.

Season 6 is not only largely disliked by cast and fans alike, it's noticeably lazy.

Every Islamophobic, Tom Clancy, right-wing claptrap that was in the ether is poured into the writing. Even Kal Penn, who later came out against stereotypes, plays a terrorist teenager.

The show also followed up on one of 24's best cliffhangers - the cabal behind President Logan - only to drop the ball on follow through. It turns out to involve Jack's immediate family. 24 has always juggled multiple plotlines, but it wasted James Cromwell as Jack's ruthless father, whose whole arc feels like an afterthought.

This was 2007, when Bush was struggling for relevance under the meteoric rise of Obama. The show was as well.