The season started pretty good but that was the only good thing about it. And the participation of Michael Wincott. I was watching this season because of him and it was the worst mistake to kill his character. No matter how old the guy gets, his voice is still a pleasant to listen and he played his role perfect, as always. You lost five stars for killing Adrian Cross, other stars you lost for the "perfect" played moments - there is a device which can destroy everything but our guys stop it at the last second. Our guys are also bulletproof, couple of cars with armored soldiers can't take a single shot at two agents, wounds heal like there is not even a scar, and the agent Morgan should end without shoulders and dead after that torture, but no - we see her with the same clothes back at the office. Ridiculous! And I've always wondered how internet connection could be so perfect anywhere to perform their hacker tricks. Not realistic enough season, well, I admit there was good moments, but that's not enough.

I have mixed feelings for 24. There are seasons I love (1, 3, 5) and there are seasons I hate. There are moments of it I will never ever forget, and there are some characters (not minor ones) whose names I don't even remember.There were some characteristics of previous seasons. Femme females were abundant; due to the 24 episodes format plots are stretched and stretched a bit more to the point of absurdity. Don't even need to mention "God Bless America" stuff. Plot twists and twist of twists. Overly idealistic narrow minded and narrowly written villains.Here comes the thing that makes 24 LAD that good: None of the above exists in this spectacular season or standalone TV series. Back then, even while watching those good seasons I could easily find things that I really dislike. But for those 12 episodes, it was almost perfect. Brilliantly executed, written, directed and acted. And this comes from a guy who doesn't even like the show. I can't say that I really liked 24. I watched the show mostly because I really liked characters (Jack, Chloe, Saunders, Logan and some more) and the suspense. Obviously that "real-time" thing was good too, even though it was misused from time to time.And it was so emotional. Particularly the finale was devastating. The way Heller talks about his condition and his daughter especially tore me apart. It was incredible because I didn't even care for those characters or situations until 24 LAD. By the way William Devane was perfect, he might be the most realistic illustration of the US President in the show. All the casting additions, particularly Yvonne Strahovski and Michelle Fairley were excellent too. Also writing helped them "be" their characters. Their roles are written in a genuine and emotional manner, unlike before.So, it was the best of 24. 12-episode format turned out to be really good for 24. I was on the side of the guys who think 24 should end permanently with LAD. But now, after seeing this touching story and reminiscing with Jack and Chloe, I hope it wouldn't end. I hope they manage to make it continue like they did with LAD. Not the way it was before, too ambitious or too pretentious or even chauvinist.

When the whole 24 movie thing never came to pass I assumed that the series was done when Jack really did never come back; no shame in that with 8 years under the belt and a couple of season in there that would be good enough reason to pack it up. Anyway, this series extends the story and sees Jack resurface at a time in London when President Heller also happens to be there. With Jack identified and captured by whatever we're calling CTU London, it appears that a big step is taken to shutting down the threat – however Jack and other players may have other things in mind.When I heard of this series I admit I was planning to watch it but was hardly excited about it; perhaps some have forgotten that part of the fun of 24 was laughing at the "living in the moment" plotting which often produced ridiculous situations that are great in the moment but really make no actual sense – probably more have forgotten that in at least some of the seasons, such nonsense was so prevalent that it stopped being so much fun. This London-based story starts off a little clunky, with Jack being on silent unstoppable form – or at least I think it was the show's doing, it may have been me getting back into the flow of the show after so much time away. Once I was with it though, it was fine – totally fine; never more than this really, but everything you have come to expect from 24 was in this 12-hour long series.At first it offers some topical interest – we have drones, we have what appears to be Julian Assange and some other things that turn out to only really be tick boxes as we get down to the business that we know. And it very much does this once it shakes off the cobwebs and gets into gear. Soon the potential topical relevance, commentary or satire is all gone and what remains is still a solid meal – although perhaps nothing as different as the idea of an England-based reboot may have made you think. There are moles, there are cold-war enemies, there are races against time, there is Jack endlessly saying "dammit", there are sacrifices and there is tragedy. All of it works for what it is, but you will not shake the feeling that you have seen it many times and it is not clear what about all of this made them think that it was worth doing another one (apart from of course money, franchise and brand-loyalty).The main thing that this 24 ensures stays in place from the previous outings is that no plot device too illogical will be ignored as long as it can produce a big moment or plot twist. So we get the nuclear submarine captain who has never seen Crimson Tide and fires his missiles with all the brisk decisiveness of a man who just wants a medium regular coffee in Starbucks; nobody asking about (or even mentioning) that fact that both of the people behind the drone attack seemed to have been thrown out of the same window (one in restraints) – got the characters out of the way quickly I guess; we also get the snap conclusion that if CTU and Mark Boudreau had Jack's tracking info then it 100% must have been Boudreau who gave it to the Russians – which of course it was, but logic would have pointed at the mole they just discovered was managing the CTU office and had just been caught minutes prior to this. As ever, all of these are acceptable in the minutes because they generally replace the "wait, what?" question with something happening or something dramatic.The cast do what is expected, although nobody excels. Sutherland could do this in his sleep and although he is capable of more it does seem this is what the viewer wants; so as ever he goes from Terminator to "I'm emotionally broken and go do this no longer", back to Terminator mode several times as he always have; generally though he is a good presence and if you want someone to talk low and talk fast then he is your man. Strahovski is unlikely but does okay, with the Wire's Akinnagbe in support. Rajskub seems out of place with her character, while Donovan, Devane, Wincott and Bratt all just work through what the material gives them.24 Live Another Day is like an old band playing out the classics. The show doesn't have the joy, freshness, energy or stamina it once did (hell, it can only put in a 12 hour shift now) but it is still enjoyable for fans to get to hear all those classics played one more time even if we have heard them all before many times and perhaps better. It will nto win over any new or undecided viewers, but for fans of the series it is a chance to hear them play "I'm dead, no I'm not, you're a mole and someone I love just got killed" one more time.

For a 24 entry, LIVE ANOTHER DAY sure as hell didn't start off as anything special. There was a noticeable feeling of playing it safe, bordering on by-the-numbers. And Margot al-Harazi was a lousy villain; nothing to set her apart from the usual crazy. But then Jack tossed her out a window and everything took a sharp turn for the better. Stuff got serious, the adrenaline finally kicked in, and the show got its legs back. It actually turned out to be one kickass miniseries with that back half. Even still, Yvonne Strahovski was the shining addition throughout the whole thing. They managed to bring back Cheng (ugh, season 6) and actually bring some closure to that storyline. Guy's been due for comeuppance for years, and it was a thrill to see Jack beat the life out of him. And they killed off a main character to make that happen, while doing it in a meaningful way. And Kiefer played that scene beautifully. But they can't drag Jack Bauer through the mud anymore. I don't know if there will be another season of 24 or not (that ending reprise of season 5 makes me think no, there won't), but they've taken away everything that means something to him; his wife, Renee and now Audrey. He's as cold and embittered as possible (pushing the limits, really). He's in the hands of the bad guys, where else can they take him?It was a crappy way for him to go out, but they've used this guy up. His sacrifice was noble, let's end it here. 8/10