Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: 24 - season 3 (2003) - The virus-centered peak for the great action show

7/18/2013

24 - season 3 (2003) - The virus-centered peak for the great action show

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Action Title of the Year + Most Suspenseful Title of the Year

Jack Bauer is not in the greatest shape of his life, when his third hellish day kicks off in Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow's 24 season 3

3 years after season 2, a virus-infested corpse is dropped off with a bomb in LA, and a season with an overall threat of chemical, viral terrorism is kicked off.

The following summary of the season contains SPOILERS:

The troubles ironically evolve due to a risky, covert undercover operation gone haywire, which was co-headed by Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland (Mirrors (2008)) and Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard (Dallas (2012-13)). After a dramatic and action-packed prison break, led by Bauer, the audience is pulled around by the nose in a chase after the virus carrier, a juvenile delinquent named Kyle Singer. Meanwhile, Jack struggles with the dangerous, drug-running Salazar Brothers, the return of the grand villain, Nina Myers, and the ultimate henchman, Steven Saunders, a disgruntled ex-MI6 agent, who succeeds in getting his demands straight to the president.
Ryan Chapelle (Paul Schulze (Zodiac (2007))) tragically falls at his ruthless hand. Only by being equally ruthless, Jack finally manages to locate the 12 virus canisters.
At the political level, president Palmer's (Dennis Haysbert (Love & Basketball (2000))) brother Wayne Palmer turns out to be a real black sheep in the family, as he is revealed to have slept with their main campaign contributor's wife. Sherry Palmer (Penny Johnson Jerald (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1995-99))) is brought in to handle the situation, but it all spirals out of control.
Jack has gotten a new partner, Chase (James Badge Dale (Flight (2012))), whom he trains as they move along, reluctantly learning that he is heavily involved with his now CTU agent daughter, Kim (Elisha Cuthbert (He Was a Quiet Man (2007))).

She unfortunately remains a very unpleasant part of the show: Scheming, blank, and ever annoying. However, even Kim Bauer can't overshadow the fact that 24's third season is highly intense action, powerfully scored by Sean Callery (Small Time (2014)), inventively written and a regular triumph for Sutherland and the show's creators, Robert Cochran (Sons and Daughters (1991), TV-series, writer) and Joel Surnow (La Femme Nikita (2000-01), creator).
After this season, the show began its steady decline. Each episode began having more and more unbelievable, action-heavy scenes, until the storylines grew downright grotesque. Sad, but nothing lasts forever, and if you want to see 24 at its most brilliant, the third season is it, - the most coherent, suspense-full and exciting in the series. The chemical threat at the heart of the season is scarier than a regular bomb, and the device is utilized with tremendous skill, especially in the episodes that play out inside a hotel. The political affair storyline unfolds equally effective.

Best episodes:

Episode 9: 9 PM - 10 PM - written by Evan Katz (The Commish (1993-94)) and Stephen Kronish (MacGyver (1986-87)), story by Cochran and Howard Gordon (Homeland (2011-14)); directed by Brad Turner (Hawaii Five-O (2010-11))
SPOILER Nina Myers finally dies

Episode 15: 3 AM - 4 PM - written by Cochran and Gordon, story by Michael Loceff (La Femme Nikita (1997-01)); directed by Kevin Hooks (Bones (2009-13))
SPOILER The virus spreads

Related posts:

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

24 season 2 (2002) - The Bomb

Top 10: The best action movies and TV-series reviewed by Film Excess to date
24 season 1 (2001) - TV action milestone

Listen to a snippet of the season's fine score here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: None - TV-series
= Unknown
[24 season 3 aired first on Fox from 28 October 2003 - 25 May 2004. The first episode runs 51 minutes, while all the rest run 43 minutes, totaling approximately 1,040 minutes. The season's average ratings in North America were down almost 1.5 mil. viewers from the preceding season, averaging 10.3 mil. The season was nominated for 8 Emmys, winning 3, for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series as well as Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing and Single Camera Sound Mixing for a Series. It also won the two Golden Globes it was nominated for, for Best Drama Series and Best Actor in a Drama Series (Sutherland). In 2003, Sutherland also did Behind the Red Door, Paradise Gone, L.A. Confidential (TV movie) and a voice performance in The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration (video), before returning in 24 S4 in 2004. 117 Rotten Tomatoes users have rated 24 season 3 4.3/5.]

Do you agree that the show's quality slowly declined after this season?
What do you think of 24 season 3?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (5-24)

7/18/2013

24 - season 3 (2003) - The virus-centered peak for the great action show

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

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