| 100 |
Newsday Verne Gay
Four immensely enjoyable hours. Alas, I can't speak to what happens during the remaining 20. |
| 88 |
USA Today Robert Bianco
Though the premiere's twists are not as shocking as in years past, better ones are coming, and quickly. Trust me, the show has not lost its ability to surprise--or even to make you gasp. |
| 88 |
People Weekly Tom Gliatto
After two flabby seasons, the Fox action series is back in bang-up shape. [25 Jan 2010, p.41] |
| 80 |
New York Daily News David Hinckley
That plot crystallizes through a pair of two-hour episodes, Sunday and Monday nights, and at times it crystallizes slowly. |
| 80 |
Wall Street Journal Dorothy Rabinowitz
It's an old story rolled out with all the power of the new--meticulously plotted, irresistibly suspenseful. |
| 80 |
Deseret News Scott D. Pierce
The first four hours are good. Very good. Certainly, 24 fans will enjoy them. |
| 75 |
Chicago Sun-Times Paige Wiser
The new season is solid - things really get good once Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) returns and contributes her unique expertise. But overall, I do have a few complaints. |
| 75 |
Entertainment Weekly Ken Tucker
You can never tell how the uneven days of 24 will vary in quality, but here's hoping the show keeps doing all the right things it does in these opening hours. |
| 75 |
San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa Times Chuck Barney
For some, it has become a mostly predictable, tired pattern that causes eyes to roll. But for those who can still check their critical capacities at the door--even after seven seasons--24 continues to make for pulse-pounding, nail-biting comfort food. |
| 70 |
TV Guide Matt Roush
Stick around past the disappointing opening night, and on Monday, you’ll get a terrific third-hour cliffhanger and, in hour four, the arrival of a seriously damaged Renee Walker (Annie Wersching), who contributes to a shocking climax that, in fabled 24 tradition, leaves you wanting more. |
| 70 |
PopMatters Cynthia Fuchs
If it’s not an ingenious or very new device (see: Nina, Tony, Curtis, et. al.), the damaged soul who is Jack’s Self Reflected re-raises and continues to complicate the questions that are typically understood as resolved in Jack. Patriotism and heroism, bad choices and hideous torture in the name of a big picture: it’s 24 repeating. |
| 70 |
Variety Brian Lowry
24" works best when the show doesn't take itself too seriously -- incorporating just enough sobering geopolitics to establish a credible foundation before indulging in wild flights of counterespionage fancy. Moreover, having one villain drive the plot for a handful of episodes before being supplanted by another has added greater satisfaction and closure to the program's high-wire storytelling. |
| 70 |
The New York Times Alessandra Stanley
Despite the repetitions, the first four episodes are slick, fast-paced and engrossing, but that’s not new either. |
| 60 |
Washington Post Hank Stuever
Well, here's "24" again, with a renewed sense of dot-connecting purpose (fictional, yet symbolic) and a two-night premiere, Sunday and Monday -- a rollicking four-hour chunk in which the series seems on track to rediscover some of its original verve. |
| 50 |
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen
From these four hours it's clear there are few new stories or twists for the show to employ. It's time has come and gone. |
| 50 |
Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker
This “24″ seems more realistic than usual, and it offers many exciting moments. Yet there are many familiar distractions that underscore how “24″ has aged. All in all, the new season is a mixed bag. |
| 37 |
Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan
The show's few interesting actors get little to do and the new characters aren't that compelling. Pass. |
| 30 |
Newark Star-Ledger Alan Sepinwall
By the third episode, though, we've gone off the rails with another low-level blackmailer somehow getting over on an employee at the supposedly powerful and secretive CTU, and with Jack getting caught up in a plot-delaying detour that's even dumber than the survivalist who held Kim hostage for a few episodes in season two. |
| 30 |
Salon Heather Havrilesky
In short, after watching the first four hours, I can tell you that the eighth season of 24 does not look good. You know how much I adore this stupid show, but please, don't waste your time. |
