24

When Fox put out 24 I thought it would just be another action drama series, nothing out of the ordinary. I decided to skip the first season because to be honest I wasnt that interested. My dad and brother began watching it and swore by it saying it was nothing theyd ever seen before. Full of suspense and the unthinkable action and edge of your seat action every episode, I said I had to test it out. Watching the first 20 minutes of the first episode was all I needed to see. It was incredible. Reading Rayner's "Narrative," 24 was the first show that came to mind. The first concept I found was Equilibrium. The show starts out at a state of equilibrium and is then disrupted by many outside forces to create disequilibrium. The entire season is mostly is disequilibrium and there are constantly new disequilibriums. The final episode of the season, the conflict is resolved and a new equilibrium is formed. However, the final moment is left with a cliff hanger for the following season. A second concept used by the show is the enigma or the "narrative device that teases the audience by presenting a puzzle or riddle to be solved," (Rayner). Throughout the show/season hints and informations is presented to the audience that lead them in suspense as to what will happen next. Though one may be able to think they are predicting the outcome of what will happen, 24 has its way of making major twists in the plot. Finally the action code presented by Rayner is also explored by the show 24. "This code suggests how narratives can be resolved through action, often on the part of the protagonist or hero," (Rayner). In 24, Jack Bauer is the protagonist and plays the role of the hero. The show always ends with the action code with the entire seasons being resolved by the works of Jack Bauer. Many times there is conflicts including violence, gun battles, bombs, nuclear weapons, gases, and more. This show also revolves around national security issues and saving the world, which is a huge action code in and of itself. Here is a trailer for 24 Season 4. In the trailer, we see some of the concepts explained above. Jack Bauer is my hero.