Kiefer Sutherland was in danger of forever being known as the "cute" vampire in The Lost Boys. Until Jack Bauer came along, his career has pretty much been a series of Young Guns -type garbage or generic action films (including many which went straight to video). And nothing he did really demonstrated his range as an actor. But aside from saving Mr. Sutherland's artistic career, 24 is easily the boldest and most unique program on TV, proving a show can be as suspenseful and intense as a theatrical film, and, if executed right, can tell a single story over the course of a season. The reality-TV swill belched forth every year by the FOX network may pay the bills, but I'd like to think the success of cheap crap like Meet My Big Fat New Millionaire Swan Transsexual Mom is used to maintain the quality of their good shows. 24 may not be their biggest show, but it's their best one, and I'm still amazed that, after three years, the quality of the program hasn't dipped at all (despite the novelty of the premise).

Sutherland plays Jack Bauer, the head field agent of CTU (Counter-terrorist Unit). His dedication and intensity makes him the division's biggest asset, as well as one of their biggest liabilities (both well-documented in seasons 1 & 2). Season three begins three years after the events in season two. Jack's daughter, Kim (Elisha Cuthbert, still the most useless character in the show), now works for CTU. Jack's also become secretly addicted to heroin, the result of going undercover for six months to gain druglord Ramon Salazar's confidence. Salazar is now in prison, but his equally demented brother hatches a plan to release him...by threatening to release a deadly virus in Los Angeles that will kill millions. Sensing no other course of action, Jack gets permission from the President (Dennis Haysbert) to give the illusion he's gone renegade in order to break Salazar from prison and go to Mexico to once again gain their trust. Not even Jack's new partner, Adam (Zachary Quinto) is in on it, who follows him to Mexico to bring him down (this threatens to ruin everything). Once in Mexico, Jack discovers the Salazars are in a bidding war with another shady organization for this deadly new virus, and that group's representative is none other than Nine Meyers (Sarah Clarke), Jack's former partner, and the very woman who killed his wife at the end of season one. The Salazars, however, are only the tip of the iceberg. The real evil behind this virus is someone else from Jack's past, and he plans on releasing this virus simultaneously in several cities throughout the United States unless his demands are met, demands which test just how far Jack, the President, and agents at CTU are willing to go to insure the county's safety. To demonstrate what it can do, the virus is released in a large hotel in downtown L.A., infecting nearly everyone inside, who slowly die agonizing deaths. Other subplots include the relationship between Adam and Kim; Jack's not happy at all about the relationship, not wanting his daughter to go through the agony of worrying whether or not he will come home alive. Adam also has a secret he's been keeping from Kim over their three-month courtship, which she discovers at the worst possible time, considering all that's going on. President David Palmer, working on getting re-elected, has problems of his own; a powerful corporate leader wants him to fire his brother (who works as an advisor), or he'll make public some information that could end his presidency. As a last resort, Palmer enlists the help of his estranged ex-wife, Sherry (Penny Johnson, once again deliciously evil), to dig up some dirt of her own. Of course, as in the previous two seasons, she takes her devious tactics too far in an attempt to further her own status. Though it takes awhile to get rolling, season three is the best of the series, as well as the darkest and most intense. The show has always been bold, brash and a bit over-the-top, but always plausible and thrilling (every episode ends with an I-can't-wait-until-next-week cliffhanger). Considering the show is always presented in real time (each hour-long episode represents an hour of the 24 hour day in which the story takes place), it's a tribute to the writers and cast that the program maintains its intensity. Also bold is the fact that, aside from Jack Bauer, the show is willing to eliminate or kill-off any character in the show in order to move the story along. The viewer is never confident a character is safe simply because they are a major part of the cast. As any longtime viewer can attest to, an unhappy ending to the story is a very real possibility. The show, of course, belongs to Sutherland, who brings an intensity to Jack Bauer I didn't think he had in him.

From a picture and sound standpoint, this third boxed set is as good as the first two. Fox has done a commendable job presenting this program on disc, with anamorphic widescreen and 5.1 sound. The show looks and sounds as good as any big-budget Hollywood action picture you can name, and perhaps part of the reason the show has played more like a theatrical film than a TV series.

The most ballyhooed-on-the-box extra feature is the so-called "prequel" to the upcoming fourth season. It's essentially a six-minute promo featuring scenes bridging the gap between seasons three and four; we learn Jack's been demoted from his position at CTU, and has also found a new love interest (undoubtedly introduced into the show to later be placed in peril). We are also introduced to Jack's season four nemesis. Other features include a short TV promo spot for season four, a few pretty good behind-the-scenes featurettes, the best being "Boys and their Toys," which covers the making of some of season three's elaborate action scenes (elaborate for TV, anyway). Six of the individual episodes are accompanied by commentaries by some of the show's writers, as well as key cast members (Sutherland himself contributes commentary on episode three). There are also a ton of deleted scenes, which can be viewed either on individual discs their prospective episodes appear on, or all at once on disc seven (optional director commentary is available for these scenes).

I don't know how long 24 can successfully maintain its unique premise (as much as I like the show, I can't imagine them being able to carry on more than a few more seasons without a dip in quality), but they are three-for-three in the win column. The program works especially well on DVD, essentially being one long action film, and Fox has done another great job presenting the show in this boxed set.