24 {4th.Season} (DVD Review) - 25/2/07

Season 4 of "24" kicks off with a total sense of disorientation as the whole pacing and setting has changed and we have a whole host of new characters introduced. Like the mother of all soaps this season seems to meander from one scene to another stringing us all along but still at a break-neck pace with no chance for a breather and then we are onto the next crazy clue to tracking down something else which will lead to the next McGuffin as we go from place to place. A word of warning though: Do not read the booklets that come with these Boxsets until after you have watched the series your watching - they seem to have the dreadful habit of giving away important plot points and revelations which really does put a dampener on your enjoyment of the episode if you know what is about to happen? (A bit like reading the last page of a book and finding out the Butler did it!)

With this season again hard choices are made amongst the emotional highs and small asides early on later come back to haunt a couple of characters in a big way. Tethered together the weave of the threads slowly comes together as antagonists and protagonists clash in a variety of ways until the edge of your seat thrills burns through and winds down to the final earth shattering denouement. The early promise from Season 1 hasn't as yet been resolved as to a bigger picture and I get the feeling it has crashed and burned with any other number of plot hole gaps - But kudos to the Producers for managing to take it this far and still keep the concept fresh and still fairly lucid. After the demise of Season 4's ending we shall see what joys Season 5 brings to the table and one can only hope that it will be a further box of delights?

SPECIAL FEATURES: As in the last two season's 7-Disc Boxset's the seventh disc is given over to Special Features which have 3 Featurettes for Season 4 and a Music Video plus 40 Deleted & Extended Scenes with optional Commentary. Several selected episodes have also got an additional Commentary with either Cast or Crew.