Almeida Is God's Comprehensive Season 3 DVD Review
By Kasia Gawlak, Webmistress and Editor-In-Chief

The one question we all had on our minds on the morning of December 7th was – will it be worth the wait? Over four long months after our British and Australian counterparts had access to the 24 Season 3 DVD release, the anticipated DVD box-set finally hit store shelves here in North America.

I understand that the North American release contained some features that were not available in either the UK or Aussie releases, most notably the prequel scenes for Season 4, which was what delayed the release here for so long. Mind you, FOX TV does not have morons working in their marketing department, and the strategically timed release to coincide with Christmas and the Season 4 premiere on January 9th is surely no accident.

With the release date so close to the Christmas holidays, and work being what it is, I was unable to sit down and devour all of the new footage and features of this DVD in one sitting. Therefore, this review will be a little bit disjointed, as I will present my corresponding comments in the order I got through the DVD.

The first thing I did after buying the DVD was watch the season 4 preview and prequel. Running a 24 fan website and being an obsessive-compulsive fan in general, it has been difficult to avoid any and all spoilers for Season 4 completely. It’s been a very long haul between the end of Season 3 last May, and the premiere in January. Having to be in tune to what my comtemporaries are doing with their websites and staying abreast of the latest news, it’s been impossible to avoid gaining any knowledge of the upcoming season. The nice thing about the prequel is that it does bridge the gap nicely between what we’ve seen up to this point and what we expect to come.

The first scene of the prequel involves Jack and the new Director of CTU, Erin Driscoll. Erin is ostensibly Tony’s replacement. In the scene featured on the DVD, Driscoll relieves Jack of his duties as Director of Field Ops, stating that his heroin addiction is a weakness and a liability she can’t afford. She offers to help Jack find a new position elsewhere, and Jack drops the much-publicized f-bomb when he tells her he can find his “own fuckin’ job.” The end of Season 3 emphasized that everyone involved sacrificed something significant, and Jack’s loss of his job completes that arc. It took Jack a long time to forgive CTU for its failure of him, and it will be interesting to see how Jack reacts to losing his job after everything he’s sacrificed for the agency – including his wife’s life.

The second scene is classic 24 action. A shady looking man jumps the US-Mexico border, then promptly murders the associate who helped him get across. This serves to set up the villain for act one of Season 4. It looks interesting and has definitely piqued my interest in the new upcoming plot.

The third scene here involves Jack and his new love interest Audrey Raines, played by Kim Raver. Audrey mills about alone in a dimly lit hotel room. Jack sneaks up behind her and kisses her neck. They make out for a few minutes then tumble onto the bed. It is clear from the scene that Jack has finally opened himself up to another woman now that the door on Nina and their intense love/hate relationship has been closed. I look forward to seeing Raver’s work in 24, as I have always enjoyed her in Third Watch.

The Season 4 prequel is just a nice added bonus to an already jam-packed DVD release, because what the fans are really interested in is the new footage in deleted scenes and the first-hand insight from the cast and crew on the episode commentaries, to fill out their own interpretations of the season. Please be forewarned that the following review will spoil the deleted scenes and commentaries for anyone who has not yet seen them.

Overall, I felt that the deleted scenes in Season 3 were not as enjoyable or as much of an interesting footnote as the deleted scene of the Season 2 DVD. The Season 2 DVD included several really exceptional scenes that, due to time constraints and plot flow, had to be cut from the final product. Seeing them later, after the fact, contributed a lot to the second season. I am thinking most notably about a couple of scenes between David Palmer and Keith Palmer (we’re big fans of Keith here), the final telephone conversation between David and Sherry in the finale, the extended torture scene with Kate Warner, Kate and Jack discussing Marie’s motives, Mason puking in the bathroom, and the strange appearance of Nina with Max in the last moments of the finale. These were all scenes that, while overall from a production standpoint were probably necessary cuts, as fans watching them on DVD, brought a lot more richness into the episodes.

On the whole, I felt that the Season 3 deleted scenes had a lot less to offer in terms of augmenting the overall viewing experience of the season. However, this is not necessarily a negative thing. All it proves is that the editors and production team put together a much tighter package right from the very start this time around, and had less extraneous material overall to lose. They were not required to cut meaty scenes to satisfy time constraints, but rather simply “trimmed the fat” to make each episode as rich and on-target as possible. I felt that we really didn’t lose anything with any of the scenes that were cut or alternate takes that were shot and then not used.

There are a few notable deleted scenes, however, that deserve a mention here. The scenes where Kyle Singer and his girlfriend Linda have sex in his bedroom solved a long-running AIG mystery. I remember when Matt surprised me by flying out to Edmonton to watch the Season 3 premiere with me in person. During the few minutes before the show actually began, FOX showed a montage of split second scene snippets, and one of them were two blonde people in bed. Based on the super-brief glimpse of the scene that we got, we could have sworn it was Jack and Kate Warner in bed. When the actual scene never materialized in the episode, we were confused. Now we know, it was Kyle, and the mystery has been solved.

I also enjoyed the brief scene where Chase implores Chloe to help him elude Chappelle. It was never quite clear in the original episode how Chase was able to gather information on Salazar’s contacts while he was dark and out of contact with CTU. We now know that Chloe was helping him. The relationship between Chase and Chloe was very understated in the Season, and it was nice to see their strong friendship fleshed out a little in this scene. Chloe is someone who always follows protocol, and it seems that protecting Chase and her friendship with him is the only possible exception to her rule on that. Nice scene.

Remember the scene where Chase goes to Ramon and Hector’s accountant’s house to find out where Hector has been hiding out? There is an alternate version of this scene on the DVD where the accountant becomes some sort of mafia or cartel guy, and Chase shows up at the docks and interrupts a shady meeting, looking for his help to find Hector. Though in the commentary, Jon Cassar (I think it’s Jon) talks about how they felt the scene at the house worked better and raised the stakes, I really enjoyed James Badge Dale in this alternate version. He blackmails and threatens the cartel dude and is every inch the apprentice of Jack Bauer in this scene. However, in a way I somewhat agree with the director’s decision to use the other version of this scene, because I don’t think Chase’s character had developed in the story arc enough by that point to make him totally believable as a jaded agent with nothing to lose and questionable ethics.

This also backs on to an alternate version of the scene after Chase learns of Hector’s location and calls Kim to inform her of his plans. In the original version that aired in the episode, the conversation is very businesslike, very taut with tension, and Kim’s internal struggle between her loyalty to her boyfriend and her loyalty to CTU is much edgier and much more evident. In the alternate version on the DVD, Kim’s approach is a lot more, for lack of a better word, whinier, and the whole “oh, my man, I’m so worried about him!” face with the raised eyebrows and tone of voice is just a trifle overdone. I am glad this scene was changed and re-filmed for the episode, because the version in the episode definitely worked much better and was much more in tune with the trajectory of Kim’s character through the season. However, I have to say that the image of Chase tossing his cell phone into the ocean off the pier, Kim’s last words “I love you” still echoing in his head, was quite nicely done.

The short deleted scene between Michelle and Kim where they discuss Kim’s relationship with Chase was a really nice touch, though I see why it was cut. It was probably a little extraneous time-wise, and those brief little character introspection scenes sometimes get lost in the shuffle. However, I really enjoyed the interaction between Kim and Michelle this season, and it was nice to see a little more depth to that on the DVD.

I have to say, I also enjoyed the deeper exploration of the character of Dalton Furelle. According to the commentary on these scenes, the writers just felt that the character of Dalton wasn’t really working out, but I liked the angle of he and Kim knowing each other because she was once one of his students.

The writers and directors made absolutely the right decision not to let Jack cry after shooting Chappelle in the final cut of the 6-7 AM episode. In an alternate take on the DVD, we see Jack get into the chopper after killing Chappelle, where he then breaks down and sobs. While I certainly couldn’t fault Jack for crying after that, I think cutting this out made Jack’s tears in the last moments of the finale have a LOT more impact than they would have if this little scene had remained in the 6-7AM episode. The point was that during this part of the season, Jack had to remain very machine-like and detached from the things he was forced to do in the name of stopping the virus. It is not until the virus is secure and LA has been saved that he is able to re-open the door to his humanity and let his emotions overtake him.

The two Jack/Tony scenes (one was an alternate take and one was a deleted scene) were awesome character/relationship studies in and of themselves, but again I think ultimately the right decision was made when they were cut. In the alternate take, during the scene where Jack runs Tony off the road and forces Tony to tell him of the plan with Saunders, after Tony gives up the location and agrees to let Jack help him, Tony says “Jack, if Michelle dies, I’ll kill you myself.” Jack replies “I know.” It was pretty intense to see that Tony’s love for and desire to protect his wife would cause him to have homicidal feelings towards his best friend and closest ally. However, ultimately, just as was stated in the commentary to this alternate take, Tony’s words here were past the moment. He already agreed to let Jack help, and it would be completely out of character for him, once he had brought Jack into it, to threaten Jack. Tony threatening to kill Jack just seemed really off-base, because it's been solidly established that Tony would never kill anyone in cold blooded revenge, least of all Jack. The statement is more of an exaggeration, more of a point to say that in that moment, Tony was so desperate that he would be willing to kill Jack. And Tony's desperation is already completely obvious by that point, so I’m glad it was cut, even though it was damn intense.

The second scene, which was cut entirely, was incredible. As Jack and Tony wait under the 6th Street Bridge for Saunders’ entourage to arrive and make the Jane/Michelle trade, Tony accuses Jack of not giving a damn about Michelle and of having become a machine. I liked this because it was a verbalization of the general impressions the audience had to deduce for themselves throughout the entire third act – Jack had to surrender his humanity in order to complete his mission, and he could not let ANYTHING stand in the way of that. Jack response that Tony is free to hate him for the rest of his life really hit me in the pit of my stomach. These two characters, who took many years and a lot of mutual tragedy to build up such a strong trust in each other, could have that torn down by the impossible situation they were both in is heartbreaking. However, again, I ultimately feel as though the right decision was made to cut this scene. It was important to keep alive the brotherhood between Tony and Jack, and to have them say those things to one another sort of lost the flow, because by then the extreme tension after the big fight they had outside the phone booth has passed and they were both focused on making sure the mission went according to plan. Great little scene in and of itself, but as part of the larger whole, it’s better that it was omitted.

I have to say I also liked the little snippet where Chloe is pissed off and downing on Tony, and Kim defends him. This scene serves to highlight the intense respect Kim has for Tony, and her complete implicit understanding of why someone would sacrifice everything for love. Of all the characters on the series, Kim is perhaps the one person who best understands that impulse.

Overall, the commentaries to the deleted scenes was okay. There was not an awful lot of insight in terms of content, though some of the reasoning provided as to why certain scenes were cut or changed definitely helps to better understand the vision of the people behind the show.

Of the three featurettes included on the DVD, “24: On The Loose” was by far the best one. There was a lot of behind the scenes footage of a number of different actors, directors and other people involved with the show. I enjoyed the split screen footage of shooting the prison riot scene juxtaposed against the finished product. It’s truly interesting to see how they produce the kind of footage they have on this show, making it look so epic in scope.

The “Boys and Their Toys” docu is basically a study of how the scene with the 2 F-18 fighter jets and Saunders’ exploding chopper was shot. I was less interested in this than in cast/crew discussion of the actual meat of the show, but for anyone who likes behind the scenes stuff, it is really intriguing to watch how much effort, organization and attention to detail are required to shoot something which ended up getting just a few seconds of screentime. One of the reasons this show is so good is because the producers are so dedicated to making sure every “i” is dotted and every “t” is crossed.

"Biothreat: Beyond The Series” is actually pretty boring, unless you are extremely interested in learning about the reality of bioterrorism threats and the kinds of viruses out there in the world. This docu explores the technical consultants used on the show to help develop the “character” of the virus. Most of them are real biologists or virologists and this has very little to do with the actual show itself.

Besides the deleted scenes, the audio commentaries from cast and crew were the thing I was looking forward to the most on this DVD release. There are six commentaries in total, each one with a different combination of cast and crew doing the commentating. As much as we can be armchair critics and analysts of the show, hearing it straight from the source is always the best.

I was pleasantly surprised by the commentary for the 3-4 PM episode (Tony gets shot) with Kiefer Sutherland and Howard Gordon. Kiefer’s commentary on the Season 2 DVD release was, forgive us for saying so, really bad. Kiefer completely redeems himself on this commentary. Howard Gordon is always great to listen to when he’s talking about the show, and the two of them together on this episode provide some really excellent insight into not only the themes of the show, but also the pace of the plot and the motivations of the characters. There is a lot of discussion throughout, both men have plenty to say. Overall, I rank this commentary as #2 out of the 6 offered in this DVD release.

The second commentary is with writer Evan Katz and actor Riley Smith for the 5-6PM episode (Russian Roulette). Not a bad commentary. It didn’t really stand out, but I enjoyed listening to Katz describe the thought process the writers go through to come up with some of this stuff and making classic scenarios feel new again to the audience. Smith has a few good anecdotes about being on set and how Kyle’s attempted suicide was shot. I rank this commentary #5 out of the 6 offered.

The third commentary is with the legendary and incomparable Sarah Clarke, as well as Howard Gordon, for 10-11 PM (Jack and Nina kiss). This commentary is chock full of great info about the psyche of Nina, her motivations in Season 3 and her overall role in the 24 universe, her relationship with Jack and a long exchange about the implications of THE KISS. I really enjoy Sarah’s commentaries, because she gets right into the blood and guts of what we, the fans, want to know about – the back story she created for Nina, how she approaches the role and above all, what Nina and Jack have going on between them. Howard Gordon is wonderful here as always and the two of them really feed off each other to turn in what is an exceptionally insightful discussion about the themes and characters of this show. I got a lot out of this commentary and will definitely watch it again, so I rank this commentary #1 out of the 6 offered.

The fourth commentary with Mary Lynn Rajskub and Robert Cochran for 1-2 AM (Chloe stops the worm) was disappointing. There are several very long gaps with no discussion whatsoever, and Mary Lynn, bless her, provides very little real insight. She mostly oohs and aahs over watching the scenes she wasn’t actually in, and reiterates what is happening on-screen, which we obviously already know because a) we can see it and b) we’ve likely already seen the episode multiple times. It’s funny, because many of her cast-mates talk about what a funny, lively person Mary Lynn is, but both her appearance on 24-Inside and her commentary here are pretty lackluster. Despite the best moment of the commentary where Cochran voices over Jack’s dialogue, but replaces it was a declaration of love for Nina, Robert Cochran cannot completely save it, and so, I am forced to rank this commentary #6 out of the 6 offered.

The fifth commentary is with Robert Cochran, Reiko Aylesworth and Carlos Bernard for 5-6 AM (Michelle in charge of hotel, Gael dies). I was really looking forward to both of the commentaries featuring Carlos Bernard. Most 24 fans know he is legendary for his sardonic wit and dry sense of humour on the Season 2 commentary and this is exactly what I was expecting again. This is certainly not a bad commentary. There is a nice well-rounded mix of anecdotes about working on the show, discussion of the character and plot points of the show and Bernard’s standard jokes. I definitely thought his commentary for Season 2 was more humourous, but that was probably partially because last season he did the commentary with Michelle Forbes. Both of them are extremely funny individuals and they really played off each other. So, while this didn’t quite live up to my expectations, it still ranks a solid #4 out of the 6 offered.

The final commentary features Carlos Bernard once again, plus James Badge Dale and director Tim Iacofano for 10-11 AM (the Jane/Michelle trade), quite possibly the greatest Tony Almeida episode of all time. Carlos definitely does this one justice, and I enjoyed James Badge Dale’s contribution to this commentary too. Carlos declaring that he loves Aaron Pierce was gold. Carlos hit his stride in the wit department on this one too, and while it doesn’t quite measure up to the commentary with Kiefer and Howard Gordon for insight and analysis, we rank this #3 out of the 6 offered. All 3 participants do a great job.

The visual aspect of the DVD is impressive as always. I definitely prefer the menu intro better this time around. Season 2’s whole “Target Confirmed: Los Angeles” thing was a little hokey. This season, the designers wisely opted to go with a nice montage of scenes from the show, prominently featuring Nina. I have to say, though, that I preferred the actual episode to episode menu screens on the Season 2 DVD. The menus are all very intuitive and easy to navigate.

I did notice that some scenes appear a little grainy, particularly on the first disc, but then again, that could just be my piece of crap TV. I definitely think that the brightness/contrast is much better on this DVD. Season 1 was the worst, with everything appearing VERY dark. Season 2 was better, but the colour reproduction is definitely the best on Season 3. My DVD player is very finicky and I noticed that the Season 2 DVDs gave it a lot of problems. I had a lot of issues with skipping, freezing and the infamous NO PLAY. However, the Season 3 discs have given me almost no problems at all on this front, and that makes me happy.

Sound quality is excellent as always.

Overall, this box set is a must own for any fan of the show, which should be obvious. To own the episodes alone is worth the very reasonable price tag of $60 CAD and the special features are generous and I got a lot out of them.

We hope you’ve enjoyed the comprehensive review of the 24 Season 3 DVD release. Thanks for visiting AlmeidaisGod.com!

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