I watched the first five seasons of 24 on DVD back to back, literally one after another, and it has been one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had. The first season is very entertaining and compelling, but it doesn't yet have that gripping, relentless pace and intensity that this series has with the following season, n. 2. As new characters step in, we fall in love with them and we see them killed we slowly begin to realize that the only one we can (perhaps) get somehow attached to is our somehow old hero Mr. Jack Bauer, and no one else. I found seasons 4 and 5 absolutely amazing, one of the most unforgettable cinematic experiences, far better than any movie of this genre I had ever seen before. This is why I was somehow disappointed that season 6 didn't quite live up to expectations: I found it more claustrophobic (the President in the bunker for most of the series), lacking the romantic undertone the other seasons had (and Audrey not quite herself didn't help) and less credible now that with Jack Bauer has set aside his skills as a torturer to please network censorship rules. So, I guess we're all waiting to see what Season 7 will be bring, hoping that the writers' strike will not bring to a situation where in order to catch up with the delay the series will have to be written too fast. Season 6 clearly suffered from underdevelopment, while every detail of the previous 5 appeared to have been conceived with the utmost accuracy.