The first series became a cult TV hit

The show saw the return of Kiefer Sutherland as counter-terrorist agent Jack Bauer in a race to stop terrorists blowing up a nuclear bomb in LA.

As in the first series, each 45 minute episode represented one hour of one day and ended with a dramatic conclusion.

But what do you think?

Was the ending as good as series one's finale? Would you watch a third series? This talking point may contain spoilers. If you do not want to know what happened, do not read any further.

Absolutely a torrid show. So much promise but I gave up after the first six "hours" of the first series. Way too much happens at too fast a pace for their alleged "real time" concept. I should think all the characters should be dead by hour number 24 simply from exhaustion.
Dave in Texas, USA

Yes! Yes! Yes! Definitely watch the third season. This second season was, overall, better than the first one; however the finale from the first season was far better. It packed such an emotional punch. This one, sort of winded down and then set up the cliffhanger for the third season... a bit anti-climatic, but still far better than other shows out there! Definitely best show on TV.
May Bentley, USA

Season one's finale was more intense, exciting, and unpredictable. I do, however, love this show and would be really interested in watching a third series. It is one of the few shows left that is not reality TV...a very good thing!
Sara Hasan Nagy, USA

What a disappointment. I suspected that the ending would be a dampner.

At the end of the penultimate hour (6am-7am), there were too many questions, too many loose ends to tie up and I was left asking myself, how exactly are they going to bring this to a conclusion in one hour? The ending simply was rushed. There was no gasp of betrayal as in the first series when we discovered that Nina Myers was the mole. I was hoping that perhaps Kate Warner or even Tony would be a double agent, but a poison handshake? Give me a break. I feel cheated for devoting 24hrs of my life to an ending like that.
Chris Jenkins, UK

While series two dragged in its first half (especially all the Kim subplots - why can't she just die and be done with it?), the second half of this series after the bomb dropped was great stuff. The ending, though, was very anti-climatic. No twist, no traitor, nobody manipulating everything from behind the scenes. Whether or not Palmer lives or dies from the assasination attempt is irrelevant to this series and a real "so what" since it had no bearing on anything that had gone on before it. And are we really supposed to have remembered the assassin from series one? Disappointing last five minutes but a great series none-the-less.
Richard Griffiths, UK

Great concept. Great show. Why are people only now realising how great Kiefer is!? Did no one see the Lost Boys??
Shane Morgan, Australia

Awesome and intense show! My Tuesday nights were centered around the show....a show that my entire family watched. Phones were not even answered. However, Jack's whole torture and recovery thing was a bit much but it's ok.....And I think it was the last three episodes that he went a little overboard on the line "I am the only one that can save you"..."Who needs CTU when we have Jack? I will be looking forward to next season...
LeeAnn, MO USA

The disappointing part of the season is they seemed uncertain of what to do with Kate and Kim Greg Neubauer, USA

I was disappointed in the ending because it was impossible. Plan "B" was obviously to assassinate Palmer....but how did they know that Palmer was going to be outside giving a press conference and how did they know they would be able to expose his hand to the lethal bioagent? All of this within a matter of a few minutes?
John, USA

Great finale, but let it be known that if Dennis Haysbert's (Palmer) character is dead then it would be a travesty and a terrible loss to the show.
JC, United States

Yes I will watch a third. The show is so good with quick technology, you get mad when they miss the obvious; like cell phone calls from Kingsley to the boat man and then him back to the president's killer. Overall very good show. Will miss the President. He was one of the best actors. Kim should have been killed, don't know if I can stand to see her go through another 24 hours again. I am still hooked!
Scott Thornhil, USA

The end was disappointing.They started to introduce new characteristics in the last minutes when it should have been done three to four episodes earlier. My only question is this: What happens to Sherry Palmer and Mike Novick? The disappointing part of the season is they seemed uncertain of what to do with Kate and Kim. They would have big slices in some episodes, then totally fall off the face of the earth. Besides, the best plot line for next season is to pair up Kim with USA TODAY TV columnist Robert Bianco, who seemingly can't stand Kim. Now that would be a story!
Greg Neubauer, USA

The last five minutes were very intense. The best show on TV bar none Bryan Rutherford, US

Season one had a much better finale - because it WAS a finale, whereas this was just a plug for next season...albeit a very good one. YES! I will watch it again, as will my wife, my father and mother, my cousins, and many more people that I know. We all love being on pins and needles til the next week; waiting several months, well, maybe not. But we have to!
Ryan, USA

If there is any character that you wanted to be more than Jack Bauer, then it must be David Palmer. Which makes me think that Kiefer might have started to get a little bit jealous, and killed him off...
Alex, UK

Alas, it looks like Jack Bauer will never enjoy an extended vacation. Yes, I'm game for a third installment - but here's hoping they give Kim Bauer a more believable round of turmoil than the melodramatic escapade she suffered through in the last 24.
Robert del Valle, USA

The last five minutes were very intense. The best show on TV bar none.
Bryan Rutherford, United States

The series finale was definitely not as good as the season one finale. After waiting for 24 hours, the day should have wrapped up. If it was a good show, people would have watched the next season without having to be baited into it.
Danielle, USA

There were no revelations. No one was implicated or revealed as promised and virtually no one was held accountable for traitor-type behavior. It is as if a "to be continued". I wouldn't have minded if more had been revealed about some within the administration had been shown to be responsible, but this is just a "who shot JR" and wait till next season. Do they really intend to answer some questions next season or is it just a continuing sequel with no clear answers? I guess that does refect our current government investigations. No one is ever held responsible for their actions.
Mike Willard, USA

Season three however, does look like it's going to be interesting Christian Smith, UK

I watched the finale last night through various means and I throughly enjoyed it. Somehow they wrapped up what seemed to be a highly complicated finale.

I also loved the way Palmer's wife redeemed herself by helping Jack in the end. Nice touch!

I don't agree with you ruining the final moments though for us over in the UK. It's just as big as Jack's wife dying in the first series.

I suggest you rewrite your article because there will be a lot of miffed viewers over here.
Pete, UK

Great ending. Can't wait for season number three, which will now obviously be a continuation of season number two.
Fidel, USA

What an ending to a fantastic series! I presume everyone got the fact that Palmer's assassin was Mandy from series one?

Overall I think this series shades series one although the obvious Kim plotlines should have been curtailed.

My only critisicm of S2 over S1 is that they seemed to put a cliffhanger in every single episode whereas in S1 they were more subtle and every few hours or so.

I have thoroughly enjoyed it over the past six months and can't wait for series three. By far the best US import of the past 10 years!!
Warren Davies, UK

While I must say I wasn't as tense during the last few hours of this season of 24, I think it was due to the lack of the Nina-sized twist at the end of hour 23, this season ended very nicely for me.

A lot of stuff was tied up, and the twist end really made me start taking notice again.

The only thing I was disappointed with was that they did not have the courage to kill off Kim totally. The girl has been a drag on the storyline since the start of this season and has taken over from her mother as the one making some seriously stupid choices! There can't be that many psychos in 24 LA that she hasn't met or annoyed now can there?

Get Kim out next season, PLEASE!! Season three however, does look like it's going to be interesting...
Christian Smith, London, England