Spoilers. The clock's been idly ticking for 19 months, but the alarm has finally sounded for Day 7 of 24; the award-winning thriller's attempt to wash away the stain of the terrible Day 6. Ironically, redemption didn't come with 24: Redemption (the interim two-hour prequel), so fans have their fingers crossed Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) hasn't become a pop-culture relic, in the mild-reinvention presented here...After his African safari, Jack is back on home soil and being questioned in the Senate about his unlawful use of torture as part of the now disbanded CTU. Senator Blaine Mayer (Kurtwood Smith) essentially acts as the liberal face of the media who often condemn 24's right-wing, morally-questionable stance -- with added yuks in having Jack chastised for torture by RoboCop's sociopath Clarence Boddicker.
This season's terrorist plot swings into action when security expert Michael Latham (John Billingsley) is kidnapped by masked men after they ram his car in a city street. The FBI's Washington-based counter-terrorism squad, led by Special Agent-In-Charge Larry Moss (Jeffrey Nordling), are soon on the case -- having followed a series of high-tech thefts in recent weeks. They come to the conclusion that terrorists are trying to penetrate the country's vital CPI firewall (software that protects the nation's infrastructure; electricity, water, telecoms, etc) and are plotting to hijack air-traffic control.
FBI Agent Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) subpoenas Jack into helping her office mid-hearing, after they identify the lead terrorist as his supposedly-dead CTU colleague and friend Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard). It appears that Tony faked his own death, and is now trying to avenge his wife Michelle's murder -- who was killed in a car-bomb planted by a corrupt government administration. So, he's grown bad-guy stubble, shrugged on a black leather jacket, and has embraced the terrorism he spent his career trying to thwart. Yeah, I don't buy it either.
In the White House, female President Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) is knee-deep in dealing with a coup in the fictional African country of Sangala (see: 24 Redemption), distracted by news of the threat to the CPI firewall. Meanwhile, her husband Henry Taylor (Colm Feore) is secretly investigating the alleged suicide of their son, whom he suspects was murdered and has assigned a private investigator to unearth the truth.
For all its talk of reinvention, you don't take a wheel back to the drawing board, you just improve the traction. This is still the 24 we know and love, only with cosmetic changes: the empty flatness of L.A's bright suburbs replaced by white Washington architecture and pastel hues. The loss of CTU isn't really felt (beyond the lack of those chirping phones) because the FBI's open-plan Washington Field Office is essentially a small-scale CTU redress -- complete with Chloe replacement Janis Gold (Janeane Garofalo), a tetchy office worker, a stickler boss, and the old standby of a mole.
Despite the familiarity, the significant amount of new faces does help keep things fresh. There's rarely much time to get to know anyone, but the script does a great job of introducing characters, giving you a feel for their temperament, before spinning them into their own little plots. After so many years on-air, the writing machine is dexterous and sustains momentum, while ensuring the audience aren't left scratching their heads.
Already, Wersching's steely beauty is a nice partnership for Jack out in the field (she's sympathetic to Jack's methods, and even utters the first "dammit"), Nordling will hopefully build on a decent start as the by-the-book boss, Garofalo is a more pleasing variant of sour-faced geek Chloe, Jones holds your attention as the liberal female President, and Feore's performance as the First Gentleman pulls you through the premiere's weakest subplot.
As ever, Sutherland makes for a magnetic and commanding presence, but the decision to bring Bernard back in a villainous capacity doesn't seem plausible yet. I can just about accept Tony Almeida faked his death, but not that he'd threaten the lives of innocent airline passengers over misplaced grief. Fortunately, Jack is just as disbelieving as the home audience, which helps, and perhaps there's a greater mystery to Tony's actions. Is he deep undercover for someone? Is he being manipulated?
In some ways, 24 is a maddening show to review because of its hourly, serialized format. It's akin to reviewing the first two chapters of a thick novel; many of your criticisms and gut reactions could be disproved, or make sense with hindsight after reaching the epilogue. Therefore, I'm willing to cut 24 some slack over "Evil Tony" and a very other slips for now, and hope the way the situation links to Sangala isn't as clunky as I suspect.
Overall, the first two hours of Day 7 were an entertaining and lively start, but lacked the urgency and excitement of previous beginnings. Season 7's Die Hard 4.0-style plot should at least justify having various terrorist attacks focusing on different aspects of the US infrastructure, and there are plenty of faces (old and new) still to make their entrance. So, count me in for more...
Not quite the radical revamp we were promised (too many tropes of 24 are already being recycled) but it's certainly freshened things up, introduced some appealing new characters, and laid its groundwork very swiftly. Unlike previous seasons, Day 7's production schedule means the storyline can't be altered based on audience reaction, so it will be interesting to see the writers tell a pre-planned story from beginning to end. They certainly can't blame another bad season on a lack of time to get it right.
12 January 2009
Sky1, 9pm
Writers: Howard Gordon, Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff
Director: Jon Cassar
Cast: Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer), Cherry Jones (President Allison Taylor), Annie Wersching (Renee Walker), Colm Feore (Henry Taylor), Bob Gunton (Ethan Kanin), Jeffrey Nordling (Larry Moss), Rhys Coiro (Sean Hillinger), Janeane Garofalo (Janis Gold), Carlos Bernard (Tony Almeida), Kurtwood Smith (Senator Blaine Mayer), Maximiliano Hernandez (Donnie Fox), William O'Leary (Sid Paulson), Ryan Cutrona (Admiral Smith), Warren Kole (Agent Brian Gedge), John Rosenfeld (Kevin Aldridge), Murphy Guyer (Chuck Toland), Chris Williams (Phil), Vic Chao (Mark Dornan), Dameon Clarke (Alan Tanner), Nick Chinlund (Masters), Frank John Hughes (Tim Woods), John Billingsley (Michael Latham), Tommy Flanagan (Gabriel Schecter), Mark Derwin (Joe Stevens), Lesley Fera (Angela Nelson), Bobby Hosea (FBI Agent In Car), Mark Aiken (Nichols), Mark Derwin (Joe Stevens), Isaach De Bankole (Ule Matobo), Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Dubaku), Carly Pope (Samantha Roth) & Peter Wingfield (Emerson)
