TV Verdict

Has there been a premiere with as much pressure on it as this one? Coming off of a truly miserable Season 6, reports of creative dysfunction and an extended hiatus thanks to the writer’s strike, Season 7 kicks off with a lot of questions.

Are the show-runners out of ideas? Has the real-time formula become a punch-line instead of the compelling storytelling mechanism it once was? And are we finally free and clear of all this talk about perimeters and vectors and sockets?

With the first two hours logged, my tentative answers are: Maybe not, don’t think so, and @#$% no!

A spoiler-laden reaction lies below.

I’m as big a Bauer apologist as you’ll find and even I admit that the last time we saw Jack in action for a full season was a complete let-down. If you would have asked me then, following the ham-fisted multicultural moralizing, flagellated plotlines and unlikable supporting characters, if I thought 24 may have seen its death knell in Season 6, I’d probably have said yes. Preceded by a signature Bauer “Dammit!” undoubtedly.

But here we are, back for another round after a long, long time, fresh off a pretty kick-ass made-for-TV movie (my review of Redemption is here). And judging by the two hours, I’m liking the direction.

We first see Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) as he’s answering questions from some d-bag senator about his extreme interrogation methods and Jack lays the verbal smackdown nicely on the guy, but it’s not long before the requisite National Security Nightmare Scenario forces us out of the courtroom and into the FBI.

Turns out a domestic terrorist organization has gotten their grubby hands on a module that allows them to tap into national infrastructure and taking a cue from Die Hard 2 (which must have been recently on the terrorist’s On Demand), the bad guys start screwing around with air traffic control. The Big-Surprise-That-Really-Wasn’t-a-Surprise: none other than Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) is steering the good ship Big Bad.

Props to the producers for a) recognizing the error in killing off the only supporting characters we gave a crap about and sticking us with stiffs like Morris and Nadia, b) brazenly resurrecting Tony, the second-best 24 character of all time with the first-best facial hair even though the last time we saw him he had a throat full of hypodermic needles and c) making Tony a bad guy, though my radar detects a possible twist coming up.

Meanwhile Jack does what he does best, punching dudes in the face, killing bad guys (body count I think stands at two right now) and being @$%$%*#@ right all the time. Luckily, he’s paired with an FBI agent who recognizes his genius and it’s not long–six real-time minutes I think–before Jack is driving around and shooting and barking orders.

Parallel storylines played a big role in torpedoing last season, but so far they’re not too bad: the new President is already far tougher and cooler than Wayne “If They Set Off Another Nuke Then I’m Really Going to Be Mad” Palmer and the DC field office seems as soap opera-ish and dysfunctional (a leak? you’re kidding!) as CTU. I’m wary about this rogue First Husband plot, though.

So, an interesting start to the proceedings, with much of the show’s staples discarded (the L.A. locale, CTU, no contrived gasp moment like the hacksaw decapitation or the nuke or Jack’s vampiric tendencies). I have hope.

On to the episode awards.

Memorable Bauer Maneuver:

As is usually the case, lots to choose from, but the almost pen-in-the-eyeball interrogation tactic and rabbit punches to the sniper’s spleen are edged out by Jack’s sweet jump and roll off of the boat into the flying Tony tackle.

Character I Can Do Without:

Gotta go with Papa Taylor. His little fact-finding mission about his son’s death strikes me as ill-timed considering his wife is about to bring the hammer down on a fictional African country.

Best Grimace:

Tony. That look he gave Jack at the end just screams “Took the producers long enough to realize that Milo sucks ass.”