I know, as an amateur film buff, that most people would probably expect that I spent last evening attuned to the Golden Globes, the lesser version of the Academy Awards. After all, the Golden Globes are usually a somewhat reliable gauge for the Oscar’s, so watching those might give someone a good idea what to expect come Academy time. But last night my attention was elsewhere. Because last night marked the return, for the first time in almost two years, of Fox’s hit show, 24. I’ve covered my love of 24 and the reasons why I like it so much on previous posts on this blog, so here, I’ll just address the new season and my impressions so far. For those who haven’t yet seen the new season, the following may contain some spoilers, so I make no promises if you haven’t already seen last night’s back-to-back episodes.
Anyway, the biggest surprise isn’t much of a surprise at all, if you’ve read any previews or seen any trailers for the upcoming season. Last night marked the return of Tony Almeida, the former head of the Los Angeles counter-terrorism unit and probably one of Jack’s closest friends on the show. Tony’s wife, Michelle, was killed at the beginning of season 5, and Tony himself was also seriously injured and later expired halfway through that same season. Or at least, we were led to believe he did. It appears, however, that Tony did not die. And last night, in the first 10 minutes of the show, it was revealed that Tony is operating in a homegrown terrorist cell. So far, a lot of questions regarding his return have been left unanswered–how he cheated death, where he has been, how and why he got hooked up with a terrorist group. We can speculate that the death of his wife drove Tony into despair and bitterness against the government…but so far, we don’t know for sure what is going on.
Speculation aside, the new season picks up shortly after the November made-for-TV movie, 24: Redemption. In the movie, Allison Taylor has just been sworn in as president, and a corrupt general is committing genocide in the fictional African nation of Sengala. At the beginning of season 7, it appears that President Taylor is weighing the decision of whether to engage militarily in Sengala to rescue that nation from its internal strife, or whether to continue to appeal to the UN to stop the slaughter. Taylor clearly favors military intervention, but she is opposed by quite a few people, including members of her own staff. At the end of Redemption, Jack Bauer, former CTU agent, has been taken into custody by the United States government, and is being subpoenaed by Congress to answer questions regarding human rights abuses committed by CTU. At the beginning of this episode, Jack is appearing before Congress and defending his actions, when the FBI pulls him out of the Congressional hearing to engage his help on tracking down Tony Almeida. Turns out Tony is leading a terrorist organization who has just kidnapped the designer of the firewall which protects most of the country’s infrastructure from computer hackers. Jack knows Tony better than anyone, so the FBI decides to make use of his knowledge in an effort to bring Tony down. By the end of the evening, we have learned that Tony’s group is selling their information and abductee to a shadowy organization who is in turn using this to assist the genocidal general in Sengala, for reasons yet unclear. But it does appear that it’s all going to tie together somehow.
What I like about the new episode is precisely what I said I liked about Redemption. The producers of 24 have recognized that it was a good time to shake up the formula and change things up a bit, and I’m of the opinion that they have made all the right moves. For starters, the previous six seasons all focused largely on Los Angeles…but this new season appears as if it’s going to take place in Washington, D.C. And honestly, this is a great change. It’s a new location, and one that has so much opportunity. D.C. is full of all sorts of scum, as well as being the capitol of the U.S….it just makes sense on so many levels to take the show there for this season. I’m looking forward to seeing how they use the city to their advantage in the storyline…I can just imagine some of the Congressman who sit on the subcommittee investigating Jack having their lives spared through his “enhanced interrogations.” Whatever they do, it’s going to happen in a new place, at least.
Also, it’s a mostly new cast. Some people may not find this refreshing, but I actually do. Not that I disliked the previous cast of 24, but most of the characters I had grown fond of or formed any sentimental attachment too (Michelle Dessler, David Palmer, Kim Bauer, Audrey Raines) had either been killed off or written out of the story. The replacement characters seemed like in some regards as if they were just thrown into the mix to pick up the slack from where their predecessors had left off, but most of them had never been given the time to establish any kind of emotional attachment with the audience. I think the new cast did a fine job, and I’m hoping this is the start of some new, long term character buildups….the FBI agent helping Jack, Renee Walker (I think that’s her name) was in particular an interesting and refreshing character. You can already see she’s wavering in her commitment to do things the FBI way, or Jack’s way, and I’m truly looking forward to seeing which side of the line she falls on. The other characters seem to be playing their parts pretty well…Allison Taylor seems much more presidential than Wayne Palmer (although I thought Powers Boothe was good last season). She actually does seem to fit the role well, although so far, nobody has been as great as David Palmer. I might be mistaken, but I think Chloe is supposed to make a return this season, and it will be nice to see her, because she is the last cast member, besides Jack, that people really truly care about. I’m not sure about some of the previous characters…it seemed, at least at the end of season six, that Audrey was out of the picture, as are Bill Buchanan and other CTU mainstay’s, but that might be for the best…although I’m sure some people might disagree with me. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
The true masterstroke of genius, though, has been the return of Tony as a bad guy. I called this one after his “death” in Season 5…I pondered the possibilities of Tony becoming the nemesis of Jack, and thought what a good plotline it would make. My wife ruminated, as we watched Tony threaten the captive computer programmer, and toy with the lives of dozens of people on a couple of airliners, how difficult it was to watch Tony be bad. And it is…but that’s what makes it so compelling to watch. The Tony we 24 fans have known did everything he could to protect life…could the death of his wife because of a government conspiracy really turn him so completely? As Jack says, his voice breaking at the end of last night’s opener “What happened to you?” Tony, as great as he was as the fearless leader and faithful friend, is just as compelling, if not more so, onscreen as the heartless villain. Some actors feel like their bad guys have to be loud and obnoxious to be seen as deadly…Tony doesn’t yell his threats…his voice is quiet, and deadly, and his performance sends a little chill up your spine.
At any rate, I was highly impressed, and I think this season could be return to peak form for 24, and not a moment to soon. The producers have been looking to add some new flavor to the show, and I think they have found it. Not too mention, I already know Jon Voight and Mary Lynn-Rajskub are supposed to be in future episodes…Voight is a fine actor, and as I have stated previously, I think fans are really excited about seeing Chloe again. I’m anticipating the future path of Season seven.
