Reviews Series / Twenty Four

Day Seven (Contains major spoilers)

So, after a break caused the writers' strike, the pulse-pounding show that is 24 returns with a fairly large Re Tool, moving from Los Angeles to Washington DC.

What worked:

• Tony's return- surprisingly well. The issue of his "demise" in Season 5 was skipped over fairly quickly and the explanation was good enough. Tony was well-motivated and his murder of Larry Moss was one of the shocks of the season.
• Kudos to the writers for having the Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique not always work. Slight docking for continued awful Techno Babble.
• Most of the new characters. Renee was fairly good, President Taylor had a shaky start but got very good towards the end and Olivia Taylor did Sherry Palmer-manipulation in a manner most great. Nice to see the last one get her comeuppance too. Cara had a good Nina-vibe going until she died.
• The general plot, with qualifications. The White House bit was very good.
• 24: Redemption, which was pretty good.

What didn't:

• The show still can't sustain one "plot" for an entire season. Plan it out better please.
• Jack's illness. Who here seriously believed that Jack Bauer would die from mad cow disease?
• Kim Bauer. For all her improvement, she was still not necessary to the plot and seemed to serve only as a remedy to the common "Oh, no, we need two more episodes of plot" syndrome.
• Janis Gold. Like Chloe before she was Rescued From The Scrappy Heap, made worse by Chloe's presence.
• Some incredible stuff- like a private company acquiring legitimately medium-range ballistic missiles.
  • Further note, don't pluck missile names out of thin air either. Python 5 is the name of a real missile- an Israeli short-range air-to-air one too.

All in all, this was a fairly good season by the show's standards and a welcome return to form. That said, I still feel that the show hangs too much on Jack Bauer and that he should get less of a focus.

4/5. Roll on Day Eight!