"24" Regains Its Status as One of TV's Top Dramas

By TV / Video Download Archives
Cover image for  article: "24" Regains Its Status as One of TV's Top Dramas

 
When they reviewed the four-hour, sixth season premiere of Fox24 in January 2007, many critics (myself included) raved that it set the stage for what promised to be the most amazing season of the series yet. After all, the end of hour four brought with it a plot development more shocking than any that had come before, including the murder of CTU agent Jack Bauer’s pregnant wife at the end of Season 1 and the assassination of President David Palmer at the start of Season 5: The detonation of an atomic bomb in Valencia, California. Nothing says disaster like a mushroom cloud on the horizon.
 
Unfortunately, that mushroom cloud did signal an epic disaster – not within the narrative (life in Los Angeles appeared to continue without any significant upheaval even as thousands of people died horribly just a short drive away) – but for the show itself. The primary storyline in play became repetitive and seemingly directionless, limping to a tired conclusion about two thirds of the way through the season and necessitating the launch of a tiresome second tale simply to fill the remaining hours until all twenty-four had ticked by. Not surprisingly, ratings for the show followed its slow slide into nothingness.
 
Had it returned for a seventh season last January as planned, before the Writers Guild of America strike forced Fox to shelve it for a year, I think 24 would have had a difficult time winning back its loyal audience so soon after so egregious a burn. Instead, viewers were allowed time to recover from their collective disappointment and, perhaps, start to miss the extraordinary Mr. Bauer (in the way that they come to miss favorite characters in cable series during their long breaks between short seasons, or James Bond during the many years that pass between entries in that enduring theatrical franchise). In a shrewd move, Fox this past November served up a somewhat stand-alone two-hour movie titled 24: Redemption that effectively bridged Seasons 6 and 7, suggested to longtime fans that the show may be back on track and provided a sharp point of entry for potential new viewers (or those who jumped ship years ago) to sample it all over again.
 
All of the above brings me to the two-night, four-hour premiere this Sunday and Monday of 24’s seventh season, and I am happy to report that it makes for thrilling, chilling, thoroughly engrossing entertainment. The storyline that was introduced in Redemption, about the twisted ties between ongoing genocide in the fictional African country of Sangala and widespread corruption throughout the United States government, is fleshed out in fast and furious fashion. Bauer is swiftly but believably whisked from the middle of a Senate hearing investigating alleged crimes committed by former members of the disbanded Counter Terrorism Unit into an investigation by the FBI into a new terrorist threat that could bring down telecommunications, transportation, air traffic control and power grids across the country. New characters are introduced and fully fleshed out with a thoroughness and efficiency that should leave most writers of television drama consumed with envy. Old characters resurface in a variety of surprising ways. One of them is Bauer’s presumed dead friend and CTU colleague Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), whom viewers saw die in Jack’s arms in Season 5, and whose shocking return could have played like bad daytime drama (or Eighties serial delights Dallas and Dynasty at their shameless best), but instead seems right in sync with the rest of this show’s surprises. Best of all, the action this season is taking place in Washington, D.C., rather than overplayed L.A.
 
The Sangala and Washington stories expand and sub-divide even as they continue to merge while the mysteries surrounding many characters continue to grow. Happily, these four hours seem more focused on telling a tight, tantalizing story than topping the shocks and surprises that came in seasons past. (It seems the producers have wisely realized they aren’t going to outdo that mushroom cloud, and thank goodness for that! That said, there is a spectacularly nerve-frying moment in the second hour involving commercial airline traffic that demonstrates how impactful 24 can be when it’s on its game.) The beginning of the story is as thought-provoking as it is entertaining, with Bauer maddeningly forced to defend himself before a Senate subcommittee that is seeking to prove him guilty of human rights violations simply because he tortured a few bloodless bastards to save the lives of hundreds (if not thousands or millions) of American citizens, not to mention several Presidents. In the hours that follow we see again and again how the law compromises the efficiency of government agencies, even when the safety of millions of innocent people is at stake. Like I said, it’s thought provoking -- and more than a little unnerving.
 
The greatest pleasure I had in watching these four hours came not from the story itself, but from savoring the perfectly realized performances of the entire cast, especially those actors playing the many fascinating new characters on the 24 canvas. Broadway powerhouse Cherry Jones brings great dignity to her portrayal of President Allison Taylor, who in her first few weeks in office has had to deal with the apparent suicide of her son and the mounting atrocities in Sangala, and now must also contend with a massive domestic terrorist threat. Similarly rock solid are Colm Feore as First Husband Henry Taylor, who can’t accept the circumstances surrounding his son’s death, and Bob Gunton as White House Chief of Staff Ethan Kanin. Annie Wersching is so good as FBI Agent Renee Walker I began hoping at the start that the producers of 24 don’t decide to kill her off anytime soon (if ever); though the trail of death they have left across the canvas of this series suggests I may not get my wish. Janeane Garofalo is a fascinating bundle of ticks and twitches as a nervous techie at the FBI who is even more of a nerd than Mary Lynn Rajskub’s beloved Chloe O’Brian. Collectively, the entire cast is simply outstanding – even those actors in minor roles as FBI operatives and Secret Service agents -- and Jon Voight, who oozed memorable menace as shady D.C. power player Jonas Hodges in Redemption, hasn’t even shown up yet!
 
Lastly, Kiefer Sutherland remains a singular sensation as self-sacrificing terrorism fighter at the center of yet another impossibly awful day. Where would the America of 24 be without Jack Bauer? And where would we be without Sutherland, the best action hero on television?          
Copyright ©2024 MediaVillage, Inc. All rights reserved. By using this site you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.