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How do you hook viewers into another day at 24?
You start it off with a bang. Anyone who thought the presumed-dead Jack Bauer would get a gradual reintroduction into ticking-clock terror had better readjust those expectations. This season, 24 shoots into crisis mode from the opening bell, and the pace and tension seldom slacken through the show's extraordinary four-hour, two-night introductory run. This is 24 at its fast, furious, exaggerated best, filled with well-drawn subsidiary characters and rapid-fire surprises, all held in place by Kiefer Sutherland's great, under-sung performance as Jack. No actor on TV is better at putting across steely resolve laced with a tinge of homicidal fury, and no actor has had more occasions to do so. To quote one of his teammates, "Relax; he's really good at this."
By this point in the run, so are the show's writers. Too often, long-running series use our affection for and knowledge of the characters as an excuse to get lazy with their storytelling. In these first four hours, 24 uses it to save time — to dispense with explanations that would have been needed a few years ago and cut to the chase. What the chase entails, I won't say: That would spoil your enjoyment of the premiere. But I can tell you that the opener gives Jack a personal stake in an ever-expanding crisis, and the show always seems to work best when Jack has more than just a public-service motive for eschewing sleep. 24's day starts on the West Coast, where Jack lives and works under an assumed name. On the East Coast, President Logan (Gregory Itzen) is about to sign an anti-terrorism treaty with Russia's president. Events conspire to bring the two plot strands together, while reintroducing us to such returning stars as Kim Raver (Audrey), Carlos Bernard (Tony), Dennis Haysbert (President Palmer) and Mary Lynn Rajskub — back with all guns blazing as the supremely competent, socially backward Chloe. Even Chloe, however, might be cowed by one of the newcomers: Jean Smart's madly brittle first lady, Martha Logan. Martha is savvy and unstable, and Smart makes her funny, terrifying and sympathetic. As usual at 24, it would not be wise to keep track of how often people conveniently pop up at the right or wrong place at the exact right or wrong time. Still, these days the show is much better at knowing when to cut and run, moving on to a new plot before the holes in the last one distract you. Look at it this way: When you think of all that Americans have endured in 24's world — nuclear attacks, biological warfare, presidents falling out of the sky — the mere fact that everyone isn't holed up in a bunker is a salute to our resilience. People like that are clearly ready for another terrific, terrible day. And it looks like that's just what 24 has in store. |
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