24 Season 7 Impressions

Note: Although I’ll try to keep it at a minimum, expect to see a small spoilers from Season 7 in the following overview of the season thus far. However, since it was shown last year, I’ll be readily referencing events from the telemovie 24:Redemption without warning, so don’t complain if I’ve spoilt something.

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Over the past two nights I’ve watched the premier of the new season of 24, and I have to say that apart from a few minor repetitions from previous seasons, the team at Fox have done a good job over their extended break due to the Writer’s Strike to refresh the season enough to keep the show from its continuous repetition, while still keeping enough of Jack’s past so that it seems like we’re grounded in the same universe as last season. It’ll keep diehard fans of the show happy with plenty of action and complex government decisions, while still opening the door to newcomers aided in part due to wrapping up all major plot points from the last season.

While the original trailer from late 2006 already have shown us the scene of Jack being questioned in front of a Senate hearing, and the ‘dead’ Tony Almeada going rogue, the new trailer released last year, as shown above, also intertwines the events of the fictional nation of Sangala which played host to pivotal moments in last year’s telemovie 24:Redemption. While some people criticised it, I found it great to see Keifer Sutherland’s character subtely change again from the previous season, now slightly more contemplative and perhaps even measured as he helped children from the orphanage rebuild their lives. Some of this re-emerges in the first hour of Day 7 in which we see for a change Jack Bower not actually killing anyone, although admittedly a heated scene where he nearly shoves a pencil in a guy’s eardrum certainly illustrates that he’s still fundamentally the same complex character that we’ve always known him for.

This season really tries to advertise itself as a complete reboot of the entire show. As mentioned previously, there are no major plotpoints from the last season, so if you’re new to 24, it’s going to be easy to follow along. The new setting of the FBI sets an almost humerous parallel to the comparatively cowboyish antics of the now dismantled CTU, with most agents closely following the legal line in-spite of the dire national situation.

The FBI includes a whole cast of new characters, from the fabulous Annie Wersching who plays Special Agent Renee Walker, Jeffrey Nordling as Head of FBI Larry Moss, as well Janeane Garofalo who plays the very Chloe-like staffer/hacker Janis Gold, and Rhys Coiro as staffer Sean Hillinger. Personally, I think the new cast of characters play off each other extremely well, with Renee Walker trying to balance keeping her boss Larry happy while allowing Jack to ‘produce results’, Janis acting as the loyal, trusted colleague which Larry and others can always rely on, including Sean when he is caught manipulating events. A new cast of White House staffers also emerge on Day 7, including the female president Allison Taylor, First Gentleman Henry Taylor, as well as Former Secretary of Defence and now Chief of Staff Ethan Kanin.

In addition to the new players, we also thankfully see the return of other long time 24 characters including Chloe, Bill and perhaps most confusingly Tony due to his apparent death in Season 5, although thankfully guided by Jack’s own initial doubts about his death, it allows a somewhat comprehensible explanation to be made as to how he has managed to survive.

From what I’ve seen from the first 4 hours of Day Seven, you can expect to see a lot of smaller story lines be explored within the season that are creatively intertwined with the main plot, which involves the security of the CIP firewall which protects vital infrastructure around the nation. Without spoiling too much for those who haven’t tuned in yet, you can expect to see the Sangala plot more extensively explored along with Jack trying to understand the sudden diverge of Tony’s allegence and how he is involved with a domestic terror cell, as well as smaller side stories including how Henry Taylor deals with the death of his son, which despite investigations to the contrary, who he believes has been murdered. With the exception of a few notable scenes, like for example trying to escape from a federal agency headquarters, it seems that Fox have gone to big lengths to ensure that the action sequences are a little more varied this time around, and overall that there is less repetition from previous seasons.

So overall its a big thumbs up to one of the most ambitious and anticipated seasons of 24 of a long time yet. In the coming weeks we’ll see if this positive trend continues, but so far it appears that the apparent success has nothing to do with fans not getting their 24 fix for over 12 months.