I was not one of those who got into ‘24‘ when it first came out eight years ago. Then, the series was premised on the concept of real-time action over a 24 period and was an action thriller based on government conspiracies. A fairly decent basis for a series to stand out from the rest of the series out there. It received critical acclaim at the time but I did not watch it at the time as there was probably something more interesting to watch at the time.
Indeed, it was not until the fourth season which had another terrorist plot that required Jack Bauer to stop with an additional premise that he had to find and rescue the father of his current girlfriend at the time, Audrey Raines. It was a solid series that had a twist near the end that kept the viewer engaged.
The fifth season, considered to be the best of the series, dealt with the US president going rogue against the nation with much double dealing, assassinations, and immenient nuclear war. Strong performances throughout the series and not just the regular cast , several of whom met an early death to an attack on CTU headquarters. If there was a high note that a series should end on, that was it.
Alas, it was not. The sixth season had Jack returning from China as a released prisoner of their spy agency to stop a nuclear terrorist plot (again). This time, though, th show jumped the shark so to speak by actually exploding a nuclear device in the LA area. After that, the story went downhill with returning fathers, unexpected children and so on. By the middle of the season, I pretty much stopped watching it.
It has been two years since that season with the missing year because of the writers’ strike from last year which prevented writing of the episodes in a timely manner. So we have Jack back now, looking for a bit of redemption for himself.
So far, four episodes into the season, we have not seen anything much different than before. Another shadow conspiracy that reaches deep into the president’s office. As if we have not seen that several times already. Jack is on the run again from the authorities for crossing the line, a line he treats with contempt as always. The merry band of Bill Buchanan, Chloe O’Brien and Tony Almeida are reunited. There are traitors among the people responsible for protecting the nation’s security. So it goes. If they could, they would probably try to resurrect David Palmer.
As with every season before it, there is undoubtedly some twists that will change the entire dynamic of the plot. The outline of the plot revealed to date is that an industrial company headed up by a character played by Jon Voight is trying to gain control of the country of Sangala and its diamond mines and its machinations are not for destroying the United States or to settle old scores but simply to make a large profit without any interference. The most basic of motivations.
Still, so far, the show has been solid in its execution and as long as it does not try to insult our intelligence and also killing off people left, right and center, including beloved characters, just to shake things up, I will probably will stick with it for now and see it all unfold.