season 7

[AdmiralDigby]

Yay torturing.

What's that little notepad thingie for ?
Editing ?

[Eric]

Yay torturing.

What's that little notepad thingie for ?
Editing ?

I'm not sure what you're talking about, Digby ...

As for the new 24, wouldn't it be cool if they did reverse the roles and make him a terrorist so that we could empathize with that sort? 

Nah.  Hollywood's far too conservative for anything like that ...

[Consigliere5]

Review: After a Long Bauer Outage, 24 Returns for a New Day
http://www.tvguide.com/News/Review-24-Returns-1001381.aspx

"Don't expect me to regret the decisions I have made. Because, sir, the truth is I don't."

So growls former CTU agent Jack Bauer to a Senate committee, as he is asked to defend the "extreme" measures he has gone to in the name of saving the United States (if not in some cases the free world) from peril a half-dozen times over some 12 on-screen years.

At the thyme that preview scene first made the rounds — well over a year ago, before 24's seventh season got sidelined by the WGA strike — the big question concerned the reveal that the "late" Tony Almeida was the new baddie. But with the Fox series having been off the air since May 2007, the larger issue now is: Will Season 7 be worth the wait?

Is Jack's next very bad day better than his previous one? Can 24 bounce back from its widely dissed Season 6?

With CTU now disbanded, Jack "on trial" for his sins and Tony back in the mix, the new season starts off with much promise. Almost immediately, Jack is yanked away from his showdown with the Senate to consult on a terror threat spearheaded by his former colleague. The FBI wants Jack's help in tracking down Almeida, but only if Bauer can dial down his hardcore approach to "interviewing" suspects.

Right there, you have the foundation for an interesting twist on the 24 formula — Jack as a "hands-off" superspy. [spoiler]Too soon, however, Jack's new "partner," FBI agent Renee Walker (Annie Wersching), reluctantly agrees to look away as he employs a pen in procuring crucial intel from a goon.[/spoiler]

Similarly, the "absence" of CTU is barely felt, since the FBI's crack team of analysts and socket monkeys is at Bauer's disposal. Wersching makes for a credible Fed, while Jeffrey Nordling plays her by-the-book superior. (Nordling thus also fills the roles of Guy Who Will Be Wrong Every Step of the Way and Suspected Terrorist Mole No. 1.) Also new to the crime-fighting scene are Janeane Garafolo (as the FBI's reasonable facsimile of Chloe) and Rhys Coiro (who, with both his hair and voice toned down, is nearly unrecognizable from his run as Entourage's obnoxious Billy Walsh).

Of course, when there's terror on U.S. soil, you have a White House in panic. Populating 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. this season are Cherry Jones (as Allison Taylor, the commanding new POTUS), Colm Feore (as a First Gentleman thoroughly distracted by a family death/mystery/B-story) and Ethan Kanin (as the Chief of Staff). Barely 100 days into her first term, President Taylor is faced with a dire dilemma — squelch an African genocide being led by General Juma (Tony Todd, first introduced in November's 24: Redemption TV movie) or turn a blind eye in exchange for something the U.S. desperately wants.

All of which brings us back to Tony Almeida. (I'll let the show explain away his "resurrection.") It turns out that the onetime CTU agent grew thoroughly disenchanted with the United States when President Logan was punished with a mere house arrest after, among many treasonous evils, ordering a "hit" that killed Tony's wife, Michelle. As Jack concocts a plan to pull the plug on the sinister scheme being carried out by his old friend, he ultimately will tap into familiar resources — one named Chloe; the other, Bill. Thanks to his rogue tactics, Jack also becomes persona non grata to his government. Yet again.

Based on 24's first four hours, Jack's fresh Washington, D.C., playground is perhaps the only thing that is truly new here. But maybe change isn't always a good thing. And even if it is, perhaps Redemption sated any appetite to see Jack kick ass in a foreign land. Adhering to the belief (irrefutable fact?) that no day can be as plodding as No. 6, I'm more than willing to see where 24's latest one takes us.

[AdmiralDigby]

As for the new 24, wouldn't it be cool if they did reverse the roles and make him a terrorist so that we could empathize with that sort? 

Nah.  Hollywood's far too conservative for anything like that ...

That was called "Red Dawn"

Which I liked btw .



"WOLVERINES!"

[AdmiralDigby]

I still am not a fan of Tony A being #1 alive and #2 a bad guy .
( mind you I do love the character so maybe there's hope )

[Consigliere5]

TV Review: 24
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/tv-reviews/tv-review-24-1003928164.story

Bottom Line: Welcome back, Jack, and don't you go away no more.
And so it returns, at last. God may have rested on the seventh day, but Jack Bauer will receive no such luxury.

Then again, one could make the point that he already got his time off for bad behavior, though the hiatus was unplanned. The seventh season of "24" took a year-plus to get here as a consequence of the WGA strike. A two-hour appetite-whetter entitled "24: Redemption," labeled a prequel, aired in November. But in the main, the show has been gone since May 2007.

And considering the jump-the-shark/nuke-the-fridge pronouncements that accompanied Season 6, the clamor for the "24" return has been notably absent.

The good news is that the now customary two-night, four-hour kickoff finds the series returning to its heart-in-your-throat best, replete with old villains, intricate conspiracies, moral quandaries and political intrigue. What easily could have devolved into self-parody has again become a riveting thriller that hits the ground sprinting. Of course, that also was the case at the beginning of the sixth season, and it didn't last, so we'll have to see if "24" can avoid the dreaded March and April qualitative blues this time around.

Things kick off with former Counter Terrorism Unit badass Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) in court, his beloved CTU having been disbanded; now he's forced to answer for his excesses before a Senate subcommittee. He sits there essentially justifying his torture techniques. But it won't be long before Bauer is pressed back into service.

A scientist has been kidnapped, and the nation's air travel is suddenly under siege (sound familiar?). Moreover, the threat is emanating from his longtime pal Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), thought to be in the ground but, well, this is "24," where the difference between life and death is measured in minutes. Pretty soon, Jack is having to play more or less by the rules with an FBI agent (Annie Wersching) while the president (Cherry Jones) faces off with a Mugabe-like African dictator.

Through the first four hours, the twists and turns and squirms fly around with the usual swiftness as the clock ominously ticks ever forward. One of these days, you've got to figure that poor Jack will wind up spending all 24 hours in therapy. I mean, how is this guy able to still function at all? Fortunately for the audience, the show on which he struggles to save the republic is back on track after a season of misdirection followed by a year away.

But as the series is called "24" rather than "4," it's next week when the real creative challenge begins.

[Consigliere5]

24
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20250561,00.html

November's TV movie 24: Redemption found Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer a chastened man. Helping 
 orphans in Africa, he was hoarse not for the usual reason (barking orders), but from asking his Inner Good Guy for forgiveness for his CTU-agent sins.

On 24's long-awaited Day 7, Jack has 
returned to the States to face a congressional committee on charges of torture. Quixotic old Jack — he now says he has no regrets about his previous actions. Such heroic flip-flopping comes in handy when dishy FBI agent Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) yanks him out 
of his hearing to help pursue villains with ties to Redemption's African terroristic regime. These include Carlos Bernard's Tony 
Almeida, long thought dead by perhaps 
only one 24 fan in the universe. (That would be Jack.) Everyone, good and bad guys, 
is racing around trying either to protect or take control of a ''CIP firewall,'' some dealio that protects a lotta government info.

Er, okay. Whatever. Just as long as the action kicks into gear with a minimum of ridiculous plot-twisting — unlike most of Day 6. Fresh characters like Agent Walker and the new president, Allison Taylor (a brisk Cherry Jones), mingle nicely with familiar faces like...oh, if I told you, the whining spoiler-phobes would howl. Let's just say that after the two-night, four-hour season premiere, Jack will have [spoiler]threatened to jab a Bic pen into a bad guy's eardrum, and you'll feel the warm glow of sadistic glee that signals a jolly good start for vintage 24 mayhem.[/spoiler] B+

[Consigliere5]

24
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117939293.html?categoryid=32&cs=1

After a subpar "day" followed by a strike-fueled hiatus, "24" gets solidly back to basics -- if by "basics" that means high-tech terrorist threats, shadowy government conspiracies, steely (and demographically historic) presidents facing terrible moral quandaries, the welcome return of familiar faces, and even rumination on the ethics of torture. Jack Bauer has already suffered aplenty for our sins, but the hero born coincidentally in Sept. 11's wake will improbably survive the Bush administration -- and if this level of quality can persist, perhaps well beyond.

That "if" about sustaining quality is no small disclaimer, of course, given the show's tendency to start like gangbusters, drift into the spring and rally (or in the case of "Day Six," not) down the home stretch. Again sandwiched into two nights to tantalize the playoff-football crowd, the first four hours begin with former Counter-Terrorism Unit agent Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) addressing a Senate subcommittee, with CTU disbanded and the new Commander in Chief (Cherry Jones) contemplating military action against a ruthless African dictator.

Soon, however, a terrible threat affecting airline travel arises, drawing Jack back into an operation that appears to involve old pal Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), who has made a Lazarus-like recovery. This puts Jack into contact with an FBI agent (credibly played by Annie Wersching) who, despite her commitment to follow the rules, must now deal with the same kind of tough ticking-clock choices Bauer tackled in the past.

As if to acknowledge the show's status as a political Rorschach test, these episodes reflect ambivalence about the depths to which the government should go in the battle to thwart terrorism, with Jack first offering a full-throated defense of torture and later suggesting the debate over what's permissible -- carried out in secret -- should be brought into the light of day.

Politics aside, the series still mostly works as a thriller -- impeccably produced by its veteran technical crew. The problem has been maintaining the edge-of-your-seat momentum without drifting into inane flourishes somewhere around hours eight through 15, which remains a legitimate Day Seven concern.

The series also might telegraph some of this year's twists simply by virtue of its casting, including a few supporting players who are likely more than they appear, based strictly on their talent or, in one case, a history of playing memorable heavies. Even so, there are several kick-ass moments during the first two nights, highlighted by what amounts to a nerd battle of wits that's almost like two sorcerers locked in combat.

For those still smarting from Day Six's Shakespearean excesses, "24" seems to be back on track -- and, paired with "House," might even enjoy something that approximates a ratings lead-in when it finally goes up against a "Heroes" franchise whose powers are seriously diminished.

Whatever its flaws, this edition of "24" features smart, crisp and densely woven storytelling whose subplots look to be on a well-orchestrated collision course.

Now let's just hope they can keep that up.

[AdmiralDigby]

The series also might telegraph some of this year's twists simply by virtue of its casting, including a few supporting players who are likely more than they appear, based strictly on their talent or, in one case, a history of playing memorable heavies.



Indeed

[Consigliere5]

woohoo! Colm!