Season Seven - First Thoughts

As well as recapping and analyzing the first six seasons, I'm also going to give my thoughts on the current season. I'm not going to do an analysis of the season since, well, I don't have the DVDs that I can pause whenever I want to. But I do think it'll be good to say what I think.

I've been worried about the show for awhile...Season Six was not very good. It had its moments, but the general flow felt too derivative. Most of it felt like a rehash of previous seasons - the third nuclear plot masterminded by Islamic extremists in the show's history. And there was a lot of potential there - Jack versus the Russians, Chinese, and Muslims, but it was mostly ridiculous. The element of Jack's extended family was also just not good. So, I was glad to hear they were retooling the show. It worked well in season four when they took things in a new direction, so it was time. I was worried, though. I felt like the writers might be losing their touch.

I was not happy about the WGA strike that postponed 24's return until January of 2009. At least, not at first. As I thought about it, this gave the writers plenty of time to make sure that this season was right. So my expectations have never been higher for the show. I will continue to watch as long as it is on, I will say that, but I reserve the right to say bad things.

On to Season Seven. We start out with Jack on trial for torturing suspects. He gets sprung by the FBI, who need his help in capturing Tony Almeida, a man everyone thought was dead. Jack does capture Tony, but not before Tony causes a near miss collision at an arport and then gives a device that circumvents Homeland Security's firewall to an African terrorist. Tony then turns out to be working undercover with Bill Buchanan and Chloe O'Brien, so Jack joins them. At the end of episode four, he and Tony have gone undercover with a terrorist cell that is trying to kidnap a high ranking African official.

First and foremost, Tony. We all thought he died in Season Five. I rewatched the episode, and no, he did not get the silent clock in the episode where he died. And if I accept that Jack has been thought dead and revived twice, I have to accept that Tony could have been revived. So I'm OK with this. I was worried we'd have an Ian Malcolm situation from The Lost World (the book). At the end of Jurassic Park, he was dead, and they were discussing the burial of his body. It was slightly vague, but it seems to me that he was dead at the island, and still dead when they got to the mainland. There's no way he could have been revived. Oh no, Malcolm says in The Lost World, I was only sort of dead. That ruined my enjoyment of the book. I find Tony's resurrection much more plausible.

So Tony, Bill, and Chloe (and Jack) are working outside of the law right now, which is how it should be. CTU III (CTU I was seasons 1-3, CTU II was seasons 4-6) is a bare bones operation, and it's all you need. Well, maybe you need Edgar too. I miss Edgar.

I really like that we have a unique terror situation here. We have African terrorists, trying to control our infrastructure with a complex device. There's a lot of potential there, a lot of things this device can be used for. I like it a lot.

The FBI adds a different twist. Agent Walker seems to developing into the female Jack, and Janene Garafolo seems to be the FBI version of Chloe with slightly more personality. I am a bit surprised to see Garafolo on the show, knowing her liberal leanings and this show about torture. There also seems to be a lot of comedy in these first few episodes. There is a definite parody feel, especially with the way the FBI is interacting with Jack. The director made some comment, oh, this is where you walk up to me and glare at me and I'm supposed to feel intimidated. I think it was the director. It was funny. Also, Jack being on trial for his actions really puts a nice spin on things. He's willing to be helpd accountable, but he's unwilling to compromise on what he believes to be the only way to do things.

So, I'm definitely digging Season Seven so far. I'll post more as they air. I don't watch previews, so don't spoil anything for me. If my assessments are off according to what you know from the previews, I don't care. Thanks for reading!