Stopping Time
’24’
Fox
Monday, 9 p.m.
In season one, Jack Bauer prevented the assassination of the president of the United States and saved the country. In season two, he stopped a nuclear bomb from detonating in Los Angeles and saved the country. In three, he took down a Mexican drug cartel; in four, he rescued the secretary of state from terrorist kidnappers; in five, he fought off nerve-gas-wielding terrorists; and in six, he kept nuclear detonators out of the hands of Chinese terrorists – all to save the country.
Welcome to season seven of ’24.’ The country needs saving again, and America’s best-loved, raspy-voiced, insomniac interrogator is 14 hours into the seventh ‘longest day of his life.’
It’s a little more than halfway through the day, but the action is about to start fresh, making it the ideal time for past and prospective viewers to get hooked. And while season six struggled, seven’s twists, moles, setups and creative action sequences – all predictable to frequent watchers – benefit from a new cast and a longer production period (production is now 15 months instead of 10 due to the 2007-2008 writers’ strike, which postponed the start of season seven).
Season seven, or day seven, is set in Washington, D.C., where President Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) is dealing with an international dispute between the U.S. and the fictional African country of Sangala. Sangalanese rebels, angered by the U.S. military presence in their country, breach the U.S. firewall protecting the government’s computer infrastructure and crash two commercial planes, killing hundreds of American civilians.
Meanwhile, Bauer is under subpoena for human rights violations and illegal interrogation practices, because apparently tasers, pens and suffocation aren’t FBI-approved. He spends his time simultaneously fighting with FBI agents and chasing suspects.
Bauer gets help from longtime friends Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), who is somehow now back from the dead, and Chloe O’Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub), the nerdy, number-smart new mom.
With 10 hours left in the day, Bauer and FBI Agent Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) have taken down the Sangalanese terrorists only to discover a new twist (or at least … the newest in a sequence of about five since the season’s start). The Sangalans were working with the terrifyingly coy Jonas Hodges (Jon Voight), who is still at large with weapons of mass destruction.
So far, this season lacks the contrived, melodramatic romances of past seasons. Office flirtations and hints at former relationships persist but don’t distract from the plot.
New characters are also breathing fresh life into the show.
Cherry Jones is, after Bauer, the highlight of the show as the idealistic, authoritative commander in chief. Jones, a Tony-award winning veteran, brings believability to an often-weak script and experience to a young cast. Taylor is aided by White House Chief of Staff Ethan Kanin (Bob Gunton), who butts heads with her hot-headed but super pretty daughter (Sprague Grayden).
Janis Gold (Janeane Garofalo) is the whiny, paranoid and brilliant numbers analyst (think FBI Velma from Scooby-Doo). She hasn’t seen very much camera time in recent episodes – something that is sure to change as she becomes more involved in weeks to come.
If you’re not a fan of extreme suspension of belief, seven isn’t your day. In truth, most of the things that take place on ‘Lost’ are more plausible. But it’s more about the action that ensues when the White House is showered with bullets than the believability of it actually happening.
Still, executive producer Howard Gordon told Newsday that next season, Day 8, is likely to be the series’ last, followed shortly thereafter by a possible 24 movie. The time is now to get caught up on the beginning of Jack’s end.
The clock is ticking.
Published on March 22, 2009 at 12:00 pm
