24, season six - An early look

After the first few episodes of the fifth season of 24 caught a whole lot of people off guard a year ago, it was hard to think that any show would be able to top itself by way of creating drama, doing out of this world things, and hanging on to its viewership without putting them in disbelief. For the huge fans of the show, however, you'll be happy to hear that not only have FOX and Jack Bauer done a great job bringing back the drama, but are looking to go out of their way to bring you a wild beginning that will definitely have everyone talking by next Tuesday, after the four-hour premiere has been seen.

I mean, come on people, you know you're gonna have a good season on this type of show when you've successfully grabbed Rush Limbaugh enough that he's discussing it to his whole EIB network listenership. No disrespect for the conservative portion of our lovely country, but I know that Rush & Co. are usually the first to come down hard on television violence, so take that as a positive sign if what 24 has to offer is what you love to see. [ed: I have thrown a big strike through this part of the post because I'm clearly misconstruing what I was trying to say. My goal here was to point out that if Rush is going all out on this show (and yes, he's a big fan) irrelevant of the violence on the show that many on the right want off television, then you know that it's going to be a quality 24 experience - in that Rush feels strongly enough to do so. My bad on the bad write-job.]

We rejoin the show about a year and a half or so after season five had ended, with Jack Bauer in the holds - at least temporarily - of the Chinese government, Wayne Palmer as President (which kind of surprises Jack), and characters like Milo (Eric Balfour) back in a new role, along with Chloe's ex-husband Morris back on the team. We've covered a number of the other new cast members, and what's great is that you haven't seen everyone yet in the first four episodes, so there are still plenty of surprises to come. I'm still waiting to see how Rick Schroeder ends up fitting into the overall casting.

All in all, we're greeted with a country that is in a much different place than when we left it. Tensions are high with the threat of terrorism hanging over most of the U.S., and why wouldn't it given the tasks that Jack Bauer and his band of merry CTU men and women have been handling for the last few years. Heck, and that's just based on the stuff the American public found out about. Additionally, our main character, Jack Bauer, is immediately thrown into the fray, but not in the way you might expect. The one thing that's nice about wasting a good character or six here and there is that when the show renews - or even moves to mid-season - we're greeted with some new faces that are definitely refreshing. It's also quickly clear that Jack is definitely a somewhat different person than he was before, kind of like how he was back a few years ago when he showed up at Kim's nanny gig all bearded and looking ragged, but with a whole new tone to him. Has he lost his killer instinct, and will his lack of a love in his life, his daughter around him, and a country that is all screwed up put him on the run or will he quickly straighten out? Frankly, I'm not sure he'll have time to even think about half of those things.

I'm also happy to see a bit of interesting character development. Last season, we saw a different side of Chloe as she was showing a bit of ink on her skin and getting it on with a co-worker. Turns out, she's pretty popular with the guys in the office. Bill Buchanan has definitely made some headway, one might say, with another female character that could come as somewhat of a surprise to a few people, and Wayne Palmer as the President brings back an attitude and way of handling things to the White House that fans of the show will enjoy, after putting up with Logan a year ago.

If you're a new fan who's been catching up via DVD binges (because it's hard to only watch one or two episodes at a time, right?), then the thrill-a-minute-ness of it all is definitely in full effect here. Longtime fans won't, in my opinion, be disappointed. I think most people have given up on the potential unrealistic nature of the show when it comes to time frames and whatnot, and this show makes for what many would say is the best escape on television. I'm not even going to get into details of the show, because a) there's a ton of spoiler material, along with downloads of the show, out on the 'net and b) I wouldn't even know where to start. For no amount of time was I not engaged in the first four episodes, and the events that take place throughout, sometimes one after the other, will definitely leave you wanting more. So saddle up and get ready for a four-hour extravaganza on Sunday and Monday nights. You won't regret it.