A Shot of Incilin

Jack Bauer, A Man You Shouldn’t Believe In (Because he’s not real).

With season 6, 24 became as stale as a loving but repetitive marriage; sure your partner does all the things you like but when you do them year after year they become tiresome. 24, a high concept show with its concept right in the title, was based around time but eventually began to test our patience. Yes it was fun to watch, but how many times could Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) escape certain death? How many times can you justify torture? How many loved ones could really be kidnapped? How many times could terrorists gain access to suitcase nukes?

Three days short of two years later, another season of 24 finally debuted on FOX on January 11^th, 2009 trying to answer all those questions. The delay between the seasons are mostly attributed to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, but also partially because 24’s writers needed time to think up new ideas after season 6 rehashed plot devices 24 fans have become bored of. If the first four episodes is any indication, despite their best efforts the show can’t help but fall into the same old habits.

In the first episode of the 2 night, 4 hour, season premier we find Bauer testifying before Congress about the now disbanded CTU and his interrogation methods (read: torture). Bauer chooses to forgo having a lawyer present and answers every question honestly, ready for whatever judgment is past down, right before he’s swooped up by the FBI who tells him Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) is still alive and the actions begins.

The scene in Congress isn’t there for Bauer’s redemption, it’s a chance for the show to dialogue with fans and human rights critics who rightfully say the show’s torture scenes are cause for concern. And it couldn’t come soon enough. In the closing days of the Bush administration, and with Obama’s promise to shut down Guantanamo Bay on his first day on the job, its about time the show defended some of its antics. As Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick points out, “the lawyers designing interrogation techniques cited Bauer more frequently than the Constitution.”

Lithwick’s right to explain the problematic nature of Bauer’s “extreme measures” which make good TV, but are ultimately just fantasy. To make matter worse, while Bauer may openly answer questions about his actions on the show, someone who’s responsible for torture in real life—say like, I don’t know… Dick Cheney—will likely lawyer-up and make complex but morally bankrupt legal arguments while citing the “ticking time bomb” situation that never ever comes up in real life, but happens 12 times a day in the life of Jack Bauer.

Later on in day 7 of 24, someone pulls Bauer aside to tell him that what Congress is doing to him is unfair and that he isn’t the only one who supports what Bauer did. This might as well be a a fan bumping into show creator Joel Surnow at the supermarket and telling Surnow he loves the 24.

Politics aside, the problem with Bauer’s torture techniques in the show is that they always produce results. Jack never seems to torture the wrong person. If the writers really wanted a chance of pace, they ought to have Bauer be wrong for once, which would help further complicate his character.

While it may seem like 24 has tried everything already, it’s actively trying to do new things and put a twist on old ones. Bringing back Almeida was one twist, but then there’s another. And new characters like FBI Special Agent Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) fit right in, and so does the FBI’s super-computer geek Janis Gold (Janeane Garofalo) if only to see her duke it out with the fellow geek Chloe O’Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub). Sometimes the show does the same old things, but after so long, fans may remember that’s why they fell in the love in the first place and answer all those questions that start with “How many times?” with “at least once more.”