As was indicated in the previews, Jack Bauer begins the show testifying before Congress about "human rights abuses at CTU." He is in no way contrite. He treats the committee chairman with the same contempt I'm sure many real-life witnesses would like to do, and I wish some of them would. Jack says that in torturing some dude to prevent a bus with 45 passengers from being blown up, he completed his mission by adapting to an enemy that does not care about our laws. After telling the chairman not to give him that smug look, he was then pulled from the meeting by an FBI agent to help them with a situation.
The problem in question to start the season is cyber-related. Some people, including Tony Almeida, are able to obtain a device that can penetrate a government firewall that protects infrastructure such as energy, utilities, and transportation. Now, in real life, the federal government does not have control over all of this stuff, so it wouldn't be behind one firewall. But I'll let that slide. The terrorists are able to create a near-plane crash to demonstrate what they can do. They then turn their device over to a man we met in Redemption, a leader of the military coup in a fictional African country that the President prepares to send troops to as the episode unfolds.
Now that he's with the FBI, we start to have conflict between Jack's extra-legal methods and the Bureau's by-the-book procedures. But his new partner, Agent Walker, uses the fact that a certain suspect knows about Jack's methods to threaten him, while letting Jack know he won't be allowed to hurt anyone. With the suspect, Jack ultimately grabs a pen and goes for the perp's eyeball when he won't talk to them, and the bad guy immediately opens up. The conflict between Jack and the FBI clearly will continue. But as we can see, Jack has not changed his ways.
However, later on in the show, he opines to an FBI agent that his methods need to come out publicly. He states that people need to know about what he has done and the results he realized, in order to decide what is appropriate. This is the argument made by one of my professors, Jim Olson, in his book Fair Play: The Moral Dilemmas of Spying. In this book, he describes actual operations and explores the moral questions that arise (e.g. should we get a hooker for one of our Russian spies?).
One recurring theme I mentioned in my preview post was inappropriate romance. Indeed, it seems like Agent Walker's boss displays extra-professional concern for her throughout the evening, although nothing overt occurs. We'd better watch those two.
A recurring theme I neglected to mention was the presence of moles inside the government. Sure enough, we met an FBI agent who was working with the terrorists, and helped one escape.
Interestingly, at this point we know who the main antagonists are, but we don't know what exactly the threat is; what they'll do with their new toy. But I'm sure we'll find out soon.
We may also find out why Tony did what he did, since he has been captured and may get some of the old Jack Bauer treatment. Did he want revenge for his wife's death? And will Jack be allowed to, and emotionally able to, inflict pain on his old friend?
Finally, I think we'll get to see tomorrow the much-hyped scene where Jack drives a car off an upper floor of a parking ramp while telling himself, "This is going to hurt." I bet it will.
And for those in need of a little more jack, here is something I found quite amusing:
ReplyDeletehttp://fiddledeedee.net/2009/01/10/in-a-little-over-24-hours/
Craig, I am delighted to see that you will be offering your conservative insights about the upcoming season of "24." I appreciate your admission that you are a late-jumper on the "24" bandwagon, usually I despise people like you, but I will give you a free pass because you are a nice guy. Let me first disclose that I am one of the few fans who can honestly claim to have been watching "24" in its first run on broadcast since Day 1, my senior year in high school. Yes, I've been a viewer since they started in the fall and ended in the spring and confused the hell out of everyone with re-runs.
ReplyDeleteThe first two hours of Day 7 contained, as you noted, most of the elements that make "24" what it is. It was still entertaining though, and with an emotional investment in characters such as Jack and Tony, I really enjoyed it right up to the last scene where Jack had Tony pinned and said "What happened to you?"
I believe there was quite a bit of foreshadowing that Tony would eventually turn back to be a good guy, and we will see. "24" likes to redeem its truly good characters before their death (George Mason, Ryan Chapelle, Lynn McGill). I do like the overtone of torture though, with the FBI saying they play by the rules unlike CTU. It will be interesting to see if it remains a recurring theme throughout the season, and I would actually like to see Agent Renee Walker stay true to restraining Jack.
I, for one, am also anxiously awaiting the return of one of my favorite "24" characters, Bill Buchanan (as portrayed by James Morrison, a Bountiful, Utah native). Apparently **SPOILER** Bill and Chloe O'Brian will team up to help Jack subvert the FBI and "go rogue."
Incidentally, because the ties between this season and torture are so pronounced, we will be discussing "24" on For the People tonight. Perhaps you will be able to join.