Season Seven - 24’s Road To Redemption?
jack_addict January 1st, 2009
A few words from a post-rehab 24 addict, seventeen minutes into season seven
Hello, my name is J_A and I’m an addict. A 24 addict.
Or well, I used to be.
I have been addicted to 24 from the first second of season 1; actually, even before that. I saw a commercial for it and instantly knew that this was my show. Then, when the pilot actually aired, bang, I was hooked. Addicted. Going down a one-way street into a very cool habit.
I was indeed one of those fans who’d live, breathe and bleed 24, whose weeks would run from 24 to 24 instead of Monday to Sunday, who’d turn off their phones whenever watching the show, bore people to death with talking about how great the show was, I’d spend my spare time re-watching 24 episodes, eventually knowing all dialogue by heart; I missed 24 during the hiatus so much that I started my own chain of 24-like events by writing fanfictions, I would have applied for a job at CTU if it hadn’t been a fictional agency, and I most definitely would have elected David Palmer into the Office…
What was so addictive about it, apart from its complexity and the breakneck speed with which it raced through the season? When 24 first hit the screens in 2001, it was simply the most innovative, gripping and thrilling series to ever air on TV. The format was unique, the writing superb, the casting perfect, the acting motivated, the characters had depth and the storyline was one big arc, revealing itself little by little. It revolved not solely around Jack but involved the cast as a group, making them all interesting to watch. I still appreciate Jack Bauer’s resolve and committment to always do the right thing at all costs. But somewhere in the course of season two my religion became Almeidaism, a concept developed and introduced to the collective consciousness of Almeidaists by the team behind aig.com, a concept that Carlos Bernard liked to remind his on-screen wife (Reiko Aylesworth) of by whispering to her, in the dull between-takes moments, “Almeida is God.”
Since then, I must have gone through rehab. The addiction is gone. I watched season six while ironing, and for entertainment purposes only. It never really pulled me in. Despite the first four episodes which had some of the best acting on Kiefer’s part to date, the season as a whole was just a relatively good series that used to be great, didn’t quite succeed in achieving its past glory, yet still managed to tell an entertaining story. What’s changed?
During the past couple of seasons, depth has progressively been sacrificed for the sake of bigger explosions, more action, more gore and less character development. In this new, 24-part Hollywood action movie everything revolves around Jack, while everyone else is secondary. What’s more, old storylines have been rehashed so many times they’re predictable, the casting (especially on the wrong side of the law) has been less than satisfactory (with some notable exceptions), and the writers have executed so many good characters that it hurts. I know that characters do have a shelf-life, but I demand that their deaths have a purpose. If they just die for the sake of killing them, or worse yet, are brought back to the show just to be terminated a few episodes later, then I can’t and won’t approve of it.
And now, season seven is upon us, along with the breaking news: Tony Almeida is alive, he’s back - and… he’s evil! The first question is, why?
