24: Live Another Day - “11:00 AM—12:00 PM” & 12:00 PM—1:00 PM” Retrospective. Start the Clock.

Episodes 1 and 2

Air Date: Monday, May 5, 2014, 8:00 PM ET/PT on Fox

Rating: ★★★★★

“Come on, Mr. Bauer, why are you here?” – Navarro

Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland)

When 24 ended its run back in 2010, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) was on the run and wanted by both the US and Russian governments. Secretary of Defense James Heller (William Devane) told Bauer he could never go near his daughter Audrey (Kim Raver) as she became catatonic while being held prisoner by the Chinese government. So where has Bauer been and what could possibly bring him out of hiding after four years? Start the clock again because Jack Bauer is back.

When 24 first aired on November 6, 2001, just months after the attacks of September 11, audiences embraced Jack Bauer as the no-nonsense Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) agent willing to do anything to take down the terrorists. It allowed us to live vicariously through him. Fans looked past the torture of the bad guys because we believed it served the greater good.

As the seasons passed, the writers on 24 struggled to find ways to basically tell the same story over and over about bad guys, using the same bad guy mold repeatedly. At the same time, Americans grew frustrated with the war, and words like “torture” and “water boarding” became household names. There no longer seemed to be a place for the Jack Bauers of the world and the series ended its run after eight seasons.

Steve Navarro (Benjamin Bratt). and Erik Ritter (Gbenga Akinnagbe)

Now, in 2014, we live in a different world; the attacks of 9/11 have become a faded memory. Is there still a need for Jack Bauer? Based on the first two episodes of 24: Live Another Day, the answer is an explosive yes!

James Heller is now President, Audrey appears fully recovered and is married to Mark Boudreau (Tate Donovan), who serves as Heller’s Chief of Staff. Boudreau was there for Audrey’s recovery and is no fan of Jack Bauer.

24: Live Another Day opens in London with an intense manhunt for Bauer by the London branch of the CIA led by Steve Navarro (Benjamin Bratt). Leading the manhunt on the ground is Erik Ritter (Gbenga Akinnagbe). I was a fan of Akinnagbe on the show Graceland and it’s nice to see him playing a good guy, for now. Bauer is able to elude Ritter and his men briefly but is captured and taken into custody. But not everything is what it seems when Bauer is brought in for interrogation. What follows is two hours of non-stop action and violence, and I enjoyed the ride.

While it’s great seeing Devane and Raver reprise their roles after all these years, the real excitement is the return of Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O’Brian. Unfortunately, the last few years have not been kind to Chloe. Once Jack’s loyal sidekick, Chloe is now disillusioned with the government. Not only has Chloe’s mindset changed but her appearance has also. She dresses like a Goth teen as if rebelling against her parents. As much as I enjoy seeing Chloe again, I thought the writers had one too many scenes building up to Chloe’s big reveal. It ends up deflating some of the emotions the writers are trying to evoke.

Much of 24: Live Another Day feels familiar but there are some big differences. The season will still cover the events of a single day but with the series only being 12 episodes, it will loosely adhere to the real time concept established in the original series by taking jumps forward in time between certain episodes. I think this will prove to be a good thing because there were times in 24 that scenes could have been cut but weren’t due to the real time narrative.

In addition to Benjamin Bratt joining the cast, Stephen Fry is playing British Prime Minister Alastair Davies; Michelle Fairley is playing Margot Al-Harazi, widow of a notorious terrorist; and Michael Wincott is Adrian Cross, a hacker and leader of the group Open Cell, which Chloe now belongs to.

Kate Morgan (Yvonne Strahovski)

By the end of “12:00 PM —1:00 PM,” it is Yvonne Strahovski who really stands out as Kate Morgan, a brilliant but impulsive CIA field operative. I have been a big fan of Strahovski’s ever since she played Sarah Walker on Chuck. Strahovski is no stranger to action scenes and her character is a perfect mix of Bauer and Chloe all wrapped up into one.

The writers have done a great job adapting to the changing times, pulling storylines straight from the headlines. The government’s use of drones, characters who mirror Edward Snowden, and sites like Wikileaks are hot topics in the first two episodes of 24: Live Another Day.

24 was never known for its outstanding writing or strong character development, and I suspect this new limited edition series won’t either. Jack Bauer isn’t going to pause and give a heartwarming speech about his feelings. His range of emotions goes from pissed off to really pissed off. This series is all about gun fights, explosions, torture, and mayhem, and on those things, 24: Live Another Day delivers.

Tweet me @staffaroadtrip or leave a comment below to let me know what you think about the return of 24.

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Greg Staffa

I provide testosterone to the site. You won’t be reading about how nice a actress looks in a dress or how much of a hunk Matt Bomer is in my reviews. I describe colors using words like brown, not taupe. My twitter name is @staffaroadtrip because I love road trips and have done two different 48-state road trips since 2008. My favorite show is White Collar.