tvthatdoesntsuck

REVIEW FOR

24
Season Seven
Episodes Three and Four
“10:00am-11:00am” and “11:00am-12:00pm”
Written by Manny Coto & Brannon Braga / Written by David Fury & Alex Gansa
Directed by Brad Turner (both)

While less intense and emotional as Sunday’s episodes, the third and fourth episodes of the new season of 24entertained.  As expected, revelations are made, explosive action explodes, and boring new characters bore.  A bit unexpected, however, was that some old characters make an early return.  From the months old spoilers and the opening credits, we all knew that Chloe O’Brian and Bill Buchanan would be back in the fold.  They delivered just what the episodes from Sunday were missing, and that’s a feeling of connection to the other seasons.  With Jack Bauer, Tony Almeida, Bill, and Chloe all as the major characters, 24 feels like it’s supposed to.  Like 24.

 However, as glorious as the glorious reunion was, there was also some not-so-good stuff that put a bit of a damper on the episode.  The first hour climaxes in a huge action sequence, which was going fine… until it got ridiculous.  Jack Bauer wires a car in literally a second, breaks through concrete by pressing the pedal with his hand, lands safely on a car below, and slides out of the car in time to escape from FBI agents who are more than a little pissed at him.  Now, I get that Jack is the bad-assed BAMF on television, that’s true.  But being a BAMF means that he can bite people in the neck like a vampire, like he did in Season Six.  But this was a bit beyond my suspension of disbelief.  So I’m not buyin’.

On the plus side, there is some exciting Tony stuff here.  We get a final verdict on whether he’s good, bad, or somewhere in the middle.  And it’s gonna make for a great plot.  This is what will keep viewers coming back every week.

On the opposite of plus side, the side characters aren’t getting better.  President’s husband is boring as hell and the FBI agents all need to be smacked upside the head.  Except the hot lady who Jack choked out in the first hour.  She’s got Bauer girl potential, way more than Audrey Raines ever did.  But with the amount of new characters, only one good one is nothing to write home about.

Overall, good, but not quite where it should be yet.  With the potential they have set up though, it would almost be impossible for them not to go somewhere great.  They just need to concentrate less on the supporting character, but when they do switch focus to them, they’d do well to make them not suck.

7/10