It's been eighteen months since we saw Jack Bauer walk away from the Heller residence, cast off by his country yet again for acts he believed he had to commit to save it. We find Bauer in Sangala (a fictional African nation), working at a school his SF pal heads up, giving hope to children in a troubled nation. As a scurrilous general moves to take back "his" country by forcing children into battle, Jack must save Carl and his children, while avoiding being taken back to the United States to answer to the Senate for his actions.
Jack is back. He still accomplishes with one (or two) pistols what insurgents, terrorists, or third-world soldiers can't with Kalashnikovs, mounted machine guns or even rocket-propelled grenades. He can kill a man with his thighs. He can pick off soldiers with automatic rifles at 75 meters with a pistol while on the move in the dust surrounded by people. He is still Jack Bauer. But this time, we truly get the feeling that he doesn't want to do it anymore. That maybe, if it was just to save his own life, he might not fight back. No worry for fans, though. He has children to save.
24: Redemption is straightforward, simple storytelling. There are diversions to the White House that hint of conspiracy and involvement at high levels, but this appears to be laying the table for a new season. Here, the focus is solely on Sangala. Jack's mission is to save these children. You wouldn't doubt he accomplishes it, right? The producers' mission is to get us back into The World of Bauer, and here the succeed greatly. I've been filling the past eighteen months with great TV shows like The Unit, The Shield, Terminator and more. But I'd forgotten what I was missing.
24 is back. Jack is back. Let's pray that the Screen Actors Guild doesn't kill this season, too.
(NOTE: 24:Redemption will be out on DVD and in the iTunes store on Tuesday.)
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