This review will try very hard to not spoil too much of the plot of 24: Live Another Day.
Let me say this: Jack’s Back and dammit I’m excited. It’s been close to four years since viewers have seen the thrill ride that is 24 on TV and now we get to revisit the world of the ticking clock.
When we last saw Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) at the end of season 8 he was a fugitive on the run after a killing spree that saw a Russian diplomat murdered. Four years later he is still exiled and finds his way to London where the new series takes place kicking off at 11 AM
Hot on Jack’s trail is the head of the London based CIA, Steve Navarro (Benjamin Bratt), whose team mange to capture Jack but departing agent Kate Morgan (Yvonne Strahovski) thinks it’s all too easy – she trusts her instincts and decides not to drop her hunch.
Coincidently, Jack is caught just as the US President James Heller (William Devane) is visiting the British PM (Stephen Fry) to negotiate a treaty . His daughter Audrey (Kim Raver) had a romantic relationship with Jack in an earlier series but she is now married to White House Chief of Staff, Mark Boudreau (Tate Donovan), who seems hell bent on keeping Bauer’s reappearance a secret from his wife.
Also key to 24 is Chloe O’Brien (Mary Lynn Rajskub) who returns in the premiere as a very different Chloe who, in the four years that have passed, has been working as a free information hacker with an underground London group.
As the 2 hour premiere develops, the show starts to unravel other storylines that include the war in Afghanistan and a lieutenant, Chris Tanner (John Boyega), who controls drones for the military. These may seem like small storylines to begin with but they will no doubt have a bigger part to play as the season progresses.
The show is back with 12 episodes this time around which will allow the show to avoid filling episodes with plots to stretch out the narrative.
With key cast and crew back on board and the licence to skip hours, where the story dictates, fans won’t be disappointed this is classic 24. It shows there is enough action and plot twists to keep everyone guessing and the only negative is when the episode ends dammit!
4 STARS
24 Live Another Day Begins 8:45 PM Monday on TEN.
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