24: Redemption

Its been 18 months since we last saw Jack Bauer, but even if the writer's strike hadn't put off season seven by a year the show would be at a crossroads. Season six was an unqualified disappointment, with the show relying on lazy, repetitive plot points like Jack's magic torture abilities and the Terrorists' inexplicable urge to attack only LA. Add to this a year-long hiatus and a nation that has just rejected en masse the kind of worldview put forth by 24 and suddenly, a show that once seemed relevant and edgy finds itself fighting for viewers.

Which brings us to Redemption, 24's attempt to remind us that it exists. The movie is a prequel to the seventh season that didn't get made until after the strike and a significant portion of the season had been filmed, which explains the thrown-together feel this movie had. It also wanted to deal with a BIG ISSUE, in this case child soldiers in Africa. This is a horrible horrible thing, which means that if, like me, your first thought upon seeing the first scene was that this episode would finally answer the question "how many 8-year-olds could Jack Bauer take in a fight," then you are a bad person.

So my dream of an epic battle between Jack Bauer and an army of small children was not to be. But what happened? Not a whole lot. Jack has spent the year since season six going in hiding, because apparently America decided this whole torture thing wasn't working for it. This led Jack to the glorious nation of Africa where he finds himself volunteering at a school for kids led by The Full Monty's Robert Carlisle. A weasly US ambassador finds Jack and serves him with a Congressional subpeona but, like Harriet Meirs, Alberto Gonzales, and Karl Rove, Jack decides to dodge it by rescuing innocent kids from being forced to become cannon fodder for a brutal general's attempt at a coup. A couple of action scenes and a lot of running later, and Jack finds himself on a helicopter back to America since WUSA wouldn't let the kids escape without forcing Jack to follow the rule of law (what a slimeball!). In all honesty, it was unrealistically petty of WUSA not to let the kids out of the country without Jack. But, of course, not even WUSA could match the evilness of the UN Ambassador. Yes, he mocks Jack in the beginning. Of course he runs and hides when the evil soldiers come for the kids. And, as the UN Charter dictates, he defines "neutrality" as selling out Jack and the kids to the bad guys. If this is how the show is planning on being relevant in Obama's America, then it may have some issues.

In more promising news, Cherry Jones is the President! That should make up for her getting replaced by Meryl Streep in the film version of Doubt. She clashes with the old President Powers Boothe (did Wayne Palmer die last season? I thought he made it, but I guess not). I remembered Powers as being a crazy warmonger, but apparently the writers have been watching Heroes, because he suddenly decides not to commit troops to this particular war, despite President Cherry's objections. Her son, meanwhile, gets involved in some kind corporate conspiracy involving the evil Jon Voight, who is funding the coup. There wasn't a lot of juicy movement with these plots, but I imagine they'll come back into play next season.

Speaking of next season, despite my misgivings about this episode, I'm still looking forward to the season proper. I think moving to Washington D.C. is a great change for the show. Hopefully, they seem to be moving away from all the torture too. And, while bringing Tony back from the dead definitely reeks of shark-jumping, the show is best when Jack has a personal stake in what's going on.

But none of that makes up for the fact that the movie basically just spent two hours spinning its wheels. At the most basic level, it succeeded in reminding me that 24 is still on the air and is coming back soon. But as an actual episode of the show, it was pretty boring. Hopefully, this won't be a harbinger of the upcoming season.

C