[Attention Spoiler-phobes, the following article contains mild-spoilers with regards to the upcoming sixth season of 24 — you’ve been warned!]
Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in.
Truth be told, I was ready to wash my hands of 24 this year. With HEROES now airing opposite Jack Bauer, and my recent discovery that CBS comedies (with the exception of TWO AND A HALF MEN) are actually funny, there is simply too much great TV on Monday nights and not enough space on my PVR. For five years I’ve watched Jack Bauer predictably save the world from every terrorist threat imaginable. Did I really need to do it again?
The short answer is yes. After getting a sneak peak of the first four episode of the new season, I’m once again hooked on 24 and am counting down the days until episode five airs. (So long to that New Years resolution to actually get a life!)
That my friends, is the genius of 24. Even though we know Jack Bauer is indestructible, and that the world will invariably be saved within twenty-four hours (albeit with a few surprise deaths and explosions along the way), no show on TV does heart-stopping edge of your seat excitement like 24.
Thankfully, the new season does not disappoint. 6AM — 7AM (the season premiere) literally starts off with a bang — when a crowded bus explodes at the hands of a suicide bomber. We quickly learn via FOXNews (holy corporate synergy Batman!) that America has fallen victim to a deadly string of suicide attacks, with no end in sight. Luckily for President Palmer (no, not THAT President Palmer) President Wayne Palmer — David’s younger brother, the terrorists responsible for these attacks are willing to put a stop to them — assuming they get something in return. And that something, is actually a someone, and you don’t need to have Chloe’s superior intellect to decipher who that someone is!
Turns out the leader of the terrorist organization Abu Fayed is looking for some revenge over an ‘incident’ in Beirut. Thus, Jack Bauer is returned by the Chinese to America and handed over to Fayed in return for a stop to the bombings.
This being 24, not everything is what it seems and more importantly, not everything goes as planned. But I’m not about to spoil the endless number of surprises that are in store for you. That said, I know you’re all desperate for scoop, so I’ll spill a few nuggets. By the end of episode four, Jack Bauer is still alive, another Palmer family member arrives to stir up some trouble, Chloe continually gets better looking each and every season, and the final minutes of the fourth episode will leave you in serious shock. Not only does a pretty major character get killed, but an event occurs that will change the course of Jack Bauer’s life forever.
Needless to say, the sixth season of 24 is shaping up to be the best one yet.