Jack Bauer got a little extra time to rest up before starting the seventh season of "24," but after a year's hiatus and a two-hour prequel in November, Kiefer Sutherland brings the counterterrorism expert back to Fox starting Jan. 11.
It's just another day for Bauer, sure to be filled with menacing evil-doers, meddling politicians, and threats against the government. Gunfire and the use of methods unsanctioned by the Geneva Convention are sure bets as well.
The latter, however, looks like it will be a point of contention in this year's season. Bauer opens the 24-hour period testifying before Congress to answer for the methods he's used.
Much like a presidential change in the real world has helped spur discussions on what the U.S. forces may have done overseas, "24" is doing the same thing in fiction. The United States that Bauer inhabits may not be the same as the ones its viewers live in, but the shows topics and themes tend to mirror society's concerns.
Bauer works in a darker version of the United States, facing terrorist attacks at a level that have remained blessedly fictional. Even so, he and the show manage to translate the emotions and issues of the real world into a version of the United States where attacks are commonplace and the presidency changes as often as a network's prime-time schedule
President Allison Taylor was inaugurated during the "24: Redemption" movie, and the fact that she is still in charge this season makes her among the longest-tenured presidents Bauer has known. Taylor is the ninth person to serve as president in the show's seven seasons (counting those who served when the initial president was incapacitated or removed via questionable use of the 25th Amendment). Wall Street has more stability than the political system in Bauer's Washington.
Though the person inhabiting the Oval Office may change, in the world of "24," he or she can rarely be trusted. At least once, the president has been intimately involved in terror attacks against the country, and in most regimes the president is being betrayed by a close advisor.
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Celebrity Sightings
The shining exception to that was David Palmer. In many ways, Palmer was Barack Obama before Obama was even a Senator — an inspiring and ethical African-American politician. Had actor Dennis Haysbert legally changed his name to David Palmer and run for President in 2004 instead of focusing on making insurance ads, George W. Bush might have been in real trouble on Election Day.
Unfortunately, this being "24," that couldn't last. Palmer felt compelled to step down after one term and was later assassinated. Since then, it's been all downhill, hitting rock bottom with President Charles Logan in seasons four and five. Logan was complicit enough in the terror attacks that took place under his watch that it made the average conspiracy theorist look like like Pollyanna.
Early indications are that Taylor may be the show's best president since Palmer, or at least the most idealistic. In the "24: Redemption" movie, she recoiled at the cynicism that allowed a violent coup to take hold in Africa, and that theme of global justice is likely to be a factor throughout this season.
Who can be trusted?Most of Jack's colleagues wind up dead sooner rather than later. His wife was killed in the first season, and his daughter has only appeared sporadically since the show's third year. But even as the peripheral players change, some cast members remain constant.
One of those has been Chloe O'Brian (Mary Lynn Rakskub). CTU's do-it-all technical whiz has bailed Bauer out of many a jam, and there's little doubt that she'll be Bauer's eyes and ears at critical moments throughout the current season.
Bill Buchanan (James Morrison) returns as well. So does Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), an interesting development since he was killed off in the show's fifth season. His resurrection marks a key plot point over the season's first few hours.
"24" constantly reminds its viewers that no one can be considered completely trustworthy as long as they are alive. Plenty of previously loyal colleagues have changed sides over Bauer's time on television, so it's anyone's guess what this season holds. But the odds of there being a whole lot of traitors for Bauer to torture are about 100%.
Whether or not he will actually be able to use the extreme techniques that have served him so well will likely be a major issue this season. Instead of being considered a hero for all he has done to protect the country, Bauer finds himself being questioned about whether he will face legal jeopardy for the methods he used.
This continues the tragic nature of Bauer's existence. Nobody does more work for less thanks or recognition than he does, and he constantly faces scrutiny and suspicion from authority figures who should know by now that Bauer has been proven right more often than he's been wrong.
That's how it has to be. Jack Bauer represents the delicate balance between acceptance and discomfort as far as what is right in defense of the nation. He epitomizes the notion that the ends always justify the means when the result is a safer country, and yet the country that he inhabits is far less overtly safe than the real world.
It is an uncomfortable issue for many, and examining the many sides of accountability, justice and honor are among the show's most compelling narratives. All three are likely to be common threads tying season seven of "24" together.
Craig Berman is a writer in Washington, D.C.