Welcome back, Jack. A very canny move by Fox to broadcast 1/6th of the new season of 24 over 48 hours – it gives them a little more time to get all the pieces into place to hook the audience. So halfway through said premiere, how have they done so far? For the benefit of folks outside North America who don’t want things ruined for them before they get a chance to see it, we’ll dust off the ol’ “spoiler” tag and get into it, shall we? Highlight to read (note to those who requested the spoiler tags – read comments at your peril!):

The more things change… Even though he’s now based out of Washington, Jack is still at odds with authority of all kinds – but that’s his schtick, it’s what he does. Gonzo shoots himself out of a cannon, Jack Bauer usurps authority. He’s also taking a page from Chase’s book last season and is bumping uglies with his boss’ daughter and trying to keep it secret (though I think it’s her who’s embaressed of him this time around, right?). But to prove you CAN teach an old dog new tricks, the premiere featured some very un-Jack behaviour – ie, smiling and wearing a suit, but I don’t think we’ll be seeing too much more of that. I don’t really understand why of all the old cast members to keep, they kept Chloe, but at least they ditched the vest and she’s not acting like a total retard.

The terrorist plot, I’m not very excited about but if the writers stay true to form, they’ll cease being a factor in the show within a few weeks. Who will the realy big bad be? I don’t know, but I’m hope hope hoping it’s aliens. Jack Bauer vs aliens. Wouldn’t be more ridiculous than some of the stuff they’ve pulled out of their hats in previous storylines. As I mentioned before, they’re playing it somewhat safe thus far in putting events into motion – kidnappings, random stupid people doing stupid things, dumbass civilians, dumbass superior officers… just like the good ol’ days. And did you notice that they’ve put the CTU security officers in red shirts? Just like Star Trek – it makes them easier to shoot!

But on the whole, I found it reasonably engrossing and will certainly have the VCR set for tomorrow night (I won’t be home to watch it in real-time). I won’t give them points for originality thus far, but full marks for execution – they’re moving things along like pros. Even though we’ve seen much of this before, I understand there’s really only so many openings they can go with. It’s how they carry it out over the course of the season that really counts. I’m still pulling for aliens.

And on a meta note, did anyone find it strange to hear Keifer Sutherland using his happy voice for Ford during the commercials and using his intense voice for the show? End spoilers.

And what have we got that’s non-24 related? Not much. Johnny Dowd will be opening things up for Neko Case next Sunday at the Phoenix.

Despite promising us a new redesign and content for today, Pitchfork has failed to live up to their word. SHAME SHAME SHA– *ring ring* — oh, hang on. Hello? Oh, hi Pot. No, I’m sorry, Kettle’s not here right now. Can I take a message?

np – My Bloody Valentine / Isn’t Anything

Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.