Proving the validity of Ecclesiastes in that there really, truly is nothing new under the sun, no matter how much you try to reinvent it, rearrange the elements, or make it fresh…here’s the trailer for Fox’s 24 tv movie.
Returning November 23rd, Jack appears to have relocated to Africa since season six for some missionary-style social work, but even there, violence, torture, and government corruption find him. From the Fox site:
After sacrificing everything for his country, Jack Bauer (Sutherland) is wanted by the U.S. government and now stands to lose the only thing he has left: his freedom. Working as a missionary in Africa, Bauer is called upon to stop a ruthless warlord from drafting innocent children into his murderous militia. First, Bauer must confront his own torturous past and face an impossible decision that will change his life forever. A decision that will set the stage and raise the stakes for Season Seven, which debuts in January 2009.
In case you can’t tell from my near-palpable apathy, I’m extremely skeptical about this. Let’s be clear: I’m also hopeful, but very, very skeptical. For the last couple of seasons, Fox has really phoned it in when it comes to Jack’s adventures. Recycled plotlines, ham-handed dialog, ridiculous situations, and the death of all the much-beloved characters (then replacing them with corny ones) have all siphoned off all that was good from what was once a tense, fun (if not always smart) show.
Based on the trailer, here are some reasons why continuing the show seems like a bad idea.
- The return of The Weasel and the Scene-Eater. The former is so uninteresting, he sucks all the will to care from the room. The latter is not only uninteresting, but is so painfully overacted that it’s impossible to take him seriously.
- The same tired political struggle plotlines. “The government is corrupt? Our enemies are using our weapons against us? Still? Again?” In the early seasons of 24, the villainy came from outside the government. Part of why I liked the show was that it portrayed the U.S. government — despite its faults — in a positive light. Let’s just say its degenerated since then.
- Other plot devices we’ve seen before. Torture? Check. Regular people put in horrifying, impossible situations? Check. Jack Bauer, going up against who knows how many people, ridiculously outgunned, saving the day with just a handgun? Check. Some of these things are reasons why I enjoyed the show in the beginning, but they have been pushed beyond the breaking point.
- Technically, this reason comes from beyond the trailer…but it supports my cynicism about season seven. First, Tony Almeida is back — only now, he’s (gasp!) the Terrorist Bad Guy. Also (and more disturbingly) Kim Bauer returns in some capacity. Run away.
That said, maybe (because this is an interim bridge between seasons six and seven) some of these elements won’t actually be in play. Regardless, I remain skeptical — but I will, of course, be watching on November 23rd.
I’m holding out hope that they’ll pull out something new (possibly even some meaningful social commentary?) in this “episode”. I mean, it’s already different in that there appears to be no CTU involvement, and the center of activity is not (conveniently) Los Angeles.
I do agree that a lot of the action looks the same. I’m just betting on the story being more poignant than what we’re used to.
BTW – I think it’s funny that you chose to link back to a post from a year ago where you were much more excited about the upcoming season.
I haven’t decided if I’m going to watch 24 when it starts up again or not. I might wait to hear people’s reviews before jumping in. The last couple seasons, though interesting, felt too much like carbon copies.
Candidly, I don’t want them to change it up too much. I mean, the artist in me wants to see something different, but deep down, I come to expect the same basic sensation from season to season.
Basically, I want to experience what I experienced in season 1, but with a different story line.
Perhaps that expectation is why we always leave the season saying “…meh… not THAT bad…”
Thanks for the comments, everyone!
Certainly there are elements of “24″ that we expect to be the same — Jack against the world, saving the day, etc. As far as saying “not THAT bad,” though, I actually have come away from seasons 5 and 6 saying, “Wow, that was terrible all the way through. I kept expecting it to get better, and it didn’t.”
It feels to me like the writers have gotten themselves into a quandary of escalation. Trying to make the danger worse each successive season has led them to more and more ridiculous threats, and more and more ridiculous interpersonal squabbling among the characters. I used to enjoy “24″ because of unexpected plot twists and valiant, courageous characters that I cared about — Tony, Michelle, etc. But now, we’ve come to expect the mole in CTU, the jerk in the cabinet who tries to take down the president from inside, and the death of some fairly important character. Plus, after six seasons of Jack always being right, it’s getting silly to watch conflict emerge out of one person after another refusing to trust Jack’s instincts or listen to his advice (except for the one plucky internal helper who still believes him and will break rules to help).
I maintain that I would love to see Jack working with minimal government help or interaction, somewhere overseas in an espionage setting — “24″ meets “MacGyver” without the gadgets or “Alias” without the glitz and supernatural stuff.