…the “guest mastermind” behind the seasonal plot; Attack The Block’s John Boyega in what becomes a pivotal and apropos of current events; and finally, for the Game Of Thrones fan, a little Michelle Fairley CHEWING UP B ROLL (Red Wedding ain’t got nothin’ on her)!
The premiere, and the show’s latest — but unarguably standalone — installment, debuted in two full hours. However, these “separate” episodes compliment each other so well this Reverend believes they’re better viewed as a whole “season premiere.” Entitled Live Another Day, I think it actually doubles as a sort-of debut for a new show. Or, at the very least, the re-imagining of an old one. I mean, all its pieces appear the same, certainly. The opening credits with the same requisite ticking clock. The split screen mosaic before the commercial break. The earnest performances, bordering on operatic. And then Jack Bauer. He’s still Jack. Our anti-James Bond. He won’t “die another day,” because, fuckin’ shit, he just wants to “live” through this one.
But, somehow, the game is changed. The world that we’ve been living in with these characters for all of eight seasons — a world always in peril, ever at risk — seems now, in this incarnation, even more so. The danger seems more real. Action moves faster, with less regard for the convention of “real time.” Violence is more brutal. The chaos, more frenetic. The twists have become unpredictable. Secrets, better kept. And the shaky eye of the camera seems even more all-seeing. It’s as though someone is always watching, but not, necessarily, us.
In its first hour alone, the events of which occur from 11:06am and 12:00pm (cold opens don’t count for real-time motherf***ers), the show set up, with little effort, a brand new tone. The second hour, the events of which occur between 12:00pm and 1:00pm, take that tone, and then bags it, gags it, and cuffs it to a chair. Sends it off to Special Activities.
But don’t fret, because there’s still Jack. Just being Jack. Staring over the barrel of his gun with that same look of confused confidence. But the for the righteousness in his heart, he is certain that what he does he does for a greater good.
Fuckin’ Jack Bauer. “I told you so” in human form.
FOX’s 24: Live Another Day airs on Mondays at 9/8c.