I have to admit that I was almost ridiculously happy that "24" premiered last night. I have a long and storied history with "24", dating back to our discovery of the show while we were living overseas. Some British friends of ours bought the first season in the UK and let us borrow it. Ahhh...who doesn't remember the first season of "24"? The evil Drazens. Jack's tender last phone call when he was sure he was going to die. Nina's betrayal! Oh, the betrayal! Plus, I'm pretty sure I've mentioned in this space that I was watching an episode of "24" when I went into labor with Connery. I'll never know if it was the relentless action or the chipotle chili. Still, in all, television shows should not make a person happy. Should not make a person want to go "wheeeeeee!" and put a person's child to bed early, especially when a person has a Tivo.
But there it was, and there I was on the couch with enough recorded time to avoid any silly and annoying commercials. There were cookies. And cocoa. And torture. Yeeeesh, "24" people! Could you have fit in any more torture? Who let Mel Gibson into the writers' room? Jack's been out of the Chinese prison for less than two hours and he's already jabbing knives into people--and, indeed, being stabbed by knives. I know that part of the allure of "24" is that it forces us to examine just how far we should go for "security", and certainly there was already talk of that in the new season. But I'm just not sure all-torture, all-the-time "24" is really promoting any examination.
Plus, I'm still waiting for the big shocker. Last season they killed off several major characters within minutes of the first episode (got rid of at least one real whiner, too!), but this year, only Chloe's stylish new hairdo is surprising. I'll tune in tonight, but so far, I'm disappointed, and that's just sad.