24 S7.E1 “8:00 AM-9:00 AM” Amazon.com
It’s only been almost two years in the waiting, but we finally got to see the seventh season premiere of 24. With a terrible season six and an average tv movie, 24 fans across the country were probably a little anxious about season seven. Would the show return to form or would season seven be another repeat of season six? While after 2 hours of the 4 hour season premiere, I have to say that while the premiere wasn’t amazing, it does appear that 24 is really back.
Well the big news in the first two hours of the premiere was that Tony Almeida is alive after supposedly being killed. I was pretty skeptical about the idea when I heard about it almost a year and a half ago. I always loved Tony but I wondered how the show could really bring him back since he was supposedly dead after all. Well I have to admit that the show could have done a better job explaining how Tony survived, but I like the addition (as long as he’s not evil).
I doubt I am the only person to believe this but I don’t think Tony is evil. I would actually be even more shocked if he is actually evil. Every evil thing he has done so far is questionable at most. You can tell that he is avoiding killing people at all costs. When they kidnapped the scientist they could have kidnapped his daughter (to use her as leverage) but they left her alone. Tony also could have tortured the scientist into forcing him to help him. It appears that he didn’t torture him. Tony also could have made the planes crash because that would have sent a much bigger message. Tony didn’t crash the planes though. Finally Tony had the opportunity to kill Jack at least once during the episode and he didn’t take the opportunity.
Since I don’t think Tony is evil, I have two ideas of why he could be working with terrorists. First he could be undercover. This is the most likely scenario in my opinion. He could be working for this smaller terrorist group in order to infiltrate a larger terrorist group. My second idea is that Tony is pretending to be a terrorist in order to try and track down those responsible for Michelle’s death. I wouldn’t mind this scenario as well. Just as long as Tony isn’t actually evil, I will be happy.
Besides the Tony twist, I was actually pretty happy with the rest of the stories. I love the idea that the show is doing more of a cyber terrorism angle. I have actually wanted 24 to do cyber terrorism for several seasons and I am glad that the show appears likely to finally use the idea. I also like that there appears to be more to the big terrorist threat this season so hopefully for once the big terrorist attack lasts the entire day.
Meanwhile the president is planning on attacking Sangala in order to replace the evil dictator that is slaughtering his people. This obviously is a heated debate since a lot of people question the move. While the president is dealing with a situation overseas, her husband (the first gentleman) is still focussed on finding the person responsible for killing their son. I am assuming their son was killed between Redemption and season seven.
The final big piece of news in the first two hours of the premiere was that Jack appears to be working with the FBI this season after CTU was disbanded (about time since it was a breeding ground for terrorist’s moles even though the FBI doesn’t appear to be any better). At this point I can’t say I love any of the new characters yet but I think they will grow on me. It is kind of weird though that pretty much all the characters resemble a character from 24’s past. To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t be shocked if the FBI agents in this season aren’t spun off into their own series next year. As long as 24 continues to be successful, I can definitely see it happening.
So with two more hours yet tonight and the guarentee that there will be a twist (my guess is that Tony isn’t evil) that we’ll all be talking about, there will probably be a lot to talk about tomorrow. Be sure to check back for my thoughts on the final two hours of the four hour season premiere.
So what did you think of the first half of the seventh season premiere? We at the TV Legion would love to hear your thoughts.
Quotes:
“8:00 AM-9:00 AM”
Senator: “Did you break procedure with that interrogation?”
Jack: “Probably.”
Jack: “I don’t care what makes you happy.”
Jack: “Just came along for the ride.”
Jack (before torturing a man): “I am going to enjoy this.”
“9:00 AM-10:00 AM”
Larry: “Has Bauer got you involved in something?”
