24 Seson 8: Pilot

I friggin love 24.

I actually didn't come into 24 until the 4th season. But once I was hooked, I immediately started watching from the beginning and being an avid fan of the the show. I think that 24 really got me into binge watching television. When I got the DVD collection of the first 4 seasons, I just put the show on Play All and would watch the show in a matter of days. The reason I'm into watching great shows like Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, and other great shows is all due to 24.

The first season introduced the character of Jack Bauer, a federal agent working with a fictional government organization called Counter-Terrorist Unit. The main thing that set this show apart was the real time element, that every episode happened over the span of one hour.

As the show went on, it was also known for its increased use of terrorism and really making Jack Bauer a great but flawed action hero willing to do whatever it takes to save the United States, including torture.

Each season brought on a new threat to the United States and of course Jack Bauer is there to save the day. The seasons I know the best are seasons 1 through 6. This is mainly because there was an 18 month break between season 6 and season 7 due to the Writers strike of 2007 and 2008... (remember when that was a thing?) I actually just finished the 7th Season but you can tell there's a difference in season 7 and season 8 and I think a lot of it has to do with the atmosphere of America after 2008... mainly Obama.

Whatever political views you may have, you can't deny that political atmosphere changed the way television was portrayed. The Obama administration, as advertised in the 2008 election, was going to be very different from the Bush Administration. Most namely, the closing of Guantanamo Bay looked like Obama was going to have less of a focus on counter-terror, ends justify the means, justice. The 9/11 fear was over, it was now time for "change". We can have as many debates on whether or not Obama's rhetoric in the 2008 elections followed through, but the point is, with this change in political atmospheres, the show needed to adapt.

And they did, the 7th season starts out with Jack Bauer on trial. CTU was disbanded. Many moral and ethical questions were asked about the way things were handled in past seasons. While the show had a similar flavor keep loyal viewers, it still had a change of pace and feeling that felt consistent with what would actually happen in a political climate like the one we have come to know.

And then the 8th season happened.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Season 8 when it first came out. The end almost brought me to tears because I didn't want Jack Bauer to leave.

But there were gaping problems with the 8th season that really made it probably the weakest.

I've usually thought that season 6 was the weakest but now that I think about it, Season 8 was really the weakest... from what I remember.

And that's what I'll do with this review. Like my other reviews of television shows, I'll review the pilot, watch the season and then do an overall review. Though this review may be a little different because I know how a lot of the arcs develop. The good thing is, this review won't be totally negative. I do recall a lot of good things about this season, I will note those things but also point out the parts that made it kind of a disappointment in the end. And furthermore, with this subject, I'd like to examine elements of the entire series that were great, and elements of the show that weren't too great, and then theorize on how the mini series Live Another Day that comes out in May can be great and give a great return of Jack Bauer.

We start the season out catching up with Jack Bauer. The last we saw him in Season 7, he was dying from a biological weapon he was exposed to. Now in the 8th season, we catch up with him spending time with his granddaughter we were kind of introduced to in the 7th season.

This really puts our hero in a position he hasn't been in for a long time. He's happy. Jack Bauer hasn't been this happy for a LONG time. He just looks really damn happy and its fantastic. This is a great way to start the season because we know it can't last for Jack Bauer. But it also insinuates that if Jack survives this day, he can get back to his family that makes him so happy...

I'll get back to that.

The story then moves to President Allison Taylor, who is at the United Nations discussing a disarmament of the fictional Islamic country of Kamistan. She is discussing the agreement with the President of the country, Omar Hassan. (played by Anil Kapoor)

This was another great decision. I liked Allison Taylor in the 7th season and adding a great actor like Anil Kapoor can only create an interesting political situation. While the President should be dealing with national security issues during a day in 24, its always good to see politics happen and using the United Nations was a great opportunity. I loved Anil Kapoor in Slum Dog Millionaire and from what I remember of the 8th season, I loved him in the show.

The only problems that initially happens with this storyline happen when Allison Taylor decides not to tell Hansan there is an assassination attempt possibly going against him. This doesn't sound like Taylor at all, and it also just doesn't make sense why she wouldn't tell him.

The other problem is coming out of the gate showing that Hassan is having an affair with a reporter. This kind of takes away from the character of Hassan. I think it would maybe make sense to bring up this plot point later, but give us a second to believe he's an honorable man instead of having stupid affairs with blonde that we know will not amount to anything once characters start dying.

The only other note I would have about this is the lack of Henry Taylor.

Maybe they didn't want to bring Colm Feore back but I personally think it was a horrible mistake. There aren't too many portrayals of female Presidents in television or movies. Even fewer are the portrayals of first gentlemen. Its a concept we're not used to, a man standing behind a woman in higher power. And the first few episodes of the 7th season, they did a pretty good job at representing that. Yes Henry Taylor got caught up in the conspiracy about their son's murder but he was still a devoted husband, he supported Allison Taylor like no other and he was a great choice to be the First Gentleman.

But then he got shot. And spent almost the entirety of the 7th season in the hospital. Overall, I wasn't really satisfied with how Henry Taylor was utilized in season 7. And by having him just up and leave Allison before the 8th season, it seemed out of character and just a missed opportunity in general.

Have him be resentful of Allison and betray her, have them have marital problems because of Olivia's imprisonment, have them get over it, whatever, but don't just call it quits and have him never come back. While not the most important element of 24, its always great to have elements of the day be personal to the President. That's what made David Palmer's storylines great and made him the greatest President portrayed on 24.

Overall, not having Henry Taylor on the show was a mistake.

And then we go onto CTU

Now in the 7th season, CTU was disbanded. And I loved it. As much as it was different to not see CTU, it was slowly becoming stale after the 6th season. Getting rid of CTU was a great choice because it threw Jack and others out of their element. It also made a more realistic turn towards actual political climate. If Allison Taylor is suppose to represent the Obama administration, she would never stand for CTU being reinstated.

Furthermore, by the time the 8th season comes along, there are no familiar faces in CTU and they have to rebuild a staff and characters we can enjoy. Sure there's Chloe, but the way they bring her back in the pilot just doesn't make sense. She's suppose to be this crack analyst and hacker and yet she's struggling with the new CTU system? Why didn't she struggle like that at FBI? I get that she feels uncomfortable, but not the best at what she does? I don't think so.

The 8th season attempts to reconstruct CTU as an organization that follows the rules now, when really its more intrusive than ever. I mean, did you see the drone use and huge intrusive satellite in the first few seasons? At least when FBI was acting like CTU, it was a bigger deal because they recognized what they were doing was wrong.

And then there's the new members of CTU.

Starting with Brian Hastings, he's suppose to be a CTU director in this new age of "Obama" and he plays by the rules... but at the same time he fabricates reports in order to make himself look good? The writing in the first two episodes really does the critique itself. He's just kind of dumb.

Larry Moss was a by the book director of the FBI. He was a model "Obama" age director but at the same time he was smart. The times he disagreed with Jack were actually smart opportunities for him to disagree. Brian Hastings is just stupid.

Then Cole Ortiz and Dana Walsh... well they're just dumb. Its freaking Freddie Prinze Jr... do I need to say anything else? Since when does 24 bring in Fred from Scooby Doo? And while I've come to understand the fad behind Katie Sackhoff, I'm still not really a fan of her. I didn't like her in Battlestar Galactica, and I don't like her here. Especially with her stupid secret life plot introduced in the first few episodes. Freddie Prinze at least got a little bit better as the season went on, Katie Sackhoff really didn't do anything for me and I was really happy when she died later on in the season, (no spoilers of course).

And then the season also got off on the wrong foot by not bringing back Renee Walker immediately.

This isn't really a huge complaint because they didn't do a horrible job bringing her back four episodes in.

However, Annie Wersching made a lot of season 7 really good because Renee Walker was such a good character. She actually brought about a new character that was developed the same way characters like Chloe and Tony were brought about. We liked them from the beginning and liked them more and more as the season went on.

The main reason I have a problem with this is that I know what happens to Renee and it would have given the season more credit if more time had been given to her. The first reason is the fact that Jack and her end up having a relationship. A relationship, that while I liked it, it felt very rushed. It would have been better to see that that relationship had developed more in between seasons, and therefore it would have made the result a little more tragic for the viewer.

The last element is really just a complaint of the season overall. It mainly disregards everything that was built up well in the 7th season and just convolutes it, making it silly. A lot of that is not only in the first few episodes but over the entire season. I really want to finish the 8th season so I can talk through it but I'll try to stay on the pilot, and finish it up quick, this review is getting long.

As far as story goes, its a pretty generic pilot. Since Jack isn't working for the government, he is reluctantly pulled back in because he can't refuse the Call of Duty. In the pilot, he's told to bring in an informant who says he has information on an assassination attempt on President Hassan.

In the end of the first half of the pilot, it is revealed that of course, there's an inside man. I'm actually kind of surprised they haven't made a joke about how many times there have been inside people working against the government. In the end of the pilot, CTU picks up the reporter who has an affair with Hassan because they believe she's trying to assassinate him. This of course gives the real bad guys time to carry out their plan. Overall, its very generic and not really new. Its not bad, its just not great.

Overall, the pilot of Season 8 is really not anything extraordinary. Its got a lot of elements working against it. Poorly written characters, and missed opportunity are really the parts that hurt the pilot. There are bigger elements of the entire season that make it even more disappointing, but I'll get to that in my series review.

I'll leave the review here. I want to have a little bit to talk about in the season review. But what do you think of the pilot of the 8th season? What's your opinion of 24 in general? Do you like it? What's your favorite season? Comment and discuss below.

I'll leave you with this. Jack Bauer is notoriously known for shouting "Dammit" and here is the complete compilation of it. Whatever you do, don't play the drinking game for Dammit. Its dangerous. But enjoy the compilation.