24: Live Another Day: Jack's Back!

24 was one of the very first shows I binge watched in college when I got a Netflix account. (This was back when Netflix only sent you DVDs and you impatiently had to wait for the mailman to bring you the next installment of episodes - oh 2005.) I devoured the first season in a week but launched right into the fourth season premiere without catching up on any of the intervening seasons as I had my friend, Rose, to explain who any new characters were. And I watched that show until the end, never quite re-discovering the initial excitement of watching Season 1, but still managing to be surprised and entertained.

That is precisely how I now feel about 24: Live Another Day, the twelve-episode miniseries reboot that began airing on Fox on May 5. Nine episodes in, it feels like 24 never went off the air, and it's a bit startling how old-fashioned the show seems in comparison to the innovative dramas that have come forth since then. The pace doesn't feel brisk enough, the dialogue's choppy, it's a bit repetitive and languid. But then suddenly, a whole lot will happen in two minutes, and you'll wonder, "where the hell did that come from?"

The premise is that Jack Bauer is in London, trying to save the US President, James Heller (the father of on-again, off-again love interest, Audrey), from terrorists. Instead of being Russian or Middle Eastern, the terrorist ringleader is actually an Englishwoman. Technically she's avenging the death of her Middle Eastern terrorist husband, but still, it's a slightly new twist. Chloe O'Brian is working for some undercover WikiLeaks-esque group but gets recruited by Jack to help out with the assassination plot against Heller. And of course, there's a mole in the CIA, who is up to no good.

It's hilarious how predictable this show is. The plot twists follow the same formulae, the characters are all slotted into their usual roles, and you want to giggle every time Jack has to say, "Damn it, Chloe!" Yet, just when I thought they were never going to clamber out of this rut, the last two episodes have truly surprised me. They're racking up the death toll and killing people off with impunity, and I am genuinely keen on seeing how this all gets wrapped up. Plus, any show that has Stephen Fry playing the British Prime Minister has to be worth watching.

24: Live Another Day is not necessarily quality television, but it's comfort food for the dismal summer hiatus. It is also a nostalgic reminder of the bygone days of TV drama when we were content to watch the same story play out season after season. It looks like the writers are trying to inject the franchise with some cable-level twists and drama, but overall, it's the same old Jack Bauer, saving the day once again.