Fortunately, about 4 years later 24 is back for a 12 episode half season known as 24: Live Another Day. Minor spoilers about 24's earlier seasons may be included in this review!
Live Another Day starts with the re-surfacing of Jack Bauer in London. Jack has gotten wind of a terrorism threat that targets London and US President James Heller, who is in London on a visit to negotiate a treaty with England that focuses on the use of military bases in England. Of course Jack is still an exiled fugitive after what he did to the Russians in season 8, so coming out of hiding is very dangerous for him. As he tells a member of Heller's staff, in a few hours, he'll either be "dead or in prison."
After re-uniting with Chloe (the hard way), Jack is soon working on the developing crisis in London both on his own and officially. Margot Al-Harazi, a high-level Al Qaeda operative, launches the attack by high-jacking the US drone system and remote controlling them. This is the initial set-up, but like all good 24 seasons, it starts there and goes all over. Some involved elements include the Russians trying to get revenge on Jack, trouble in the ranks with Margot's crew, trouble in the ranks at the CIA field office in London (which functions much like CTU normally does in a normal season of 24), conflicting interests in the US President's entourage, and a wiki-leaks type operation run by a Julian Assange- type character, and the fact that Chloe O'Brien, Jack's most trusted friend, is working with him despite the somewhat-shadiness of their outfit.
We get a lot of returning characters, such as James Heller, who is now president, and his daughter Audrey, Jack's soul mate, who he hasn't seen in years. I believe last time we saw her, she was tortured and brainwashed, but she is back in her right mind, and married to Mark Boudreau, her father's chief of staff. She also works as a member of the President's staff. A few new characters are introduced, such as Mark, who is very worried about the the effect Jack's emergence will have on his wife, Margot Al-Harazi's daugher Simone, who has some conflicting and sympathetic loyalties despite being on-board with her mother's plot. She also is one of only a handful of people to give Jack a run for his money in a great chase scene early in the season. There's also straight-laced CIA station head Steve Navarro and Kate Morgan, a CIA agent who is disgraced after her husband's conviction for selling government information. Kate becomes Jack's main sidekick this season. I thought Kate and Simone are especially good characters. Simone has some interesting subtly to the way her mind works that make her quite interesting. Kate is not Jack Jr. like Renee Walker was in Seasons 7 and 8, and that's fine, she's not characterized that way like Renee was. Kate is a really great character. She's the one who believes Jack and helps him when others won't, which you need in 24 so you don't scream in frustration. She's also game on all of Jack's ideas, no matter how crazy they are.
Like all 24 outings, this half-season is full of twists and turns, betrayals and main character deaths, and all kinds of trickery. Lots of interesting stuff, all of which can't be mentioned without spoilers, obviously.
Watching this mini-series, it's clear that after four years of absence, there still isn't anything on TV that can match 24's pacing and intensity. The real-time format is something special, and it's something no one else is really trying that I know of. Despite being in real time, many episodes pack in a huge amount of content.
Some seasons of 24 (the first especially) would receive a perfect score if I were to review them. All seasons of 24, even certain ones that I don't think had a very good story, have amazing perfect moments, like when Jack is forced to kill his friend Curtis to stop him from killing a terrorist they need to work with... and then a nuclear bomb explodes in the distance at the same time. Or the time when Jack puts on full body armor and attacks a presidential convoy (this might be my favorite 24 moment. It's terrifying). Live another day is better than the handful of 24 seasons that weren't all that great, and it also has a smattering of great moments. It also has a handful of new characters that are really great, and that adds a lot to the formula. And of course it's great to see what Jack, Chloe, and Audrey are up to. Great mini-series, and here's hoping we haven't seen the end of 24. A movie would be great. Great Show, Tier 2.
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