24 - Season 7

After season six didn't so much dip its toe into the crazy pool as it did a cannonball off the high dive, day seven was thankfully more reigned in, although it still wasn't as good as the show was in its earlier years. When you have a show like this that feels the need to continually top itself in order to stay fresh, it can only last so long before it goes from genuinely thrilling to downright silly. It felt like they were keeping it pretty small at first which was nice, but it didn't take long to go a little insane and never got back to that slow burn feel that I was enjoying.

Really, things started with 24: Redemption, a movie that takes place in between this season and the last, and establishes things like the swearing of the new president (continuing in their tradition of shaking things up, it's a woman this time), Jon Voight as a shadowy political villain (and as it turns out only one of many), and Jack being forced to return to America to be tried. They've always filmed prequel thingies to prepare for new seasons, but this was the first time it was of any significance. Redemption was decent, with a couple pretty good action scenes, and I always like a good fascist African regime. Several bad guys are introduced here, and it wasn't a waste of a couple hours.

When the season really begins, Jack is quickly pulled out of his hearing with Senator Red Forman and brought to assist the FBI's cute redhead, Coach Ted Orion, and analysts Janeane Garofalo and Billy Walsh as they pursue an old ally of Jack's who, surprise, is not dead and now apparently evil. For a while I was genuinely entertained by their investigations, and even the first big twist was pretty entertaining as it got Jack back together with some old friends. Before long though, things spiral out of control as insidious villain after insidious villain steps out to take control of their stupid attacks on America as soon as the previous one gets taken down before they really develop. There's at least five of these guys, and there's no real sense of a good story arc as the same thing keeps having over and over again.

The only reason to watch the show anymore is to see Jack be a ridiculous killing machine, and even that is less that satisfying in the second half. The main political subplot is no good either, because family stuff just isn't interesting. There's also no tension to Jack's fate when you announce the show's renewal for an eighth year when the seventh isn't over yet. The ending is also the show's least resolved yet, because a couple big threads are left open with no chance at actually seeing the result thanks to the series' unique format. Ultimately I was disappointed again, but not enough to prevent me from watching it again next time. I am a silly person.