24: Season 7
By now, all longtime fans of the show know what to expect when it comes to the elements of the series, such as Jack Bauerâs tendency to torture, ANYONE can be a turncoat, and the mastermind villains have more back-up plans than you can shake a stick at. For this season, you gotta admit they came up with a great hook: What if Bauerâs longtime closest ally Tony Almeida (thought dead in Season 5) was actually alive and working with the terrorists to carry out their latest plan of mass destruction? With this caveat, we thankfully get to watch the two most senior members of the cast in Kiefer Sutherland and Carlos Bernard basically match wits and wind up working both with and against each other, marking possibly the first time the show wasnât just centered on Bauer but on Almeida as well, with Bernardâs acting in the final episode (where Tonyâs motives are revealed) coming off as pretty powerful and emotional. As usual, the casting of the show is second to none, with both the regulars and guest stars: Mary Lynn Rajskubâs Chloe is as sturdy as always, and her faceoffs with fellow computer geek Janeane Garofalo are pretty entertaining; James Morrison returns as loyal ex-CTU chief Bill Buchanan and gets to go out a hero; Glenn Morshower as legendary Secret Service Man Aaron Pierce is always a rock when it comes to personal security; Carlo Rota appears VERY briefly as Chloeâs husband Morris OâBrien; and even Elisha Cuthbertâs Kim Bauer thankfully gets back into the mix during the later episodes, even giving us a taste of her old âdanger magnetâ reputation from the old days. For the newcomers, we get Annie Wershing as FBI agent Renee Walker, essentially becoming Bauerâs âprotĂ©gĂ©â over the course of the day as she learns to do what has to be done when it comes to doing this job; Bob Gunton as the chief of staff gets off some fine understated acting moments; Garofalo as a computer analyst constantly sniping at Chloe; Jeffrey Nordling as the somewhat stiff but later supportive special agent in charge; Sprague Grayden flashing beautiful blue eyes as the Presidentâs manipulative daughter; Colm Feore as the weak-looking âFirst Gentlemanâ; and sadly, Cherry Jones as perhaps the worst President in the history of the show whom, unlike the strong leader David Palmer or the duplicitous Charles Logan, walks around with a perpetual grin on her face whilst usually making the wrong decisions or overemoting ridiculously, with a final act that shows that sheâs not a firm believer in family values (how Jones won an Emmy for this season when Dennis Haysbert couldnât get a spot of lint for his powerhouse turns makes one wonder what certain awards voters were thinking). And of course, the ultra-cool guest stars almost always played by legendary actors is a treat, from Jon Voightâs defense contractor with WMDs to spare to Hakeem Kae-Kazimâs African Army Colonel who spearheads the first few hours of attacks to Rory âSlaterâ Cochrane as a slimy underling to Tony Todd as the evil African leader with balls enough to take the White House hostage to Leland Orser as a gay dirty tricks specialist all the way up to Will Patton as the ultimate BigBad behind it all (as well as the previous two seasons), but special mention MUST go to Kurtwood Smith as the hawklike US Senator who at the onset is looking to prosecute Bauer for using torture but later when Bauer presents evidence to him realizes that they have to work together, making for some fantastic acting between him and Kiefer, and also emphasizing one of the showâs strongest points, that being the human interaction and the idea that the characters can reason with each other to reach a common ground. In the end, itâs Jack and Tonyâs show as they work against and with each other to climb the ladder that leads them to the big villains, even with airline collisions and virus containers that make up the usual terrorist plots du jour. Overall a no-brainer viewing for the fans of the show, and an incentive to get newer fans on board as wellâŠ
9/10