24

I'll admit that before the preview of 24 Season Six crossed my desk, I had never watched a single episode of the series. Needless to say, I was immediately hooked by the first four episodes of the upcoming season (premiering Sunday Jan 14.) I was so impressed that I immediately acquired seasons one through five and set out to bring myself up to date on all things Jack Bauer. What I discovered is a shift in the formula that some might consider a bit too politically motivated...
The moments of 24 Season Six that did not work for me were the obligatory "statements on current politics". I have nothing against including such factors for the purpose of staying topical, but when you have two highly polarized symbols like Hayes and Lennox debating the virtues of profiling, detention centers, and torture, all before a naive symbol of confused justice in president Palmer, it comes off as, well, a message. And that isn't necessarily wrong either. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the use of entertainment as a means to provoke thought and discussion, but against the finely nuanced allegory of shows like Battlestar Galactica, it just felt a little forced. There were times I felt like I was watching Hannity & Colmes. Now before the flamers start flipping through their 'insult style manual' looking for ways to tear me down for this serious insult to all things Bauer, let me back up and say that 24 Season Six is awesome. I was completely entertained, and from what I can tell so far it stands up well against the other seasons. What concerns me is the continued level of political archetypes and "ripped from the headlines" themes. The difference between the season six style and the season one style is night and day. I can't quite decide which I like better, but season one with its down to earth themes of family, parenthood, colored with intrigue and action was a winner. In six, the underlying themes seem beyond our grasp. Just coming off a heated and ugly national election, is there anyone out there who really needs to be educated on threats to the constitution, or the various ugly ways grey-haired old men have of dealing with the terrorist 'threat'? On the other hand, Season Six does invoke some challenging thoughts. One character, Assad, is an unlikely hero; a former terrorist looking for diplomatic solutions. A bit of humanization that keeps 24 out of the cookie-cutter bad guy business, for now at least. Here's to hoping the larger issues find their way into more interesting, and quiet, subtext as the season winds on.