TV Recap: 24 Day Seven, Hours 1 and 2 - Welcome Back, Jack!

Day Seven begins strong at 8:00 AM – an alarming auto collision and subsequent kidnapping of a Mr. Latham, a Homeland Security tech guru. This contrasts nicely with the quiet but frustrating Senate Hearings led by Senator Blain Meyer (Kurtwood Smith,  who we know and love as Red Foreman from That Seventies Show). Senator Red was quite gracious but still doggedly accused Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) of human rights violations while the other dastardly deeds were being played out elsewhere in the Greater D.C. area.

So before Senator Red can threaten Jack with a boot up the ass, the lovely Agent Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) comes marching in with a subpoena for Jack Bauer to immediately be remanded into FBI custody. Because of the events of the last hour, Latham’s kidnapping, and other intel, the FBI needs Jack to help them.

It’ll be interesting to see how the FBI office dynamics play out now. When CTU was in existence, there was always some sort of vibe of turf protection, suspicion, impatience, or annoyance simmering and bristling along phone or Ethernet lines. Already we’ve got the duo of Janis Gold and Sean Hillinger – played marvelously against type by Janeane Garofalo and Rhys Coiro. These two, especially Gold, seem a bit jumpy, and she’s already been lassoed back on task once or twice. And yes, she’s definitely got a Chloe thing going on, but with seemingly more tact.

And Jack is briefed with the shocking news that his old partner and friend Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) is not only still alive, but apparently working for a terrorist group. This group is referred to as “homegrown”, and has been implicated in a string of technology thefts, and also Latham’s kidnapping. Not easy news to take, but Jack is able to get over the surprise enough to work with Hillinger to find a common element, a man named Gabriel Schecter (Tommy Flanagan) who could be a possible player in the recent technology thefts.

Of course, those in the Oval Office and Capitol Building rarely get much sleep when Jack Bauer is in the thick of things, and so it is here. Newly inaugurated president Allison Taylor is staring down the barrel of another “Operation Enduring Freedom” scenario, this time to stop the genocide in Sangala (24: Redemption was set in this fictional African country) led by the evil General Juma (Tony Todd).

Shadowing the President Taylor and First Gentleman Henry (Colm Feore) is the apparent and recent suicide of their son Roger. On the QT, Henry has hired a private detective to gather information surrounding Roger’s death. He’s quite convinced that there was no suicide. Of course, we saw in Redemption that Roger’s friend Chris was involved in some shady money deals and had come to Roger for advice, and possibly help from the President-elect. We also saw that Secret Service Agent Vossler was a mole, which led to the murder of poor Chris. Seems obvious that Henry has the right hunches.

Article Author: Mary K. Williams

Mary K. is a freelance entertainment writer living in the Greater Boston area. She has written CD reviews for Metronome Magazine and is a former Features Editor for Hot Psychology Magazine. Mary K. has also contributed to the anthology, Brewed …

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