24: Jack is Back and Better Than Ever

On Sunday January 14 the television hit series on Fox, "24" starring Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer premiered on television, much to the delight of 24 fans everywhere. The hit show has seemingly gotten better in every season. Last year for Season 5 of 24, Kiefer Sutherland finally won the award for best actor in a drama series, an award he should have gotten years ago. The great thing about 24 is that anything can happen. Star cast members die unexpectedly and explosions, shootings, and terrorist attacks are everywhere. Jack Bauer must save the world once again in one day, made up of 24 hours.

Season 6 kicked off with a bang as the directors of 24 got the show off to a head start with the thrills instead of starting off slow as it customarily has done. Fox decided to blitz fans of 24 by having a back to back night double header with four hours of 24. In the very first episode we learn that the nation is under attack by terrorists. Not only that, but the terrorists have already struck, killing hundreds of people with the intention of killing thousands more. Suicide bombers are everywhere as a bus is blown up and a suicide bomber has his target of a train station in Los Angeles.

Wait. Stop. Backtrack. Wasn't Jack Bauer in a military prison the last time we saw him. That is right folks. However, just like viewers expected, Jack Bauer has been brought out of China by the American president Wayne Palmer. The folks at 24 decided to give Wayne Palmer a larger role in 24 and Wayne has followed in the footsteps of his brother David Palmer and is now the new president. The only reason that Jack Bauer has been taken out of China is because he is needed to be sacrificed to a terrorist who will give the American government information about the whereabouts about the man behind the recent terrorist attacks in the U.S. named Hasad. The man demanding that Jack Bauer be handed over and killed is named Faed and he is secretly behind the real attacks of today. As Jack Bauer and the audience find out, Hasad is a world terrorist from the past but is now trying to get peace around the world and is trying to stop Faed. Jack Bauer is delivered to Faed and faced imminent death. However, when Bauer learns that he will die for nothing, his greatest fear, he miraculously escapes, rescues Hasad from American helicopter gunfire, and the two men go after Faed.

Jack then makes fast work as he gets back into CTU field operative mode in rescuing a train from a suicide bomber and following another terrorist to try and find the whereabouts of Faed. The terrorist blows himself up when he discovers that he is being followed.

Meanwhile back at the White House, Wayne Palmer is under extreme pressure from the terrorist attacks that have already killed hundreds of people. His advisor is pressuring him to detain all Muslim people much like World War 2 when the Japanese were rounded up and detained. Worse, President Wayne Palmer has to deal with the calamity of his sister fighting for her civil rights during a wartime, especially when Wayne Palmer is under enough pressure as it is with the terrorist attacks. Wayne's sister and lover are arrested when she decides to shred documents of the people who work for the Islamic-American organization where she works.

Elsewhere, a young terrorist has taken a family hostage and forced the father to deliver a package, containing the parts to a nuclear detonator. When the mother is able to escape she alerts the police. Jack Bauer and CTU come storming in and kill the terrorist. Bauer also receives the information he needs on the location of Faed.

Then tragedy strikes just when you don't expect it. Apparently Hasad and CTU agent Curtis have a history as Hasad beheaded five of Curtis' men in a ground assault. Curtis wants revenge and is ready to kill Hasad. However, President Palmer has issued a pardon to Hasad in order to get his full cooperation to stop the terrorist attacks. Jack Bauer is forced to kill Curtis as one of the shows' most beloved characters and longest tenured character on the show besides Jack Bauer, dies. Jack Bauer collapses in tears after killing his friend. He tells CTU agency director Bill Buchanon that he has quit and can no longer do the job.

Meanwhile, back at the location of Faed, the nuclear bomb is being assembled. Faed is able to get a terrorist nuclear scientist to escape from a detention center with the help of a guard. As CTU SWAT teams storm in, the scientist detonates the nuclear bomb, killing thousands of people as a giant mushroom cloud and flash of light appear in the sky. Jack Bauer watches in horror from a distance as the show comes to an end.

Stay tuned for next week's episode on 24, Mondays at 9pm.