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- DVD Review: 24 Day 7 (Full Season)
- Rating: Unrated
- Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Annie Wirsching, James Morrison, Carlos Bernard, MaryLynn Rajskub, Cherry Jones, Bob Gunton, Colm Feore, Janeane Garofalo
- Written By: Howard Gordon, David Fury, et al.
- Directed By: Various
- Distributor: 20th Century Fox
- Original Year of Release: 2009 (TV, DVD)
- Extras: Audio Commentary on Selected Episodes; Deleted Scenes; The Music of 24; Hour 19: The Ambush featurette; Making of Season 7 featurette
- Series:
24 Day 7 Season Review
Overall Look Back at Day 7 of 24 By Kurt Anthony Krug
June 04, 2009
Kiefer Sutherland sees the true colors of his friend Tony in 24: 2:00a.m.-3:00a.m.(2009).
© Mania.com/Robert Trate
WARNING: This review containers SPOILERS. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.
After nearly a 2-year hiatus from the airwaves due to the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike, 24 returned with a vengeance this past January with another fast-paced thrill-ride in the day in the life of secret agent Jack Bauer (of course, audiences were given an appetizer two months prior in November with the “between the days” 2-hour tele-prequel, 24: Redemption).
And FOX wasted no time getting the seventh season of 24 out on DVD (it came out the day after the season finale aired a few short weeks ago in May).
What’s jarring about this DVD set is that Redemption is sold separately. While it is not essential to understanding S7, it does help. In fact, it may be better you don’t see it in some ways. Roger Taylor (Eric Lively, American Pie), the son of President Alison Taylor (Cherry Jones, The Perfect Storm) and First Gentleman Henry Taylor (Colm Feore, City of Angels), is killed off-screen between Redemption and S7. His death (which was a murder covered up as a suicide, which everyone believes except Henry) is mentioned throughout S7. For me, this created some confusion because the audience never sees Roger’s death. I believe it should’ve been shown, given the number of times it was mentioned.
The season starts off with our hero Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) testifying before a Senate subcommittee about torturing bad guys (that was something various newspapers mentioned about Season 6, stating 24 glorified torture, and this was the series writers’ way of acknowledging the issue as per the behind-the-scenes extras). FBI Agent Renee Walker (General Hospital alumna Annie Wersching, the best thing about the show this season) pulls Jack out, telling him the FBI needs his help on a case that involves his former CTU teammate Tony Almeda (Carlos Bernard), who mysteriously returned from the dead.
Turns out, Tony is covertly working with an underground version of CTU (now disbanded in the aftermath of S6) that includes old series favorites: Bill Buchanan (James Morrison, one of the show’s best characters) and computer-savvy, perpetually scowling Chloe O’Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub, which is pronounced “Rice-Cub”), two good guys who are always loyal to Jack and who have never betrayed him, which is saying something given all the turncoats and double-agents on the show.
So, Jack is put through his paces, racing against the clock, torturing people, kicking ass, taking names, pissing off the brass, not winning any favors with by-the-book bosses, doing immoral things to achieve far greater moral goods, the typical 24 formula that keeps people coming back for more.
Of course, you have to suspend disbelief. In the case of corrupt Secret Service agents framing First Gentleman Henry for the murder of Samantha Roth, Roger’s girlfriend (Carly Pope, TV’s Popular), then killing him by making it look like a suicide (like son, like father), an autopsy wouldn’t reveal Henry was pumped full of muscle relaxants? However, Henry, still under the influence of the drugs no less, manages to kill a Secret Service agent, a trained killer.
Then there’s General Juma (Tony Todd, The Candyman) whose third-world army invades the White House – one of the world’s most impregnable facilities – and his henchman can hack into the security system with a Palm Pilot.
Finally, you see Jack’s daughter Kim Bauer (Elisa Cuthbert) tailing an assassin. She looks ridiculous running in high heels and this trained killer can’t hear her behind him with all her clacking? In an echo chamber that all airports are, no less? Sure. Right. Gotcha.
Then again, that’s part of the fun of 24. You can forgive that because as unrealistic as that it is, it’s also entertaining and keeps you on the edge of your seat.
These small potatoes have nothing on the bad things about this season:
1). The death of Bill Buchanan. Sniff sniff. The former CTU leader was one of the best characters on the show, a good guy’s good guy. Yes, nobody is safe on 24 – not even Jack’s wife Teri (Leslie Hope) from Season 1. Couldn’t executive producer Howard Gordon and company have made an exception in Bill’s case and kept him alive? Not only alive, but keep him forever a good guy?
2). Tony Almeda. It was nice to see Bernard reprise his role as Tony, who turned out to be a double agent. At first, anyway, much to the delight of fans. Then he was a triple agent. At the end of the season, he was a (gasp!) QUADRUPLE agent! That was really getting stupid and silly.
3). Jack is dying after being exposed to a bio-weapon. He spent several episodes having seizures and memory lapses. The only way to save him is by having Kim give him a stem cell transplant. This subplot grew stale because you know Jack would find a way to beat the Reaper since Sutherland signed on for Season 8.
4). Not enough Colm Feore!
5). The deleted scenes. Couldn’t have FOX added these deleted scenes to the overall episodes since it’s not under a 9-10 p.m. time constraint with the DVDs?
6). 24: Redemption should’ve been included in the S7 DVD set.
Now for the good:
1). The acting. Sutherland proves that he’s a decent actor, especially in a touching scene between Jack and Kim, which was deleted. This season, besides having Jack beat people up and yell at them – his usual schtick – he has seizures and sheds plenty of tears. Bravo, Kiefer.
In addition to Sutherland, Jones made a believable POTUS. She’s tough-as-nails and also has a vulnerable side. As President Taylor, she carried an air of authority and dignity about her. Jones also shared a great chemistry with…
… Feore, her on-screen husband. A classically-trained Shakespearean actor, the multi-talented yet sometimes underrated Feore can make reading names and numbers from a phone book exciting. He delivers each line with quiet intensity, especially in a scene with Jones, which was deleted.
Other notable performances came from the aforementioned Wersching, Morrison, Bob Gunton (The Shawshank Redemption) as Ethan Kanin, the President’s Chief of Staff; Oscar winner Jon Voight (Enemy of the State) as over-the-top megalomaniacal villain Jonas Hodges, who was just right for this part; Janeane Garofolo (Reality Bites) as Janis Gold, who proves she can do drama just as easily as comedy; and…
2). Sprague Grayden (TV’s Jericho) as the conniving, Machiavellian Olivia Taylor, the estranged daughter of the President. She is easily 24’s wicked woman this side of Sherry Palmer (Penny Johnson Jerald), a modern-day Lady MacBeth from Season 1. Some of the things Olivia did would make even Sherry Palmer blush.
3). A better subplot surrounding Kim Bauer, who is not one of the audience’s favorite characters. At least this time around, she wasn’t crossing paths with a mountain lion. The writers actually moved Kim forward as seen in her (deleted) heart-to-heart talk with Jack, maturing her, making her grow up a bit (she even has a daughter, who is named Teri, after her mother). That’s very good.
4). Cool behind-the-scenes extras. The writers talk about the difficulties surrounding 24 S7. Brannon Braga (TV’s Star Trek: The Next Generation) became a regular writer this season and stated many writers were having shouting contests because they disagreed on the direction of the plots. Various elements (Jack in Africa, Jack testifying, having S7 occur in Washington, D.C. for a change, a female POTUS) finally found their way into the season. They say that 24: Redemption was a blessing because it allowed them to do some of the things they wanted to do and was a good way to set the stage for S7.
5). Annie Wersching, the breakout star of S7. Wersching’s Agent Walker is compassionate and deadly. She’s not above bending the rules. She’s not above torturing bad guys for her own ends, taking a page from Jack. Too bad nobody got to show what she did to untouchable conspirator Alan Wilson (Will Patton, Remember The Titans) in the season finale. The writers shouldn’t have left it up to the audience’s imagination as many would’ve loved to see her knock the smugness out of this villain. Fans are rejoicing that Wirsching will be in S8, where CTU is reinstated. That’s great news.
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You're right that Annie Wersching was the breakout star of Season 7 '24'......but it is Cherry Jones' portrayal of the embatted/conflicted President Taylor that ought win the Emmy. No one else could have made the 'finale' believable ('detroy the evidence' or 'hand over your daughter for murder.').
Cherry (yep, that's her real name).....had a lot on her plate during Season 7: had to face down terrorists John Wayne-style when the White House itself came under siege; saw her husband kidnapped, shot..sent to the hospital. Had to deal with several interconnected terrorist threats: jetliner collision, biological attack......then there was the personal stuff.
Annie Wersching (Agent Walker) got the 'action sequences' (cool swimming sequence, another one where she had to fight a guy who was armed with a machine gun)........but it was Cherry Jones who had all of the 'heavy lifting' scenes to do as an actor.
Emmy for Cherry Jones!! Hurray for Prez Taylor!