24 Clocks Back In with a Shocking Return

• Sep 19, 2007 01:26 PM ET
• by Matt Mitovich

I will go out of my way not to blurt this out, lest someone castigate me for spoiling. But when Fox's 24 launches Season 7 on Jan. 13 and 14 with a two-night premiere, a familiar (though unexpected) face will put in an appearance. "With CTU dismantled, the show's setting moves to Washington, D.C., where Jack Bauer faces trial for his actions in the pursuit of justice," reads the Fox press release. "Bauer's day gets off to a shocking start when former colleague Tony Almeida (played by Carlos Bernard), last seen in Day 5, returns after being left for dead by a terrorist conspirator in CTU's infirmary."

Say wha?! "Tony's uncertain fate... left the door open for his return," explains exec producer Howard Gordon. "And since there was no silent clock at the conclusion of his last appearance - the 24 tribute to a major character's demise - we always kept this as a possibility." Indeed, it was widely rumored (and, I believe, perhaps even filmed) that Tony was to resurface in the final seconds of last season.

Wait until you-know-who finds out that wife Michelle herself is alive, and working as a chaplain at ER's County General!