Monday Review: The Return of 24 and Louie
A day in the life of Jack Bauer would go so much easier if anyone would just listen to him when he barks commands like, "Stop that couple!" Fat chance when what seems like half the armed personnel of the CIA's London bureau have guns pointed at the good guy instead of the fleeing bad guys. Will they never learn? Apparently not. Which is no doubt exactly the desire of the fans who've been waiting four long years — that's roughly 35,064 hours in real time — for 24, one of TV's most electrifying thrillers, and Kiefer Sutherland as its beleaguered yet seemingly indestructible hero to snap back into action. The novelty — and thus, a bit of the edge — is gone as Fox's 12-part 24: Live Another Day seeks to prove that less is more, slowly revving up the comfortably formulaic engine while visceral split-screen editing once again intensifies the literally explosive twists. And yet, because a sad, mad, badass Jack Bauer is the only Jack we've ever known, there's something grimly satisfying when he mutters bleakly to one of his few allies, "I don't have any friends."
