The initial run of 24 had two stars — Kiefer Sutherland as morally dubious but get-the-job-done agent Jack Bauer, and its ‘real-time’ gimmick. And even if it was the preposterous thrills of the latter that first brought you to it, it was Bauer that made you stay. And then compelled viewers to keep returning year after year, as the show threw all manner of hardships at him, from a dead wife, to multiple double crosses, and even, in Season 7, a bout of mad cow disease. (He got better.)
For 24: Legacy, technically the tenth season, one of them has been ditched. Bauer is nowhere to be seen — following him in real-time from his current location, solitary confinement in a Russian prison, exciting precisely no-one. But previously the one ever-present, the prospect of 24 without Bauer initially feels like The Sopranos without Tony. It’s a bold move.
Instead, we have Eric Carter (Hawkins) in the action-he
24: Legacy airs on Wednesday 15th February at 9pm on FOX.