After being shut down at the end of Season 6 the day that got everything wrong the Counter Terrorist Unit is back for Jack Bauers final TV outing. CTUs new HQ, an impregnable fortress beneath New Yorks East River, is sleeker and more high-tech than ever; after all, Season 8 takes place in the future (May 20, 2015, to be precise). But no number of bleeding-edge surveillance drones or giant flashy screens can distract from the fact that by now 24 is really showing its age.
Fans will be relieved that there are no hungry cougars roaming Central Park, and by the fact Kim doesnt even get kidnapped once. But were back on the same old merry carousel of double-agents (CTU is as moley as ever), torture (in maybe 24s nastiest scene yet, Bauer goes to work with pliers and a blowtorch), political prattle and pointless subplots (sorry, Katee Sackhoff we mean you). Having had the guts to kill off its most enthralling characters over the years David Palmer, Tony Almeida, Bill Buchanan, Nina Myers the show has largely failed to find worthy replacements.
Still, for those happy to watch a greatest-hits rather than a game-changer, theres lots to enjoy. Gregory Itzin reprises his role as the shows First Villain, the rollickingly dastardly ex-President Charles Logan. Chloe (Mary Lynn Raskjub) gets her hands on another gun. And Kiefer Sutherland, whos always worked hard to find tonalities to the character, amps up Jacks growly intensity. Well, aside from the episode where he dons Peter Sellers glasses and a wonky accent to go undercover as a German named Ernst.