Television: 24: Day 7

Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Cherry Jones, James Morrison, Anne Wersching, Jeffrey Nordling, Carlos Bernard, Janeane Garofalo
FOX, Mondays at 9:00
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So I spent a lot of the four hours of this trying to figure out where I'd seen the guy who plays FBI techie Sean Hillinger. Who is that guy? I kept asking myself. This is one of the downfalls of being a television and movie person; faces can be so familiar. I've seen him with longer hair. Same sarcasm, but more of an anti-establishment vibe. I finally gave up and checked IMDB, and as it turns out, the actor is Rhys Coiro, who was a semi-regular on another show I enjoy, HBO's Entourage. Mystery solved.

I then went on to be excited about the appearance of Peter Wingfield, who I also used to love in (yes, I'll admit it) Highlander: The Series. After all, my college nickname was Methos.

But what can I say about the show itself? I can say it started off far better than Day 6 did. I can say it's better than November's Redemption, which had been designed to set up this season's plotline. I can also say I saw just about everything coming. That's what seven seasons of a show can do to you; everything that was new is now old. Of course Tony was undercover! Of course Bill and Chloe and Tony have gone underground! And where are Morris and the baby, anyway? Perhaps they'll turn up just in time to be in mortal peril.

There are some refreshing elements. The new location (Washington D.C. instead of L.A.), the cute FBI agent—she's certainly no Jack Bauer, but the world probably wouldn't survive more than one of him, and I like that she has a wee bit of spunk.

I have to say, though, you'd think by now these terrorists would know NOT to give the U.S. government as much as 24 hours to do anything, since that's pretty much EXACTLY how long Jack needs to find you and bring you down.

Speaking of Jack, after seven seasons, I have to say I find his intense, one-note acting level somewhat exhausting. I think it's good that they've shored him up with a more interesting cast around him. It's getting less and less easy to care much about Jack—after all, we know he'll make it out alive, it's just a matter of how—but we can grow to like and care about the others, and one is not always as sure of all their fates.

As a final note, I'd like to remind everyone that Dave Barry live blogs 24 each week, which adds a humorous note to the proceedings. Read along or follow up with it afterwards.