Tuesday, 25 November 2008

24 - Redemption

As we know by now trouble goes looking for Jack Bauer, says guest blogger Gillian Crawley

Kiefer Sutherland is back as Jack Bauer

In 24 - Redemption (the stand-alone feature length episode on Sky One on 24 November and available to buy on DVD from 1 December) it found Jack Bauer in the fictional African state of Sengala dodging extradition to the US for torturing the terrorists who set off a nuclear bomb in the last series.

Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) is helping his old mate Carl (Robert Carlyle with an Irish accent that wanders from Belfast to Dublin and back again) run a school for orphaned boys.

Rebels have been kidnapping children and forcing them to fight and are now poised to overthrow the democratically-elected government with the backing of a shadowy businessman (Jon Voight).

Meanwhile a new American President – a woman - is about to be sworn in. Is America going to step in to save the terrified Sengalans? Don’t be silly, they haven’t got any oil, as the outgoing President callously informs the new girl.

So, it’s all up to Jack then. All he has to do to deliver the children within two hours to the American embassy where they’ll be whisked to safety while avoiding the evil rebels and the ungrateful American jobsworths who want to put him on trial.

Can he do it? This is Jack Bauer, we’re talking about. He doesn’t need the UN – which is just as well because they’re represented by a snivelling coward who tries to sell the children down the river to save his worthless skin.

But does Jack want to save the children if it means he’ll be arrested for his pains? Not telling – though a clue might be that Jack will be back for the seventh series of 24 on Sky One early next year.