24 Season 6 Prequel

We have to have this bit of information on the ruthlessness of the Chinese, as Jack goes silent despite the beatings and torture he endures. He is whipped and stabbed and prodded. It will be interesting to see what is left of him as this next season will feature him again.

Going over past reviews, I ran across the one I wrote for 24 back when it first started, and trying to figure out what my first review for 2007 should be, it was definitely a no-brainer.

WOW. Back then, I thought that this was one of the smartest, snappiest, wildest rides you could have on television, and it always managed to keep your mind racing as fast as your pulse as Jack Bauer got in and out of scrape after scrape after scrape, sometimes barely managing to survive by the skin of his teeth, while dealing with whatever crisis was afoot. I was also very afraid that a series this good would never be allowed to last or find the following it deserved.

THAT WAS FIVE YEARS AGO. Five "really bad days" ago for Agent Bauer, who has in the period between then and now seen the brutal deaths of his wife, his friends, his co-workers and scores of people he was close to, or was getting close to; he's been addicted to, then kicked a drug habit; killed dozens of people himself - some who absolutely deserved it, while a few others did not; seen a president assassinated and seen the corruption, greed and treason behind that horrific event taint the highest levels of power in Washington; witnessed both biological AND nuclear terrorist attacks on American soil and was instrumental in making sure that they didn't become worse than they were; become estranged to his daughter (though since Kim frequently got on my nerves, I didn't see this as exactly a real bad thing), and for the "cherry on top", seen his own place of work - the offices of CTU itself - blown to smithereens.

I think that if they just did a highlight reel of the best and most harrowing moments of this show, they'd have to mail nitroglycerine tablets to all the fans to prevent heart attacks! And now here we are, at the beginning of Season Six, having been left all these months with the nightmarish image of Jack literally having been kidnapped, tortured and shanghaied on "a slow boat to China", a delayed punishment for both real and perceived transgressions he committed against the Chinese government while preventing yet another unthinkable catastrophe.

Nothing he's gone through before has ever left him unscarred or unchanged in body, soul or mind, and that goes just as well for the people around him. What fresh challenges, what terrors await us when he shows up this time, in a series that sometimes seems to cut way too close to home with its depiction of a world where negotiations between nations seem to be expedited more easily by bullets and bombs than vigorous diplomacy? I certainly know as much as you do...and like all the fans reading this, I sure as hell can't wait to find out!

No-frills appetizer for season 6; Jack's being tortured for information by the Chinese, there's a sudden rescue operation, and a final twist (trying not to give away spoilers). It's obviously best seen before watching the new season; and I missed it ten years ago, so some of the shock/thrill is diminished in seeing it now as a series footnote.

But it does the job of amping you up for what's coming, and that's really the main objective.

7/10

Excluding the introduction, the Season 6 prequel take place approximately seven months after Day 5 and thirteen months before Day 6, or about eight years after Day 1.

Jack is being tortured with electric shock by several guards. The supervisor Wu San is concerned and informs Cheng Zhi that they are still unable to extract information from him regarding a Chinese government agent who they believe is working for the United States. Cheng disregards the warning and tries again to force Jack to identify whether Hong or Li is the American informant; Jack remains silent, and is thrown back into his cell.

Shortly thereafter, a white man with covert operations gear enters the cell after the muted sound of sound-suppressed gunfire. He is followed by a second soldier: it is a rescue operation. The first man assures Jack that he will be safe soon, and even looks at a photo to confirm it is him.

They lead him through an outdoor complex to a concealed vehicle after shooting a pair of sentries. After a brief car chase between the American agents and Chinese military, they manage to evade the Chinese and come to a dark field where the men tell Jack that they will have a transport ready to pick him up shortly. The two soldiers then summon a man by the name of Hong Wai, who had been concealed behind wall, to greet Jack. Hong Wai is immediately recognizable as one of the men that Jack had been questioned about earlier, regarding the mole in their government.

As Jack flinches and nods in recognition of Hong, several flood lights come on, and Chinese military vehicles swarm on the scene as well as hidden guards appear from the bushes. Cheng Zhi walks into the field and thanks Bauer for his help in identifying Hong, who he had apparently suspected all along.

Jack discovers that he has been set up by Cheng. Zhi then executes Hong with a single shot to the head, and thanks the mercenaries for their role in the set-up, promising them that money will be transferred to their Swiss bank accounts. The guards are then ordered to return a distraught Jack to his cell where he will continue to be held prisoner.

I have just this minute finished watching the first 4 episodes of the new series, and without giving anything away, I am happy to report that this series looks to be just as exciting as its 5 predecessors. Excellent! Not to be missed.

I admit that half way through the first episode I was more than a little upset, but by the end of the episode I was more than happy with where the story looked to be going.

And, with all the previous series I was completely wrong about where the story was going.

However, for those of you out there that have not seen some or all of the previous series, I strongly recommend you go back and watch all of them in order. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Like millions of others out there, I know that Jack Bauer is probably the

Welcome back Jack.