There are a lot of negative things you could say about the 24 franchise. You could indict its politics, lament the jingoism, oppose the valorization of torture, and take issue with the rampant xenophobia of the show. To varying degrees, all of those things are true. But for a show that aired on Fox for nine years, with a Kiefer Sutherland in the leading role no less, these ideological hiccups seem to be par for the course. To criticize those things by simply making an account of them might be picking the low hanging fruit. For me, what has been more interesting and compelling is attempting to salvage something from 24's "trashcan of ideology" (my use of the phrase self-consciously departing from Slavoj Zizek's) and see what is of value to me. 24 always had a number of formal strengths that 24: Legacy appears to share. Whether it is fantastic plotting, thrilling action sequences or... well, that might've been it?
24: Legacy seems, immediately, far more conceptually rich than its predecessor. Replacing Kiefer Sutherland is Corey Hawkins playing Eric Carter. Though his name is a little less unique than Jack Bauer (Bauer is a name that delights the ears and seems more suited to the realm of fantasy, as are all the events in 24), he steps into Sutherland's shoes with firm footing. Hawkins's pathos and intensity are consistent with Sutherland's as he tells a fellow soldier, "I know this country let you down... but Bin Khalid's men are after the strongbox... so WHERE IS IT!??!?!?!?!"
Carter, the character, is developed as quickly as the plot moves. His wife, Nicole's, anxiety about his PTSD turns into fundamental questions about who or what he has become returning from war. She confides in Carter's brother, Issac, "after seeing him kill those two men today, I realized it's not PTSD. He misses it. He needs it. The life he says he wants with me will never be enough for him." The scene is so riveting, and I simultaneously thought "well of course, he's a soldier... and in the imaginary of the show, a hero" and "well of course, he's the protagonist of a television series that has a plot which demands something of the characters that inhabit it." So for both narrative and meta reasons, this early case of telling rather than showing (a narrative misstep under the usual circumstances) adds a great deal of texture to Carter. The question of what the disposition of the soldier is, and what place these violent people have in the peaceful world they're trying to create, is a wonderful one to explore. However, most works of fiction come down in the same place: the peaceful world anyone fights for is an unreachable fantasy.
The fast moving plot is the 24 bullet train that should be familiar to anyone. In this case, perhaps we can mix metaphors and think of a train of literal bullets. And those trains are a wonder to behold. This episode is filled with mesmerizing action sequences, whether it is Nicole dropping a mirror from a window (and subsequently dropping a body herself) to enable an escape for Carter from capture or Carter rolling a enormous cylinder down a hill in a construction site to begin a dynamic gunfight.
And I haven't even gotten to the striking scene of Issac's projects. Oh, did I neglect to mention Eric's brother is a powerful drug dealer in command of his own pseudo-army? And that yet another source of (totally uncompelling) drama is Issac dated Eric's wife Nicole before she got married? As Eric drives up to the overdetermined, embellished site of urban warfare and drug commerce, I couldn't help but cringe. And yet, I can only hold out hope for some possibility. Will Issac be more than he appears? Or will the site of urban conflict and international conflict simply conflate, as the so-called terrorists lead a siege on Issac's stronghold? Only time will tell. But for now, it adds yet another language of violence to a show already saturated with it.
I guess I'm just a sucker for a tight plot filled with twists. But I really like this first episode. I find myself immediately attached to Eric Carter and anticipating the result of the seeds of discord sown in this episode. When Nicole expresses her concern about whether the picturesque domestic life she plans with Eric is enough for him, I can't help but root against her. I'm hoping to watch Eric intervene in geopolitical intrigue for the next nine years.
