Monday, February 06, 2017

24: LEGACY 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Quick Review

24: LEGACY starts with a horrific attack on American soil as Tom Brady hoists yet another Lombardi trophy over a smoldering field of ash and chaos- all hope is lost.

Eric Carter brings his own baggage to 24.
Quickly, the show introduces us to our new hero.  Eric Carter is a former Army Ranger who's unit recovered a box (called a "strong box" by several characters, but really, my 7 year-old niece could pop it open) on some counter-terrorist mission overseas. The show starts out with new terrorists looking for their dead boss' box because it's the key to everything! I assume it contains proof that Tom Brady under-inflated the footballs- the kind of thing that could take down an empire.

To start, it's downright amazing that the United States of America is still in business in this universe.  I can only assume that the government secretly pumped many metric tons of Prozac into the drinking water to maintain some semblance of social order. How else can the good citizens bear to live in 24-land?

I like Eric Carter- he's a professional; Carter picks up on danger very quickly. In that, we have a proper heir to the Jack Bauer legacy (oh, now I get the show's title). Carter gets tipped off to the new danger by his grungy unit comrade, a guy named Grimes (yeah, I know, well "Pigpen" was already taken). Grimes loves heroin and that makes people distrust him- except for Carter, who sends out an alert to the rest of the unit. The other unit members don't respond because they're all dead. Wasting no time, Carter calls up Rebecca Ingram- the former head of CTU- for help. I like Ingram because she's professional; she picks up on danger very quickly. Right out the gates we have people using their brains and getting together to stop the bad guys.

Somewhere in-between all of this, we learn that Carter loves killing too much, according to his wife, Nicole- who confides as much to her ex-boyfriend, a guy who presumably loves selling drugs and killing folks too. This guy is also Carter's older brother. I'm using Wikipedia to write this post- heavily.

It's also notable that Nicole is the character who first liberates the new Jack Sack from Carter's safe in their home. Ah, fresh air! Now, let's start shooting guys! The bag is different from Jack's Jack Sack, but Carter's Jack Sack is a worthy successor. You might be saying "Hey, Jack Sack, why are we calling Carter's bag a 'Jack Sack' when it should be 'Carter Sack?'" My answer to that is- shut the hell up, I own this domain name and it's gonna stay that way!

Let's see, what else? Former CTU director Ingram is married to Senator Jimmy Smits, played by Jimmy Smits, a former Senator on STAR WARS EPISODE III and ROGUE ONE. Smits' constituents, along with himself, get blown up in EPISODE IV. Let's HOPE Smits' run as a senator in this show does not end with his planet being destroyed.

CTU is still as dysfunctional as ever. Ingram, who no longer works for CTU, is using one of its analysts, a helpful guy in glasses named Andy, to help Carter find Grimes and his box of plot device in time. Enter a nosy analyst, Mariana Stiles, cousin of Edgar Stiles (RIP), a former, nosy analyst at CTU. Stiles uncovers the "unauthorized" operation Ingram is running and tells the new CTU boss all about it. The new CTU boss is a guy who played Jay Garrick on THE FLASH.  Ingram doesn't trust this guy because she thinks he ratted out Carter's unit to the terrorists.  Obviously, this man is innocent because he's the first person suspected of being the mole. Not knowing the rules of 24 plots,  Ingram tasers the crap out of the guy when he confronts her about using CTU pens and pads for unauthorized purposes. CTU takes its office supplies very seriously.

On the kill count, Carter proves his worth when he finds Grimes at an obvious hobo hideout- the rail yards. The terrorists close in on Carter and Grimes as they learn the thing that the bad guys want is a... THUMB DRIVE! On the thumb drive are the names and favorite ice cream flavors of all the sleeper cell members in the US. Before you can say "Rocky Road," the bad guys chase the good guys through some tunnels and up to a work site that has a HUGE storm drain section hovering over them. Carter shoots at the strap holding the storm drain and it rolls down the ramp, killing one bad guy while giving Carter cover to take down the rest with a gun and piece of rebar.

It was an impressive action sequence- I liked how Carter didn't hoof it out of there when the storm drain started rolling towards the bad guys. Most people would have run for safety but Carter decided he wanted to kill more. I guess his wife was right when she said "Eric likes killing people." That's the kind of person we need as the main character on 24. While Carter is doing that, Grimes swipes the thumb drive and runs away (he doesn't like killing and is therefore a stinking coward). Grimes calls Carter on what was his 3rd burner phone in this one hour of real-time to say "If you want this thumb drive, you gotta pay me." I think Carter is going to slap him when they meet up next.

I'm okay with this new version of 24. Sure, Bauer is the ultimate human weapon, but the writers have done him no favors in the last two seasons. I lost a lot of enjoyment seeing Bauer being shoved into ridiculous situations by writers who ran out of ideas for a hero who deserved better. They needed a clean slate, and so did we, the viewers. Carter is off to a good start. Let's get that man a hacksaw.

9 comments:

Granny Annie said...

What? When? Where? I did not know about this until now and it seems I have missed the first episode. Can't imagine it without Jack though. Damnit!

TheJackSack said...

Hi Annie!

Sorry, I should have put out an APB on the premiere episode. I hope you can catch it on Hulu or FOX's website, which has it here: http://www.fox.com/24-legacy

Tonight is the second episode, so even if you don't watch the first in time, everything that I posted above covers the main plot points. Nothing major happened, lots of set-ups.

As always, thank you for stopping by! One of the best parts of this show is reconnecting with you. I hope everything is good in your world. :)

Granny Annie said...

I recorded last night's episode 2 and found that Fox is replaying episode 1 on Saturday so I have that set to record also and will wait to watch both then. Glad you are back at the Jack Sack. I have stopped raising chickens. Plus Jack Bauer my Counter Terrorist Rooster finally passed away. He got to large a harem to take care of. LOL

TheJackSack said...

Sorry to hear that Jack Bauer has left you- at least he lived a full, hen-filled life! Now that you're without chickens, do you have any pets? I still have my cat, Clementine. She's my little buddy, so happy to have her. She doesn't approve of me blogging though, she wants me to stop staring at a computer. Hey, it's only for a few more weeks! This is fun getting back into these old routines. I hope you enjoy the show!

Michael Vain said...

I was pleasantly surprised by how good these first 2 episodes were. I think it's funny that the first person who pulled a Jack Bauer move was the former director of CTU when she taxed the current director.

There is a good supporting cast here and I'm looking forward to seeing Tony Almeida.

The relevant question is...what sack is Eric running around with?

Granny Annie said...

You did yourself proud with this review. I agree that Carter's Sack or Carter's Bag would not be a good title for this blog but they could write a song called Carter's Got a Brand New Bag. If you keep up these reviews I'll probably keep watching the show it ain't bad

Unknown said...

What is the name of the backpack?

Michael Moorefield said...

So what is brand and model of the sling pack he carries??

Unknown said...

Looks similar to a hazard 4 plan B bag

Post a Comment