Another long day as ‘24’ returns: Jack is back

This column takes place between the hours of 1 and 2 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 13.

Cue the flashing numbers and the “beep, beep, beep” sound effects.

If you’re scratching your head and prepared to move on to the closest column about handling stormwater, then you don’t realize that I’m alluding to quite possibly my favorite television show of the past few years, “24,” which returned to television this week.

By the time you are reading this column, Jack Bauer, played by the “who knew he was really that good” Kiefer Sutherland, has already endured four hellish hours as he tries to stop yet another wave of terrorism on domestic soil.

The show follows Bauer and the rest of the gang at CTU over the course of one day and each episode represents one hour of that day.

In the past seasons, Jack has stopped an assassination attempt concocted by an old foe played by Dennis Hopper, a nuclear attack, a biological threat and hundreds of nuclear reactor meltdowns.

These attacks have been perpetrated by people from all walks of life including Eastern Europeans, Mexicans, and Muslims, almost always with a little help from some shady Americans.

While a lot of “24” features intense shoot-outs or car chases and intense pursuits through darkened hallways, where “24” really shines is at CTU, the base of operations where interrogations are performed and the information is gathered.

It is here, amongst the glowing computer screens and large screens filled with maps and satellite surveillance, where the fantastic situations that Jack encounters often feel very real.

When the fate of the world hangs in the balance, the viewer begins to ask the tough questions, for instance, “What if this was real?”

If an agent knows that a suspect is lying about something that could help prevent a nuclear attack or meltdown, isn’t torture a necessary alternative?

In a situation that could mean life or death for hundreds of thousands of people, must protocol, international or otherwise, be followed to the smallest detail?

“24” knows the answers in real life are not black and white and so, while Jack almost always gets his man, there are often consequences.

For example, last year’s plot involved a covert extraction of a person from the Chinese embassy in Los Angeles and when Jack’s involvement was found out, the only ways out for him were either serving time in a Chinese prison or faking his death. He chose the latter and this season picks up 18 months later.

For basically being a series of cliffhangers, “24” has given me lots of things to consider when viewing the current political landscape and the war on terrorism.

Granted, the real world isn’t drawn as broadly as the fictional world and the bad guys aren’t always so easily thwarted, but I do find myself hoping that there are real people out there like the gang at CTU — always ready to put in a really long day and get the job done, by any means necessary.