COMMENTARY
More challenges ahead for Jack Bauer of '24'

By Brian Lambert
Knight Ridder News Service

•	'24' Season premiere 8 tonight Fox

Bauer, played by Kiefer Sutherland, returns tonight in the third season of "24," the best low-rated series on TV. Based on the first two episodes, neither the show, which unfolds in real time, nor Bauer has lost its edge. Never mind that (mini-spoiler alert!) Bauer's third bad day will be complicated by his nasty dope habit and hasn't had time to take a month off with Rush Limbaugh in 12-Step.

To put a little distance between the overlapping conspiracies of seasons one and two, "24's" producers (including Sutherland) have pushed the action ahead three years. President Palmer, more or less recovered from last season's assassination plot — the biotoxic handshake — is up for re-election and back in Los Angeles for a debate.

Simultaneously, a drug kingpin is threatening to unleash a deadly, weaponized virus on Los Angeles with the potential of killing a million people in 24 hours. Since this is far more citizens than will die on a given day from road rage or asphyxiation on the Ventura Freeway, Bauer and the Counter Terrorist Unit are granted presidential "carte blanche" to do whatever they believe necessary to find the killer spores in the next day. (Actually, the action begins at 1 p.m., so the series unfolds over parts of two days.)

While critics have been hip to "24" from the get-go, the show's demanding hour-by-hour structure has made it a tough sell to the public — even to audiences searching for better TV drama.

Last year, Fox "repurposed" "24" on its FX cable channel, giving viewers a second chance each week to catch up with the action. That won't be happening this year. Fox affiliates, who don't appreciate cable diluting the exclusivity of their best prime-time action, have dug in their heels.

With "The X-Files" gone, "24" is Fox's prestige drama — a densely plotted show that pumps as much credible suspense and tension into its hour as most feature films, and with enough production value to frequently make you forget you're watching a television series.

As a fan, though, I continue to imagine how good "24" would be if it dared to jettison the office soap-opera filler and concentrate all its considerable talent and energy on the pursuit of bad guys. My attention wanders every time one of the stunningly attractive CTU operatives wipes a perfectly moussed lock away from her eye and breathes conspiratorially into the ear of a computer geek who looks like he was recruited from an Armani fashion show.

This season starts off with a bang — a body riddled with the aforementioned heinous toxin is dumped at an L.A. health center. But as the action ignites, so are all sorts of personal minidramas.

The newlyweds, Tony and Michelle, want to be transferred to CIA in Langley together, but only Tony has been offered a job. Then, of course, Jack, who has lost a wife to "the job," has no end of relationship issues of his own. Kate (Sarah Wynter), with whom Jack had a moment last season, is just one example.

I'm sure someone cares about all this, but I don't. When two heavily armed Counter Terrorism Unit agents jump into a car and head off to locate a bag of plague and super-duty bad guys in six hours or less, I'm thinking they should be spending their time coordinating with backup or figuring out who is going to be covering, not trying to rationalize their romance.

"24" is back. Bauer looks ready to bust heads and a couple of his own gaskets. I'm happy he's here.