24 Returns, So Do The Formulas

Let's see, Jack's out of CTU? check.
Jack is trying to lead a normal life, get closer with his daughter? Check.
There's a terror threat to a political figure? Check.
There's someone inside CTU who is threatened by an old flame/relative/friend? Check.
A political figure has someone inside their group that is trying to undermine his office? Check
A scorned politician's wife? Check
A new tech geek in CTU who is smarter than everyone and who will, either turn out to be a mole or a casualty? Check.
A new CTU operative who is like a younger Jack Bauer and who will, invariably, wind up working with Jack until he is, most likely, offed? Check.
Someone having their arm sawed off to remove a locked manacle? Check.
An agent willing to do anything to save the nation? Check, only this time, it ain't Bauer.
Chloe is under appreciated, ignored, pissed off and sassy? Check, check, check, check and check for good measure.
There's a moron running things at CTU? check (RIP Bill Buchanan)
Cops working for terrorists when they are supposed to be protecting the target? check

All this is the first two hours.

I expect we'll find many more similarities as the hours mount but, still, the show is entertaining. Jack has yet to show off his bad ass training. He's still sporting his man bag, only this one matches his new leather jacket. He's still The Man but now he's got Renee Walker back and she went from naive, overwhelmed agent to crazy, arm severing loon.

The new CTU agent sucks. He goes from having this thuggish moron accent to sounding as vanilla hollywood blandsville in every scene change.

His fiance has managed to go from being a trailer park queen to some kind of techno goddess who changed her name and avoided the apparently not so intense scrutiny of job placement at CTU.

The location has changed to NYC which, for me, should make things more fun as I can recognize all the exterior shots and see where they filmed but, sadly, instead, it is ruining things for me.

In the first two hours, Jack went from his apartment and took a walk/run a few blocks away. The exterior shots were from a street about a mile and a half away, not a few blocks.

Jack managed to get from Manhattan to Queens, break into a home, find dead bodies, talk to cops, get tasered, get tortured, break free, convince a cop he was a good guy, and head back into Manhattan in under 2 hours. DURING THE MORNING RUSH HOUR.

Anyone who has ever driven in NYC during the morning rush hour can tell you how impossible that is.

Still, we believe. We willingly accept that Jack's cell phone will work underground and never need a charge. We accept that Jack and the other folks on the show can move from location to location without the real nuisance of traffic or people. Jack has saved the nation year in, year out, and, yet, he's not recognizable by the terrorists? He's about to go undercover and the idea that everyone on the planet wouldn't know his face by now is almost laughable. Still, we believe.

Why?

Because it is still one of the most entertaining shows on tv. We know what will happen. We know folks will die. We know Jack will get close, lose the scent, close in again, only to be held back by some pointless side plot. We know Kim will find herself in some moronic situation (hello Johnny Drama and a cougar). We know Chloe will prove to be the smartest person in the room. We know the president will have to make a decision that goes against everything she believes in, AGAIN! and we know that, in the end, we will sit on the edge of our seats, chewing our nails, savoring each and every predictable minute because it's good and it's fun.

There won't be any shocking change to the formula until the show is leaving the airwaves. At that point, all bets are off. Jack might actually die.

Until then?

Keep an eye out. Tony Almeda might return. Hell, we might be so lucky as to see Mandy one more time.