24 Review:
"6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m." and "7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m." (Episodes 7.11 and 7.12)

"And you, sir, are weak—unwilling and unable to look evil in the eye and deal with it!" As he's being taken into custody, this is what Jack yells at the senator (AKA: the dad from That '70s Show) holding the torture hearings against him, shortly after he nearly cracks the politician's slimey chief of staff, a man in the know about the next terror plot. Anyone watching 24 the past seven years and viewing it as mere entertainment may be slightly at odds with Day Seven, as the show and its creators continue shoving back at its critics in the most forceful and unabashed response yet. Is "coerced" interrogation always a black-and-white issue? Hard to say.

But there was plenty of action last night. The extremely deprived audience of 24 has had to wait seven agonizing weeks, but it was finally treated to another two-hour night, the first since the back-to-back night, four-hour premiere. The good news is that our favorite characters made it out alive, but the not-so-good news is there weren't any huge shockers buried within those two hours. There were some moments that came close, while others are potentially materializing, but nothing quite as shocking as last week's teaser implied. If we recall correctly, something was said about this being "the night America will never forget."

Terrorists led by General Juma of Sengala have taken control of the White House in an effort to capture (and probably kill) President Taylor. In the end, they use her daughter as leverage, forcing her to come out of a safe room with Jack. (If only you'd given him one more minute with the traitor...) And, that's where we left off.

Jon Voight reprised his role as the sinister, behind-the-scenes businessman we first saw in the prequel to this season, Redemption. Although not taking more than a couple minutes' screen time, we're led to believe we'll be seeing a lot more of him soon enough. With 12 episodes left (exactly half of the season), there's still a good deal of plot development in waiting. Also, Tony's phone conversation with Bill led to a subtly awkward exchange that may prove foreshadowing down the line. Are we still 100 percent sure he's not hiding something? As previously predicted, Chloe and Janis (Janeane Garofalo) clash over computer stuff, leading to the former's detainment. It was only a matter of time, and though we aren't keeping score, we're pretty sure their battle is not over.  

There's no doubt it was a solid couple hours, full of the stuff we love about 24. But 12 hours in, and we still haven't had that "wow" moment where everything stops. Like a moment of silence/mourning for some catastrophic event or premature death of a staple character. It could be building to something big in the latter half, and all logic says it will happen. When is anyone's best guess, and that's what makes this show so engaging.