Prepare for intensity and savagery

After two seasons of assaults thrown upon him and his loved ones, Jack Bauer is back again ready to kick ass. The FOX hit, 24, is back for its third season; it starts tonight at 9, with as much, if not more, anticipation than last year's premiere.

What elevates this program from mere melodrama to high quality thriller is the show's emotional core, Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) Agent Jack Bauer. He plays the role with an incredible intensity, filling every frame with passion. In one example of such crazed intensity from an episode from last season, Jack savagely leapt to his feet, after being electrocuted, whipped, and beaten by terrorists.

Following the death of his wife at the end of the first season, Jack lost whatever inhibitions of brutality he had. Later, upon, being reluctantly recruited back to CTU to help with the investigation, Jack's first action is to shoot the government's prime witness in cold blood. Sutherland constantly brings himself and the audience to the edge, only leaving the slightest semblances of likeability.

Jack's status as the hero with various anti-hero characteristics works effectively within the universe he inhabits. In dealing with shady informants and CIA and presidential moles, Jack beats up, threatens, and lies his way in his search for the truth. Likewise, 24's writers used Jack's quest for war-stopping evidence as a metaphor for the overall state of the world. One misstep and everyone was done for.

24 was the only show on television to successfully incorporate the new dangers and possibilities of a post 9/11 world regularly into its series' narrative. While other shows, including Alias, make vague references to our generation's watershed event, it became the central plot catalyst for 24's second season.

With a plot arc that moved from the threat of nuclear explosive going off in downtown Los Angeles to the possibility of the President starting a pan-Middle East war due to falsified evidence, the show obliquely criticized US foreign policy on television as similar events were happening in the real world. 24's gimmick -- in which every episode takes place in a real-time hour and each season extends over one twenty-four hour period -- adds even more depth to the show's political commentary.

Previews for this year's season show 24 moving even farther toward being a psychological thriller. Now the head of his division, Jack is up against an ambiguous evil organization trying to develop a biological weapon. The season premiere will also resolve the fate of the President Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) who may or may not have survived an assassination attempt. (Since he figures prominently in most of the promos, it's likely he is in good health.)

Producers have also made the wise decision to incorporate Jack's daughter Kim (Elisha Cuthbert) in a more influential role as a low level analyst in CTU. Last season viewer groaned every time the life and death actions of her father were interrupted by the inconsequential beaming and busty blonde. Over the course of last season's "day," Kim was almost murdered twice, arrested for murder and kidnapping, held as a hostage in an armed robbery, nearly abducted by a freaky recluse, and intentionally flipped over a police car. Not to mention that she dumped her boyfriend. Kim's storylines were basically a parody of 24: melodramatic, uninteresting, and over-the-top.

The show would also be wise to drop Sheri Palmer (Penny Johnson Gerald), the president's ex-wife who has crossed and double-crossed every character on the show to the point of nausea. One has to wonder if Johnson Gerald is as catty as her character, and has a deal with the producers, since she appears at such awkward and random points in the plotlines.

These flaws were just occasional bumps in a show that was consistency the most engrossing and captivating on television. Problems with the second season will probably be irrelevant in the next, as the show radically reinvented itself last year. The show's first season, although very well designed and planned, became at times dull complications in what was essentially a bare bone revenge murder storylines. Things changed last year, as major characters were killed off early on, and the focus of first twelve episodes of the season -- defusing a nuclear bomb -- failed. The show turned the intensity up a notch, and became at once more popular and more engrossing.

All indicators point to continuing improvement in this year's show. 24's structure as a collection of twisting and thrilling hour-long serials has kept producers tight-lipped, but producers have leaked some information. Jack will finally have a formal position of authority, hopefully curtailing all the quarrels and delays brought on by fellow agents in past seasons.

New cast members will be added, including James Badge Gale as a fellow CTU agent. Producers have also not ruled out appearances by surviving characters from previous seasons, including ex-love partners Nina Myers and Kate Warner, who unwillingly became a heroine last season.

Whatever plot lines are developed, 24 looks to keep its mantle as action-packed, engaging, topical, and smart television. Stop watching Karen Cisco or Without a Trace, and instead be shocked and awed by the juggernaut that is 24.