'24' Season Eight { warning -- may contain spoilers! }

‘24’ remains the only show of its kind, yet after eight seasons it is not the formula that seems to be suffering, but the characters. It was not until the end of the sixth episode (and therefore the completion of a fourth of this season’s episodes) that I felt life stirring.

It is in this episode that Jack Bauer reprises his role as a generally dangerous person to associate with if you happen to be on the wrong side of a misunderstanding.

What is more worrying is the host of uninteresting characters. Due to the fact that a large percentage of characters on the show wind up dead, new people must be introduced all the time, but this season pales in comparison to others (for example, the the introduction of Mr. and Mrs. Logan in Season Five). The villains appear more vibrant than the protagonists to an alarming extent. The new CTU agents are too flat to be analyzed. As a viewer, I felt little to no relation to Dana Walsh, Arlo Glass, or Brian Hastings--and only a smidgen of empathy for Cole Ortiz, the Tony-esque character who appears the most ready to trust in Jack’s judgment. Dana Walsh’s tangent with her extremely troubled ex-boyfriend begs some questions (the most important being how CTU and numerous other government agencies couldn’t have known about her past) but for the most part only induces wincing and groaning.

The returning characters have somehow misplaced their appeal, or have been written to such an extent that they are no longer recognizable. Jack appeared tired and defeated until Episode Six, which is acceptable after watching him battling villains and grunts for so many seasons. Yet after all he’s been through, it’s difficult to imagine that he would be that ready to walk away from the looming threat Chloe O’Brian pieces together. Chloe retains the snarkiness that endeared her to ‘24’ fans everywhere, but it does not fit the rigid, frigid atmosphere of the new CTU.

This season seems to be full of particularly gruesome details. There have been a host of shocking moments of violence before, but the tally grows this season with each episode, especially after Renee demonstrates her problem solving skills. Here’s hoping (for the bad guys’ sake) that she finds less painful solutions in the future.