Jack's Back-ish...

As history dictates, the even-numbered series of 24 are always a bit rubbish - and I'm very worried about season six. So far, we've seen it all before. Stupid teenagers getting involved with terrorists who require an important part of their devices to be delivered by someone of little competence. Jack's obsession with torture and willingness to kill colleagues whose three-dimensional character attributes mean they are not simply CTU robots. A fairly rubbish president seemingly at the mercy of a right-wing advisor. Petty squabbling among the CTU operatives. Many fairly dubious Middle Eastern stereotypes who all seem to be terrorists. So far, so blah.

There is some silver lining on the horizon. Finally, four hours after being released from a Chinese torture camp, Jack looks like he might just crack-up this series. One huge dirty bomb's already gone off, so perhaps anything could happen next (though this happened with the nuclear power plant explosions in season four). Regina King has taken on the mantle of Token Feisty Woman extremely well, and the more we see of her, the better. And Karen Hayes and Bill Buchannan make the loveliest couple in 24 history.

Don't get me wrong, I want season six to be every bit as fantastic as the last one - though series five was so demented, its going to take some doing. And now Heroes has arrived in the UK, there's a real danger that slow-burning dramas such as 24 and Lost are going to see rather tired. Let's hope Jack's got a few aces up his sleeve...