Character is back. *24 spoilers*

Season Five was the most disappointing season of 24 that I have seen yet. I was ready to stop watching the show because of the horrendous lack of imagination that the writers exhibited for that season. I had lost faith in their ability to produce 24 episodes that matched up to those of the previous season. Day 6, so far anyways, has proved to be a return to the character-driven plot that made 24 such a great show to watch in the first place. I just wish it could have happened sooner.

A year ago they told us that the first ten minutes of the four hour premierathon would change our world. Well, they did, and for the better. Unfortunately, the writers' bloodlust was not slaked by killing David Palmer, Michelle Dessler, and quite nearly, Mr. Almeida. They followed up their assassinations with the mid-season deaths of Edgar Stiles and Tony Almeida.

If they had stopped in the beginning, I could have forgiven them. I loved David Palmer's character, but he had become too monolithic. The writers couldn't do that much with him and still have his character intact, so it was best to get rid of him and see brother Wayne come to the fore. I can't speak too much for Michelle Dessler, since I haven't seen too much of her beyond season 4 (I still haven't seen season 3).

I was quite aggravated, however, when Edgar and Tony met their ends. Edgar, while sometimes annoying, was a wonderful character. Stiles represented a great conflict of loyalties; one to his family and friends, one to his career, and the other one towards the utilitarian "right-thing-to-do." He was doggedly loyal to Chloe in almost a romantic way, and most people I know were hoping that Chloe would ditch the jerks she associated with for the loving bundle of goodness that was Edgar Stiles. Visit IMDb to see just what the writers were going for in the season when they offed one of the best characters they had written. An awful excuse, if you ask me.

Tony's death was even more shocking. Henderson's poorly-written revival showed just the depths that the writers were willing to dive to in order make the audience feel vulnerable. Tony may have been the most believable character on 24. Tony returned to CTU in season 4 from what was obviously a hard time, and the viewer watched as Tony poured beer in his trademark Chicago Cubs mug at 1 or so in the afternoon. Tony also juggled personal convctions and job responsibilities even more than Edgar, and had so much potential. But the authors killed him anyway.

So why did I decide to drag everyone through sludge of Day 5 all over again? To show how far the writers have come since that abysmal season.

Jack is a real character again. Earlier he was the monolithic defender of the mission, who would stop at nothing to achieve it. Now Jack is broken, physically and emotionally. The viewer is informed quite quickly that Jack hasn't spoken a single word in two years. His hands are covered with acid burns, and his back reveals a host of gruesome scars. One of my favorite scenes was when Jack was interrogating a terrorist and declares that he knows nothing. Al-Assad walks up, plunges a knife in the knee of the terrorist and gets the information. Jack stands there, painfully reminded of his own torture, and realizes that he's lost his knack for counter-terrorism and must rely on a former terrorist more than ever before. Instances like this dotted the landscape of the premier. Jack's reaction to his own (probably fatal) shooting of Curtis showed his lack of control. Jack's constant struggle with his experiences in China will provide a nice counterpoint to his usual "get the mission done" attitude.

Wayne Palmer will also make a great presidential character. Already he's expressed doubt in his own abilities. Whereas David Palmer followed the "We don't negotiate terrorists" typical America jargon, Wayne has negotiated with one and pardoned another. Wayne is split between listening to the rational Karen Hayes while the Chief of Staff fights for the president's attention as well. With all of this character conflicts surrounding him, we can hope for a real character sitting in the Oval Office after that loser Logan.

This season of 24 began in the costliest failure that Jack, Wayne, and CTU have ever made. This will hopefully be a good season.