Of course, the lone, rule-breaking rogue is an action-genre stalwart, but these aren’t standard-issue rogues. On The A-Team, Hannibal and his band were being chased by the Army, and Hawkeye brewed hooch in his still. On these new shows, though, the essential clash isn’t between war and peace, or conformity and rebellion, but between waffling and results. And the real bad guys aren’t the terrorists—who appear like paper targets and get aerated with a few controlled bursts—but the apparatchiks, the hemmers and hawers, the gosh-darn poll takers. (This might explain why NBC’s E-Ring hasn’t caught fire: It’s about determined, upstanding bureaucrats, not currently a popular, or plausible, hybrid.) The latest wrinkle on 24 is that CTU is—gasp!—being absorbed into the Department of Homeland Security. Imagine the paperwork.
The war in Iraq has murky origins, vague goals, and no apparent end. So why not sink back and enjoy an hour of clear objectives and crisp execution? On TV, it’s all action, all kill-shots, all results. Pop, pop, pop—problem solved.
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