Fans of the television series “24” will have a little taste of the show this Sunday, when the two-hour episode “Redemption” premiers. According to TV Guide’s website, “Redemption” is the two-hour movie that will connect seasons 6 and 7 of “24” after the show’s long hiatus following the writer’s strike.

The episode is action packed and full of plot, and follows a few different story lines. The main story is that of Jack Bauer and the work he is doing, helping out in an African school with Carl Benton, played by Robert Carlyle.

Bauer seems a little subdued and sad throughout the episode, but he is still pretty much a badass. He is in the fictional African country of Sangala, and he seems to be trying to escape problems from his past. From the beginning of the episode, escaping his issues is deemed impossible because of a subpoena he is served in the beginning, urging him to go back to the United States.

Bauer is pretty certain in his decision to not return to the U.S., until something comes up that makes it almost impossible for him to not go back. Bauer seems to have a soft spot for kids, because saving the children that his friend Benton has worked so hard to help becomes tantamount when the issue of child soldiers comes up, even in the face of an ultimate tragedy.

The only thing that seemed a little off in the episode is that maybe Bauer isn’t as scrappy as he had been in seasons past, and although he makes up for it later in the episode, he does get the crap kicked out of him at one point. Perhaps spending time with all of the children at the African school brought out a little too much of his kinder gentler side, although as said before, he makes up for his feebleness later on.

Another major plot point of the episode has to do with the inauguration of the new American president, Allison Taylor, who is played by Cherry Jones. President-elect Taylor seems to be everything you would wish for in a mother or even mother-in-law, so we’ll see how her sweet disposition holds up in season seven. What is shown in this episode is that she cares for not only the American people, but also those in other countries, and will not stand for poor ethical behavior.

There are some issues in this episode that are pretty real, like the recruitment of children in Africa as child soldiers, revolutionary presidential elections and a general distrust in the government. The most horrifying of the issues was the one of the child soldiers, because it was heartbreaking to see little boys, some appearing as young as six years old, being trained to shoot guns they can barely hold up and being urged to commit murder. One boy is even shown as being dazed at the end of the show, refusing Bauer’s help because he is so brainwashed by the Sangalen army.

It was also interesting to see a woman being sworn in as president, especially after the recent presidential race and election that we just had a few weeks ago.

Hopefully this episode will be the kick-start to an exciting new season of “24”.

Stephanie Dumm can be reached at [email protected]