I was flipping through the channels yesterday when I saw Hurk from The Wire as a cop so I stayed. Turns out he was beating the shit out of Jack Bauer. I ended up watching the rest of the episode and the episode after and found it to be a fairly entertaining show. I have not watched any of the other seasons, so catch me up on what I need to know. Primarily, who is that women that went all psycho at the end when she cut that guys hand off? It seems pretty obvious that she was from a previous season. And what exactly is Bauers status with CTU and the US government? Anything else I should know?
Rene was an FBI agent who was Jack’s girl Friday for most of last season (in Washington DC). That was her first year on the show.
Jack introduced her to the Order of the Torturer by applying “enhanced interrogation” to a suspect every third episode or so, much to her indignation. She was an Ends-doesn’t-justify-the-Means type of bleeding heart, but by the end of the season, she was slowly coming around to his way of thinking and thumbscrews.
But she’s not Jack, so while he can be righteously indignant about her actions (heck, he chopped a guy’s head off in the first episode a few years ago), she’s clearly “over the edge” in her methods. Dark Side Rene vs. Reluctant Grandpa Mellow may be the dynamic for the next ep or two, until Jack finds his sea legs again.
How much of what’s gone on in previous seasons do you need to know is an interesting question. Maybe it’s not all that much.
Jack is all about getting results, rules be damned. He’s very loyal to the people who are closest to him, but that’s a small group, and at least one of 'em gets dead each season. His cell phone works absolutely everywhere, and never needs charging. Similarly Jack never pauses to eat or drink. I know saving the world from certain doom is intense, but surely someone could hand the guy a sandwich.
When we first met Reneé she was a “by the book” FBI agent. “We have to call for backup. We have to wait for a positive ID” that sort of thing. By the end of the day she spent with Jack she’d come around to his way of thinking
At CTU they say “protocols” a lot. There’s often a mole there. My early prediction for this season is that it will turn out to be Arlo. (My predictions are mostly wrong).
If you plan to enjoy the show you have to be prepared to suspend quite a bit. I’m a detail oriented person and it irks me a little but at least once a season Jack aquires a vehicle - either from the CTU “motorpool” or by comandeering it, and then leaves it somewhere, getting a ride with someone else, or clinging to the underside of the van with the terrorists in it… Also in the Jackiverse it takes 10 or 15 minutes to get anywhere, by any means. He’s in downtown LA and a lead turns up in Oxnard “I’ll be there in 15 minutes” Across midtown manhattan at rush hour “Don’t question him 'til I get there. See you in 15 minutes” (and there’s always a parking space where Jack needs to be).
It’s in a constant state of flux–he’s in, he’s out, he’s undercover, he’s retired, he’s back in, he’s a prisoner in a foreign country, he’s “dead”, he’s back again, etc. This season, he’s out (again) and planning on flying back to LA that very evening with his daughter and her family.
But I suspect he’s not going to make that flight… (unless the Russians plant a bomb on it for payback). 
And “perimeters”. They are constantly setting up perimeters to catch bad guys. Ironically, in the history of the show the only person to get caught in a perimeter was Jack himself.
Thanks for the info, I’ll be sure and come back with any more questions I might have!
Jack carries a car charger in his sack, so he can top off his cell phone in those 10-15 minute trips (mind you, I have driven crosstown through midtown Manhattan at 2:00am, and it took 3 episodes.*) More importantly than not eating is that Jack can go 24 hours without a single bathroom break. Old guy like him (remember, it’s more than 1 year between seasons - I’m guessing his granddaughter, just conceived on day 7, is 4 or 5 years old now. Good thing Chloe doesn’t age that much between seasons), he should be in there 3-4 times a day for a sit down session.
That’s what we in the business call an exaggeration. It only took 2 episodes.*
**Another exaggeration. It really took about 15 minutes with timed lights and no traffic, something you only get at 2:00am on a Sunday morning - if you’re lucky!
As for Jack’s overall background: In the first several seasons, he was a major player (field operative, then later Head of Field Ops) in CTU – the “Counter Terrorist Unit” – Los Angeles office. First 6 seasons occurred primarily in L.A. (although for a portion of season 3, Jack flew just across the border to Mexico).
For the last few seasons, he’s not been officially part of any agency – but keeps getting sucked back in to the action. Sometimes with reluctant blessing of the head of something or other (like CTU this season, and FBI last season). And at other times – frequently, in fact – he goes rogue and just does what he knows needs doing, orders be damned. Usually he has somebody like Chloe helping in such situations, feeding him necessary intel.
Seasons 1-6 took place in (or were primarily centered in) L.A.
Season 7 took place in Washington D.C.
Now for Season 8, we’re in New York
Oh, and every single President of the United States since Day 1 knows Jack, always takes his calls, and will take anything he says at face value after a dramatic pause.
You forgot “…and is repeatedly subjected to assassination attempts, even when they’re no longer in office.”
One of the most important things to keep in mind is that although CTU seems to make up its plans and strategy as it goes along, the bad guys have contingency plans up the wazoo; no matter what happens to thwart their orginal plan, they have a back-up plan behind that, with the personnel necessary to implement it standing by, and another contingency plan behind that one, with personnel ready, and should that one fail, there is another plan…
Because each season is a few years after the next system, the series moves quickly into the future. So this season is probably around 2023 or so, which would be a nice fanwank for the advanced technology and immortal cell phones.
And Sprint’s 4G map looks even more complete than Verizon’s 3G map.
Just wait until Chloe is called upon to retask a satellite to view the Chinese embassy, and the satellite can not only read heat patterns to identify how many people are inside, but can also tell you what floor they are on. That’s truly advanced technology.
But no matter how advanced things get, nothing is more dangerous than Jack with a pistol and a hacksaw. Puny Renee needed a power tool - she’s not yet in Jack’s league.