page_title: Critical reaction to 24
section_title: Season 7
hierarchical_section_title: Critical reaction to 24 / Critical reception / Season 7
caption_attribution_description: English: Actress Annie Wersching at TV series 24's season 7 finale screening at Wadsworth Theatre, Los Angeles, California.
context_page_description: The Fox Network television series 24 has won numerous Emmy Awards for its technical and artistic merits, and become part of American popular culture. Jack Bauer and David Palmer are seen as iconic television characters. It has also been heavily criticized for justifying the misuse of government authority and the use of torture, and accused of being racially insensitive.
context_section_description: Season Seven received mixed reviews from critics, and is regarded as a marked improvement over the disappointing Season Six. The show had been off the air for eighteen months, leaving critics and fans curious of the premiere. Producers re-tooled the show over break, relocating the series from Los Angeles to Washington D.C., closing the Counter-Terrorist Unit, and, in the most controversial move, bringing fan favorite character Tony Almeida back from the dead. Time magazine said the most burning issue of the new season was "Does 24 still suck and if it does, how much?", and called the series "not as conservative as popularly portrayed". The reviewer did mention that "there are hopeful signs" for the new season. Tim Goodman wrote of Season Seven that "even before his inauguration, Barack Obama has brought change to America. He's made "24" pointless".
  The new character of Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) received rave reviews in Season 7, even getting to be called the "Jack-girl" by fans. She has been seen as a highlight of the season. Cherry Jones won Best Supporting Actress at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards for her role as President Allison Taylor in Season Seven.
  The New York Times compared the opening of Season Seven to "being in a bar with a football superstar, eagerly awaiting tales of gridiron glory, only to have to listen to him drone on and on about the hypocrisy and injustice of steroid testing."  USA Today called the eighteenth episode of the season "more than just a pivotal episode; it's a nearly ideal one, with some longed-for resolution, an emotional reconciliation, an exciting central sequence, and at least one surprise that's sure to leave you gasping", and asking "why can't Jack come back from near death? His show sure has." 
  The A.V. Club said the opener was "off to a terrific start", and "connects to earlier seasons without being slavishly committed to recreating them". After the season ended, The A.V. Club once again remarked, "The last months have been by turns ridiculous, exciting, irritating, and even a little thought provoking; and if nothing else, they've proven there's still some juice left in the formula. The season closes with Jack unconcious [sic] on a hospital bed, and Kim telling him she isn't ready to let go just yet. After a day like this, I mostly agree with her." 
  DVD Verdict said of the seventh season, "When looked at from start to finish, 24 Season Seven isn't the disaster everyone feared...but it certainly isn't the fresh new champion that people were hoping for, either. It's somewhere in the middle, with a very excellent two-thirds giving way to an awful, awful finish. The series has always prided itself on subverting people's expectations, and in this case it did: I expected it to end with a cool storyline and some memorable villains...and the writer's subverted my hopes by churning out five lame hours of television that cast a shadow over all the good things this season had going for it."
caption: Annie Wersching, who portrayed Renee Walker, was one of the most well-received characters of Season Seven.
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