… because for a surprise-heavy show like this, just about anything you say could be a spoiler.  Even the overriding plot arc for the second six episodes (it’s a 12-ep. limited series) results from a major plot twist.

So, the less said, the better.  This was a good, strong miniseries, though — I’d rate it at 8 out of 10.  Die-hard fans like me actually like to think of it wistfully as Season 9, as that would suggest the show can be resurrected.  (Can it?  I’ve read some confusing things about whether we will see Jack Bauer again, either on the big screen or on tv.)

At first, Day 9 gets off to a slow start.  I even worried that it wouldn’t live up to my expectations.  It seems like a loose, unstructured jumble of narratives that confusingly inform us that Chloe is now a bad guy, along with Jack.  (And it would be great if they could explain to new and returning viewers a little more about Jack’s ostensible fall from grace at the end of Season 8; that was four years ago, and I have a narrow attention span.)

The script spends too little time letting viewers identify with the most imperiled protagonist — the hapless American technician wrongly implicated in treason and murder.  (I don’t even remember his name.)  It’s a nightmarish scenario, especially in the age of The Patriot Act, and it could have done more to pull the viewer in.  But we spend too much time on less intense subplots like President James Heller’s (William Devane) advancing Alzheimer’s disease, and Audrey’s (Kim Raver) lackluster marriage.

These are more like story arcs for a Lifetime movie-of-the-week, and not “24.”  It’s great when everyday human drama underscores the main thriller narrative of “24” by being intertwined with it — that’s something that makes “24” so damn cool, although few people realize it.  But here, at the start, the main plotline faltered while the softer stuff seemed to take center stage.

But then things pick up — we’re rewarded with all of the action, pathos, intrigue, quick pacing, great villains and unexpected twists that made “24” the best thriller on television.  It has a uniformly strong cast.  Kiefer Sutherland is as badass as ever, even if he is approaching 50.  And even he is outshined at times by Devane.  That guy is positively magnetic.  I’ll bet Devane has never given a poor performance in any movie, ever.  He was so likable and believable as a president that I wanted to vote for him — really.  Yvonne Strahovski was a surprise stand-out as Chick-Jack (she even has blond hair!), and the script does a good job suggesting she might become his successor.  So, too, was Michael Wincott as Adrian Cross — that guy is terrific.  “Day 9” ultimately lives up to the high standards set by past seasons.

One final quibble — just as with “The X Files,” this show, in its ninth year, begins to show strong evidence of recycled plotlines.  The sadder twists, which sometimes seemed shoehorned in to depress longtime viewers, are things that we have definitely seen in past seasons.  I really want to say more, but … spoilers.