24 writer and executive producer David Fury has responded to a fan on Twitter saying they aim to make the story more personal and smaller in scale, similar to the first season.
“@rwhiting: Will this season see a return to the smaller-scale, more personal plots / threats, as in season 1?” That's our desire.
— David Fury (@TheDavidFury) July 4, 2013
Although this is promising news for longtime fans of 24, keep in mind that Kiefer Sutherland said the exact same thing about Season 8 and by the fourth episode the writers had already introduced another massive threat (nuclear fuel rods). We won’t know for sure whether this pans out until May 2014 – but keep your fingers crossed!