If you think 24’s conflicted FBI agent Renee Walker was put through the wringer in her debut “day” on the job, things get even darker for her in Season 8.

“She comes back pretty damaged from where she ended in Season 7, definitely darker, and she has some stuff going on,” actress Annie Wersching, who plays Walker, teased to TVGuideMagazine.com at Fox’s Fall Eco-Casino party. “There is some really cool stuff happening with her, and it’s so cool that I don’t want to ruin any of it!”

Wersching will say that Renee returns very early on in the day, which she describes as “grittier and more real. I think it being set in New York helps that a little bit, and the actual crisis this year is the closest thing they’ve had to something that could actually happen tomorrow. It isn’t something that the viewers have to buy into. It’s very real.”

Leading man Kiefer Sutherland’s contract is up at the end of Season 8, and he’s suggested that the show’s format might be strong enough to carry on without Jack Bauer. What does Wersching think?

“The concept could work,” she said. “It could be one day in the life of a firefighter saving something. [But] honestly, because I was a fan of the show [before joining the cast] it’s hard for me to imagine 24 without Jack Bauer. I think the same type of show could work. Maybe a spin-off with a different twist or something. But I don’t know if fans would be into it.”