The Following Takes Place Between 5am and 6am

This Post contains spoilers for 24 Season 6. 

Most hardcore 24 fans look back on season 6 as sort of a lost season, where the writers let the story get too big and convoluted to the point that it went into self parody range. I remember trying desperately to like season 6 as a whole while all my friends talked about how it was just awful. In retrospect they were right, from Wayne Palmer being President to moles, multiple villains, CTU getting invaded AGAIN and the whole Audrey and the chinese storyline being sort of tacked on at the end when the initial threat ended, the season as a whole was by far the weakest of the show’s 8 years. For 24 fans, the writers strike was actually a blessing in that it allowed the writers time to go back and rework the show, its characters and its plot into what became season 7, which I would argue is the most successful of the later seasons, but that’s for another post. 

So, with so much wrong with season 6 as a whole, this finale was about par for the course with the rest of the season, with the climactic final battle looking and feeling more like the final level of a shoot’em up video game then the once intelligent and tight show that was 24. I think the writers started to get a sense towards the end that things had gotten to the point of silliness and so, in the final minutes of the season, after most of the strands are tied up one way or another, we are given a sobering final scene where Jack, who has only just returned a day earlier from 2 years of torture at the hands of the chinese, is forced to deal with the betrayal and abandonment by the government that has asked so much of him over the years. I felt this was a particularly brilliant note to end the show on, finishing the larger than life plot of the season and then ending it with a completely character driven scene where Jack is finally able to express himself. 

I won’t talk about the ridiculousness of the whole Jack’s evil family storyline since it was something I thought was stupid from the beginning, but I will say that it did play nicely into the final scene. Jack having been betrayed by his family, looked elsewhere for a father figure, only to have those people take advantage of him as well. The end of Season 6 finds Jack a lost man who finds his loyalties tested after yet another betrayal. I think one of the biggest problems for the show in seasons 4 5 and 6 was the lack of Character development on Jack’s part but thankfully, in that last scene they brought it back.

One last thing I like to point out about this episode before finishing up the entry is the scene where Morris and Chloe are talking and Chloe tells Morris she’s pregnant. Aside from the fact that this little plot device seemed so forced and uneccessarily just stuck in at the finale, there was one little gem that always got to me. After Chloe tells him she’s pregnant, morris responds by saying “You mean like, with child?” and Chloe replies, “Yes, that’s usually how it works.” What I loved about that was this was the exact same exchange that Jack had with Terri during his final conversation with her at the end of season 1. It was a cute nod to an earlier season that I, being the huge 24 nerd that I am, greatly appreciated. 

Best Moment of The Finale:

In a mediocre finale of a lackluster season, this one’s pretty easy, it goes to the final 10 minutes of the episode wherein Jack appears at the Heller house to get Audrey back and finally tell former Secretary of Defense James Heller how he feels. I think what makes this scene so great was how un-24 like it felt. It is very slow, just Heller and Jack talking and there is hardly any music throughout their exchange. This was effective in that once the music came back on, it was noticeable though still very understated. 

This scene was all about Jack finally being forced to deal with everything that happened over the day but also how he had been treated for the last 3 seasons. He felt betrayed and used and he was done with it.

“Earlier today, you said that I was cursed, that everything I touched ended up dead or ruined. How dare you. The only thing I did, the only thing that I have ever done was what you and people like you have asked of me.” 

That pretty much sums it up right there. He then goes on to see Audrey, but realizes that he can’t take her with him the way he wants and finally understands that the best thing for her is to let her go. 

He says his goodbye and walks out of the house over to the cliffs over the sea. Our final image is of Jack standing at the edge, a man completely lost. For the first time we get a fade to a silent clock and the season was over. It was a chilling and gripping way to end an otherwise just ok season. 

Next time, season 7 followed soon thereafter by a season 8 review and my farewell to 24.

There are only 6 days left until the 24 finale. The clock is about to run out. 

Tick Tock. Tick Tock. Tick Tock. 

The Following Takes Place Between 12pm and 1pm

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR 24 SEASON 3

I have said for a long time that I would have been happy if 24 had ended after season 3. Aside from the fact that the 3rd season represented what I consider to be the end of Jack’s main character arc that began in season 1, the finale episode had just about everything a season finale should be and would have been a perfect series finale. 

Why would I want a show that I’ve loved and been obsessed with to have ended after only 3 seasons? Well besides not wanting this great show to get stale, in my opinion, Jack’s story really ends in season 3. Consider, in season 1 he starts as a normal guy put in an extraordinary situation and rises to the challenge, becoming by the end, the full fledged bad ass we know and love, but in the process losing everything dear to him and is left a hollow, empty man with little to live for. In season 2, that’s how he begins, we see him bearded and pathetic, at one point actually choosing between a gun and a picture of his family in his ultimate moment of self pity. As the season progresses though, he finds himself again, gets back in the game, saves the world and, most importantly, gains redemption for himself and from his daughter. In season 3, we get to see Jack fully operational as head of field ops CTU for the first time and now, the story of Jack’s day is about him facing and evaluating everything he has lost in the line of duty, and trying to stop the cycle from continuing with his protege, Chase. By the end of this season, Jack has successfully saved Chase from the lifestyle and, for himself he has faced his demons with his addictions. The final scene of the season serves as a representation of just how far the character has come and is brilliant. Jack, after keeping a brave face for the entire day, makes his way out to his car and finally allows himself to break down and feel the magnitude of everything that has happened, from killing Chapelle to cutting off Chases hand to everything in between. We finally see Jack embrace his humanity after 3 seasons of him being forced to be superman. But of course, because his work is never done, no sooner has he had his three or four sobs, then he is called back to CTU. Because he is Jack Bauer and because finally, after 3 seasons, he is ready to move on, he answers the call and just goes back to work. TICK TOCK, TICK TOCK. 

I remember watching this in 2004 and being content with that final scene as an ending to the show, and in many ways it was. S4 had a new CTU, a new president and an all around different feel. 

Aside from all of that, this finale might have been the most emotional of the 3 I have reviewed thus far. From Palmer reacting to Sherry’s death to Tony telling Michelle that they’re taking him to prison, to Palmer’s final walk out of district as President of the United States, I watched many of these scenes with a lump in my throat.

While there is no big shootout to cap this one off, the climax is equally thrilling as any gunfight and brings everything to an exciting close. 

Best Moment of The Finale-

“Roger, I don’t have a green wire.”

Jack delivers this line after trying to disarm a virus dispersal device that has been attached to his partner Chase’s arm. Kiefer Sutherland delivers it brilliantly, looking directly at Chase as they both realize that the dispersal device cannot be disarmed. The sequence that follows is one of the most intense and horrifying moments in 24 and is written with almost no dialogue, adding to the dramatic effect of the otherwise very talky  show. Chase looks behind him and sees the fire axe hanging on the wall and tells Jack to do it. Jack refuses but you can tell he knows what to do and eventually, as Chase grimaces and ties his belt around his arm, Jack breaks the emergency glass and proceeds to separate Chase’s hand from his body in order to free the dispersal device. Jack doesn’t even have a chance to comfort his fallen partner though, as he runs with the device and the seconds count down he gets it in a sealed container just as time runs out. Crisis averted. Awesome. 

Next Week Season 4. 

Only 4 weeks left of 24. 

Tick Tock Tick Tock