by Travis Harder
To start: yes, there will be spoilers. Now that that’s out of the way, I was a little disappointing that due to last minute scheduling conflicts, I couldn’t join in on the liveblog on the 24 finale, so I decided to share my thoughts about it on here.
While this season was a little underwhelming, I never reached the level of disappointment Tyler did (and I don’t even think season 6 was really that bad compared, just not as good as the others) and I’ve really enjoyed the last few episodes. While they were maybe a little far fetched, that is hardly out of line in a show where torture works 99.9% of the time, you can magically enhance images, hack any computer by typing a few words and where “open a socket” is actually a meaningful phrase. I never watched 24 for realism, I watched it because it mixed action, drama, technology and politics, and did so brilliantly. The only way to end a show like 24 is with heart-pounding suspense and an adrenaline rush of action, and the 2 hour finale delivered. For possibly the first time since Teri’s death in season one, I had no idea what was going to happen.
It was writing on a caliber that I wish they had achieved in season 6, or the rest of this season. It literally redeemed the rest of the season, and even made up for Renee’s death. I hated the characters of Allison Taylor and Charles Logan, but they were written and acted beautifully. Taylor did an amazing “strong-to-weak” transformation while Logan (throughout the seasons) managed to go from a weak, ineffective leader to a conniving, scheming, mastermind.
Like the season finale of season 7, the finale here offered a great insight into the mind of Jack Bauer. It was almost confusing to hear the man who lies, tortures, kills, steals, does whatever is necessary to get the job done state, plain and simple, that peace through political backroom deals won’t work and can’t last. While I’ve always been a fan of the show, I’ve never agreed with the politics of Jack Bauer until now. Maybe I’m wrong, but what Jack said made perfect sense. Prior to the finale, Drew and I had a few conversations where we talked about how we felt Jack was in the wrong, and how peace was worth what Taylor was doing. I hate to say my opinion is changed by a TV show, but given that my opinion was about a situation in a TV show, I have to think that he’s right.
Charles Logan’s failed attempt at recovering from his fall from grace was genius. In season 6, he was portrayed as a changed man, and even in the beginning of his appearance in this season, he appeared to be simply looking for redemption. As the storyline progressed, we got to see him become more and more manipulative, grasping harder and harder for his redemption, just out of reach. To see just how desperate he was, even in the face of defeat would have been heart-breaking, were he not playing such an evil man. His murder of Piller and subsequent suicide attempt were harsh reminders of what a desperate man is capable of. It was a little disappointing, however, that they did not have the guts to make Logan’s suicide attempt succeed.
While on the subject of falling from grace, I cannot skip President Allison Taylor. I did not expect to see her capitulate. She tried so hard to keep the peace treaty she fought for, and violated all of her principles in the process. She committed horrendous crimes in the name of this treaty, crime which I sincerely hope are never committed by our leaders, and in the end paid dearly for it. While I didn’t expect this to happen, I’m really glad it did.
That just leaves us with the fate of Jack Bauer. For the first time ever, I was actually worried that Jack would die. I know Tyler was hoping for it, I’m really glad that he lived. Maybe it would have been more realistic for Jack to die, but it would have been insulting. After all this time we’ve spent with Jack Bauer, all the situations he’s survived, and all the abuse he’s endured, it would have been a slap in the face to just kill him off. To me, it would have been like killing James Bond, or Luke Skywalker or Malcolm Reynolds, you just can’t do it.
All in all, it was an amazing two hours of television. While I said earlier that it was time for 24 to end, that doesn’t change the fact that I will miss it dearly. Also, the digitizing of the screen, followed by the final clock counting down to zero? Fucking brilliant.
Guess what? My first article has been published on the comedy website, Cracked.com! Go check it out… NOW! 5 Worst Deaths Written for Great Characters (And Why)
You may kill Renee, you may kill Hassan, BUT YOU WILL NEVER GET RID OF US THAT EASILY ASSHOLES!
Renee Walker
7AM, Day 7 ~ 9AM, Day 8
I can’t believe I’m doing this again already. Rather than do a faux obituary as I did with Omar Hassan, I’m just going to talk about this stupid fucking piece of writing. Why do the writers of 24 hate Jack Bauer? It worked when they killed off Teri Bauer in season 1, I even went with what happened to Audrey in season 6 (though that season was pretty bad), but killing Renee? That is just idiotic. I get that the idea was to give Jack a drive to seek vengeance, but was that necessary? Having her be shot and live would have done that. It’s not like surviving a single gun shot is that unbelievable in 24. Jack’s survived worse this fucking season. This was done simply to shock viewers, and was a cheap insult to our intelligence and everything we have invested into this show. It’s beyond insulting to invest the audience in a character like this, makes us think you’re going to give them a happy ending and then taking it away at the last minute. This is the same reason I hated Repo Men. It’s a cheap fucking trick. It’s bad enough to have two silent clocks in the same season, but back to fucking back? I admit that I’ll continue to watch this season, but only because it’s the last. Were it not already canceled, I would stop watching after pulling such a stupid fucking move like that. This is actually worse than anything they wrote in season 6. Seriously, what the fuck?
Omar Hassan
4PM ~ c. 8AM
When he first started on 24 this season, many, myself included, had their doubts. We criticized his hair, picked apart his paranoia and infidelity, and made numerous allusions to his role on Slumdog Millionaire. Right up until the end, he was dogged by that reference. He overcame that adversity, however, injecting humanity into the role. He was not perfect, but he did the best he could with a bad script. We felt his pain as he was betrayed by his brother, we understood his panic as his daughter went missing, but, most of all, we knew his guilt as terrorists threatened to detonate a bomb if we were not turned in. And turn himself in he did, for he felt that it was better for him to die, than thousands, if nor millions, of innocent citizens. He truly was a hero. With the exception of Drew, none of us really expected him to die, we expected another at the last minute rescue (much like what happened with the bomb, an episode earlier). In a stroke of brilliance that the writers have not shown us until this late in the season, it really looked like Hassan would live, making the revelation of his death all the more tragic. It was a brilliant and moving piece of writing, and the reactions from the other characters were wonderful, showing us what we all knew, that these are all good actors, and the problem, up to that point, was with the writing. Hopefully this signifies a turning point in the season, and the writing from here on in will be great. Then, Omar Hassan will truly have died a hero. Either way, with his amazing acting, Anil Kapoor has a new fan.
