“24” (7 p.m. Central Monday on Fox, two hours)
On air: 2001-10, eight seasons
Why it was great: When it was clicking, nothing on TV was more suspenseful. We saw split screens, instant cell-phone communications, information at analysts’ fingertips and highways and streets that always opened up for CTU vehicles.
Those could all turn into hoary clichés with a slight misstep, but thankfully, Season 8 — which has seen Jack turn into the ultimate vigilante hero, standing up against his own government for the sake of justice — has been strong. Appropriately, “24” is going to come down to our two favorite characters who are still alive: Jack and Chloe.
Seasonal breakdown: The best is the first, when everything was fresh and when Kim got a storyline (yes, I admit to being a Kim fan). Seasons 2-5 threw realism out the window and made it clear that “24” was embracing its clichés rather than avoiding them, but they were still fun. Seasons 6 and 7 were awful. Season 8 has been a nice comeback; I’d rank it just behind Season 1.
Best character: Jack Bauer. We went through stretches of “24” without Chloe, “24” without Tony, and “24” without Kim. But “24” (at least this incarnation) is defined by Jack doing his thing.
Possible heirs: “Human Target” is coming back in the fall, but it strikes me as a bland actioner; NBC’s upcoming “Chase” seems similar. The “La Femme Nikita” franchise — started by one of the “24” producers — gets resurrected in the fall with The CW’s “Nikita.”
Share your thoughts on “24” in the comment thread.
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“24” went out with a final two hours that were a microcosm of the entire series. It was completely, utterly illogical and ridiculous. And yet it was extremely powerful and almost tear-jerking by the time the final scene came around.
President Taylor, in a matter of only six hours, managed to make such horrible decisions that even the most ardent Bush or Obama critics would call her the worst president ever. In addition to the way she used Dalia Hassan and our heroes (Jack and Chloe, and to a lesser extent, Cole and Arlo), think of all the government agents that she directly or indirectly threw in Jack’s path who ended up being killed or having to make horrible choices between following orders and doing what’s right.
Being in the military is, of course, about following orders. But it’s also about trusting that the people giving those orders are doing it in the name of what’s right. Taylor completely betrayed that trust.
Her first mistake was trusting Charles Logan. As soon as she did that, it was all downhill. Although I criticized “24” at the moment it brought Logan on board a couple months ago, I have to admit that Gregory Itzin is incredible in that role; I loved to hate him every time he was on screen. There were such powerful emotions going on in the final episodes (our hatred of Logan and Piller and Subarov and the president’s decision, but on the other hand, our desperate hope that Jack could somehow see justice served) that it almost made me overlook the fact that the Russians’ assassination of Omar Hassan made no sense whatsoever.
First of all, it was unexplained why they didn’t want the peace treaty. And secondly, it was unexplained why their solution to not having a peace treaty was to kill Hassan. Couldn’t they have simply not signed the peace treaty?
But enough of that.
I loved the final scene where Jack tells Chloe he appreciates her. Chloe is the classic personality type who just wants to do her job well and not be hassled. But, of course, she has always been hassled because she has an off-putting personality. Jack always appreciated her good work, and for that, she considered him to be one of her best friends. Really, it’s one of the best ongoing non-romantic relationship stories on all of TV, and it was capped by a great final speech by Jack:
“When you first came to CTU … I never thought it was gonna be you that was gonna cover my back all those years. And I know that everything you did today was to try and protect me, I know that. … Thank you.”
Damn, I’m getting teary-eyed just typing that.
Out of all of this week’s series finales, I think “24” was the show that best captured the zeitgeist of the first decade of the 21st century (which is now just barely in its second decade). “Law & Order” had timeless appeal, “Lost” had specific appeal, but “24” was about a guy who had to fight enemies from every corner (including — and this is no small detail — his own government) in order to see justice and truth and good prevail. The world made Jack do awful things and in fact ruined his life (as the series ends, he’s on the run from the world’s two superpowers, and even Jack won’t escape that). Mostly, he would’ve preferred to be left alone. Or rather, he would’ve preferred to live in a world where he could’ve been left alone.
Jack Bauer represented all of us who believe in what’s right and hate all the injustice in the world. The difference between us and him was that he did something about it, and for completely selfless motives. That makes him the hero of the decade.
It was also nice that Kiefer Sutherland always seemed to appreciate how lucky he was to play Jack Bauer, a role that resurrected his career and now defines it (maybe I’m underrating him, but right now I find it difficult to see him in any other role). His thank-you to the fans at the beginning of the finale was a nice gesture: “Personally for me, this has been an opportunity of a lifetime and for that I am eternally grateful.” This wasn’t a case of an actor who was sick of playing the same character and wanted to move on to movies (which many actors think provides more creative variety, but that’s not necessarily true). In fact, I think Sutherland did his best acting in Season 8.
I’ve said some negative things about “24” in recent years, and I stand by them. Nonetheless, I gotta say: Great final season, great final episode, and — weighing all eight seasons together — great show.# Posted By John Hansen | 5/25/10 5:44 AM