A lackluster end
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- May
- 22
I don’t know about you all, but last night’s episode of “24”  though better than much of the season  left me wanting.
It was sort of anti-climactic.
Part of that might be my fault. I read too many pieces of spoilers, amounting to a whole bunch of mini-spoilers, most of which, apparently, were untrue.
No one who was once thought dead “came back with a vengeance.” We didn’t find out who Josh’s real father was. We didn’t see Philip Bauer die. We’re left with a vision of Jack staring out at the sea, contemplating where his life goes from here.
Sure, that sets up a Season 7 that won’t be based around CTU (which, frankly, has become a parody of itself). But we didn’t learn anything about who really was behind anything.
We didn’t learn who really was behind the plot to assassinate a second Palmer president. We didn’t learn why Jack’s family is made up of sociopaths. We didn’t find out why Josh was so damn important! And what the hell happened in Denver with Doyle, anyhow?
So I, Amy Vernon, humble newspaper editor and TV blogger, am going to tell you what I think. Am I right? No freakin’ clue, but I’m madder than Jack Bauer when a terrorist nukes his beloved L.A. (OK, maybe not that mad, but close.)
First off, if Josh isn’t Jack’s son, he’s Phillip’s son. It seemed like Phillip was going to say that before Josh shot him, but the writers chickened out. It would also answer why I suspect Marilyn of being in on the whole Audrey being tortured by the Chinese thing. If she’s with Phillip (um, ick), then she’s as evil as Graem and Phillip. Note, Phillip did say Marilyn could come be with him and Josh at any time. Sure, Phillip’s a lying sociopath, but he seemed genuine. (Did I just say that?)
As for Bill and Jack, they were an awesome team. Now, finally, I see why Bill was head of CTU. He was a pilot? Who knew? Some great flying. And he refused to leave Jack behind to die, lowering that rope or nylon ladder or whatever it was, knowing that if anyone could make the jump to it, that anyone would be Jack. That whole scene was incredible. (But leaving Papa Bauer with a working motorboat? Sure Papa was badly injured, potentially fatally, but he’s a sociopath and could easily escape. Why didn’t Jack at least take the component from him? Or would it have been more difficult to set up Season 7 if he had?)
He also knew that Jack needed to leave CTU for good, leave his old life for good. “Let him go,” he sagely advised Nadia. He was right, anyhow, if Jack didn’t want to be found, no one was going to find him.
I know I joke about Jack being our favorite sociopath, but he is truly an utterly broken man who, if not a sociopath, is suffering from deep psychosis, depression and just about everything else one can suffer from without having a split personality.
As my friend The Jack Sack sagely pointed out, the scene between Jack and SecDef Heller was another outstanding moment in the series. And even though I find Audrey extremely annoying (bring back Kate Warner!), the scene where he said his goodbye to his lady love was quite touching (probably in part because she didn’t speak).
Then there’s Chloe and Morris. First off, Chloe was pretty much in Chloe-ish form last night, snapping at people, reminding them that Jack is always right, etc. But then she had to go ahead and get herself knocked up (by the way, show of hands  who didn’t guess she was preggers the very first time she seemed a little woozy and Morris asked her what was wrong? No one? That’s what I figured.)
Given that CTU’s going to be out of the picture next year, we’re not going to see much of Chloe, I’m figuring. And no one really wants to see more of Morris, so putting her in the family way capped a nice run she had on the show. I never would have guessed the first time she showed up that I’d come to love Chloe second only to Jack. In fact, she really annoyed me back in Season 3. I wish we’d seen more Chloe-ness this season. She just wasn’t herself. Now we know why. Hormones can do that to a personality.
I was kind of glad how the Karen Hayes/Bill Buchanan storyline wrapped up. Bill’s gotten jerked around so much, but went out like a hero. Now his legacy and career will be remembered fondly in the halls of CTU and he gets to stay with his wife whom he obviously loves (why, I’m not so sure, but he does, and I wish him well, so that ends up meaning I wish Karen well, too).
Gee Ricky, I’m sorry Papa Bauer blew up your eyes (10 points to anyone who gets that movie reference). That wouldn’t have happened to Jack, though. Too trusting, Ricky. Trying to be the good guy ‘til the end. It was great when you gave Josh your word. A tip of the hat to the master. (Anyone catch when Papa Bauer’s baddies gave him a “copy that” over the walkies?)
Creep  I mean, Veep  Cy Tolliver learns a Very Special lesson, that it’s easier to criticize those in power than be in power oneself. Is Wayne Palmer alive?
By the way, what the hell was the point of Milo’s brother showing up?
For sure, last night had more than its share of classic, fantastic 24 moments. The scene where the Russians basically figure, sure the platform’s blown up, so everything must be OK now was a hoot. The whole helicopter sequence, perfect.
But the supposed ending that was all over the blogosphere (obviously planted by the show’s creators to lead us astray), had Jack stepping into a car that drives up to him at the end of the day after whoever’s inside is someone he knows and apparently trusted.
I kept expecting to see that; for it to be Tony Almeida. So maybe that all colored it for me, made me enjoy it less. I just don’t know.
But as I’ve said many times before this season, a bad hour of 24 is still far better than a good hour of most of the rest of the drek on TV.
Will I stick around for Seasons 7 & 8? You betcha.
Will I hope for Seasons 9 & 10? Natch.
Check out Blogs4Bauer on Thursday for the final Carnival of Bauer of the season, and vote in the Miss Blogs4Bauer Championship, Nadia vs Chloe (I voted for Chloe).
All photos courtesy of Fox.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007 at 3:59 pm by Amy Vernon.
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A lot of people out there were talking about that alleged ending that never happened, so I certainly wouldn’t stress that too much.
The problem is that if you watched last night expecting Tony to show up (which I totally did) it kind of ruins the episode. As a stand alone season finale I thought it was solid however. The last 10 minutes were awesome in my opinion.
First off, THANK YOU AMY for an exceptional job covering this season of 24. Your passion/insanity/obsession with the show is like a warm glass of milk to this fan.
Now that we’re heading into several months of nothingness, I think this season needs to be properly buried as an overall disappointment. Think about it- a nuke went off in suburban LA, Jack Bauer’s brother and father were revealed to be in leaue with the terrorists, and someone almost killed the President. These are stunning events on paper. Where were the thrills? Once in a while we got a great moment or two. But overall, there was no energy to this season. Here I am, trying to sell newbies on the show this year and I feel like I’ve led some folks astray.
I think the biggest fault of this season was the lack of Jack. Keifer is the reason the show is compelling. Why is it whenever he gets more than a 5 minute long scene, the episode becomes that much better? He’s Superman without the cape. He fascinates us as an audience. Jack Bauer IS 24. More Jack, please.
And Rickey… oh Rickey, I felt so angry when I realized Tony wasn’t coming back. But that coda with Heller was the real deal. Bill Devane is not working enough. He wore a v-neck sweater with AUTHORITY. I only wish I can one day match that sort of presence.
Thanks, Adam. I’ve enjoyed the show that much more this season for my interaction with all you nutsy cuckoo boys. I looked forward to our “chats” each Tuesday and eagerly scoured The Jack Sack, Blogs4Bauer, Riding With Rickey and others each week to see what y’all thought  and, sometimes, to remind me of the little details I might have forgotten by the time I got around to writing my recap the next day.
I feel like it’s the end of the school year and we’re all going to summer camp.
But you can rest easy, knowing you’ve converted a “Tony is dead, get over it” fan into a “Tony’s alive  just accept it!” fan. I am officially on the bandwagon and I know, just know we’ll see him again.
Copy that?
Sorry Amy but im not as forgiving as you. This entire season has made me question whether or not I ever want to watch 24 again. There were a few mildly tense moments in that season finale but “classic 24 moments”? Not sure im buying that. There is nothing that happened during this entire season that is even in the same league as the nina Myers storyline from the first season. Or the kate/marie warner plotline from season 2 or Tony sacaficing national security to save michele after she just escaped a bilogical attack on a hotel. And even the following season when michele almost did the same for tony.
There are so many more plotlines from past seasons I could name that to me seemed more realistic (even by 24 standards) more exciting and just flat out better then anything that happened this season.
I think like any show, it boils down to the characters. I think the 24 producers have shot themselves in the foot by just becoming entirely too trigger happy in killing off characters. It’s one thing to let fans know that anybody on the show is expendable. It’s another thing to just arbitrarily kill off characters just for the sake of it.
I think the sopranos is a good example of this balance.
Up until last episode the core group, of tony, christopher, paulie and silvio has been there from start to finish. Yet was anyone really shocked when chris died last week? The sopranos have managed to keep people on edge with the characters but still able to keep them around so the fans have some kind of continuity.
During the first few seasons there were characters that we developed attachments to like your tony’s and your david palmers and even that weenie chapelle who was annoying but still a strong character. They blew all these people away and i think they finally suffered this season from a nearly complete turnover of the cast. And there was just no chemistry between them and the storylines were really awful to boot. Kiefer is an amazing actor but even he wasn’t good enough to make this season respectable.
Anyways, that is just my two cents. My honest opinion is that I’m very skeptical of 24 next season. I’ll give it a shot in the first couple weeks, but im not going to keep investing the time this type of show demands without an immediate display of improvement next season.
The show’s complete willingness to kill off characters and do wacky things actually worked well for the finale. You’re totally expecting someone to get bumped off (or Audrey to wake up from her slumber looking like the girl in The Exorcist) and when that doesn’t happen, it’s a shocker unto itself.
A lot of people had always wondered what a season finale of 24 would be like if everyone just kind of wound down, had a cup of coffee, and talked things out. We got that, and I was actually pretty blown away by it.
Man I’m going to miss you these 24 conversations… And Tony.
I understand what you are saying Ricky. But I couldn’t disagree more. I think they have killed off so many big characters that it doesn’t even faze me emotionally anymore.
Can you honestly tell me that milo’s death affected you as much as Edgar’s .. or even close?
I really feel like 24 has denegrated to being just another stupid tv show on network tv.
Sorry to be so blunt here, but I’m just really upset with this season (and most of my friends and coworkers now too) and refuse to be apologetic to a show that in my opinion took a colossal dive this year.
I’m going to miss these convos, too. It’s been a blast this season, despite the lameness of much of it.
This season definitely had its moments, though. The four-hour premiere “event” was excellent (though we never did find out what the U.S. gave up to get Jack back, did we?) and there were a few episodes somewhere in the middle that were absolutely outstanding. And the episode where Jack kills Fayed was off the charts.
I agree with many, though  the season suffered most from a lack of Jack (and his sack!).
And Jeff  I actually cheered Milo’s death. But Curtis’ death totally shocked and saddened me. Don’t forget about that.
Season 6 was a disappointment, but to 24 standards. There were good moments—Jack’s state of mind coming back, his contentment with a meaningful death (first hour, attempted explosion with Cheng), the Russian embassy, the confrontation with Heller at the end, Jack and Bill. The hour where he killed Feyed and crew was incredible, and one of my favorites in the 6 seasons.
However, the plot hole, dangling threads, etc were quite annoying. As annoying as Karen Hayes and Milo…
Season 4 is my favorite and hopefully the producers/writers will draw on it for the season 7: plot, story continuity, and TONY!
I agree that the season suffered compared to others. Chloe’s comedic talents were wasted, I never bought into Wayne Palmer as president, Ricky Shroeder was a terrible casting decision (even Richard Simmons would be preferable) and the family angle didn’t work for me. Favorite characters from the past, like the ex-president, popped up.
What especially disappointed me was the fall-off from the incredible beginning. The show started from the point where others stopped—terrorism and a nuclear explosion. The nightmare happened, but after about 5 episodes that horrifying background vanished and the 24 became another season of drivetime LA with barely any sense of the chaos of a nuclear explosion. The writers couldn’t face the real consequences and drama of a nuclear assault.
As others alluded to, the show will never recover from the absense of Tony and Michelle. Jack badly needed a foil, a sidekick, and Tony was that. With him gone, Jack is a rudderless torpedo. He killed Curtis, Bill Buchanan is good but out of the picture. Something needs to change, and it had better not be more Ricky! Ricky! Ricky!
Well, I think with Ricky blind (at least partially), he’s effectively out as a CTU agent  even a rogue agent.
I think you make an excellent point about the fall-off from the beginning. I mean, everyone was driving around LA as if nothing had happened. Traffic in the region is awful on the best of days (and a long-running joke on 24 that it doesn’t exist). But after a nuke goes off? LA would be an absolute traffic nightmare. And the farmer’s market and liquor stores would stay open? I don’t think so.
There were a couple of excellent episodes in the middle, but credulity was strained far past the limit this year. 24’s always teetered on the edge of the cliff of credulity (can i trademark that phrase?), but this year they dived off and splattered all over the ground.