(taken from http://harrisdunnonfilmtv.blogspot.com/)
So another show ends that has shaped the first decade of the 21st Century in terms of television, and it ends in many ways as was to be expected, by focusing on the main man himself, Jack Bauer and how he affects the other characters he is fighting off his latest bad day with.
For me it felt very much like a season finale as opposed to a series finale, more than likely because it was leaving open the option of a 24: Movie which is rumoured to be in the script writing stage, but was a shame as I didn't feel the final two hours hit the heights that a show 192 hours in deserved. That's not to say that I didn't like it, but it is to say perhaps it was slightly low key.
Lets start with the positives because there were many classic 24 scenes over the course of the two hours. The main one being the Jack vs. Chloe showdown. It was brilliant gripping television, and really showed how far Chloe has come as a character, and just how loyal she is to Jack, regardless of his very rogue approach to fighting the bad guys he has had over the last few hours. Personally, I had no gripes with there being a shoot to kill target on his head, purely because if there wasn't there would be no stopping him, and for me even though he is trying to serve justice, I don't feel it to be totally in keeping with Jack character to be so brutal and unforgiving. Sure, he's had a lot of rough times, but his actions are very 'Tony, Season 7', something which we were supposed to view as bad guy material back then, but in a more favourable light now. Whatever the case, it led to a few great scenes, cumulating in Jack ordering Chloe to shoot him in order to allow her to get out of the building with the evidence of the Russian backing of the day's terrorist events. It was gripping, dark and nail biting, and the moment where Jack pulled the gun to his head himself, forcing Chloe to shoot, was totally heart stopping. I for one, had no doubt that he would have pulled the trigger.
It was great to see some heart in Jack also over the two hours, firstly, in his line to Pilar where he said that he would have settled for decent justice, but that the President forced his hand, he had to serve it himself, outside the law. It really was the best reasoning that the audience could find for Jack's actions being any sense of good, and it worked for me, albeit with me still being very disappointed in Jack. Secondly was his message to Kim. We must remember that only 22 hours ago he was a happy man with a granddaughter and with a close connection to his daughter for the first time in a long while. So it was good to see him addressing this, and saying how even though she [Kim] would hear some bad things about what he did, he had his reasoning and he still loved her.
As always, Logan was brilliant and captivating to watch, and Greg Itzen deserves that supporting emmy he was robbed of a few years ago for season 5 in my opinion. He draws sympathy for Logan at times when I find myself hating him as well. His passion in the greater good through his eyes is incredible, and when he held the gun to his head and pulled the trigger, i felt saddened that 24 had lost such a great character for any future projects they do with the franchise. To me, he was the best villain of the series, and his ending was fitting to his character, desperate, distraught and alone.
Negative sides to the final hours, but also rolls back to the second half of the season is that I haven't found President Taylor's actions to be believable and in character. I had hoped for some fitting resolution to the storyline and so had held back my opinion until the final curtain fell, and also I was pleased that she admitted her mistakes, I didn't ever feel it showed why she did it in a sufficient enough way. She exposed her own daughters crimes last season, and this one she just foolishly let Logan disgrace her. It was a shame, and left her character in a negative light, which when compared to last season, leaves me unsatisfied with Taylor's whole arc.
Also, Jack being shot led to some great television, yet it left a final 40 minutes with minimal Jack. That was disappointing that he didn't get more focus, in a final hour of a show that has been devoted to him. Also, I felt we got no justice for Suvarov's actions, we didn't see any of the aftermath of the President's confession, and so the big bad guy who pulled all the strings was left to be served his justice off screen.
And then there is the ending. I didn't like it. I felt it was designed to make us believe Jack could die, but I didn't buy it. I felt he was always gonna be ok, and sure enough he was. And then it ended very quietly, with Jack looking up to Chloe and the screen fading to a countdown from 3 seconds to zero, something I liked, but I was looking forward to seeing the final seconds hit the end of Jack's final hour, and countdown felt a little out of place. Probably just because I wasn't expecting it.
So we now wait for Jack to hit the big screen, something which if its done right, will leave this season as a very good ending of the TV format for a Movie format over the next few years. Then, I probably will like how this ended more. But for now I feel it was given decent closure, but not sufficient justice to a show of 24's calibre.
And hey, wasn't Jack's motivation over the past few hours to give sufficient Justice to those who deserve it. And I think, we deserved more.
Final Verdict: 70%. I liked it. But I had too many gripes to make these final two hours worthy of bookending 24's TV run.
Thanks for reading guys.
Adam
