I'm glad that the ground-breaking, "real-time" TV series has finally come to an end (end of an era in network broadcasting). I had thoroughly enjoyed the previous seasons, particularly its Emmy Award winning Season 5. This is the TV series where the world is in danger, but saved and lost and saved again, all in one day (24 hours)! But it has become more and more unbelievable in recent seasons, all their brilliant story plots exhausted, most of their greatest characters (heroes and villains) killed or ousted from the story. And when will the terrorists ever learn that there is only one way to defeat the US, and that is to kill off one man: Jack Bauer. But Jack never dies, not in the hands of Islamic terrorists, Chinese, Russians, even his own fellow Americans (including the unforgettable, evil American President!). He has survived every kind of danger, from countless of bullets, stabs, tortures, even radioactive radiation. He simply never dies. Unbelievable! If you put him half way around the earth, bury him alive deep in the grave, he'll somehow crawl and find his way back and keeps fighting. How many times has he quit, only to be caught up in more actions, again and again?! So many of his closed ones and beloved colleagues murdered throughout the seasons. One can only wonder how much pain this man can take. How much is enough?
Warning: Spoilers ahead!
I knew that Season 8 would be the last and kinda hope that Jack Bauer is killed, martyred, dying for what he had been fighting for all these years. I thought that would be the only fitting end. The first half of the season was ridiculous and forgettable, littered with some non-logical and absurd plots. Maybe it's because fans of the series are too familiar with plots like planting a mole in the CTU and cripple CTU headquarter with EMP blast, and more assassination attempts and nuclear threats (yawn). And what's up with the moron new CTU director? Some plots are simply unbelievable eg. President Taylor turning corrupt; totally inconsistent with her heroic character in Season 7. But still, we cared for Jack's character. How many times have he saved American and the world, but nobody remembers (most never know) and soon everyone would be going after him for his unconventional mode of justice. All the new characters were forgettable, save for a couple of the old characters that really shined late in the series eg. the unique Chloe O'Brien who was promoted to provisional CTU Director, and the return of the evil, selfish and narcissistic President Charles Logan (one of my all-time favourite TV series villain) as an apparent aid to President Taylor for world peace.
Therefore, it was a relieve to see Jack Bauer to be "cut loose" after his love interest was murdered by a sniper assassin. Jack went on an unforgettable rampage, held no prisoner, killed everything in his path like an unstoppable force of nature, leaving blood in his trail while gaining evidence to expose truth of the corruption at the highest level in the US and Russian governments. Not that truth matters anymore, because the fight had become intensely personal this time. He admitted he was going on the path of no return, no more saving grace this time. Though brutal, it was a joy to see Jack Bauer at his absolute best, kicking ass with no apologies! He gutted the sniper assassin like a pig with his intestines spilled out on the floor (to retrieve the swallowed mobile SIM card) after telling him "You don't know pain", and later skewered the Russian foreign minister with a fire poker after taking out his entire team of bodyguards. If fans of 24 thought they'd seen everything before, they may be pleasantly surprised that there a couple of thrills and shock values left in this final season.
My favourite scene (perhaps best in the entire eight seasons of 24) was when Jack became a one-man armored army in the black hockey mask (normally used for horror not action movies) when going after Charles Logan. The look on Logan's face is priceless! The masterful takedown of Logan's limousine was truly memorable...it's 24 at its absolute brilliant best!
I'm badder than Ironman, Batman and Jason (Friday the 13) put together
And there are the contentious themes that made 24 what it is. They had me thinking all these years: What (how much) would someone in power do to achieve his end? What is doing the right thing? How much sacrifice is necessary? What is true justice? What is really the lesser of two evils? What does serving a cause really means? How far would you go? What if you're wrong? What if nobody knows? Or cares? How much of the law can be ignored (even broken) to uphold true justice? Who (and when) can be above the law? Can torture and killing be justifiable under the cause of the greater good? How bad must you be to do good? How much blood is necessary for peace?
But then again, all these themes have been exhausted till dry by the series. Though it's all relevant in the real world (only that they don't all happen in 24 hours), nothing is new anymore. Towards the end, everything was simply (fittingly) summed up when Agent Cole said this to Chloe when they were going after the rogue Jack Bauer to bring him down, "There are no good guys". That one line says it all. Nobody's good. Not Jack Bauer, who was justifying violence and vengeance under the guise of justice. Not even President Taylor who would cover up everything and condone killing to achieve the bigger prize, namely, the elusive world peace as her great legacy.
There are no good guys anymore. No one is above reproach. Our beloved hero has truly fallen from grace. Surely there's no pardon and no way back this time? Let it come to a fitting closure. Please.
I was kinda disappointed that the attempted execution on Jack Bauer was intervened by the repentant President Taylor at the last second (unbelievable again!). Why wasn't I surprised! This time, Jack cannot be allowed back at US soil ever again with the full force of America hunting him down (deja vu?!), but he was allowed time to run. In the poignant ending scene showed Jack's last meaningful relationship with Chloe, who watched his back in CTU all these years...somehow I truly felt sad that a great TV series has finally ended.
Then I found out why the writers of 24 didn't kill off Jack Bauer's character. They're coming out with a movie franchise. Oh no!!!
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