Let me say this first: I think it’s awesome that Fox does the “non-stop season” thing for “24.” As an audience member, I love that I get to see Bauer do his thing every week, with no month-long wait between episodes. “Lost,” I’m thinking of you- and remembering many weeks of frustration since September. The non-stop season is great and very effective- except when the producers decide to end the season with as huge a cliff-hanger as they did this year. I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL JANUARY TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Last night, Jack took only twenty minutes to take a hijacked submarine back from the terrorists who had control of it, cancel their planned missile launch, crush the terrorist leader between his legs, and shoot his un-armed former mentor to avenge the deaths of his friends, all before the first commercial break. Then Jack made the seemingly irrational decision to go after the president himself. Yes, Jack decided it was a good idea to kidnap The President of the United States in order to get a confession out of him, without a shred of evidence in his possession. As impossible as the task sounds to mere mortal men, if Jack Bauer wants to kidnap the president, and you give him a little more than the twenty minutes it takes him to take a submarine back from terrorists, then he’ll damn well kidnap the president. By the time Jack had President Logan cornered in a helicopter, you knew it was all over for the crooked creep.
After Jack was unable to extract a confession from Logan in the few minutes he had him alone before the S.W.A.T. team caught up to him, it was clear he had another ace up his sleeve- and when the President grabbed his pen from the table where Jack had tossed it, the trap was set. When the moron took his wife aside to yell at her for making a scene at murdered President David Palmer’s funeral and admitted to his crimes again, it was a matter of mere moments before he was taken into custody. Jack Bauer took down a sitting president in the span of 24 hours- all in time to get kidnapped by the Chinese.
That’s right- Jack, after one of the most intense days out of at least five very intense days in his life, after finally being reunited with the love of his life, after taking down another terrorist threat and crumbling a conspiracy that went as high as the president’s office, is kidnapped by Chinese government, still angry over the little matter of Jack invading their embassy eighteen months previous. I guess we can give them a little credit for having the decency to wait until Jack had wrapped up the business at hand of toppling presidencies before they kidnapped him- but doesn’t Jack ever get a chance to relax? When a horribly beaten and exhausted Jack looks up at his kidnappers and begs for the sweet release of death, he really means it. This guy has had a death wish since the end of the first season.
After a fairly disjointed yet often brilliant season, I think we’ve all learned a few things as a nation, first and foremost that man-bags are now totally cool and not gay at all, because Jack Bauer carries one. I have one now myself, and it's only because Jack made it acceptable. With Jack learning new depths of sadness after almost all his close friends died and his daughter told him she didn't want him in her life, after being kidnapped right when he thought he had a chance at happieness with Audrey, after he's lost all will to live, it will be interesting to see where the producers take the adventures of broken man Jack next. With a “24” movie in the works and Kiefer signing on for at least three more years of Bauer duty, will the writers be able to keep the show sharp and exciting? Or will they resort to cheap shocks, like bringing back dead characters (is Nina Myers really gone for good or will she return as terrorist mastermind David Palmer’s lover?) Just how long can Jack and company avoid finally jumping the shark (and if Jack actually jumped over a shark, would that be a bad thing?)
For now, the waiting begins, as we won’t get a resolution to the insane cliffhanger until January. Will Day Six of “24” take place in China? Is Jack going to escape the freighter before it reaches Asia? Will he team up the Beastie Boys and free Tibet? Fans of The Bauer Power Hour have a long time to ponder these questions- and more.
Fun fact- when Jack arrives in China, it won't be his first time in Asia- he stopped over in Tokyo for "Calorie Mate" ads that only aired in Japan.
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