Are you as big a fan as I am of the television show 24? Perhaps you're an even bigger fan. Well, whether you love 24 and its lead character, Jack Bauer - starring the phenomenal Emmy Award winning Kiefer Sutherland - as much as I do...or even more...I'm curious if you "hate" what the writers and producers of the longtime Fox series did for the conclusion of the Season 9 finale. Oh yes, I used the "H" word - which I generally don't like to do. But if you didn't watch 24 on Monday, July 14th, 2014 and recorded it for future viewing then WARNING... WARNING...THIS IS A SPOILER ALERT, so don't read any further until after you see the show. But if you have already seen 24's cliffhanger program from last Monday night then perhaps you will agree with me that the end of 24: Live Another Day - also known as Day 9...which was set four years after the events of the 8th Season - was very, very disappointing.
First of all...unless - for some strange reason - an actor wants off a television series...show creators, writers, producers and directors should never, never write-out a likeable character...with death. One of my other all-time favorite television series - Dallas - did it on May 17th, 1985...at the end of Season 8...when Patrick Duffy wanted to leave the show. Patrick's character - the lovable and altruistic, Bobby Ewing - was killed when executives of the the top-rated series had Bobby run over by a speeding car. However...for die-hard Dallas fans - or most anybody else - you'll likely 
16th 1986...when Bobby appears in a shower...alive and well. In the Season 10 premiere on September 26, 1986...Bobby's death - and all of Season 9 - would be revealed as a bad dream by Bobby's wife - Pamela Barnes Ewing... played by 
Victoria Principal - and everything that happened during that year of shows...never really happened. Therefore, nothing from Season 9 could ever be referred to in future shows because Bobby was dead throughout that year.As for 24...to kill the daughter of the President of the United States - Audrey Heller Raines Boudreau - was terribly upsetting. It made no sense - and given the plot and storyline for 24: Live Another Day - it was not necessary. It was not needed.
You'll recall that during the 24 Day 9 finale...Audrey...portrayed by Kim Raver...was saved...after CIA Agent 
Kate Morgan... played by Yvonne Strahovski...shot down a Chinese sniper from a highrise building in London, England. But as Kate and other federal agents were escorting the President's daughter to their vehicle...a second sniper appeared from nowhere and riddled Audrey with bullets. Efforts by Kate to save her were futile...as Audrey died almost instantly...within moments after being shot.There was no reason whatsoever for Audrey to die. Her shocking murder began an extremely poor closing to a 24 season that could have ended up being awesome.
The topper though was having Jack Bauer having to be traded for the life of his best friend and colleague, Chloe O'Brian...portrayed by Mary Lynn Rajskub. Russian agents had captured Chloe and were holding her hostage... and they would only release her in exchange for Jack. The Russians want Jack back in Moscow - and behind bars - for trying to kill their president several years ago. Sorry. Not good. Been there, done that. Not in Russia...but in China. Writers of 24 have already had Jack in a Chinese prison - tortured by terrorists. Do they plan to do the same thing to Jack, but in a Russian prison? Why? Why? Very, very bad.
Additionally...throughout this season...the incomparable William Devane - as President James Heller - has kept hidden - except for his daughter, Audrey...Jack... and a select few others - that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease...and that the Vice President needs to be told that he will soon take the oath of office as President of the United States. But as the Day 9 Season Finale nears its end...President Heller tells a senior aide that he "won't remember" this day. And - as the President walks along an American flag-draped coffin, as it's being escorted by military pallbearers to Air Force One - Heller says he won't remember the assassination of his daughter.
William Devane - whose brilliant career spans nearly 50 years - is one of Hollywood's finest actors. He's truly one of the best television, motion picture and stage theatre thespians of his generation...or ever. The 24: Live Another Day finale could have left viewers hanging with a raised question...could President Heller have been wrongly diagnosed as a patient with Alzheimer's?Instead...producers and writers of 24 caused this season finale to have too much finality. The President's daughter - one of the few 24 characters who never gave us reason to be suspicious or hateful towards them - is dead. And in a Season 10 premiere - if there is one - we will be told that President James Heller either resigned because of his poor health...and died...thus he will not return for a new season. Or...President Heller will come back to 24, but as a former Commander-in-Chief who is suffering from Alzheimer's. We - or at least I - don't want to see that. William Devane is too much of an asset to 24...and both he...as an actor...and his character...don't deserve to suffer such a storyline.
For once...I would have preferred and enjoyed a happy ending on 24. This season was jam-packed with high-powered action, a whole lot of fan tension, stress and pressure...that viewers love. But...to close Season 9 with the death of a favorite character and for our hero to be flown off in a helicopter by Russian terrorists...was not what I wanted for 24.
A better ending would have been to have the husband of Audrey Heller Raines Boudreau - who was President Heller's chief of staff, Mark Boudreau - played by Tate Donovan - arrested by the President on charges of treason and to be hauled off by federal agents and military officials - as he was - but then to have Jack Bauer meet up with President Heller and Audrey as the three of them board Air Force One for a trip home to the United States. If the series never airs again...fans of the show would know that their characters go on to live happily ever after. However...if 24 does return next year - or whenever for a 10th Season - it could have picked up from the boarding of Air Force One, but with a new storyline. And if the producers wanted a cliffhanger...and if they wanted to have - for example - Air Force One crash...or a surface to air missile head towards the President's plane...or some other near tragedy to worry us viewers so that we are uncertain as to what will happen next...so be it. But to have Audrey die...and for Jack to again be held hostage...NOPE! It's not what I wanted to see. Killing Audrey was a cruel, emotional plot twist that gave fans of the show...a sucker punch in the gut. And the Russians flying away in a helicopter with Jack in their custody...was just plain bad. I can only hope that the Fox Television Network and the 24 producers - including one of
And that's The Controversy for today.
A post-script to today's commentary: There's sadness in Hollywood and across America today as a show-business luminary died yesterday, July 19th, 2014. Television and motion picture legend, James Garner passed away in his Brentwood, California home as a result of natural causes at the age of 86.
Using the last words that James Garner uttered in one of my favorite movies, The Notebook..."I'll be seeing you." And someday, Jim...we all will.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
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ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your thought! GBD
DeleteI’m also a diehard 24 fan and initially, I too was traumatised by the ending to the extent I cried. I was shocked it caused such an extreme reaction and considered that I had perhaps emotionally invested far more than I should in 24! Considering all he had been through, I thought Jack deserved some happiness and in the run up to the finale, I envisaged a closing scene with Heller, Audrey and Jack flying home on Air Force One with Chloe, Kate and Belcheck bonding somewhere in a London pub (or some such). The problem was that even as I thought it, that ending felt slightly hollow as life has never been done up with a ribbon for Jack and it didn’t really offer any sense of reality. The next thing would have been the Russians launching an attack on Jack and Audrey’s marital home in order to seek their revenge so it would never have worked as a ‘happy ever after’ On reflection, I think that the true S9 ending was far more fitting than any other that they could have come up with. If you are wondering why I have taken this long to respond, I thought I would wait until after Comic con. After all, if they had announced series 10, any comments would have been superfluous.
ReplyDeleteThe character of Jack Bauer, played brilliantly by Kiefer Sutherland, has evolved over the life of 24, Jack Bauer in S9 is far more hardened and disillusioned although also more pragmatic and even more willing to go against the grain (who thought that was even possible – remember the knockout dart for Mason in the first ever episode!). However, certain characteristics have remained consistent, the strong moral compass and sense of right and wrong as well as the patriotism, as alluded to by Sutherland at Comic con. Along with these personality traits, there are some seeds planted in the early series which are why I think the ending was the right one.
Some fan’s comments have said that Jack just ‘gave up’ at the end of S9. Jack’s warning ‘If anything happens to her or my family, your entire world will come apart and you will never see it coming’ is certainly not, in my view, the voice of somebody who has given up.
In S9 (9-10pm), Boudreau referred to Jack as a political liability for the US Government. Jack visibly recoils at this. He would never want that to be the case and had probably assumed for the last 4 years that the Russians had forgotten or just accepted that he was dead. The only way to resolve the political hot potato is for Jack to be dead or be in the hands of the Russians. Although he has learnt over the years that the sacrifices and loyalty he has shown his country have pretty much been a one way street, his undying patriotism means he can’t possibly allow that situation to carry on.
Jack is not a quitter and although he has been willing to give his life on a number of occasions, only when there has been a purpose e.g. S2 (10-11pm) flying the bomb into the desert (saved so magnanimously by Mason) and blowing the building S6 (00-01am) when saving Audrey and to stop the Chinese from getting the sub circuit board . This was reiterated in Series 6 (6-7am) The only reason I fought so hard to stay alive in China was because I didn’t want to die for nothing.
In S9, when he heard that devastating news from Kate that Audrey had died (fantastic scene by Sutherland) you saw him pull out his hand gun, with the intention of ending it all but pulled himself back to continue his mission and secure Cheng and the override. That was probably the most shattering thing that could have ever happened to Jack apart from if it had been Kim who had died and yet, even then he didn’t give up. Sutherland said at Comic con that they ‘toyed with the idea of Jack pulling out a hand grenade on the helicopter and blowing it up but to a certain degree, we copped out’. I disagree with him on that. I think doing that would have been a cop out because I don’t believe that Jack as a character would wantonly commit suicide and more importantly murder Cont’d……..
Cont’d……of the others in the helicopter with a hand grenade for no purpose. (Also, on the bright side, whilst Jack is alive, there is always hope of another series/movie )
ReplyDeleteThe Russians made it very clear that they would go to great lengths to get Jack, ploughing into Jack & Kate’s car with a truck, with no regard to Kate’s safety (S9 8-9pm). Ultimately, Jack would forever be running from the Russians for the rest of his life, exiled and isolated – even with the Presidential pardon, he would never be able to return home without risking the lives of others close to him
Jack has always been very clear about accepting the consequences for his actions. In S9 8-9pm, he admitted to Kate that a lot of his actions in S8 had been a revenge spree for Renee, whereas in S8, Jack justified his actions as part of his message to Kim that they were because of the Peace Treaty (S8 3-4pm). In Series 1 (12-1pm) whilst they are in the water tower Jack tells Rick ‘Some part of getting a second chance is taking responsibility for the mess you made in the first place.’ Handing himself over to the Russians is Jack taking responsibility. I also interpreted the sigh that Jack gave when he was in the helicopter as one of relief. He can finally, after four long years, stop looking over his shoulder and stop running. By handing himself over he also saved Chloe, his friend, his stalwart.
In Series 3 (12-1pm) Jack told Chase, ‘ It took me a long time to understand that if you want to do this job well, you have to stay detached.’ Despite his best efforts, Jack doesn’t stay completely detached but he has learnt that Heller was right (S6 1-2am). Because of his job, anybody close to him, can not only be used as leverage but ultimately are at risk. Jack has lost Audrey on four previous occasions. At the end of Season 4 when he strode off into the sunset to start a new life, again at the end of Season 5 when he was captured by the Chinese and then twice in Season 6, once when he was told she had died in an accident and then again by Heller (you’re cursed Jack). Jack then voluntarily (albeit reluctantly) gives Audrey up to keep her safe at the end of Season 6 in the iconic penultimate scenes with William Devane and Kim Raver. Audrey’s death, although tragic wasn’t a pointless storyline. It concluded a long running thread. She gave the go ahead to ‘do what has to be done, you hear me Jack?’ and to kill Cheng. Jack did both of those, increasing the drama and the tension of the final episode. What was cleverly done was the confirmation that despite the length of time they had been apart, she was still in love with Jack (via Mark at Stolnavich’s residence) and that Jack still had deep feelings for her (S9 9-10pm ‘I just don’t want you to hate me forever’) This on top of the scene at the President’s residence when they first saw each other again which was amazingly emotive, meant that her death (and the solitary tear from her eye as she passed away) was all the more poignant. Ultimately, even if she had lived, they could never be together which in itself would have been an ongoing tragedy. Cont’d…….
Cont’d……..At the end of the day, this is a fictional drama, so it doesn’t have to be the end. It has left the viewers with an opening for their imagination. I’ve considered many options, Heller, on Air Force one, gets news of Jack and opens negotiations for his release whilst he is still POTUS. Jack, eventually is returned to the US and goes to see Heller to thank him and offer his condolences about Audrey and Heller doesn’t recognise him much to Jack’s sadness. Or, Heller in fact has been misdiagnosed and is still in complete control of his faculties and lives quietly in retirement mourning Audrey. Another theme is that Chloe, Belchek, Kate and Jack all reunite and carry on saving the world as an off grid Black Ops unit or maybe Jack stays in Russian custody and they use him for a couple of missions to save the world themselves – hopefully they would realise that if the Chinese couldn’t break him, they won’t be able to and as long as the missions weren’t anti US, Jack would probably
ReplyDeletecomply if it was to save innocents. Or, maybe Jack slowly rots in a Siberian Gulag (which is my least favourite as Jack certainly deserves better than that)
My only regret with S9 was that we didn’t get a little more background on Belchek and what Jack had been doing for the last 4 years. Unfortunately, the 12 episode format didn’t allow that luxury but that said, I think it worked well as it was far tighter as a series than some of the previous as it didn’t require so much ‘filler’ to accommodate the real time format. I think there’s a book to be imminently released though that fills that gap so that may have to be purchased.
I hope that somebody somewhere can come up with a series idea that excites all the 24 team to come back and do more. I think they’ve got a tough job to beat Series 9 but then I thought that the Series 8 ending was impossible to better so I’m looking forward to being proved wrong
I appreciate your indepth thoughts. Thank you very much. GBD
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