SUMMARY

Now in custody, Mandy accepts Jack’s offer of a Presidential deal to reveal where Marwan is. Before President Jellyfish can sign off on it, the Secret Service brings up an old tape of Palmer shaking hands with Mandy at the end of Season 2. She had a biological agent on her hand and almost killed Palmer. Despite this info, Palmer OK’s the deal and Mandy tells Jack that Marwan is in downtown LA ready to take off from the roof for a ship out in the harbor.

Prescient to the last, Marwan realizes that “something’s wrong” after he fails to get in touch with Mandy. Less than 4 minutes after getting the information on Marwan’s location, Jack is there with the helicopter.

Did the writers have to ignore the “real-time” aspect of the show so blatantly so late in the show?

Hovering above Marwan’s still grounded helo, Jack starts shooting at the rotors hoping to disable it. Realizing the jig may be up, Marwan tries to destroy the missile tracking device he just happens to be carrying (why?). Leaving the now smoking helicopter, Marwan makes a last break for freedom. Jack, Curtis, and another CTU agent catch up to him in the parking lot where Marwan offs his last American and wounds Curtis. A pursuing Jack catches Marwan and shoots him in the lower leg which finally brings the elusive terrorist to ground. Seeing no escape, Marwan takes the only logical step left to him; he runs toward the railing of the 20 story parking garage and attempts to hurl himself over the edge.

Jack appears ready for this and sprints to the railing just in time to get a hold of Marwan’s hand before the terrorist falls to his death and reaps his 72 virgin reward. But Jack isn’t ready for Marwan’s fanaticism. While screaming at him “Where’s the missile” Marwan takes out a knife and slices the top of Jack’s hand but good, severing some muscles in the process and loosening Jack’s grip on his hand. Marwan slips away with a look of triumph on his face and his head hits the pavement with a sickening thud.

Marwan, Jack’s best adversary in the history of the series, dies believing he has won. How much more satisfying if he had known that he failed before he died? One more missed opportunity for satisfying drama by the writers.

President Jellyfish has a cow when he finds out CTU has lost Marwan but he’s got bigger problems. The Chinese, who broke CTU Agent Bierne simply by threatening him with the Gulag, inform Jellyfish that they want Jack’s head on a platter. Palmer, while opposed, knows its the only thing to do. But Logan’s top aide Cummings has a different idea. Why not kill Jack and solve the problem that way? Saying that “This Administration does not condone murder and it never will,” Jellyfish leaves the door open for Cummings to play Ollie North to his Reagan.

Back at the helicopter, CTU finds Marwan’s tracking device and, even though badly damaged, are able to pull some information off of it. It’s enough for the geek squad of Chloe and fat geek Edgar who, working some really fast geek magic, are able to find the track of the missile so that the US Air Force can save the day.

The F-15’s scream toward the target area and using their multi mode “look down shoot down” radar are able to acquire the target. One well aimed Aim 9x air-to-air missile and poof! Los Angeles is saved. Somewhat anti-climactic after Marwan’s death but still satisfying.

In past seasons, the show’s writers would then take the last 30 minutes and try and tie up a few loose ends and set the stage somewhat for next season. Not this time.

Palmer calls Jack with the bad news that the Chinese want him and that the US government is going to turn him over. Jack takes it like a good soldier, realizing that once the Chinese had Bierne that there was nothing else to do. Meanwhile Cummings gets in contact with the Secret Service agent being sent to arrest Jack and makes it clear in no uncertain terms that it would be better if Jack died.

This is the second time that I can recall Hollywood sliming the Secret Service, some of the most selfless people in government. Oliver Stone thinks they had something to do with JFK’s death. The idea that Cummings could call a random agent and have that guy agree to kill Jack is outrageous and a slap at the dedicated men and women who willingly give up their lives to save the ones they protect.

Novik, being something of a creep himself, eavesdrops on Cummings conversation with Agent Spaulding about killing Jack and immediately informs Palmer. This sets the stage for one of the most maddening exchanges in the entire 24 hours.

Jellyfish, all smiles and relaxed now that being President means simply being a politician, grandly motions Palmer to join him while he’s receiving the undeserved congratulations from world leaders for his “leadership” during the crisis.

Palmer informs him of Cummings duplicity and Jellyfish, probably more out of a reluctance for confrontation than anything else, refuses to talk Cummings out of his plan to kill Jack. He praises Palmer for “playing a role” in resolving the crisis and dismisses him. On his way out the door, Palmer gives Jellyfish a look of contempt that could have withered an evergreen.

Palmer calls Jack to warn him of the danger. Upon hanging up, Jack gets a rueful smile on his face and looks at Tony.

Agent Spaulding shows up at CTU to claim his victim but Jack has evidently escaped. He’s cold cocked Tony and made a bid for freedom. Spaulding goes after him with Tony and they corner Jack in the utility room. In the exchange of gunfire, Jack is apparently hit and, upon approaching him, Tony realizes that he’s dead. Spaulding checks to make sure. Yep, he’s a goner.

Right.

As soon as they’re alone, Tony get’s an ephenedrine shot from Chloe to revive Jack from…what? What drug could stop his heart and breathing so effectively and how did Jack and Tony 1) get the drug and from where, and 2) get the fake blood they smeared all over Jack, and 3) while we’re thinking about it, where the hell did they get the ephenedrine?

No matter, with a little coaxing from Tony, Jack revives. I’m sort of glad we didn’t have to see Tony giving Jack mouth to mouth – maybe they could have enlisted Chloe for that job.

Anyway, after telling Chloe to run interference with the coroner until they could switch bodies (where they gonna get a body this time of the morning anyway?), Jack, Tony, and Michelle pile into an SUV and make their escape from CTU. Before getting out of the car, Jack waits for Tony to say something, anything. After all, it’s supposedly the last time they’re going to see each other. Tony says nothing until Jack is walking away when he manages to mumble “Jack. Be careful.” You can always tell when Tony is under great emotion. He get’s this look on his face like he’s disgusted with himself for being so weak. Tony looked real disgusted when Jack left.

Talking to Palmer one last time, the men exchanged words of respect and affection. When Palmer said that “Jack Bauer is now dead” Jack got that rueful smile on his face again. It’s almost as if the idea appeals to him immensely. No more days like this. No more doing things that make him hate himself for the thug that he his. No more having the weight of saving the country on his shoulders.

He walks off into the sunrise. Alone as always.

FINAL BODY COUNT

I tried my best but there were two gun battles where you knew there were CTU casualties but no mention was made of them. There were also the untold number of people who died in the meltdown of the powerplant. And there were a couple of times where you thought there might be wounded but no mention was ever made of that fact. Given these and other limitations that I’m sure you readers could point out if you put your minds to it. Here are my figures for the final body count.

First, the last hour saw Jack add one notch to his gun when he offed the helicopter pilot. Marwan killed his last American, the CTU agent. And Marwan himself fell to his death with a sickening splat. Because I’m in a charitable mood, let’s give Marwan to Jack, shall we?

Jack: 44

Show: 237

Chloe: 1

Forty Four people dead in 24 hours. And only a couple of them friendlies. Way to go Jack.

FINAL THOUGHTS

First, a speculative thread for next year.

Tony, Michelle, Jack, and Palmer are now all “retired.” How about a scenario with Jack working with CTU from the outside in a foreign country to stop a terrorist attack in the states? Jack tracks down Tony and he joins him while Michelle stays behind and coordinates with CTU. Palmer is enlisted to get Jack help from foreign governments.

One thing is pretty clear, unless Jack is caught by the Chinese and the show opens with him being released from the Gulag, Jack is through at CTU. And the foreign locales would be another breakthrough for network TV. Never been done as far as I can remember.

As far as this year, the first 22 hours I’d put up there with the best TV drama done in a while. I know there were other moments where you had to ignore some of the more outrageous plot devices, but I really thought a lot of them could have been explained by a mole – either in the Defense Department or CTU itself.

The fact that there was no mole pokes so many holes in the plot that most of them are too ridiculous to mention. I will say that I think that if they had stuck with one terrorist plot – to meltdown the reactors – and not had a mole, the plot would have worked perfectly. The override device (itself a ridiculously concocted invention) and everything that happened from that could have been traced back to the defense contractor McGlennon Forster. Corporate bad guys working with Islamic fruitcakes would have been better than the virtual army that Marwan had at his disposal.

There are dozens of terrorists and mercenaries armed to the teeth still loose in the United States when the show ends. And no hint that CTU, the executive branch, or anyone else cares very much about that.

All this being said, it was still enjoyable. I don’t know whether I’m going to blog the series again. It depends on a lot of things, not the least of which is where this site will be come January 2006. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed visiting and sharing this experience with me. I hope you come back often.