As Jack Bauer sails away to an uncertain future aboard the proverbial slow boat to China, I thought I’d take a few lines to sum up this past season and give some final thoughts about Jack, the show, and the United States of America.
Yes, I sometimes take the show and Jack Bauer way too seriously. After all, how much importance should you attach to a television program watched by at most, 5% of the population of the country (ratings showed about 13.5 million viewers per week, up 14% from last year)?
But I suspect a breakdown of those 13.5 million would show a large percentage of politically aware people in the mix, what some refer to as “the political class” in America. And that’s because much more than NBC’s West Wing or ABC’s Hillary-in-Waiting Commander in Chief, Fox’s 24 creates a universe that while unbelievable in many respects, gives us permission to indulge some of our fears about the threat facing the United States while at the same time presenting us with characters that are a fascinating mix of good and bad, noble and ignoble. Ultimately, we hope that most of the people portrayed on our side are actually on guard, protecting us in some way. And this is because the dedication and loyalty displayed by the characters to each other and the United States is very comforting in these uncertain times.
As with any story – whether told around a campfire or beamed by satellite to millions – it is the characters who draw us in, hold our attention, and determine our level of interest. In the case of 24, the added attraction of a real time experience forces us to live the entire day in the program’s universe, standing next to Jack as he tortures a suspect or sitting with the President, listening while he sells his office and the country down the river. In this way, we internalize the characters and adopt them as our own. We can identify with the dilemma of an Audrey or the decision that Jack has to make about letting a terrorist go because we so completely understand them.
This is the addictive part of the show – living a life vicariously through someone else. Good novelists can do it. Television programs accomplish the feat much less frequently. Much of the credit should go to the creative team of Joel Surnow and Howard Gordon who are faithful to the parameters of the universe they create (with obvious and sometimes unintentionally comical exceptions) while at the same time, delivering a first-rate, technically brilliant production. The writing, editing, design, and photography are the best of any drama on television. The special effects are superb and horrifically expensive for a weekly television series. By not being cheap in its design or FX, 24 treats its fans with a respect often lacking in other action TV dramas.
The show this past year seemed to shrink a little bit, becoming more personal for Jack as the war on terror claimed his closest and only friends (Chloe is a co-worker. I somehow can’t see Jack going out for a beer with her after work, can you?). Less bloody than in years past, there were two points that I thought the character of Jack Bauer changed forever and where his relationship with CTU and the US government may become problematic.
The shooting of the actual assassin of David Palmer in cold blood was shocking to me. If he had done anything similar in past years, it didn’t register. There was no reluctance, no hesitation. He could have been putting a bullet in an injured buck for all the emotion he showed in killing him. I got a similar reaction to his execution of Henderson, although admittedly, the feeling that old Buckaroo had it coming to him was also present. But it seemed that with those two murders – and there is no getting around it, that’s what they were – Jack has crossed a line and there’s no turning back. Can he really be any use to CTU and the United States in any official capacity any longer? My prediction is that Jack is going black from here on out and that any help he gets from the government will be off the books.
This should isolate him even more than he already is which, given his personal relationships with Audrey and his daughter, is probably just as well. They are both better off without him. Wherever Bauer goes, pain, death, and chaos follow. Anyone unfortunate enough to know him well is bound to be desperately unhappy.
This isolation will make Jack an even more attractive character. Thanks to Kiefer Sutherland’s excellent portrayal, most people feel fairly protective of Jack. They want to help him. And given that he seems to be such a nice fellow (at least on days where the United States is not about to be destroyed), we want to feel close to him too.
I imagine the show will begin next season in an unexpected place, perhaps Jack arriving back on American soil after being exchanged for a Chi-com spy, with more terrorists to deal with probably assisted by more American traitors. Remember, Mr. Big (Graham) is still out there with his compatriots and his spidery tentacles spread out all over government. The series could have Jack continue his quest for revenge very easily. Whatever Surnow and Gordon have in store for Jack, we can be sure it will be exciting.
Thanks to all of you for visiting this year. I hope you come back often for coverage of the election in November as well as other stories that you might not see on other sites. But if your tastes lie elsewhere, Season 6 starts in January of 2007 and I fully expect to be writing about it again.
1:39 pm
I’ve looked forward to your take and the body count each week. This was my first year to watch 24. Thanks to Rush talking about it I finally watch it. I got hooked. He also talked about this website which is also very good.
I think somehow President Logan will get a break and be freed. He is to good to let go just yet. Jack will jump off the slow boat to china to a waiting sub after killing all those ninja’s on the ship. Then hopefully to Iran to kick some butt.
2:04 pm
I too only got hooked on the show this season, and am looking forward to the next one. One of the things I noticed about this show, and fiction in novels, movies, and TV is that the main character seems to always go against the grain of authority (24, ER, JAG, Top Gun, Dirk Pitt, Tom Clancy, etc) to accomplish their mission. Often the hero has to battle corrupt people in government who run amok. In the real world, those who go off on their own like that get fired. I just find that interesting.
2:22 pm
I think Jack shooting Nina Myers in year 3 (?) was pretty close to Jack shooting Palmer’s assasin and Henderson this year.
2:24 pm
Steve:
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Nina had a gun and besides, wasn’t she shot by a CTU TAC team guy right before she pulled the trigger on Jack?
I might be remembering it all wrong.
2:25 pm
All-Wing NutHouse
(With apologies to Rick Moran.) John Cole marvels as the Left and the Right excoriate their leaders for the latter’s identical reaction to the Jefferson search and seizure issue. Meanwhile, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) thinks that the DOJ is…
3:59 pm
I would watch the show, but not much, it was your reviews, and clear adoration for the show that made me think I should actually pay a little more attention to the show, and I did, and I realized I really liked it. 24 has one more viewer in me, thanks to you.
4:43 pm
Rick, you’ve created a moral/ethica; puzzle for me.
I don’t remember the shooting of Palmer’s assassin; I thought Jack shot him in pursuit.
As for Henderson, he did “shoot” Jack, knowing the gun was not loaded. In a perfect world, Jack would have arrested Henderson and turned him over to the courts, but Jack know Henderson’s guilt is beyond dount and skips ahead to execution. I don’t quite see it as fitting the definition of murder. If Henderson had willingly surrender to Jack on the sub and then Jack shot him, I would have agreed with you, but as it is, I do think that Jack can still work within CTS.
Remember the killing of the guy in Season two (“I’ll need a hacksaw”)? Now that was murder, I’ll grant you. In Jack’s world, the ends—protecting America—justify all means.
Goodness, I love this show!
7:50 pm
This was my first season, too, but with the very opening 2-hour episode, I became instantly hooked and have not missed a single show since. My entire schedule revolves around Monday night at 9:00! Mondays immediately became my favorite day of the week. It was great when the realization hit on Sunday night, “Tomorrow is 24!” or during a Monday, while teaching class, to look at the clock and think, “Only 8 hours and 17 minutes until 24!” This week was enormously satisfying in many ways: Martha’s smirk as Logan was led away with federal marshalls was delicious, and Jack’s tender reunion with Audrey was so touching. However, I have to admit that I was devastated with the ending when Jack was captured and kidnapped; I so wanted our hero to be able to enjoy at least a little down time with Audrey, or, hey, how about a nap? But when the words “Returning January 2007” appeared on the screen, I stared in disbelief and frustration. It never occurred to me that we would have to wait so long for the new season. The long stretch of Mondays betwen now and January now seems almost unbearably bleak. Today my first disk of Season One arrived, so I’ll be watching Jack’s adventures from the very beginning, hoping I can stretch all seasons out until January. I look forward to checking out your blog in January. Thanks for your great commentary!
6:24 am
I’m not so sure Henderson is dead. Jack’s not done and Henderson is important to the series if they want to resolve Graham and co.
I found it way too convenient for the PO Rooney to witness the execution and the set-up could’ve been for the successful disappearance of Henderson, like Bauer before him.
I think Weller could be heavy next season and would give a tremendous boost for “24”, the writers could use another angel, a Fallen one instead of an Avenging one.
10:11 am
Peggy: We have to wait until January because Fox touts the show as the ‘’non-stop’’ season. That means they can’t run it over Christmas because everyone goes on hiatus at Christmas (as it’s on Monday this year, it’s a good thing).
I agree about Mondays spent anticipating the show. I used to do that on Fridays with Joan of Arcadia, but alas, no longer.
Rick: I agree about the two ‘’murders,’’ (though Henderson definitely meant to kill him), but assuming Buchanan remains at CTU, I think they can deal. I think Buchanan, while sometimes appalled by it, realizes that Jack’s utter ruthlessness is sometimes necessary.
I’ve been wondering if Audrey will think that he simply disappeared again. But on my second viewing, her distress at his vanishing seems real. I think she really knows that something awful happened to him.
Besides the ‘’big sister’’ in season 2, I think Audrey is the best match for Jack. I can’t remember that other gal’s name, but she was one tough lady (sold out her sister when she found out she was bad).
8:56 pm
Rick- at first i thought that the next season would continue the day after but now after what you had said it seems that it will take place a little later afterwards. Any predictions how the next season will begin?
By the way- thanks for all the excellent summaries and commentaries through this season. they have been great, either provoking us to think more or making us laugh. I cant wait to read them next season. Thanks again.
10:55 pm
I enjoy your blog each week since my son turned me on to it. I believe Jack gunned down Dennis Hopper at the end of day 2 or 3. Hard to keep it all seperated in my mind.
9:11 pm
I’ll add my thanks to others for your excellent commentaries this season. I’d like to add one additional thing to your idea that “there were two points [where] the character of Jack Bauer changed forever” and that those two points were the murders of David Palmer’s assassin and Henderson. (Since both of those murders would qualify as such under the Geneva convention, I think that’s the yardstick we’d have to use.)
For me there was another important difference in Jack’s character this season, and that was his hesitancy dealing with Henderson. I had never before noticed Jack thinking twice before doing something. Part of his appeal is quick, correct decision making on the fly. If only we could all be so … right! But with Henderson, Jack was never quite sure whether to trust him, or not to trust him. To me this helps to explain, if not apologize for, his decision to shoot Henderson at the end. By attempting to kill Jack, Henderson played his hand: they were absolutely not on the same side. In the end (and I do think Henderson is dead) 24’s U.S. is probably the better for Henderson’s absence.
I wonder whether we will see a slightly broken Jack next season. Maybe a little more indecision, and perhaps a bit of yearning to let another hero take up the mantle and save our democracy from a slow creep towards shadowy totalitarian control?
12:53 am
[...] Late to the party, I know. I watch a lot of TV during the season, some less hot but still watchable shows get recorded and left till the summer, and 24 is a newcomer–this was my first season. And it was awesome. Kiefer Sutherland is fan-frickin’-tastic as Jack Bauer, and although the rest of the show at first had me struggling to suspend disbelief regarding the technical wizardry, timing, and inhuman task management of these people, I soon learned to forget all that and go along for the ride. [...]
8:35 am
[...] As I see it, the show this year is entering very dangerous territory for a long running drama; how do you top what you did the previous year? For 24, the answer last year was to shrink Jack’s universe by killing off his closest friends, making his quest to bring down the bad guys almost a personal vendetta. I commented last year at the cold blooded way he killed Palmer’s assassin as well as his execution of Henderson and thought that this marked a divergence for the character: [...]