24 – Day 8:00am – 9:00am

Are you ready to talk about one of the more momentous episodes of 24 in recent memory? Why do shows always shine when they know they’re coming to an end?

• Taylor assures Jack that there was nothing he could have done to save Hassan. Samir is barely alive, however, for questioning. While he is laying there, one of the EMTs injects Samir with something and leaves. Renee seems to recognize him, but thinks nothing of it. Jack and Renee leave, giving Cole full control of the situation. They return to Jack’s apartment to have sex.

• Taylor is on her way to inform the UN delegates that the peace treaty will be dissolved when the prime minister of the IRK stops her with a suggestion. They want Dalia Hassan to take over as President and sign the treaty. She agrees.

• With the changes in the peace treaty situation, Hastings is fired as Head of CTU and Chloe is hired as provisional Director. The world is a little better now.

• But, the world gets a little worse when the Russian delegate tells President Taylor that if Dalia signs the treaty, they will not sign it. Looking for any hope to save the treaty, Ethan suggests calling Charles Logan, the man who killed President Palmer and covered it up (even though he was pardoned). Logan assures Taylor that he can, legally and morally correctly, get the Russians to sign.

• Samir is has a heart attack and dies. Chloe suspects that he was injected with something at the scene of Hassan’s assassination. She calls Jack’s phone, which Renee answers. Renee begins to explain the suspicious man she saw at the scene when a Russian sniper shoots her. Even though Jack gets her to a hospital, she dies there.

Agent Philboy’s Assessment

So, today, I was foolishly looking at TV Guide and saw a quote from Kiefer Sutherland saying that Jack would experience tragedy and then be more focused than ever for the last handful of episodes. I knew this either meant Chloe or Renee were going to die. I called this ending, as I expect many of you did. A fun fact: Renee Walker is the first and only person to receive TWO silent clocks in her time on the show. Don’t forget, Jack had to make believe to bury her last season.

Anyway, it was somewhat predictable how Renee died. But, I can see why it had to happen and I completely agree with it. The points where we love Jack the most is when he has something to fight for, but, at the same time, nothing to lose. This is the Jack we are going to see in the next six episodes. Now, as long as he works within the means of the law for the same amount of time, we can all go home happy.

A thought that keeps creeping into my head more and more is how the events that we’re seeing now will affect a possible movie and, more abstractly, Jack’s life after the show is over. It’s hard to believe, but, at the end of this (minus the possibility of a film), the character of Jack Bauer could go any number of ways. Will the show ending be happy or sad? It’s going to be interesting to watch.

Before I go, I would have to be drummed out of the “24” fan corps if I didn’t give proper space to Chloe’s promotion to head of CTU. In the span of 25 minutes, she had accomplished more and was more confident that Hastings had been in 15 hours on the job. Even though I think, when all is said and done, Jack should be in charge, Chloe is the only other worthy, living, substitute. I think these next six hours will be the time for Mary Lynn Rajskub and the character that she has created and fostered of the past eight seasons a chance to shine.

Weekly Kill Count = 3 Total Kill Count = 64