What Happened on the 24 Series Finale?

A special thanks to Phil for covering 24 for GMMR for the past two seasons.  I can’t imagine how many dead bodies you’ve witnessed as a result, but I hop you’re not scarred for life. Thanks for everything….Kath

So, this is the end. The last seconds of “24” just flickered across my screen. The clock ticked and tocked for the last time. And, save for the movie and whatever it might entail, we saw Jack, Chloe, and the rest of the cast of characters for the last time. Let’s get started, as I try to sum up everything really quickly.

Debrief

• Chloe, Cole and Arlo track Jack to a building and a perch right in view of where President Suvarov will be. Chloe eventually convinces Jack to stop his plans to assassinate Suvarov and to work with her to reveal the coverup to everyone. Jack makes Chloe shoot him so she can escape with the evidence.

• Taylor had to tell Dalia Hassan about the Russians involvement in her husband’s assassination. In order to keep her at the signing, however, Taylor threatened to reveal the IRK’s attempt to detonate a nuclear bomb in NYC and said she would have to retaliate with America’s full nuclear arsenal, therefore ruining their country.

• Pillar, who was attacked and knocked out by Jack earlier, showed up to get the card from Jack, who didn’t have it. After searching Chloe, he lets her leave. Looking at Jack’s wound, however, he realizes that Chloe planned the shot to wound and not kill. To buy her time, Jack bites off Pillar’s ear.

• Pillar has Chloe and Cole arrested before they can upload the evidence and send it out to the world. Logan shows the tape to Taylor. He also convinces her that the only way to clean everything up is to kill Jack before he reaches CTU.
  

• On the tape, Jack reveals the entire cover-up and expresses his disappointment in Taylor and the American Government in participating in the cover-up. Jack is in an ambulance headed to CTU.

• Taylor, Hassan, and Suvarov are all ready to sign the peace agreement. Taylor, however, refuses to sign. She admits that horrific crimes were perpetrated, both by herself and others, in the lead-up to the signing and says that she will explain it all within the hour. Taylor then attempts to reach Logan, who is planning his escape. He knocks out Pillar, who is ready to turn himself in, and, seeing no other way out, shoots himself in the head.

• Taylor attempts to save Jack before he is ambushed, but it’s too late. He is taken by three men in gas masks.

• Taylor releases Chloe and Cole. They, along with Arlo, track the SUV Jack was taken in. They use the drones to intercept the assassin’s cell phone signal. President Taylor orders them to stand down. She tells Jack that she is going to confess to everything she’s done, but that Jack would have to do the same. She then tells him that she will give him enough time to flee the country, since the Russians and Americans would both be after him. Jack thanks her and calls Chloe.

• In his call, Jack makes Chloe promise to take care of Kim and her family. He also says that, when he first saw her walk into CTU, he would have never guessed that she would be the one to have his back all these years. He runs away.

• The show’s clock, instead of counting to 4:00 p.m., counts down to 0:00:00.

Agent Philboy’s Assessment

Wow. These two hours of television tonight were just fantastic. It wasn’t the “greatest hits” package that I thought it might turn into, but it ended everything just the way it should have: Jack is on the run, but always looking over his shoulder. Taylor ended up to have some sort of decency left, as she made things somewhat right in the end. Logan is dead, so that’s a blessing to everyone involved. But, let it be known that he is, hands down, the greatest villain in “24” history.

My thoughts right now are a big jumble. I’m wondering if I’m over sentimentalizing the end of all of this, but I don’t think so. Tonight really marked the end of an era in television. And, while it may have been overshadowed by the big “Lost” finale last night, some might argue that, without “24,” “Lost” may not have been the juggernaut that it became.

At least for me, before “24,” TV wasn’t something active. It was a passive medium that you watched and enjoyed, but never got a visceral reaction from. “24” changed that for me. When I found out, months ago, that it was going to be canceled, I got a little reminiscent and started listing, in no order, my favorite memories of the show. The list included many deaths, torture scenes, and great triumphs of Jack and his various associates. But, with every moment I was listing came a memory, of me watching the show, talking about it with family and friends, generally on the edge of my seat about whatever was going on at CTU. While that is responsible for my passion for TV and, in part, the reason I write for this blog, I can’t help but feel that part of that left tonight, as Jack ran off into the NYC streets and off to another country.

As far as the ending of the series, I don’t think “24” had as much to live up to as “Lost” did last night. All we wanted were two more hours of the same exhilarating television we had loved over the past eight seasons. There were twists and turns, moments of intense emotion and action, and even a couple more moments of badassery from Jack. (And, come to think of it, I think I created the word “badassery” in reference to Jack last year, when I started to review “24.”)

It was a good way to go, wasn’t it? It certainly sets everything up for what could be a fantastic film in a couple of years. I hope that the film will show us what has happened to Jack, Chloe, and maybe even Taylor and Cole, in the years that pass. Whatever might happen to them, and whether or not the movie ever comes to be or is even good for that matter, we will always have eight days of fun and adventure.

What did you all think of the ending of “24”? Did it live up to any expectations you had? What didn’t happen that you were missing?

A big thanks to Kath and everyone at Team GMMR for letting me write about my love of this show for two seasons. I know that it’s never been the most popular column every week, but the comments have been great and I have truly loved writing for all of you. Thanks so much!