Conclusions...'24'

I am still reeling from last night's turbulent and tumultuous two-hour season finale of '24'. By the time the second hour was nearing its exhausting end, I was kneeling by the television, clutching my face, agonized with doubt that the show would be able to pull off the impossible in the remaining 4 minutes. It was just another incredible season. This is why I cannot DVR 24. I need the commercials to regain my composure and equilibrium in between scenes. I need a second to myself to catch my breath.

Of course, I needn't have worried about the outcome of the season, as the stellar writers of '24' never disappoint. Clearly, they have perfected the art of suspense and resolution. At its end, I was so absurdly wired, I was staggering about the house wondering how in the name of all things holy I would be able to come down from the high and get some sleep. It was Ambien to the rescue! It kept me from staying up all night on pure adrenaline. The rush of one hour of ‘24’ a week makes me buckle at the knees, two hours nearly did me in.

There were countless elements coming together last night and it was a chore just to concentrate. I was blown away by the manner in which Ethan Kanin and Aaron Piece conspired to bring Olivia Taylor down. Was I the only one amazed at how this icy little bitch was able to appear in control at her interrogation about Jonas Hodges’ murder? Her delusional belief in her worth is comical at times and truly enraging at others. I don’t see her as one to go down easy, nor do I see how President Taylor’s administration could come out of this unscathed. Whatever decision she makes, the president will have her critics. Her administration is permanently soiled by Olivia’s many betrayals. Poor President Taylor. Her son is dead and her daughter is a dirtbag!

I was sick when Olivia had Ethan taken into custody and searched. I thought I would sucker punch the TV when I believed she had outsmarted them and crushed the evidence. Yet, in keeping with tradition, the rumbling wheels of ‘24’ did not let us down. A second later, I was thrilled when Ethan proclaimed himself a “paranoid sonofabitch” for swapping the original recording with a blank. It was sweet as freshly poured honey to watch her composure crumble with the pressure of their knowledge. Ethan and Aaron’s partnership to confront that dangerous puzzle piece was classic 24. Olivia thought she had it all worked out. She was going to get away with the perfect crime. She reveled in throwing the weight of day-old power around. But then…sweet revenge.

I will admit that I was disappointed that Ethan went to Olivia and gave her the option of telling her mother. Personally, I would have ousted the bitch by playing the recording on the White House loudspeakers. But Ethan is a gentleman, above all, and so is Aaron. In keeping with their character traits, I think the writers did the right thing. Besides, Ethan cares for the president and understood the ramifications of being the one to bring Olivia’s crimes to the forefront of an already daunting day.

Furthermore, the point at which President Alison Taylor was put between a rock and a hard place by her wimpy emasculated husband made her decision to do the right thing even sweeter. Henry Taylor is exactly what I would imagine a First Husband to be: a dull, tiny star floating unnoticed in the orbit of his powerful wife. A zero to the left, who is more liability that asset. To watch the president walk back into that room with Henry and Olivia, smiling coyly, kissing them both with tenderness, just before she charged Olivia with her crimes and walked out on Limp Bizkit was priceless. It was reminiscent of Judas walking up and kissing Jesus right before he hands him over to the Romans for a handful of silver coins. The exception being that Olivia is a no good, scum of the earth murderess, while Jesus was a nice guy…or so I’ve been taught. ;-)

By far the most disturbing revelations of the night came courtesy of the formerly wonderful Tony Almeida. Never have I felt such simultaneous love and hate for a character, as I did last night for Tony. There were complexities so numerous and so mind numbing; I fought to keep pace with my emotions. His confessions and eye-openers had my head spinning. When he told his pseudo girlfriend, Cara, that they would harvest Jack’s blood and organs to recreate the bio-weapon, I just about lost it. Who is this evildoer and what did he do to the real Tony? To have even considered such a thing turned my stomach. Granted, I have my own issues with the harvesting of organs for any personal gain, but still… The sickness in his thinking, then saying it aloud was about as far as I could hold out hope for him. Yet in the next instant he tells Jack he never had any intention of giving him up for that and that really, he was somehow, in his twisted, befuddled mind, working for the greater good. Just when I think Tony’s salvation might still be a possibility, Jack starts to list all of his crimes of the day and I realize that no manner of greater good could be achieved via the route taken by Tony. I am floored by his callousness, as he blows a bullet hole right through Cara, the woman who is supposed to be his love interest. All he wanted was to get to her boss Alan Wilson; a Michael Eisner look-a-like if ever there was one. Even in his last moments of power, when he attempts to hold Wilson accountable as the man allegedly behind all of the murders and conspiracies since Charles Logan’s administration, my heart broke for Tony. When he tells the evil Wilson that he’d not only killed Michelle, but also their son, whom she was carrying, it was all I could do to keep the tears wobbling in my eyes from pouring over the edge. Then when he is hauled off, mentally broken and besieged, screaming and accusing Jack and the world for his woes, all I could see was a man plagued by the demons that have haunted him since he and Jack were idealistic young, CTU agents ready to be good guys saving the planet from the bad.

I want to call it right here: Renee Walker is slated to become the female version of Jack, a rogue FBI agent gone awry. I could see it in the heartless way she scared by-the-book Janice. I could see her anger simmer as she had Janice handcuff herself to keep her at bay. I could see Renee’s rage boil over as Wilson stared at her with that unyielding and mocking smirk across his face. I knew where she was going when she put down her FBI credentials, busted the entry code pad and shut the door behind her, as she entered the holding room with Wilson in it. There is sheer brilliance in Renee’s end result. I hope they bring her back as this Jack-esque hard ass with zero regrets for her actions. I think after a day with Jack, she’s turned her good girl into a bad ass and I am ok with that. I feel sorry for anyone that steps in her way. Renegades are so much more fun to write about.

I don’t like Kim Bauer. I never made a secret of it. She gets herself into these asinine situations that force her father, who is otherwise occupied, to veer from his globe-saving goal, to have to save her lousy ass from death. But Kim did redeem herself in the last seconds coming to the stem-cell rescue of her dying Dad. “I’m not ready to let you go, Dad…” Neither are we, Kim! She is the reason we have something to hold on to for next season so…against my better judgment, three cheers for Kim!!!

So, was I the only one who noticed the writers of this show trying excessively to save face with the Muslim community? I mean having Jack admit to Imam Gohar that he wrongly accused Jibraan Al-Zarian, the terrified Muslim, of trying to set off a bomb, then bringing Jibraan and his brother Hamid back togther with a knowing smile? Come on! Jack Bauer is like Arthur Fonzarelli, saying sorry is really hard for him! Then, having Jack confess his sins to Gohar in a sort of Last Rites ceremony, before he accepts his fated death? How painfully obvious…I get what they were attempting to do, but let’s look at the facts here. The Muslim community need not feel singled out. Jack’s ‘24’ has pretty much racially profiled every community, culture and religious sect in its seven-season existence, even several American-born terrorists. See, there is enough love for everyone!

One thing I did notice about this season of ‘24’ is that not many main characters were killed off. Other than Bill Buchanan, the death toll this season, compared to others, was minimal. I mean I thought after all of Tony’s malicious actions, he would go down in a fiery blaze of glory. After Janice Gold ‘done pissed off’ Chloe O’Brien one too many times, surely they’d blow her up in some unfortunate accident. Oh well…I guess there are plans for these people next season? Either that, or the executives at FOX are getting queasy and requesting a less gruesome outcome to ‘24’ every season.

My husband will probably say that watching ‘24’ with me season after season, is an adventure all its own. I become so immersed in the plot and the characters that I cease to have a separation between ‘24’ and my real life. I proclaim to him that the show’s stress ride is too much for me and I will stop watching it. I make false promises to that effect. Between commercials, I take my blood pressure (literally not figuratively), just to verify that I am not going into cardiac arrest. I show him how high it gets to further illustrate my need to stop watching it. I make mad dashes to kitchen or bathroom, if the need arises, making sure to be properly seated and ready, when it resumes. I disregard calls from loved ones, if ever they dared to contact me during ‘24’. I admit that ‘24’ is like crack; I keep coming back for my abuse. I hang my head low, shaking it in disbelief, when one scene leaves me particularly drained. I cry sometimes, just because it’s over. I complain that it is the shortest hour of every week. I guess what I am trying to say is that I do believe I LOVE this show!