The End of Another Long Day for Jack Bauer

It’s 8:00 a.m. in the 24-verse.

The sun is back up.

Kim Bauer is free from the ruthless clutches of the evil (and unhygenic) terror couple.

The guy behind all of the terror conspiracies over the last three seasons is in custody.

And Jack Bauer is in the hospital.

A fitting end for Day 7 of 24.

Overall, Day 7 shaped up to be an above-average season. It was definitely better than Day 6, but not quite on the level of Days 4 or 5.  Still, it was much better than anticipated, and that’s a lot to be said for a season with two main failings:

1) It had to follow up Season 6.

2) For the last half of the season, it felt like there wasn’t much action, much less action involving Jack Bauer.

For most of tonight’s two episodes, Jack was either strapped to a table or handcuffed.  When the doctor told Tony that Jack would be under sedation for at least 15 minutes, I looked at the Civee and questioned the producer’s sanity for keeping Jack out of the action for 15 minutes.  According to bauercount.com, before tonight, Jack hasn’t seen any meaningful action (re: taken a life) in nine hours.

While I’m disappointed that he didn’t get his revenge on Tony, at least he upped the kill count in the last two hours by dispatching of the evil emergency room crew with a scalpel while bound by handcuffs.  Still in the cuffs, Jack had a brief escape before being recaptured by Tony, who filled us all in to his motivation this whole season: revenge for Michelle.

Turns out the guy behind everything else this season (Wilson) was also behind everything else in Season 5.  Big surprise there, as we were told Graeme Bauer/Lobot and the rest of the headset gang was behind Chuck Logan and Robocop’s little conspiracy.  I guess you could always retcon things to say that Wilson was in on their little conference call, just he was off-screen, but I do hope that he is brought to justice and they are able to find a new source of evil for any future seasons.

So thanks to Tony/Jack/someone else who shall be named later, they have Wilson, and as the season ended, we saw Renee appear to turn to the dark side to get some answers.  Throughout this day, more than ever, we’ve seen the toll Jack’s decisions have taken on him.  And he’s been more open to sharing his inner conflict, most notably with Renee in their last conversation in the warehouse.  Jack mentioned the hypothetical example of whether it’s right to sacrifice the law for a bus full of 15 people.  While he knows it’s right to follow the law, his feelings tell him otherwise when he considers the 15 people.  After a day in which she’s lost Special Agent Larry Fine and gone through the stress of saving her country, Renee now has to make a similar decision.  And it looks like she’s letting her feelings, rather than her thoughts, guide her on this one.

We can only hope that like Jack, she has no regrets when it’s all over.

One character we know who is ending the season with a headful of regrets (how’s that for a transition?)  is first daughter and former acting chief of staff Olivia Taylor. Olivia, who manipulated her way into her position is now facing the consequences of her actions (or some may say, simple karma for ordering the death of [My Name is] Jonas Hodges).  When given the choice of how to handle her daughter’s actions, President Allison Taylor made the right call (although the wrong one for her family) by pressing charges against Olivia.  In a futile move to get the murder swept under the rug, first husband Henry Taylor stole a play out of Sherri Palmer’s playbook and threatened the end of the family were the president to press charges.  But just like David Palmer, Taylor put her country first and called Henry’s bluff.  I have a feeling that next season, the first family may be a bit smaller (or have a new member, in the form of chief of staff Ethan Kanin).

Speaking of family….it all ends with Kim Bauer.

I don’t know how.  I don’t know why.  But in this two-hour spread, Kim Bauer actually proved to be useful.

While she wasn’t able to escape the clutches of the terror couple, she did follow the bewigged assassin through the airport underbelly, alert law enforcement and retrieve the laptop of doom before the bewigged assassin’s car blew up.  Then she took off to the hospital, where she agreed to undergo the experimental procedure to help rid her father of the Mad Cow disease he contracted in service of his country.  Who knows…with this newfound usefulness, maybe they’re grooming her to take Jack’s place should he not survive.

Naaah…that’s crazy talk.

For more Bauer talk, check out blogs.4bauer.com.

What did you think?