At the beginning of tonight’s episode of 24, former President Charles Logan changed his tie. The he ran into Jack Bauer. And after that, Charles Logan needed to change his pants.
I’ve said it before and it bears repeating- with 24’s end approaching, they’re going all out. These last few hours have been all action with a constant stream of Jack Bauer kicking ass. And I can’t complain. Well, that’s not true. I do have one small complaint about tonight’s episode. We saw Jack take down (without using lethal force) a bunch of Secret Service agents. He then fled the scene with a former president in tow. He beat up Charles Logan (something he should have done five years ago). He beat up a bunch of Russian goons in a parking garage. But his final killing spree went unseen. There were some promising images, including the one of the head consul with a poker through his chest. Sadly, we did not get to see how that happened.
It seems as if everyone’s gunning for Jack. The Russians tried and failed. The Americans aren’t doing much better. And it’s unsure who Jack’s final target will be this year- whether it’s the former bassist of Foghat Russian President Suvarov or will end up being U.S. President Taylor (although every other time he’s been on the show, Suvarov has been a good guy). And it’s tough to imagine Jack taking out either President without serious international ramifications. But ramifications be damned, the show is ending and all people want to see is Jack Bauer kill people in the most imaginative ways possible. And get revenge, which is something he’s closer to doing.
One of my complaints earlier this season was Jack constantly falling victim to the same tactics villains have used in the past. At the end of tonight’s episode, it was revealed that Jack planted a bug on Logan which enabled him to find out the depth of the conspiracy. A similar thing happened back in season five, with Jack outsmarting Logan the same way. It would be hypocritical of me to not complain over this, but I’m not going to. I thought it was a great callback to their previous encounters. I’m only hoping that Jack took the opportunity to record the half of the conversation that he heard and is able to use that to his advantage later on.
While the big story here is Jack’s revenge tour, another element is his bringing the conspiracy to light. And it’s looking like that will be tougher and tougher to do, with the President cracking down on any and all evidence. As Logan told her, disaster looms (not just for her, but for the country) if the truth gets out. But how does this season end with it not?
Taylor’s first mistake was listening to Logan. And since then, she’s become more like him. It would have been nice to have her have a little more backbone (especially after last season), but you know what they say, once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.
I have to admit, I’ve spent the past week thinking that after the LOST finale on Sunday, I’m not really going to be in the mood to watch the end of 24. But with the direction the show is taking, I’m looking forward to next Monday.
Some other thoughts:
-The scene where Jack took out Logan’s car in the tunnel was awesome. Even more impressive was the fact that Jack did it without killing any of the Secret Service agents. I don’t think they’d allow a sitting President’s motorcade to travel down a tunnel.
-I can’t take credit for this, this is all The Civee: “Jack is still showing him some respect…he’s calling Logan Mr. President!”
-I’m not sure what Chlöe, Arlo and Agent Freddy are up to. It’s nice that they’re in Jack’s corner. But if it comes down to a head-to-head, I don’t see Agent Freddy stopping Jack.
What did you think?
This episode rocked it hard, but I have to agree that was VERY bummed that they didn’t show the Russian Massacre with the fire poker. Apparently you can’t do such violence two weeks in a row.
Maybe I missed it during a channel flip, but where did Jack get the Snake Eyes costume? Did he get that from the Reservoir Dog?
Overall, these last few episodes have *almost* made up for an entire season of suck. If 24 can go out with a 2-hour action-packed finale, I’ll be happy.
What are your bets for an ending? I’m guessing Jack goes out in a blaze of glory. I’m gonna say it’s probably a safe bet that Chico Jr. buys it too.
I think Jack’s Snake Eyes/Darth Vader costume was in the giant duffel bag of doom he got from Reservoir Dog.
No idea about the ending. I doubt Jack dies. Maybe he kills Logan, Suvarov AND Taylor and takes over as President of the World. Seems only fitting.