24 Season Six Finale

"In case you've forgotten, I'm very good at disappearing. And if you try sending someone after us, I'll kill 'em . . . pretty good at that, too."

Season six was uneven, rehashed, and at times dull. A lot of plotlines were weak, too many storylines weaved in and out, and not everything got resolved. But those last fifteen minutes were beautiful television, and they were exactly how I expected season six to be. The conversation between Jack and Heller may be the best one-on-one conversation 24 has ever had.

I'll put that talk aside and get some of the other season finale issues out of the way first. The first hour was pretty tense with the exchange of Josh for the component. Jack was right, as usual, about his father's motives. Everyone seemingly did not want to go through with the mission, but no one at CTU was strong enough to run their own course. Thank god Karen brought Bill Buchanan back in the mix, the best Bill scenes are always when he is stuck at CTU. Noah realized that being President is easier to do from the sidelines, Lennox showed he's a decent guy, showing a sign of faith giving the recording back. Karen and Bill get pardoned, live happily ever after. Palmer was mentioned, but no status on his health. Still wondering why Logan was in this season.

I thought the Russian stuff was ok, but sort of odd. It seemed like Russia really wanted to go to war with us, and by go to war I mean attack an army base in Asia... they'd do more than that if they were serious. Suvarov eventually backed down on his threat. Question though, could neither the White House or the Russians see that a helicopter was escaping from the oil rig? Who's to say the component wasn't on that helicopter, getting away? And why did Cheng give Phillip the component anyways?

I liked the Josh stuff. I liked that Jack said he didn't care that he was his nephew, but rather a sixteen year old innocent boy. I liked that Josh took matters into his own hands and shot Phillip. Great speech by Jack with his father, which I'll get to later. Phillip is apparently dead, as he "got off easy."

Back at CTU... where was that Division badass from last week? Nadia kept getting kudos for her work... but I thought she did a terrible job, never able to make her own decisions. Her character was an odd one this year, it seemed like the writers changed her role many times. First, she's Muslim, so she has restrictions. Second, she's tortured. Then, she's all of a sudden in charge of CTU? It's hard to imagine this season started off with all the Muslim backlash, and we haven't heard anything on that for most of the season's second half. Morris and Chloe are having a baby, good for them. If we only got one episode this week, and the cliffhanger was that Chloe collapsed, I would have been disappointed because it came from nowhere. All week we would have been, what happened to Chloe? Oh my god! I guess I wouldn't have cared too much, it seemed kind of forced. With Milo dead and Chloe in bed, Morris was really the only analyst left that we knew. When they introduced him last year at the end of season five, you knew he'd be back in six, but really we could have done without him. Without Nadia, Milo, and Chloe for that matter. I hated the CTU drama of this season. I'll fast forward those parts in the DVDs, as well as much of the White House stuff probably. Cheng is in custody, and I loved his line to Bill about how his country won't turn their back on him.

Doyle was this year's Chase Edmunds, right down to the unfortunate accident towards the end of the season. His character was all over the place too... What happened in Denver? Why is he in love with the Quran, the Bible, whatever he can get his hands on? Now it appears he is blinded. I did love he when did the Jack Bauer "Dammit" though. Doyle and Jack could be friends if they were outside of CTU. And another question, was there a point of Milo's brother Stuart? I mean, yes, in the fact that it reiterated how much he loved Nadia, but his disappearing act was pretty weird.

Speaking of disappearing, we move to Jack Bauer. 24 hours ago he arrived back in America ready to die for a purpose. Now, he has nothing. No job. No food. No money. His pet's head would probably be falling off, if he had one. Jack has nothing. No home. No friends. No purpose. Nothing.

It was different not to see Jack kill either Cheng or Phillip. Jack didn't need revenge, he wasn't seeking it anymore. He told Josh that no matter how much better it might make you feel, taking someone's life is a hard thing to live with. And Jack has done it a countless number of times. A broken soul indeed.

He didn't want to go back to CTU, and I don't blame him. I don't think he ever will either. Jack needs a fresh start, out of L.A., out of CTU, maybe even out of the country that has asked so much of him. But first... he wanted Audrey.

But to get through Audrey, you have to go through James Heller, a man whose life he saved, a man that acted as a father figure to him. It was chilling, and to me the perfect, and only way to wrap up season six. Jack is a broken man, he's gone through hell and back more than once, he's done everything right, saved his country, his family, his friends. But now he's left with nothing. Jack and Heller's talk summed up everything that Jack has been through since day one. The killing of his wife. The debt America is in to him. The fact that Jack can't walk away from "the game", even though he's tried. Just ask Frank Flynn.

It was also good to see Jack defend himself to Heller, to explain that he has done everything that has been asked of him, and then some. But it's cost him everything. Which is why Heller was right, and Jack had to say goodbye to Audrey. I'm already rooting for Audrey to come back in the series finale's finale minutes.

Again, season six was a mess. My brother Brock told me before I was able to watch the show that the final hour made up for this season's shortcomings. Maybe not all of them, but to be honest, I didn't mind sitting through the uneven season six if it brought us those last fifteen minutes. As I've said, I love when Jack gets personal, when the show is centered on Jack's struggles. It's cool when the villians are personal enemies of Jack (Drazen, Saunders, Henderson, Phillip, Cheng, Nina) rather than some random villain (Marwan, Kingsley, Amador, Araz). The show is so much better when it's centered around Jack and his struggle. That's what season six brought us in the first four hours, that's why it was great. It lacked that for most of the season, until the final hours of the episode. And that's when season six was at it's best.
I will rewatch the final scenes as soon as this blog is written, it was a great way to cap off the season, and this second trilogy. It seems that 24 is blocked in sets of three, with the first seasons focusing on Nina, Mason, Tony, Michelle, Kim, CTU, Palmer, Chappelle and the latter season focusing on the Chinese, Logan, Bill, Heller, Karen, Audrey, Chloe. And at the end of season three, Jack was overwhelmed by it all, crying in his Jeep, but ready to head back to CTU and get to work. Now at the end of season six, Jack is left looking over a cliff, wondering what is next. Wasn't the best season finale ever, or even final scene (they will never top the first season).
I agreed with the use of the silent clock, because 24 as we know it is seemingly dead. As Jack looks off the cliff, wondering what direction to head, the writers are seemingly doing the same. After all the service, all the death, all the pain, where does Jack go from here?

I guess we'll have to wait another day.

5:59:58.... 5:59:59.... 6:00:00.