While I didn’t jump on with the first season, I became a major fan of the series “24”. It took all the elements of the best action films, spy films and thrillers and put them not just on the screen in one show but in real time format as well.
Real time format means that the show pretty much takes place in actual time. I mean come on; real time doesn’t pause for a commercial break so it wasn’t exact. But the fact that it took place in real time added to the cliffhanger mode that it clicked on, each week ending with something that wouldn’t be solved or corrected until the following week, each episode ending with the digital clock counting down the last few seconds of the hour.
Kieffer Sutherland shone as CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) agent Jack Bauer. In a world gone mad where terrorists hijack planes to fly into buildings, there was a need for an agent like Bauer. The suave and sophisticated James Bond could manipulate women to assist him in finding out a bad guy’s secrets over time. Bauer and a pair of pliers could find the same information out in moments. Yes it was cruel, yes it was torture but in today’s world while we talked about how we should treat people humanely secretly many folks were hoping that a real life Jack Bauer existed to insure the safety of our country.
Along with a continuing cast of regulars who either stuck with the show or found themselves cannon fodder for the latest bad guy, all did an exceptional job as well. While Bauer was the focus of the show the supporting casts were family members we grew to love and cherish and cry for when they ended up killed by terrorist’s gas or bomb attacks.
This brings us to “24 Season eight”. This was the last season of the series. It brought a close to the world of 24 and of Jack Bauer. Promises have been made that Bauer will return in feature film form minus the real time element. Fans are waiting anxiously. But it is this final season after the show was canceled (due to the cost of production and dropping ratings) that has just now reached DVD.
Season Eight begins with President Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) about to sign a peace agreement with the Islamic Republic of Kamistan, a Middle Eastern country, that could solve the problem there for everyone. It would be a first step that would cause others to think and consider the benefits that would outweigh the problems that lie between the countries there. But not everyone wants peace to happen. Die hard fanatics rarely seek out peace and always think their way is the best.
Attacks and kidnapping attempts on President Omar Hassan (Anil Kapoor) of the I.R.K. bring Jack Bauer back to take on the bad guys. Once again he’s tried to leave behind the life that nearly destroyed him and did take the life of his wife. As he is about to leave and head out west with his daughter and her family, duty calls once more and only Jack can save the world from total annihilation.
Tossed into this plot is a mole (a traitor hidden in the organization) in the new CTU. For some reason this organization that is supposed to protect us always had room for one mole or another nearly every episode. This time around the mole is offering information to the kidnappers. Its just one more thing Jack will have to deal with as he races to save the world in just 24 hours.
CTU is different with a new man in charge, Brian Hastings (Mykelti Williamson), who seems to completely miss the abilities and assistance that could be afforded by Chloe O’Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub), the computer genius and perhaps the only best friend of Bauer still alive. Each time her advice is ignored more trouble follows until the new director finally discovers how valuable she truly is leaving us something at the series end to consider.
New characters arrive to help the story along, old characters make reappearances as they try to gain power once more and through it all Jack Bauer scrambles to save the day in spite of politically motivated bureaucrats more concerned with their stations of power or planned dreams than of making this country safe. The most recent elections as well as numerous polls make one believe that many in this country don’t find many politicians to trust these days and if they’re anything like those found here it’s understandable why.
The final season, known as day 8, offers everything that fans have come to love. It has a problem that only the hero can solve and then twists and turns several times over before the real problem or difficulty is seen. And that makes for an enjoyable ride as we go along with Jack to find the solution, the bad guy, the way to save the world.
As season eight comes to a close, we’re left with one burning question. With Jack Bauer gone, who will we turn to now to save the day?
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