24: LIVE ANOTHER DAY Episode 12
Episode Title: “Day 9: 10:00 PM-11:00 AM”
Writers: Manny Coto & Evan Katz
Director: Jon Cassar
Previously on “24: Live Another Day”:
“24: Live Another Day” has come to an end, and this could be the end of the franchise as well. If “24: Live Another Day” had been a huge ratings blockbuster, then this wouldn’t even be a question. Jack would be back at some point, “24” would continue and the ending of this episode would be a standard cliffhanger to be easily resolved in the future.
There’s no way to talk about this episode without giving away the major twists. So consider this your SPOILER WARNING. If you didn’t catch last night’s final episode of “24: Live Another Day” then you should probably skip this review or else Kate will let her guard down way too easily.
Looking back at the original run of “24,” the action was several notches above the standard TV fare and Kiefer Sutherland was iconic as Jack Bauer. But what really made those early seasons resonate were the downbeat endings. Jack always saved the day, but he lost a lot along the way. We’ve watched Jack cradle his wife minutes after her murder, we’ve seen him emotionally break down after maiming his partner.And we’ve seen Jack taken prisoner on a slow boat to China before he had to leave Audrey Heller (Kim Raver) behind forever.
The eighth and previously final season of “24” left Jack on the run from his own country and the Russians after going on a personal revenge epic. The ending of “Live Another Day” essentially ties into that as the Russians finally get their hands on Jack. It’s kind of a mixture of the season 5 and season 8 endings. Except this time, Jack is giving up his freedom for Chloe O’Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub). It’s only fitting, since Chloe was arrested for helping Jack escape four years ago.
The writers of “24: Live Another Day” went the extra mile with giving all of the major characters truly unhappy endings. President James Heller (William Devane) not only has to live the death of his daughter but also with the knowledge that he will soon forget her and all of the other details of his life. Mark Boudreau (Tate Donovan) is in custody for treason and Kate Morgan (Yvonne Strahovski) is resigning from the CIA after a truly epic screw-up leaves Audrey dead.
While Audrey’s death can be partially laid on Kate, the entire situation grew out of the improbable choice of Audrey and her Chinese contact to meet in a park after dark rather than a secure location. This is why we have safe houses, people! Despite her assurances to Jack, Kate’s entire mission to save Audrey seemed unusually sloppy and she was lucky that Audrey wasn’t immediately shot dead when Kate encouraged her to get up so that the sniper would fire and give away his location.
That luck couldn’t last and Audrey took a bullet from a second shooter. Sutherland and Devane had fantastic scenes as Jack and Heller reacted to Audrey’s death. For a second there, Jack seemed like he might be willing to shoot himself after Kate broke the news. As for Heller, Audrey’s death broke him more than anything else that happened to him over the course of the day.
The upside is that we got one more Jack Bauer Power Hour as he slaughtered the mercenaries and decapitated his nemesis, Cheng Zhi (Tzi Ma) after forcing him to identify himself on video to prevent a war between China and the United States. Although if China had wanted to interview Cheng, that would have been problematic.
All season long, the “Live Another Day” producers have promised that the 12 part miniseries would take place over twenty four hours. And at the last commercial break, that time jump finally happened. It was a pretty jarring sequence and the only part of it that couldn’t have been done within the 10pm hour was Heller escorting his daughter’s body out of the country with full honors.
I was never really happy with Chloe as a character this season or with her ridiculous Girl with the Dragon Tattoo makeover. However, Chloe’s last scene with Jack was pure gold. Of course Jack was going to give himself up for her. They both acknowledged their friendship, but they’re more of a surrogate family at this point. Jack’s actual family (Kim and her children) are only dealt with in dialogue when Jack gets his new Russian captor to say that his daughter won’t be targeted.
As much as another “24” miniseries about Jack escaping Russia could be fun, I’m okay with leaving his story at this moment. It’s not the happy ending that fans would want for Jack, but he’s never really had a happy ending in the history of the show. That’s not the brand of “24.” This isn’t a Disney film. And honestly, this was a much more satisfying conclusion for Jack than the one he got in season eight. Whatever else happens in Moscow, Jack choose his own fate and he seems to be at peace with it.
“24: Live Another Day” was a little disappointing in the way that it seemed to be content to repeat the formula that worked so well in the original series. I was hoping that Howard Gordon and company had picked up some new tricks in the last four years. There were some weak points in “24: Live Another Day” that could have derailed the entire miniseries. This was a very enjoyable final episode that managed to land its emotional punches, but I think that “24” and Jack Bauer should finally be allowed to gracefully exit the stage.
