Season 5 was arguably the best one to date, that is, until yesterday. The final two hours of the grueling 24 the show takes to spool its plot were broadcast last night and the ending of the season left an important piece of the puzzle unanswered.
What happened (or happens...) to the high-powered men behind President Logan? Those we were introduced to halfway through the show, the ones represented by a bald guy whose only activity was talking to the President through an earpiece? A guy so powerful, he could actually ask/convince the President of the United States to off himself for the good of the country?
For all intents and purposes, the writers had us believe these men were the extremely powerful cabal that masterminded the terrible day's events with (or without) the President himself. Are we supposed to just forget about them as if they never existed? Are we supposed to think that they got away with murder, while the President got caught? Are we supposed to believe no one would think, at CTU, the Department of Defense, the Attorney General's office, or any other agency, that the President had to have had powerful accomplices in order to put such a complicated machinery into motion?
For the producers/creators/writers to leave such a huge piece of the puzzle missing is criminal. A show like this is supposed to tie all the pieces together before the end. That's the rule for a thriller whose purpose is to save the day and bring the bad guys to justice.
Another absurd scene was Jack Bauer's kidnapping at the hands of the Chinese right before the end titles started to roll. I'll allow that they are powerful and probably have their spies working in our government just as we have ours working in their's, and as soon as Jack's name resurfaced, they moved to intercept and capture him, in order to avenge his (accidental) assassination of their Consul in the previous season.
But, c'mon, after all the places Jack's been to in the past 24 hours, how on earth could they be in the right place, at the very end of the show, in a building swarming with federal agents (Jack has to make his way through a group of SWAT team agents just to reach Audrey), and kidnap him with nobody, NOBODY, noticing anything. And smuggle Jack all the way on a boat headed for Shanghai in a matter of seconds.
Like I said, a very disappointing finale for a show that started out great and fizzled toward the very end (I recently posted about my fears that the plot was tumbling toward disaster). Then again, the next season has already been set up, since obviously (well, at this point nothing is certain anymore) the writers will have to rescue Jack from the Chinese. And it could very well be that this turns into a two-parter, with the next season rescuing Jack and answering our questions about the cabal behind the President, but nothing really points in that direction.
No other 24 season was a follow-up and there has actually always been quite a long stretch between the seasons, from one to two years (let's give the guy some rest, shall we?), so while Jack could reasonably be held captive by the Chinese for a good year before the Americans are able to find and rescue him, nothing hints at the possibility that the bald guy's posse will be brought to justice.
And to think that it would have all been so easy and quick to set up. Just show us the bald guy witnessing the President being escorted out by the Secret Service, tipping him off that something went wrong and the plot was uncovered, or have Logan mutter the words, "It's not over yet", or something to that effect, just so we're not left staring at a painting whose center has been carved out.
Grade
- season: 9
- finale: 2
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