May 27, 2010 by Orrett Morgan
The final two hours of the series start off a little slow, but it’s interesting nonetheless. The politics of the day are summed up pretty quickly with Logan’s (Gregory Itzin) call to the President. Jack is out for blood, and is working his way up the food chain. The conspiracy to derail the peace process and all the collateral damage it has caused is a direct result of President Suvarov’s (Nick Jameson) orders.
One of the more telling scenes in the first hour comes when Jack decides to kidnap Jason Pillar, (Reed Diamond) and use him to gain access to a U.N. building. I have to say that Pillar’s transition from a tough as nails field commander to a shivering coward was pretty convincing. The look on his face when Jack (Keifer Sutherland) reminds him that torture is not out of the question is priceless. What was hilarious to me was how Jack produces a suture kit, and forces Pillar to “suture me up” while pointing a gun at his head. You could imagine the man wetting himself at any moment.
In the previous episode, Meredith’s call to Hassan’s daughter stirs up trouble. Presented with the possibility that the Russians may be involved with her husband’s murder, Dalia Hassan (Necar Zadegan) confronts President Taylor (Cherry Jones) with the rumor. The President is forced to make her first hard decision without consulting with Ethan, or Logan. She fights back tears summoning the strength to use blackmail as a last ditch effort to save the treaty. Mid sentence, she finds her composure and issues her ultimatum: sign the treaty, or we will wipe you off the face of the planet. This season has boasted some pretty powerful dialogue for the women on the show, which isn’t a surprise for 24 in particular, but atypical for an action series aimed at men. Allison Taylor has been my favorite president since David Palmer (Dennis Haybert). She plays the role legitimately, and there’s not a moment you don’t believe she is the president.
After Cole and Chloe discover Jack is inside their perimeter and likely getting set up to kill the President Suvarov, Chloe decides to go after Jack alone. I did like the way Chloe searches the building like someone with no experience holding a gun, much less sneaking up on a trained operative. But when she tries to convince Jack that what he is doing is wrong, we see the side of Chloe we’ve come to expect—she’s direct, argumentative, and won’t take no for an answer. We change gears here, as Chloe is successful in talking Jack down. They come up with a plan to get the evidence out in the open that doesn’t involve Jack killing President Suvarov. I, for one, would have liked to see Jack carry out his assassination, then somehow escape capture once again.
The emotional weight of the day’s events begins to take hold when President Taylor watches Jack’s would-be suicide video. She can no longer silence her conscience, and is forced to expose the truth at the expense of the peace treaty, and her government.
With the bombshell dropped, Logan senses the end game is near. In a final act of cowardice, he kills his right hand man Pillar, before turning the gun on himself. He assumes that without Pillar, no one other than Presidents Taylor and Subarov would know enough to put the dagger in his legacy. Gregory Itzin was a brilliant casting choice for this season, and he did not disappoint.
The final scene sets the stage for the much-anticipated movie. President Taylor gets a chance to apologize and make peace with Jack, and Chloe gets to say goodbye. I’m glad the series finished up strong, with great writing and excellent performances. I don’t know how they’re going to modify the format of the show to fit within the confines of a two-hour movie, but I’m sure they’ll come up with something.
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