24 -- HOURS LATER... NOW THE DAY IS DONE

24, one of the most exciting and long-lived spy/espionage/drama/thrillers ever on TV has ended its eighth day, eight season, and final moment.

It may live again in a movie... but 20 someodd evenings of tension on TV at home at night are over. (20 someodd -- not 24 -- evenings because the opening and closing nights are usually 2 hour episodes, so 24 hours plays on less than 24 nights.)

The finale was well acted, well written, exciting, and satisfying. It resolved This Day's issues, and left room for the sequel (ie a movie). 24, its writers and directors, Jack, Chloe, and President Taylor should all be leading candidates for the next Emmys.

Earlier I wrote about the status going into the finale, and looked at some of the options for the resolution:

http://tattoowesley.blogspot.com/2010/05/24-end-of-days.html


Now, here are the results.



WARNING
IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FINALE OF HOUR 8 AND EVER EXPECT TO SEE IT
(DVR'd, Online, or on the season DVD)
DO NOT READ ON
WHAT FOLLOWS IS A SUMMARY OF
SEASON 8 FINALESPOILERS

And the results...

Note: Finale politics: Usually a TV show that sort-of deals with the real world as it sort-of is does not portray events that would drastically change the real world as it is. Thus it would be extremely impolitic for the resolution of 24 to either end on global world peace or the start of WW3.

THE PEACE TREATY -- Not signed -- President Taylor walks away.
THE COVERUP -- Announced and to be made public in about an hour. (Note: sequel alert -- lots can happen in an hour -- that's a whole episode or half a movie!)
PRESIDENT TAYLOR -- Plans to resign and give herself up for prosecution to the Attorney General. (Note: Since the whole thing transpired over a few hours, and she never saw any concrete evidence, prosecuting her could be an interesting courtroom drama itself.)
THE EVIDENCE -- None of the incriminating recordings have been clearly made available to responsible authorities. It's not clear that President Taylor heard the conversation between the Russian President and President Logan. (Note: sequel alert -- the recordings may or may not still be out there.)
CHLOE -- Survived.
PRESIDENT LOGAN-- Tried to commit suicide but may have survived. (Note: sequel alert -- he may have survived to live again.)
DANA's MURDER VICTIMS' BODIES -- Forgotten. (Note: sequel alert -- will the body in the wall of CTU become aromatic?)
THE RUSSIAN PRESIDENT -- Was not assassinated; Jack could have, but did not; it would have been the start of WW3. (Note: sequel alert -- Russian as well as American forces will be after Jack.)
JACK -- Badly wounded. Hunted by Russian and American forces. On his way to a new international hideaway, with Chloe promising to guarantee the safety of his daughter and her family.

Sequel (ie movie) status...

We have Jack emerging from hiding. We probably have to deal with all the crimes Jack has committed. (How about a simple Presidential Pardon.) President Taylor and the coverup will have undergone some "events" during the interim between the end of Day 8 and the beginning of the movie. Chloe, and possibly Agent Ortiz, President Taylor, The Russian President, The President of the IRK, and even President Logan are possible returning characters, along with Jack's daughter and her family.

Well, here's how our "possible resolutions" from the pre-finale summary fared in the final hours:

From our previous notes of what the "standard" TV resolution could be...

• Evidence of the Russian involvement is revealed to the media. YES
• The peace treaty dies. YES
• Jack gets to the Russian President YES, but the President dies of a heart attack or some other non-Jack cause NO, rather than being killed by Jack YES (Not killed by Jack).
• Jack is severely wounded, but not too dead to come back in a movie. YES
• He's either captured or disappears YES -- either way defining the opening scenes of the new movie.
• Some new character (or some old, forgotten, but not terribly dead character from earlier in the series) comes to light as being the brains/money behind the Russian operations. This character will also then be featured in the new movie. NO

Although much of these plot points came out as might have been expected, they were arrived at in a most exciting and twisted path of complications. It was a good show!


Some notes to the writers of 24 -- The Movie.

Obviously a 2 hour movie does not last 24 hours. A 24 hour day could be compressed. But "24" is just a number, it does not have to be hours. As long as it's not real time anyway, what about a 24 day timeline -- giving more room to expand the story around the globe. (And to space?)

If Jack's daughter shows up, please give her a really good story line.

How about letting Jack have some sex without killing off his wife/lover?

There have been Russian, American, Chinese, and Middle Eastern villains, nuclear weapons, plagues, toxic gasses. The movie needs a completely fresh impending catastrophe -- probably global in scope; and a totally different kind of person behind the threat.