Wow, that was just . . . underwhelming. 24’s season 3 finale hit all the right technical marks, but lacked any truly shocking or even cathartic moments to this season. Perhaps I put too much pressure upon the 24 finale to perform, but when all is said and done this is the climax to the show. And what a wimpy climax.
24 Season 3 Finale
12 PM to 1 PM
Written by: Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff
Directed By: Jon Cassar
Where to begin here. I guess I’ll start with the good. The acting was of the expected high quality here, with special nods having to go to Keifer, Reiko, Carlos, and Dennis for their varying portrayals of Jack, Michelle, Tony, and David Palmer. Each character was able to hit an emotional high note in this episode, and showed why this is really one of the best ensemble casts on television right now. Or, at least it was, until the producers have apparently gutted the cast for the next season.
The softer moments in the script were actually nice to see, such as Jack and Chase talking while having a cop of coffee or the Palmer brothers dealing with the tragedy that has just engulfed them. However, they were also misplaced. Scenes like this would be great to have humanized earlier parts of the season, but the finale should be all about growing tension and hardcore action.
Which is another thing that the 24 finale lacked this season, hard core action. Maybe they figured they couldn’t top the jets taking out Saunder’s helicopter, but they could have done something. Seeing Chase poorly wrestle around with some random thug not even introduced until this episode is not exactly the thing of television legend. Season One had Jack launching a one man assault on the Drazen compound, Season Two had Jack all alone against a group of mercs at a football field, and this season had random thug with a knife. One of these things is not like the other. The car chase scene was fairly exciting, but I have the sinking suspicion that it was thrown in to pimp Ford products more then actually suit the needs of the script.
And I still don’t know whether to chuckle or groan at the joke of “detachment” that occurred earlier in this script. Jack telling Chase that he had to be detached only to cut off Chase’s hand later in the episode borders on the eye rolling ironic. The only thing worse would have been Palmer saying he wanted to shake Chase’s hand for the good job he had done that day.
Speaking of Palmer, his decision to stand down is a good one. I mean the character has embroiled himself in some fairly unforgivable things this season, and he had to fall at some point. In addition, having Keeler in charge next year means there’s a chance the CTU will have to deal with a less then supportive president, which will increase the dramatic tension. I’m just hoping that private citizen Palmer doesn’t team up with Jack in order to form a lame Lethal Weapon rip off.
The other big plot line was the fate of Tony, and to a lesser extent, Michele. I’ll be honest, Tony going to jail leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The character is one of the most sympathetic characters of this season, and for him to end it in jail as a convict just seems wrong somehow. Even worse is Michele just watching him go. I mean jeez, the guy put her safety above the needs of the rest of the country, and all she can do is cry and look sad as he gets taken away. Bust your freaking man out of jail bitch! That would have been exciting, and left a lot of questions and potential for the next season. Instead it ends with a tender moment and a meek goodbye.
And the climax to all of the events and drama of the season, the note we have to ponder as the show goes off the air until January, is Jack breaking down into tears and crying. Seriously. I know the guy has had a hard day, he’s been kidnapped, drugged, beaten, threatened, gone through withdrawal, lost a girl whom he’s loved, kissed his wife’s killer, killed his wife’s killer, killed a friend and co-worker, cut off another co-worker’s hand, and just generally dealt with a crap load of pressure. It’s a lot, I understand. But Jack turning into a big bitchy wuss doesn’t do much for me. I know the point was to show that Jack is not an emotional vacuum and is affected by the all the insanity that surrounds him, but they all proved that the first season with his break down scene, and the second season with his tearful farewell to Kim. There’s nothing new about Jack crying.
Don’t get me wrong, it was well acted and portrayed. It’s almost like Keifer felt he had to do something to prove that he deserved the Emmy he won. But I was just praying for something really exciting to happen, and nothing did. Everything felt too pat and easy, from Saunder’s death at the hands of Gael’s wife, to the dispersal of the virus in a freaking refrigerator. Let’s just say that I wasn’t exactly won over by this finale. I’ll be back next week with a total 24 wrap up, including body count, dropped plot threads, and final thoughts of the season. As an individual episode, this would probably rate around a 7 or so. As a season finale though, this episode only ranks a:
6 out of 10
Tim Ritenour
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