Stop The Clock

It’s 2010, and with Season 8 is fast approaching I thought i’d pause for a minute and reflect on Season 7 and what we hope and expect from the new and possibly final Season of ’24’. This will contain spoilers for the end of Season 7 and discussion of rumours about Season 8. You’ve been warned.

J_A broke a little while ago the news that according to tweets by Rodney Charter’s every indication is that Season 8 will be the last. Obviously this doesn’t rule out another season somewhere down the road, the show returning to television in another form or the much talked about film, but certainly Season 9 in January 2011 at this point seems unlikely.

Previously on this site you may also have read my article detailing my reasoning why Season 7 should have been the last we saw of Jack. From comments on that post I seem to be in a minority of 1. Although news that S8 may be the last suggests maybe that was the plan, until the producers found out that S8 would be the last. Logically it doesn’t make sense to go into what you know is the final season having just killed the lead, but previously they may have hoped to use S8 as the relaunch of the show with a new lead character (Renee for example).

With the whole show drawing to an end they can give Jack a final 24 hours which builds on Season 7’s final moments, instead of undoing them. Of course Jack isn’t the only character who needs closure on ’24’. Tony deserves closure as well, and although at the moment it doesn’t look as if he’s going to get it at the moment, I still hold out hope that either his denials of involvement are either a red herring, or that his involvement will be in the final hours or minutes.

I think perhaps it would be more useful to state what I hope the show achieves between now and the end of the show, whether that be episode 24 of season 8, or beyond, instead of making predictions.

As previously stated they need to build upon Jack’s moment of piece from Season 7, his coming terms with his actions in the past 7 days, and for him to come to some lasting peace, to have built a life which is not only a temporary resting place. To me it’s long looked like he could only achieve that in death, or if the situations that keep bringing him out of retirement to stop. It really could take World Peace for Jack Bauer to be at peace. What a plot twist that would be.

I’ve often thought of Jack not as the lead of the show, but simply the centre. His relationships with those around him are what’s drive the show during it’s best moments. With Chloe, With Palmer, With Kim, With Teri and those who followed her. With Tony.

The Tragedy of Jack Bauer is he does what he does, so that other don’t have too. That has long been his rationale, motivation and justification, ever season Day Two. But in reality the more Jack Bauer does what he does, the more he becomes the rule, and not the exception. Season 7 saw Renee start down the path and saw Tony at what may be the end of one of the forks in the road.

The End of 24 needs to deal with what happens to those who go down that road. Can they turn back? Can there be a happy ending? Or is there simply a dead end?

These are questions which need answering if Jack Bauer is to be at peace and if the show is going to end in peace. And perhaps I was wrong, perhaps there can be no 24 without Jack, perhaps Jack is 24, but if that’s true, then Tony is 24 and so is Renee, as well as anyone else who has walked the same line.

We’ll have these questions answered, but only when they stop the clock.

2 thoughts on “Stop The Clock”

  1. i completely agree with both of your recent articles. i’d say more, but i’d just be repeating you. you are like hardcore fan, that is awesome. and i’m glad someone sees the fate of the show in the same way as me. i would have liked if season 7 ended with jack accepting his death(like he did with Gohar). that last act of the show now makes us need to know what happened with renee and alan wilson(it looks like she is either fired, or quits after, judging by season 8 clips)…and of corse, the conspiracy needs to be examined deeper. because obviously key players are still alive. i look foward to where this will play in season 8. i just really, really hope that this season will work. i loved season 7 and would have been fine with it being the last, as big of a fan as i am.

  2. yeah, I had always wanted the show to end on a high. I just hope S8 isn’t the downfall…

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