WRITERS: Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff DIRECTOR: Brad Turner
CAST: Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer), Peter MacNicol (Lennox), Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe O'Brian), Marisol Nichols (Nadia Yassir), Carlo Rota (Morris O'Brian), Powers Boothe (Noah Daniels), Ricky Schroder (Mike Doyle), Tzi Ma (Cheng Zhi), Rena Sofer (Marilyn Bauer), James Cromwell (Philip Bauer), Evan Ellingson (Josh Bauer), Kenneth Choi (Cheng's Operative), Nick Jameson (President Yuri Suvarov), Lex Cassar (CTU Agent Ryan), Marci Michelle (Marci), Chris Kramer (Stuart Pressman) & James C. Victor (Agent Hal Turner)
Doyle has to exchange Josh for the chip, Karen helps Bill break Jack out of custody and Chloe isn't feeling well...This is new territory. I'm watching a 24 season finale and, for the first time ever, I'm not excited and giddy with expectation. Instead I'm just anxious the final hours will entertain me, reach a decent conclusion and the denouement will hopefully foreshadow a big change of direction for season 7.
With expectations lowered by a limp season, Episode 23 remains disappointing for numerous reasons. The scramble to squeeze whatever life remains from season 6 has taken the writers down an emotionally cold road. The human interest element of the episode revolves around kidnapped Josh Bauer being traded for the high-tech Russian component, currently held by Josh's grandfather Philip (who's now back in cahoots with the Chinese, keep up...)
Consequently, much of the episode is taken up with Agent Doyle and Josh discussing the unfairness of the situation on a windy beach. Needless to say, Jack doesn't trust his father, so his escape is engineered by Karen Hayes from, with her husband Bill Buchanan's help.
Joel Surnow and Michael Loceff's script isn't particularly strong for a finale's first half, so they attempt a few tricks to try and create an epic scope. Firstly, the key location is an offshore oil rig (almost Bond-like in its use) and secondly, Daniels orders an airstrike by fighter jets. The visual strength of the rig is good and 24 always works well with a tight deadline, but it all feels like desperate measures.
There's just no grand cohesion with the rest of the season; it's just characters used earlier in the run now shoehorned into a ridiculous situation. Season 6 was supposed to be about exaggerating the real world's "war on terror", so it's sad to see it devolve to this.
Philip's allegiance changes every week (depending on what suits the script) and the crux of the episode hinges on the injustice of a teenager being traded for technology. I know Jack is related to Josh, but one teenager's sacrifice is a better option than full-scale war between the USA and Russia.
On the positive side, Episode 23 may be lazily written and based on an uninteresting situation, but 24 is still a superb production. The helicopter sequences, jet fighters and oil rig are all great fun, as is the episode's one genuine surprise involving Doyle's exchange.
But 24's just going through the motions.
