[SPOILERS] The double-bill finale to Day 7 was something of a balm to the last quarter's dip in quality, without being the thrilling edge-of-your-seat climax we've come to expect. It was actually more focused on its characters than ever before (which is no bad thing), but it's a shame it didn't quite leave us breathless and eager for more...
To quickly recap the broad strokes of the finale: Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) is being blackmailed by the villains into helping Tony (Carlos Bernard) escape federal custody, before being taken hostage himself when Tony realizes that his superiors can manufacture more of the lost bioweapon using the pathogen in Jack's body; at the airport, Kim (Elisha Cuthbert) grows suspicious of the passengers who have befriended her in the terminal, then discovers from Renee (Annie Wersching) that she's under surveillance as part of a scheme to manipulate her father; and finally, Agent Pierce (Glenn Morshower) enlists the help of Ethan (Bob Gunton) to help him prove Olivia (Sprague Grayden) ordered Hodges assassination, by retrieving a datacard recording of her conversation with fixer Martin Collier (Leland Orser) from her office...It's a triumvirate of storylines that flowed together well. It was certainly nice to see the writers remember Kim isn't the damsel-in-distress from seasons 1 and 2, and have her fallback on her CTU training to asssit in the takedown of her tails. The airport gunfight that ensued when security arrived to extricate her was good stuff, and having Kim follow and retrieve a badguy's laptop (to provide the FBI with their only lead to Jack's whereabouts) was appreciated. I'll even ignore the comical off-frame hand-grab when Kim was trying to retrieve the laptop from a crashed, burning car.
Jack's role was reduced again, certainly more than usual, which has been a key feature of Day 7's fourth quarter. He spends a large chunk of these episodes tied to a medical table having spinal fluid extracted by Tony's medical team, or is else unconscious, on a stretcher, or bedridden. Fortunately, there were a few good opportunities for Jack to get involved in the action – most memorably, a vicious slaughter of said medical team with a scalpel to make an escape bid. But still, compared to previous years, this finale limited Jack's role somewhat – perhaps intentionally, to prepare us for a time when 24 continues without Jack Bauer as the central character? Or maybe Kiefer Sutherland's off-screen antics had an effect on filming that was cleverly worked around?
The White House subplot was pretty good, too. It helped that Olivia's mistake was sympathetic and it was never obvious what the repercussions for her would be. Indeed, I spent most of these episodes in Olivia's mindspace and half-hoping Pierce and Ethan would just drop their probing into her affairs. When the truth was finally exposed, thanks to a clever switch of the incriminating datacard (after Olivia found and destroyed a fake one), it led us to a nice scene with the Taylor family unit. President Taylor (Cherry Jones) didn't really get much to do in the finale, but her personal anguish over what to do with her daughter (punish her crime, or coverup the sorry mess) was handled well by Jones.Easily the best aspect of the finale was how it finally gave us plausible motivation for Tony's recent behaviour. Day 7 began by asking fans to accept former-CTU agent Tony had become a terrorist, before revealing he was actually working undercover to thwart a government conspiracy. A recent double-twist to make Tony the villain again never felt plausible (for a great many reasons), but I applaud the writers for making me accept it here. Tony's basically been playing both sides, in an effort to get a one-on-one audience with cartel leader Alan Wilson (Will Patton), the man who ordered the death of his wife Michelle back in season 5 (whom we learn was pregnant with his child here.) And, while I still have my doubts the Tony we knew pre-Day 7 would ever go these extraordinary lengths to avenge his wife's death, it worked well enough to feel justified. It's a shame they didn't give us that information about six episodes ago, really, but I'm glad they still managed it.
Ultimately, the finale ended on some interesting notes. Tony gets his shot at avenging his wife's death with Alan Wilson, but is prevented from killing him by Jack and Reen and arrested. Jack himself is rushed to hospital shortly after, where he asks to see Gohar (Ravi Kapoor), the Imam he met a few episodes back (who helps him find peace over all the terrible things he's done for the "greater good"1), before he's put into an induced coma by the medical staff. Meanwhile, Renee heeds Jack's advice to do whatever's necessary as long as you can life with yourself, and prepares to interrogate Alan Wilson herself before he doubtless gets away scot-free. And finally, Kim arrives at the hospital to find her dad in a coma, but tells a doctor she wants to go ahead with the experimental stem cell procedure that could save his life, despite the fact Jack didn't want her to risk her own health like that.
For the first time, episode 24 felt less like a climactic end and more like a dramatic lead-in for next season. We already know that season 8 will continue only a short while after the events here, so we can safely assume Jack will be saved by the stem cell procedure, and I'm willing to bet next year will be something of a true sequel to Day 7 -– what with Alan Wilson still alive for interrogation (will Renee have beaten something out of him?), his sinister cartel still in operation and no doubt angered by their failure here, and Tony still alive and in custody.Overall, I'm happy to see Day 7 end on a highnote that contained enough solid and exciting moments to gloss over the silly lapses. It wasn't the best finale the show has ever done, but it was a very competent and character-based climax that set things up very nicely for a continuation of some themes. Day 7 as a whole managed to course correct 24 away from the disastrous sixth season, by giving the show a proper ensemble feel and being willing to have a few debates about morality and ethics. It lost focus after episode 17, and never found a way to top the White House siege mid-season, but this was still a largely entertaining, tense and exhilarating season that ended well.
25 May 2009
Sky1, 9pm
Writers: David Fury & Alex Gansa (7.23) / Manny Coto & Brannon Braga (7.24)
Director: Jon Cassar
Cast: Kiefer Sutherland (Jack), Sprague Grayden (Olivia), Annie Wersching (Renee), Glenn Morshower (Aaron), Leland Orser (Martin), Carlos Bernard (Tony), Amy Price-Francis (Cara), Elisha Cuthbert (Kim), Janeane Garofalo (Janis), Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe), Ethan Kanin (Bob Gunton), Cherry Jones (President Taylor), Colm Feore (Henry Taylor), Will Patton (Alan Wilson), Frank John Hughes (Tim Woods) & Ravi Kapoor (Muhtadi Gohar)
1. Yes, yes, it just had to be a Muslim that Jack Bauer sought comfort from on his deathbed, I know. The show is often at pains to remind viewers that 24's hero doesn't hate "towelheads". A slightly heavyhanded scene, perhaps, but it worked all the same. Indeed, this finale actually gave Kiefer Sutherland a handful of dialogue-driven scenes that worked nicely (trying to speak some sense into Tony, and justifying his methods to Renee), and that's more than he got in the entirety of season 6.
