For 206 episodes, 24 has gnawed away at the dignity, humanity, and physical health of Jack Bauer. At some point it became clear that Jack's perpetual ruination wasn't a mere byproduct of saving the world. His destruction is the purpose of the show, and the millions of lives he has saved are meaningful only in that they underscore how unfair the universe is to Jack, and explore how profoundly sad one man's life can become.
As always, 24 has been about cyber-security, the surveillance state, and the contrast with a world of mistrust and extreme reciprocity that is both terror and counter-terror resulting ultimately in life and death international decision making. This week's episode as always, makes some of the narrative elements clearer and muddies others, still building on the problems of US policy operating in other countries, allies or not.
Of course there was a second shooter, whodathunk it, Kate Morgan aka "CIA fieldwork is not an exact science" doesn't anticipate that countersniping should account for additional shooters in a fluid, limited-light combat situation. It is hard to believe that as with the countermeasures for thermal detection, that devices to pick up the signature of active night vision do not already exist, just as the ubiquitous red laser sighting dots also give away one's position and are not unlike the carrying of retractable erasers with our geekish mechanical pencils, signifying that the wearer makes a lot of mistakes As any samurai genre film, retribution of the type transcribed into George Lucas Star Wars comes to Cheng Zhi with an oddly convenient samurai sword, and there is a brief moment when Jack Bauer nearly takes his own life upon hearing of Audrey Heller-Boudreau's death by second gunman. The opportunity for more CQB is the only thing that brings Jack away from the gunFail hoped for by many liberals. This is also a McGuffin for the audience anticipating that the erasure of POTUS Heller would come in conjunction with high-stakes defcon negotiating with the PRC. Alas it has always been about personal grief and loss for Bauer that has made him more pathologically tuned to expedite the taking of lives in the saving of multitudes of other lives. It is only Heller's memory that gets obliterated as Bauer surrenders himself to the FSB for Chloe and the vision of Cold War major power politics that has dominated 24's policy arc is left for us to wonder how Bauer will be disappeared in Russia or whether he will have a Liam Neeson-like temporal resurrection in cinema or television. As the scholarship has discussed, the utilitarianism of torture given temporal constraints was not excluded from the later narratives, although it did seem that the rare occurrence of a jumpcut of 12 hours to close the season allows for the 24 hour motif to be rendered complete unless it was simply a breakdown in budget negotiations while production planning this season. The paradigm for such time manipulation spawned a variety of other narratives in this media genre with varying success and perhaps fans of the singular focus of Jack Bauer's patriotism will see his return.
At the end of the episode, Kate quits the CIA. There's some speculation that producers could make her the next Jack Bauer, either in 24 or a spinoff. DO THAT. Kate Morgan is honestly the only character, across the show's entire nine-season run, who could pull it off.
Our suspension of belief could be bothered by her role in the NBC spy comedy
Chuck and would require some deeper character development, perhaps much like Bauer's dedication to becoming a heroin addict in an earlier season. and Chloe would need to come back if only for the legions of nerds who have made her their ur-hacker. Bauer has been as much an icon of the Bush counter-terrorism policies and it is time to move on to something more transformative and appropriate to a post-9/11 world.
24 CTU: The Energy Drink was a 24 themed drink that was released in Tesco shops in the United Kingdom in late 2007. The drink came in regular and diet version in a 440ml can. As a point of difference from other energy drinks, the drink was developed with a unique citrus taste.