24 -- A Morality Play Starring Jack Bauer
The clock has ticked its final second and the Fox network's highly-rated 24, starring Kiefer Sutherland, is officially over.I have to admit, I have only really watched two seasons of the show, which features "real-time" hour segments of a 24-hour day in the life of Counter-Terrorism Unit specialist Jack Bauer as he and CTU fight against all that is evil. But those two seasons sucked me in and I was hooked.
The show is horribly violent, with the body count rising incredibly with each passing episode. But it possessed an underlying personal struggle that was so intriguing that it was difficult to turn away from the story lines once viewers were drawn in. So many characters were battling not only good versus evil on the surface, but also the constant inner conflict of the consequences their actions left in their wake as they tried to keep America safe from whatever the threat of that particular season.
The storylines are always cutting edge and eerily realistic, as if they were ripped right out of today's headlines. This final season's plot featured President Allison Taylor and her goal of achieving a peace agreement between the Arab world and the Russians, while eliminating nuclear weapons programs from the Middle East. Taylor represents all that is good as she is a woman of great character who wishes only the best for her country. Meanwhile, former President Charles Logan has fallen from grace and will stop at nothing to place himself back in prominence for history.
As the plot played out, we saw just how difficult it must be to be in high positions within our government, with every major decision weighing life and death as if it were a piece on a chess board only to be played with final victory in mind.
In the end, President Taylor's character wins out over her goal of peace at all costs, and there is some redemption for her character as she basically confesses her great sins and puts herself at the mercy of the people. It paints a clear picture of how our lies beget more lies and before we know it , we unintentionally find ourselves in so deep we don't see a way out.
Logan, on the other hand, is a wonderful example of what happens when we put ourselves before all else. His protege and personal bulldog, Jason Pillar, blindly follows Logan in their dual quest for power. Pillar also shows why we cannot put our faith in men, as his misplaced faith in Logan ultimately cost him his life when Logan murdered him as Pillar was about to relent to President Taylor and come clean. Logan then attempted to take his own life as his evil plotting led him to no other end.
Our hero in this tragedy is Jack Bauer, a lifer in the police and military community. "Jack" as we all informally know him after all these years, is all about justice, but recently he has moved into a cloudy grey area convoluted by a blend of right and revenge. After years of personal suffering, Jack has finally found love, only to have it snatched from his grasp by the evildoers who also want him dead. He goes on a violent rampage, threatening the lives of all who cross his path.
On the verge of assassinating the Russian president, whom he can prove is linked to Logan and the plot to undermine the peace process as well as the death of his love interest, Jack is talked "down from the edge" so to speak, by his good friend, Chloe O'Brien. Blind vengeance can overcome even the most committed people, and Jack is a somewhat pathetic example of what it can do to us all.
Last season, Jack had to track down his friend Tony Almeida, who was operating under the same circumstances as he single-mindedly pursued those responsible for the death of his wife. His efforts left a trail of bodies as well, even those of his former fellow agents, but it didn't faze him even as Jack attempted to talk him out of it.
This season Jack showed us that we are all susceptible to the events that permeate our lives and the importance of being grounded in faith as well as having friends that surround and support us.
If there ever was a show that is a glaring example of the scripture, "Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord" it's this season of 24. Jack finally saw that it was not his place to execute justice as judge, jury and executioner, President Logan reaped what he sowed as he was buried in his own treachery and President Taylor joined Jack in being pulled back to their center, to their core beliefs, and doing what was right in the end.
So farewell to 24, its day is done and the sun has finally set on the series. We can be sure Jack will resurface in an upcoming feature-length movie, but it's run on television has ended. While I can't recommend it for children, 24 does offer viewers the ongoing struggle between good and evil in this world, and the difficult decisions of the heart that go on inside all of us in each day of our own personal 24.