The seconds are ticking away, but 24 is as good as ever. Scott Davis continues his look at Live Another Day…
After the hugely surprising finale to episode ten, hour eleven has certainly raised the alert level to a new high. With the reintroduction of Chang (Tze Ma) mixed in with a Russian “dressing”, the makers of the show have stuck Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) firmly in a corner he may never get out of. It’s the first time for a while in the show’s nine-year history that Jack has been put right on the cusp of arrest, torture or even death. With just one hour left on the watch, time may be about to expire for our favourite CTU Agent.
Shock has run through world leaders and citizens, with word quickly spreading through news and television of the US attack on a Chinese Fleet overseas. Instigated by Chang who is now in charge of the drone device that could start a new World War, it’s not long before President Heller (William Devane, undoubtedly the unsung hero of the season) is forced to grovel to the Chinese Prime Minister in an attempt to clear his name from blame. The Prime Minister, however, is having none of it, and in no uncertain terms says that he will strike back unless concrete proof of both the device and the supposedly dead Chang are produced to back up his claims.
Though that may be easier said than done: after offing all of the members of Open Cell including Adrian Cross, as well as kidnapping Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) as both leverage and added technical smarts, Chang escapes with the device, heading for the coast. Jack and Kate Morgan (Yvonne Strahovski), while hot on their heels, have been kept busy by a swarm of Russian armed henchmen who want Jack’s blood, having been tipped off on his location by smarmy Chief of Staff Mark Boudreau (Tate Donovan) and his allegiance/treason with Russian diplomat/hired-hand Anatol Stolnavich (Stanley Townsend).
Soon enough, Jack is made aware of Boudreau’s attempt to pawn off Jack to the Russians, mainly due to his close relationship with ex Audrey (Kim Raver), now Mark’s wife. In typical Jack fashion, he comes to the US headquarters to see Boudreau in front of the President, and duly sticks a gun to his head and has a good-old “Bauer-shout”. But strangely, Boudreau may well be the key to finding Chang through Stolnavich, and Jack plans to use him as bait to get the Russian to spill his guts. After a raid on his secured premises, he does, but not in the way they had hoped.
With time ticking away, Audrey offers a time-buying option of her own: an old friend, Jiao Sim (Tuyen Do), whose father has connections to the Chinese Prime Minister. She agrees to meet Audrey in a London park, in the hope that she will take all the information of Chang they to her father, and pass it up the chain of command and let the US find Chang before he, and the device is gone. Sim agrees, and as she leaves with the data, a gunshot takes her out. Two more pierce past Audrey to take out her Secret Service Guards, leaving Audrey the sole inhabitant of the park with a sniper aimed and ready to take her out too. Her phone rings, and wouldn’t you just know it, it’s that pesky Chang. One move, and Audrey too will be shot.
A typical 24 cliffhanger you may say, one that has been copied and contorted many times. But while that may be true, no one does cliffhangers like 24, and once again, the makers have left us on tenterhooks, desperately waiting the next installment. “Dammit” indeed…
As the series comes to a close next week, it’s almost reflection time on what has been a truly brilliant series. What may have been a bit of a “fad” and a desperate attempt to resuscitate the show’s attempts to leap onto the silver screen, Live Another Day has silenced the doubters with a breathtaking new format. Now yes, the show didn’t make the time jumps that many had alluded to before it started, but along the way in has not only regained all what was great about the previous eight seasons, but has found a way to innovate it, and that has been the most rewarding aspect of it’s tenure.
It’s such a shame that the show may now be finished for good, as the new format has worked so well in both refining and redefining the show. We wait and see what the long-term future holds for the show, but for it’s immediate future, we have one hell of a final episode in front of us.
Scott Davis
