24: A Eulogy for a Friend Not Yet Gone

I thought that this would be a good idea for a Facebook photo. Needless to say, I was wrong.

Well, the news broke yesterday that "24," the show that has been such a big part of my life for eight seasons, will be ending soon. It's a bittersweet ending, seeing as true fans of the show that have stuck with it for its entire run know that it should have ended a while ago, but have been enjoying its death rattles for a couple season's now.

"24" debuted in 2001, extremely post-9/11. This was an edgy choice on many levels, not least of which was that it dealt with counter-terrorism on an extremely binary level (at least at the beginning). Jack Bauer, played to perfection by Kiefer Sutherland, was the epitome of the "good guy." He was a badass, plain and simple. He represented all that was right with government and the idea that defeating the bad guy was the highest good, something that should be pursued at all costs. He worked for CTU, which is the latest in the long line of government organizations that seem to have all of the best technology at their disposal to kick terrorist ass.

The first season of "24" was produced before 9/11, so it took it a full season to tap into the Islamic/Muslim confusion and fears that we were all feeling at the time. However, the parallels were uncanny. While this might have driven some people away, fans of the show, I believe, were enticed by the show's suspense and belief that, at the end of the day, the good guys would win and everything would be OK.

"24" was a gamechanger for me in many ways. I had fallen in love with the medium of TV a few years prior with "The West Wing." But, "24" was the first time that I was surprised by TV. As in shocked. As in, when Nina Meyers was revealed to be the mole in the second to last episode of the first season, I ran around the house screaming, flabbergasted at what had just occurred. I swore it couldn't be Nina! We had grown to trust Nina over the last 20 or so hours. How could she do this to me? To us? To America?!

Then, Teri Bauer died. And I realized that storytelling could do some damn cruel things to the characters that we love. We had watched Teri go through the wringer with her daughter, Kim, and while she may have done some stupid things, it was all in the name of love and country.

After the death of Teri had settled, I was still obsessed with "24." And, the obsession never waned, even when the show's quality might have. The memories I have of watching "24" with my friends and family will never be replaced. They include...

• Chloe going out into the field with her M4 and killing some bad guys.
• Edgar Stiles shutting down all but one of the nuclear reactors, saving millions and giving himself some self-confidence in the process.
• Tony Almeida saving Jack when he cornered in a warehouse.
• Kim Bauer getting chased by a cougar and shacking up with a survivalist nutball.
• Kim Bauer coming back to CTU inexplicably as a computer genius.
• Numerous Chloe scowls and moments of being right, even when everyone (except Jack) doubted her.
• President David Palmer dying.
• Michelle Desler dying.
• Edgar Stiles dying in the most excruciating death scene EVER PUT TO FILM!
• Jack killing a guy and beheading him, all in the name of freedom.
• Jack biting a guy in the jugular vein, all in the name of freedom.
• Audrey Rains taking a phone call, and never being the same again.
• The bombing of CTU.
• Jack being declared legally dead.
• Jack actually dying then being brought back to life.
• Michelle Dessler wearing the loudest high heels while trying to be covert.
• Jack having to kill Curtis, all in the name of freedom.
• George Mason crashing a plane in the desert to die nobly and save thousands.
• Jack becoming some guy named Mike, who worked on an oil rig in Texas.
• Jack's man purse and aviator sunglasses.
• President David Palmer leaving Sherry Palmer.

The list could keep going. Hell, it probably went too long to begin with. But it just goes to show how powerful the show was and how my memories of it will never go away. And, while some have jumped off the bandwagon and will never return, I feel that the show is going out on top, the way it should. How it ends, however, has yet to be seen.



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