The End Of LOST & 24, One Jack Dies, One Jack Lives

Sunday night the last LOST episode aired. Monday night the last 24 episode aired. In one the Jack character dies, in the other the Jack character lives to fight another day.

In the Battle of the Finales, for me, 24 was a much better closing act than what LOST came up with.

Now, I enjoyed watching the final LOST.

But.

I thought promises were made that LOST mysteries would be explained. That did not really much happen.

And I thought, way back when, early on with LOST, that the creators clearly said that the explanation was not that they were all already DEAD. Now, I may be somewhat imagination challenged, but isn't that basically what it came down to?

But, dead from the start? Killed in the first plane crash? Or later. Who knows? What about the season ender that had the Oceanic 6 getting off the island? But, then, if you start down the path of asking questions, you've given up on suspending disbelief, which is what you basically agree to do when you start watching an imagination epic like LOST.

Now, with 24, a suspension of disbelief is also required. But, I've always found that easy to do with 24. The thrill ride has always been so entertaining. The ending seemed perfect to me. We sort of had a plotline resolution. President Taylor wised up in the end. Chloe came to Jack's rescue. Again. Convincing Jack not to do a really bad thing, talking him out of assassinating the Russian president.

And once more we see Jack walk off into the sunset, pretty much a fugitive, with Chloe promising to look out for him.

There seemed to be plenty of unresolved plot to give 24: The Movie a good start. Punishing the Russians for their bad behavior. Then there is that peace agreement with Dalia Hassan's IRK, or whatever it is called, country, that still needs to happen.

And. President Logan bungled killing himself? He survives? Will he be a vegetable? Or an even better villain?

I can't remember the last time I went to a movie. I'd be tempted to see 24 on the big screen. If the reviews are good.

24: Renee Walker Dead, Chloe Head of CTU, Bad President Logan is Back

Okay, on 24 no one is ever safe. Except for Jack Bauer. And even he has been knocked dead a time or two, only to be revived.

Last night's murder of Renee Walker, in Hour 7, of the Last Day of 24, with only 6 Hours left, was a bit of a surprise.

Getting shot by the Russian sniper was no great surprise. But, Renee dying after Jack got her taxied to a hospital, promising Renee, en route, that she would make it. And then the docs being unable to save her, leaving Jack a sobbing mess as the Hour ticked to its end.

Well, that was a surprise.

I liked Chloe being made the head of CTU. That was a nice turn of events.

The IRK's (think Iran) Parliament wanting to have Dalia replace her martyred husband, Hassan, as leader, so the Peace Process could continue, was not a big shocker.

The Russians are back being the bad boys, with the Russian delegate to the peace convention, Novakovich, making his bad boyness clear with a phone call with the Russian who stuck a needle in the surviving Hassan-killing terrorist, Samar, to kill him before CTU could question him.

Renee recognized the fake Russian EMT needle sticker, Pavel, but not til she'd had time to relax in Jack's bed. The fake Russian EMT, Pavel, also recognized Renee, telling Novakovich that he needed to kill both Renee and Jack.

So, Jack and Renee, after a really long day of terrorist fighting, after Renee's earlier in the day rape bout with a Russian bad guy, with no time to take a shower or brush their teeth, hop into bed for a thirst inducing round of romping.

The bed romping was watched by the fake Russian EMT, Pavel, now sniper, from a building across from Jack's apartment. After finishing with the bed romping Jack gets out of bed to get a drink of water. The sniper takes aim, shoots Renee, and continues to spray the apartment with gunfire, while Jack picks up Renee and rushes her to the aforementioned hospital, where she dies.

Prior to Renee dying, disgraced ex-President Logan (think Nixon) offers to help get the Russians back in line. After a tense meeting with President Taylor, she agrees to let Logan help. The previews seem to indicate that Logan is back up to no good.

So, with Renee gone, what's next? Ending 24, for all time, by killing off everyone? We still have not seen Jack's daughter, Kim and granddaughter, Terri, put in jeopardy out in Los Angeles. Surely that is coming in the final 6 hours.

Renee Walker became such a popular 24 character, in the past 2 seasons, there is a Wikipedia article about the Renee Walker 24 character.

See ya in the next life, Jack (Bauer)

A few weeks ago, I noted reports that Fox was leaning towards making this season of "24" the last one, after which Kiefer Sutherland might star in a "24" feature film.

Well, Fox made the news official a couple of hours ago, and Denise Martin talked to Kiefer and producer Howard Gordon about the last longest day of Jack Bauer's life.

24: Tell me when the cancellation is!!!!!

Last night, reports started coming out that Fox is on the verge of declaring this season of "24" the last, in part because of ratings, in part because of expense, in part because Fox needs timeslots to groom new hits, and the one after "House" is some of the best real estate they have. Both reports agree that it's unlikely another network would pick up such an expensive show, especially since Fox's movie studio wants to go forward with a "24" feature film (which can't be filmed until the show is off the air, due to scheduling problems).

As you know, I've had little patience for "24" these past few years, and abandoned any plans to watch this season after Herc from "The Wire" and Starbuck's hillbilly ex-boyfriend showed up in the third episode. So I'm not the best person to ask whether now is the right time for the show to end, since I'd have ended it a long time ago. I haven't heard great things about the season even from more devout fans, but I almost checked out the recent string of episodes with Rami Malek (pictured above with Kiefer Sutherland) because Malek gives one of my favorite performances in HBO's "The Pacific" (review coming tomorrow).

So for those of you who have stuck with the show through thick and thin, how has this season been? And are you okay with the idea of the show coming to an end? Particularly if you get a big-screen Jack Bauer adventure out of it?

24 Shut Down So Jack Bauer, I Mean Kiefer Sutherland Can Recover From a Ruptured Cyst

In the picture you are looking at 24's Jack Bauer being tortured by a Russian bad guy on this week's episode.

I think we are only on hour 5 or 6 and Jack has already suffered 2 rather severe beatings. The first one was by a New York City cop who gave Jack a sound thrashing because he thought Jack was a cop killer.

Jack seemed to really quickly heal from the cop beating. Jack is always a quick healer. Even from things like Deadly Toxins.

This week's Russian administered torture was particularly brutal. A hole had been cut in Jack. I think the hole was by a kidney and was used to administer extreme pain, along with what looked to be an electric taser.

Of course, Jack quickly got the upper hand and dispatched his torturer. And quickly recovered from the torture. Maybe being tortured is not as bad as it is reputed to be.

There is an entire website devoted to the voluminous torturing of Jack Bauer. It is called "Jack Bauer Torture Report."

In other Jack Bauer news this week, there were reports that Jack's Kiefer Sutherland alter ego had been hospitalized due to a ruptured cyst, with 6 weeks of show production remaining to complete this year's 24 hours.

Is Jack's hospitalization the result of a particularly brutal torture episode? It looks as if filming those torture scenes would be torture. It would not shock me too much to learn that it was the filming of a torture scene that ended up with Kiefer Sutherland in the hospital. Something that never happens to Jack Bauer after he's endured yet one more epic torture.

Jack's Back: New Day of 24 Starts Off With A Bang or Two

Sunday night's 2 hour start to a new day of 24 was the best opening in a long time, of 24, or so it seemed to me.

I like the new ultra-high tech CTU, which somehow has drones flying all over New York City sending back info to CTU, and which can launch anti-missile missiles. Well, in theory, last night's drone didn't manage to stop a rocket from blowing up a helicopter and a couple CTU agents.

Last season we did not see Chloe O'Brien til, it seemed, a few hours into the day. Last night Chloe was there from the start, trying to catch up with all the new high tech gadgetry and new software.

Of course, the new head of CTU is incompetent.

We first saw Jack Bauer in his apartment, taking care of his granddaughter who calls him Grandpa, but only after Jack told her to quit calling him Jack. Jack had decided to return to Los Angeles with Kim and her family.

But then, a few minutes into the day, Jack gets sucked into trying to thwart a plot to kill the leader of an Iran-like country, in America, to sign a treaty with America at the U.N.

President Taylor's husband divorced her, in a very nasty divorce, because he was mad at his wife for having their daughter prosecuted for one of the last Day of 24's murders.

Several of last season's plot points were quickly cleared up. Like Jack's miraculous recovery from the deadly toxin that was killing him the last hour of the previous Day of 24.

One more thing, I don't know what she's done different, lost weight, maybe? But Chloe is looking cute. She had to go back to work because her husband's job had been down-sized. I guess the economy is in the tank on 24, just like in the real world.

Anyway, I'm glad 24 and Jack are back.

'Human Target' & '24' review - Sepinwall on TV

In my latest column, I review "Human Target," which debuts Sunday on Fox:

"Where's my vest?" one of Christopher Chance's clients demands after she discovers he's been wearing a bulletproof vest while protecting her from an assassin, in the pilot episode of "Human Target." (Sunday at 8 p.m. on Ch. 5)

"I'm your vest," Chance tells her.

Chance is the bodyguard of last resort, the guy you go to when you know your life is in danger but, for some reason, the authorities can't help. He is very good at what he does, but he's also reckless and possibly unhinged.

"Am I crazy?" he tells a man with a gun on him. "I'm assuming that was a rhetorical question."

And, as played by the charming, rough-and-tumble Mark Valley, he's a very entertaining action hero.

You can read the full "Human Target" review here - including a sneak peek at the show's wicked awesome title sequence. At the tail end, I talk a little bit about the new season of "24," which I won't be writing about going forward.

I'm swamped at press tour, but I'll get up some kind of post for after the "Human Target" pilot on Sunday, possibly just to gauge your reaction.