24 Season 4 Finale (Spoilers)

[Recoil]

A few quick notes on this, Ill post more later on my thoughts on this season, but for now:

1) Tony has UGLY ASS feet
2) "No she hasn't gotten out, the perimeter is air-tight"....hahaha...MY ASS IT IS. SINCE WHEN THIS SEASON?
3) Mandy. I'd hit it. Hard. And Several times. I don't care if she shot me with a silencer afterwards, damn, it would be worth it.
4) I hate it when bad guys die thinking they have won...only to have their plots foiled after they die. It just is a personal irritation for me. Khan died thinking he beat Kirk. HE DIDNT DAMMIT! I HATE THAT HE GOT THE SATISFACTION! Same with Marwan and Bauer. YOU DIDNT WIN DAMMIT! DONT DIE THINKING YOU DID! BTW only CGI worse on a badguy falling out of a building?

5) FUCK that cowardly ass President Logan. What a pussy. Spineless bitch.
6) FUCK that weak ass CTU Agent. He could have at least made up something...
7) The Tony/Michelle stuff was sappy, but glad it worked out for Tony. Hes prolly my fav character.
8) Jack's fake death, previously done here:

9) A HUGE THUMBS UP on the ending. Jack Bauer --- "dead." A man without a country. Man this REALLY REALLY opens up the possibilities for next season. A rogue, a man on his own. I loved the end scene, walking away on the tracks as a loner after he lost the girl again. Was I the only one who thought they should have queued up the sad piano music that they used to play at the end of the "Incredible Hulk" TV series when Bruce Banner is walking away?

They were running out of super threat-to-the-USA ideas. This one was recycled from Season 2 (nuclear Bomb again). I hope next season finds Jack in another country learning of some plot against us, and its fought overseas (LA is getting old). I also hope it involves Mandy or even better --- who has been pulling the strings. Totally the possibility of a reset-button season, but with a whole new slew of possibilities. I can't wait and hope they do it well.

More later...What did you guys think?

 

[Sinclair]

All in all I think it was a good ending. I guess we were all wrong about thinking Tony was going to die. It sure seemed like it was setting him up for that. I actually thought he might get it at the end there with the secret service agent (the dude from B5 that kept setting off bombs on the station).

As for Marwan's death, I was more disappointed in the fact that Jack miraculously grabbed his hand and held on to him to prevent him from falling right away. Yeah, bad CGI.

FUCK that cowardly ass President Logan. What a pussy. Spineless bitch.

I couldn't agree more. I find it hard to believe that someone that incompetent would be chosen as a running mate for the highest office in America. Maybe Keeler will fully recover and regain his power. Hell, watch Palmer decide to run again.

I loved seeing Palmer and Novick working together again. Palmer's loyalty to Jack and vice versa in commendable. They don't bullshit with each other and each of them knows the right thing to do.

Mandy. I'd hit it. Hard. And Several times. I don't care if she shot me with a silencer afterwards, damn, it would be worth it.

Well, yeaaah.

FUCK that weak ass CTU Agent. He could have at least made up something...

Yeah, and notice how they didn't really show that he actually did get released.

A HUGE THUMBS UP on the ending. Jack Bauer --- "dead." A man without a country. Man this REALLY REALLY opens up the possibilities for next season.

That was brilliant. Maybe next season will be a lot fresher. Hopefully it'll feature some hot foreign chicks.

I also hope it involves Mandy or even better --- who has been pulling the strings.

Before Marwan got in the helicopter he mentioned something about the boat in international waters. My first thought was to the ending of season two with the dude on the boat. Maybe next season will bring that in too. It seems that everything that's happened in every season can be tied to that. That's really the only loose thread now that Mandy's in custody.

 

[B5_Obsessed]

Was I the only one who thought they should have queued up the sad piano music that they used to play at the end of the "Incredible Hulk" TV series when Bruce Banner is walking away?

Nope. Hell, he even had the jacket and the duffel bag.
No way that was unintentional.

It sure seemed like it was setting him up for that. I actually thought he might get it at the end there with the secret service agent (the dude from B5 that kept setting off bombs on the station).

I couldn't place the Secret Service freak. "Convictions". Thanks.

I wasn't going to relax about Tony until the episode was completely over. I also worried that they'd bump him off at 23:55 :devil:

 

[GKarsEye]

Heh, I was also immediately making Incredible Hulk references at the end.

A decent ending to a phenomenally stupid season. I was very close to abandoning the show but I am intrigued by where they're going for season 5 with the Clint Eastwood spaghetti Western setup.

I think the boldest step this series could take would be to not make next season about terrorism, but all about Jack's fight for survival in Mexico as a fugitive, perhaps even involving the Salazars from season 3.

 

[Sinclair]

...perhaps even involving the Salazars from season 3.

Didn't they all die though?

 

[GKarsEye]

Mandy. I'd hit it. Hard. And Several times.

You mean this?

 

[PillowRock]

A decent ending to a phenomenally stupid season.

I can go with that assessment.

However, they *did* completely skip over one very important point:

How are they going sell Jack's death?

I know they mentioned providing a body double to the coroner ... and that there wouldn't be an autopsy (since the double wouldn't pass an autopsy undetected).

However, I think the autopsy is the *least* of their worries.

From the Chinese POV Jack being reported as "shot trying to escape" is going to sound awfully conveniant. At a bare minimum, they are going to insist upon seeing the body. That isn't a request that anybody will be able to reasonably deny under the circumstances. The LA consulate security guy had just spent time up close with Jack. A body double that is about the right height, weight, age, and hair color is *not* going to cut it for that visual ID check.

By comparison, pressuring an assistant coroner to sign off on a too-quick-to-notice-gunshot-wasn't-cause-of-death autopsy looks like a piece of cake.


Oh, and Mandy isn't in custody any more. That was the whole point of her deal. She is *very* available for "jobs" in future seasons.

 

[Recoil]

I've got a job for her...

 

[Chilli]

A good ending for a bad season, yes. Bah .. still annoyed that they completely forgot about Berhooz. Oh well

As for next season .. they're bringing in Manny Coto and David Fury to run it. Might be interesting. Seems like they noticed things in general weren't going too superbly this year.

One thing that makes me suspect that it will be on a "smaller" scale next year .. NO way in hell they can continue involving the White House as long as they still have president Logan. Not that I know what the breaks have been, but no way I can see for Palmer to get back in office till then. Only option I see is Keeler coming back, though after seeing whom he picked for his vice, not much respect left for him either

 

[GaribaldisHair]

As for next season .. they're bringing in Manny Coto and David Fury to run it.

Interesting ... Coto seems to be developing a rep as a TV show troubleshooter for hire. The biggest irony there would be if 24 was canned at the end of the 5th season, adding another one season wonder to his CV. (That's a resume to our American cousins).

 

[Recoil]

If that is true, that is interesting. Although I don't think hes at risk of a one-season wonder here. 24 isn't in as much 'trouble' as Enterprise was. IMO this last season was the weakest of the 4, but was still a hell of a lot stronger than most shows out there, and its still a ratings giant for Fox. Coto being added can only add to a great show, and I'm sure make it probably the best and most consistent season so far.

 

[GKarsEye]

From what I read elsewhere, it seems like the consensus is the opposite of our opinion- people really loved season 4.

I've also read that they're planning on making season 5 take place a year later with Jack being back in CTU but they will bring in some "blackstory" of his adventures during that year in between that have relevance to plot and/or character.

 

[Recoil]

Weird. And Sad. I hope thats not true about the S5 plot. I was looking forward to something different...

 

[GKarsEye]

Well there's still plenty of time. so who knows.

 

[Sinclair]

I've also read that they're planning on making season 5 take place a year later with Jack being back in CTU but they will bring in some "blackstory" of his adventures during that year in between that have relevance to plot and/or character.

That's kind of the way season three was with the Salazars. I wouldn't put it past them to do that. I'm still hoping they may do something in another country.

 

[B5_Obsessed]

I've also read that they're planning on making season 5 take place a year later with Jack being back in CTU but they will bring in some "blackstory" of his adventures during that year in between that have relevance to plot and/or character.

That would contradict what Keifer said on Charlie Rose. He said that unlike previous seasons, season 5 would be more closely tied to season 4 without the large gap in between.

Eh, we'll see.

 

[Springer]

I've just finished watching the season 4 DVD box set for the first time, and I have to say I enjoyed the season as much as the previous three. Yes, sometimes the plot line is a little daft, but heck, we don't watch 24 for realism. Its escapism, pure and simple, with some great characters that we care about. I'd rate the 4th season better than season 2, and on a par with season 3.

I think the strength of this season was its focus. Previous years have seen the narrative split is to two main threads, Jack's storyline, and Palmer's storyline. This year it was just the one story, with nothing major to distract us. And no Kim! That must be a plus point!

Another thing is that I think 24 benefits from being able to watch it all at once on DVD, rather than wait a week for each episode. Watching several episodes a time on DVD allows it to build up momentum, and you stop seeing them as individual episodes. I see reviews of individual episodes in magazines and the likes, and that seems a bit nonsensical to me. You wouldn't reiview each chapter of a book!

As for the ending, I liked it. Definately looking forward to next season, and I hope they can give us something a little different, and tie up the loose ends of the previous seasons.

One last thing who as the American guy who was at the missile launch (aside from being Talia Winters ex-husband)? He just vanished once the missile was launched. Maybe he went into that big black hole of lost 24 plotlines, along with Behrooz and the guy on the boat at the end of season 2.

 

[crazybillyo]

Season 4 DVDs are already out? I thought they wouldn't be out until December as usual.

Might have already touched on this in this thread earlier, but Behrooz was rescued. The dialogue concerning him was cut for time.

 

[Springer]

The season 4 DVD is out in the UK now. Don't know about anywhere else though.

I'll have to watch the deleted scenes on the DVD for the Behrooz dialogue then.

 

[GaribaldisHair]

I wonder if Fox rush out the DVDs in the UK because they have failed (or not tried) to get a terrestrial channel to show it since they fouled the BBC out of it after S2. It was a hit show on the BBC, with lots of coverage in the mainstream media, but its general media presence is much lower since it began to be shown exclusively on Sky as, presumably, are its viewing figures.

Perhaps the hope is that people will buy the DVDs, watch and enjoy the season and decide to sign up to Sky Digital before the next season is aired.

*editted to put right some really crappy English*