But he was also dead! And therefore...kinda lost everyone. I do find it telling that Jack automatically assumed that Tony would go undercover to expose his operation. Tony was "dead" but he did have a choice in the matter. He could have gone deep undercover. But he didn't. He chose to be the bad guy and do "pretty bad things." At least until they reached that line that even Tony couldn't cross. Tony's story arc over the seasons is just as tragic as Jack's- and it goes back to what you pointed out upthread. The ones who toe the line eventually break (either dying or breaking completely) while the ones who bend, survive but only barely so because they constantly live in the darkness. There's not a happy choice at all.
You know a lot of people were complaing about how S7 seems to be recycling of a lot of storylines of past season, but I can't help but think they're doing it on purpose. If this season is supposed to be about the Redemption of Jack Bauer, since they can't do it in a Senate hearing, they're doing it by bringing up things that specifically remind us of what he's done in the past.
For example Jack had to shoot someone for the sake of the mission- does Renee become like S1!Nina or like S3!Chappelle? Jack's crossed a lot of lines, with tone set by the Senate hearing in the first episode, by having these similar situations come up this way, Jack gets another chance to do things differently (or not). It forces both the character and audience to reaffirm or redraw certain lines around Jack, and in doing so, he's being redefined. I sort of love the way they're doing it, because it's really clever. (And for this reason I'm really glad that a certain someone is showing up so he can make right that part of his life).
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But he was also dead! And therefore...kinda lost everyone.
I do find it telling that Jack automatically assumed that Tony would go undercover to expose his operation. Tony was "dead" but he did have a choice in the matter. He could have gone deep undercover. But he didn't. He chose to be the bad guy and do "pretty bad things." At least until they reached that line that even Tony couldn't cross. Tony's story arc over the seasons is just as tragic as Jack's- and it goes back to what you pointed out upthread. The ones who toe the line eventually break (either dying or breaking completely) while the ones who bend, survive but only barely so because they constantly live in the darkness. There's not a happy choice at all.
You know a lot of people were complaing about how S7 seems to be recycling of a lot of storylines of past season, but I can't help but think they're doing it on purpose. If this season is supposed to be about the Redemption of Jack Bauer, since they can't do it in a Senate hearing, they're doing it by bringing up things that specifically remind us of what he's done in the past.
For example Jack had to shoot someone for the sake of the mission- does Renee become like S1!Nina or like S3!Chappelle? Jack's crossed a lot of lines, with tone set by the Senate hearing in the first episode, by having these similar situations come up this way, Jack gets another chance to do things differently (or not). It forces both the character and audience to reaffirm or redraw certain lines around Jack, and in doing so, he's being redefined. I sort of love the way they're doing it, because it's really clever. (And for this reason I'm really glad that a certain someone is showing up so he can make right that part of his life).