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Yes, yes, I know everyone's probably all talked out about the finale or is holed up with their DVDs. But it's taken me a while to process the finale because in many ways it was everything I wanted and nothing like I expected in terms of how it played out. I haven't yet heard the finale commentary because I want to go in with my own take before I hear what they were trying to accomplish, so here goes:
1. Taylor storyline. I think the biggest mistake thus far with the handling of the Olivia crisis that there simply was not enough Cherry. Because we spent more time with Alison than Olivia this season, we care as much about the emotional damage Olivia's actions caused, if not more than the political ramifications it will have on Taylor's administration. I wish we had gotten scenes where Taylor is wrestling with upholding justice for all and tempering her own guilt and anger the damage he inflicted on her family. It would have brought out the irony and pulled on the emotional core more when watching Olivia fuck up so much, because mostly we spent 4 episodes wanting to see her taken down by Pierce and Kanin. It was gratifying to watch because Aaron and Kanin >>>>>> Olivia, but once we're reminded of Taylor, our glee is tempered because we love Alison. Alison absolutely made the right call ( in parenting AND Presidential matters) and I'm relieved she did because it shows a consistency in Taylor to always make the hard choices, even in the face of Henry's opposition. Him blaming her for Roger's death was a low blow, and I think this is the first time she hasn't had him on her side, which is why I'm glad that Ethan was there to support her in the end. In the end, Olivia is finally learning her lessons the hard way and Taylor continues to kick ass, even at the price of her family. She's almost Jack-like in that sense.
2. Operation Save Jack- First of all, HOLY CRAP RENEE. Swooping in on a helicopter, shooting from a speeding vehicle, tuck and roll and continuing to shoot, then disarming a bomb all while taking in exposition from Jack? She was working on Aeryn Sun/Sydney Bristow kinda levels of kicking ass and taking names. Congratulations Agent Walker on being the most recent graduate of the Jack Bauer School of Bad-Assery. That was fucking AWESOME.
3. Also, WAY TO GO KIM. I'm so incredibly pleased to see that not only was she able to follow the Jack Bauer tradition of using household items as a weapon (Apparently the weapon of choice for Bauers this year is the ball point pen?), but she followed the guy, was able to get help, saved the laptop to preserve the lead, AND worked with Chloe. Renee's WTF face when Kim launched into technobabble was hilarious. And Kim's "Damnit" was hands down of the line of the episode. More impressive though was her adamant declaration that it's her body, her decision so damnit, harvest the stem cells. Of course, she had to wait for Jack to slip into a coma, but hey at least she came through in the end. I loved how her line about not being ready to let her go ties back to Jack's own philosophy of making decisions that you can live with. Oh Kim. You are your father's daughter after all. (P.S. I like this version of Kim the best. Can you use her exactly as effectively as you did here, writers, if you're going to use her next season?)
4. And yeah, we all know that Jack's not gonna die, but I liked that he made peace with Gohar. It's kinda LOL worthy how people are flipping out over "OMG is Jack gonna be Muslim next year?" or complaining about how it's a cheap form of pandering in the "See, we love Muslims, please don't get mad at us" vein. I really don't think the writers thought about that. I think they just chose to have this scene with Gohar not because he was Muslim but because Jack needed some help finding that forgiveness for himself that Gohar specifically alluded to in 7x22. He had already made peace with Kim and Renee, had stopped the bioweapon for Bill's sake. What he needed was peace within himself to die in peace. I kinda hate it when people toss in political message when there's a perfectly good logical reason within the narrative. Speaking of which:
5. Tony- Sigh. Okay, so now that we know that he at least had "good" intentions in that he recruited CTU-Lite to clean up the damage and save lives along the way of looking for revenge. This I can accept, from a narrative POV, since it makes Tony's story arc into a tragic one, and one that contributes to the season long theme of "whatever it takes." I just wish they hadn't saved it all for the finale, because in retrospect, waiting for a definitive answer on Tony was the biggest contribution to my impatience with the previous 4 episodes. I still think they could have given us a bit of a hint and saved the reveal of Michelle's pregnancy as the shocker, but I'll have to mainline the DVDs to make a final call on that.
But even though I get WHY he did it and am satisfied with his explanation of why, I still don't like it and can't forgive the character. They might have really ruined the character for me because yea, I get that in his head, Jack was going to die anyway, so by strapping a bomb to his chest, this way Tony incinerates Jack and makes it impossible to reconstitute the bioweapon AND he makes Jack's death mean something since it would be revenge for one of the people responsible for Michelle and Palmer's deaths. It's a strange kind of warped mercy he's giving Jack, since Jack's worst nightmare would be that his body would be used to kill millions of people.
But even knowing that Michelle was pregnant when she died, it doesn't excuse what he did to Larry and the lives he took to get to that point. Tony condemns crazy Jonas Hodges for his crazy ideologies, but is his method any different? Look at the bodies lying in the wake of his path of bringing those men to justice. I *love* the writers for having Jack, who knew Michelle, tell Tony that she would despise him for this. Cuz, uh, YEAH. They basically ripped my heart out and stomped on it, because I hate this Tony, even though I understand how he got there.
Also, DUDE, he was monologuing so much, both to Jack and to Wilson. When I said I wanted a Scooby Doo moment, I didn't mean, like LITERALLY rip one of the cartoon scripts and insert it. When he said, "But you screwed all that up" I almost fell out of my seat laughing because he might as well have said "And I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids and your dog." But ultimately, I'm willing to overlook that because of:
6. Renee's struggle to find her line in the sand.
The scene with Jack was pretty fantastic because it's probably the most honest and open answer we've ever seen Jack give anyone about the life he leads and the things he's done. Even more so than the one he gave Mayer, because he's talking to someone like him who's out in the field and has to make the same kind of decisions. I like that Jack tried to warn her to stay on that side of the line, that she took an oath and that it's a good one, because it goes back to the words Larry said in 7x08 that must be echoing in his head ("I won't let her wind up like you, Jack") but ultimately leaves the decision in her hands, because that's where it belongs and has been all season long.
And I loved how it transitions from her asking what to do into her realization that this is her last moment with Jack. That despite her saving him, he's going to die anyway. Not only did Annie and Kiefer play it beautifully, the scene is important because of the way it informs her decision on whether or not to torture Wilson. It puts Larry and Jack back on equal footing in that Wilson is indirectly responsible for BOTH of their deaths, so Janis' words that Larry wouldn't want her to do it have less of an effect because it's so much more than just Larry's death she's processing. She's processing everything- Jack's "death" and Larry's death and all the people she led into the building that day, and the fear of Wilson going free to do yet another attack. It's funny because by making Renee think that both Jack and Larry are dead, the Triangle that Wasn't is still in place, just taking place in Renee's mind as both men's words are probably ringing in her head.
I almost wish that they had saved "the door shuts scene" as the last scene of the season because it's SO good the way they leave you with that pressing question- Did she choose to torture the guy or didn't she? Her taking off the symbolic FBI jacket and badge almost definitively points to the former, but the ending is completely ambiguous and I like that because it ties back to the non-answer Jack gives to the question. we've been asking all season long. If the question is "How do you operate within the law when everyone else isn't following the rules in the world you operate in?" the answer is there is no answer. Because everyone's rules are different and in the end, it's not about doing whatever it takes or what the law dictates but what your heart can take and what kind of cost you're willing to pay. And since the writers intended Renee to be the audience, I like that they didn't make it explicit because like Renee, we have to make our own decisions on whether we agree with the Jacks or Larrys of the world.
Plus, even if the answer is so obvious, the lingering question still remains: What price will she have to pay for this? So again, it's still the hanging questions we'll be eager to see resolved when we come back in January. It will certainly be interesting to see where it takes Renee in S8.
So overall, as a finale, it hit almost all my wishlist items so I'm mostly satisfied despite the subdued ending. S7 started out with a bang and ended with a whisper, but for the most part I think I'm okay with it. I have to mainline it one more time and listen to commentaries to make a final ruling and decide what worked and what didn't overall, but I'll do that in another post, with a season in review.
*off to listen to more commentaries*
1. Taylor storyline. I think the biggest mistake thus far with the handling of the Olivia crisis that there simply was not enough Cherry. Because we spent more time with Alison than Olivia this season, we care as much about the emotional damage Olivia's actions caused, if not more than the political ramifications it will have on Taylor's administration. I wish we had gotten scenes where Taylor is wrestling with upholding justice for all and tempering her own guilt and anger the damage he inflicted on her family. It would have brought out the irony and pulled on the emotional core more when watching Olivia fuck up so much, because mostly we spent 4 episodes wanting to see her taken down by Pierce and Kanin. It was gratifying to watch because Aaron and Kanin >>>>>> Olivia, but once we're reminded of Taylor, our glee is tempered because we love Alison. Alison absolutely made the right call ( in parenting AND Presidential matters) and I'm relieved she did because it shows a consistency in Taylor to always make the hard choices, even in the face of Henry's opposition. Him blaming her for Roger's death was a low blow, and I think this is the first time she hasn't had him on her side, which is why I'm glad that Ethan was there to support her in the end. In the end, Olivia is finally learning her lessons the hard way and Taylor continues to kick ass, even at the price of her family. She's almost Jack-like in that sense.
2. Operation Save Jack- First of all, HOLY CRAP RENEE. Swooping in on a helicopter, shooting from a speeding vehicle, tuck and roll and continuing to shoot, then disarming a bomb all while taking in exposition from Jack? She was working on Aeryn Sun/Sydney Bristow kinda levels of kicking ass and taking names. Congratulations Agent Walker on being the most recent graduate of the Jack Bauer School of Bad-Assery. That was fucking AWESOME.
3. Also, WAY TO GO KIM. I'm so incredibly pleased to see that not only was she able to follow the Jack Bauer tradition of using household items as a weapon (Apparently the weapon of choice for Bauers this year is the ball point pen?), but she followed the guy, was able to get help, saved the laptop to preserve the lead, AND worked with Chloe. Renee's WTF face when Kim launched into technobabble was hilarious. And Kim's "Damnit" was hands down of the line of the episode. More impressive though was her adamant declaration that it's her body, her decision so damnit, harvest the stem cells. Of course, she had to wait for Jack to slip into a coma, but hey at least she came through in the end. I loved how her line about not being ready to let her go ties back to Jack's own philosophy of making decisions that you can live with. Oh Kim. You are your father's daughter after all. (P.S. I like this version of Kim the best. Can you use her exactly as effectively as you did here, writers, if you're going to use her next season?)
4. And yeah, we all know that Jack's not gonna die, but I liked that he made peace with Gohar. It's kinda LOL worthy how people are flipping out over "OMG is Jack gonna be Muslim next year?" or complaining about how it's a cheap form of pandering in the "See, we love Muslims, please don't get mad at us" vein. I really don't think the writers thought about that. I think they just chose to have this scene with Gohar not because he was Muslim but because Jack needed some help finding that forgiveness for himself that Gohar specifically alluded to in 7x22. He had already made peace with Kim and Renee, had stopped the bioweapon for Bill's sake. What he needed was peace within himself to die in peace. I kinda hate it when people toss in political message when there's a perfectly good logical reason within the narrative. Speaking of which:
5. Tony- Sigh. Okay, so now that we know that he at least had "good" intentions in that he recruited CTU-Lite to clean up the damage and save lives along the way of looking for revenge. This I can accept, from a narrative POV, since it makes Tony's story arc into a tragic one, and one that contributes to the season long theme of "whatever it takes." I just wish they hadn't saved it all for the finale, because in retrospect, waiting for a definitive answer on Tony was the biggest contribution to my impatience with the previous 4 episodes. I still think they could have given us a bit of a hint and saved the reveal of Michelle's pregnancy as the shocker, but I'll have to mainline the DVDs to make a final call on that.
But even though I get WHY he did it and am satisfied with his explanation of why, I still don't like it and can't forgive the character. They might have really ruined the character for me because yea, I get that in his head, Jack was going to die anyway, so by strapping a bomb to his chest, this way Tony incinerates Jack and makes it impossible to reconstitute the bioweapon AND he makes Jack's death mean something since it would be revenge for one of the people responsible for Michelle and Palmer's deaths. It's a strange kind of warped mercy he's giving Jack, since Jack's worst nightmare would be that his body would be used to kill millions of people.
But even knowing that Michelle was pregnant when she died, it doesn't excuse what he did to Larry and the lives he took to get to that point. Tony condemns crazy Jonas Hodges for his crazy ideologies, but is his method any different? Look at the bodies lying in the wake of his path of bringing those men to justice. I *love* the writers for having Jack, who knew Michelle, tell Tony that she would despise him for this. Cuz, uh, YEAH. They basically ripped my heart out and stomped on it, because I hate this Tony, even though I understand how he got there.
Also, DUDE, he was monologuing so much, both to Jack and to Wilson. When I said I wanted a Scooby Doo moment, I didn't mean, like LITERALLY rip one of the cartoon scripts and insert it. When he said, "But you screwed all that up" I almost fell out of my seat laughing because he might as well have said "And I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids and your dog." But ultimately, I'm willing to overlook that because of:
6. Renee's struggle to find her line in the sand.
The scene with Jack was pretty fantastic because it's probably the most honest and open answer we've ever seen Jack give anyone about the life he leads and the things he's done. Even more so than the one he gave Mayer, because he's talking to someone like him who's out in the field and has to make the same kind of decisions. I like that Jack tried to warn her to stay on that side of the line, that she took an oath and that it's a good one, because it goes back to the words Larry said in 7x08 that must be echoing in his head ("I won't let her wind up like you, Jack") but ultimately leaves the decision in her hands, because that's where it belongs and has been all season long.
And I loved how it transitions from her asking what to do into her realization that this is her last moment with Jack. That despite her saving him, he's going to die anyway. Not only did Annie and Kiefer play it beautifully, the scene is important because of the way it informs her decision on whether or not to torture Wilson. It puts Larry and Jack back on equal footing in that Wilson is indirectly responsible for BOTH of their deaths, so Janis' words that Larry wouldn't want her to do it have less of an effect because it's so much more than just Larry's death she's processing. She's processing everything- Jack's "death" and Larry's death and all the people she led into the building that day, and the fear of Wilson going free to do yet another attack. It's funny because by making Renee think that both Jack and Larry are dead, the Triangle that Wasn't is still in place, just taking place in Renee's mind as both men's words are probably ringing in her head.
I almost wish that they had saved "the door shuts scene" as the last scene of the season because it's SO good the way they leave you with that pressing question- Did she choose to torture the guy or didn't she? Her taking off the symbolic FBI jacket and badge almost definitively points to the former, but the ending is completely ambiguous and I like that because it ties back to the non-answer Jack gives to the question. we've been asking all season long. If the question is "How do you operate within the law when everyone else isn't following the rules in the world you operate in?" the answer is there is no answer. Because everyone's rules are different and in the end, it's not about doing whatever it takes or what the law dictates but what your heart can take and what kind of cost you're willing to pay. And since the writers intended Renee to be the audience, I like that they didn't make it explicit because like Renee, we have to make our own decisions on whether we agree with the Jacks or Larrys of the world.
Plus, even if the answer is so obvious, the lingering question still remains: What price will she have to pay for this? So again, it's still the hanging questions we'll be eager to see resolved when we come back in January. It will certainly be interesting to see where it takes Renee in S8.
So overall, as a finale, it hit almost all my wishlist items so I'm mostly satisfied despite the subdued ending. S7 started out with a bang and ended with a whisper, but for the most part I think I'm okay with it. I have to mainline it one more time and listen to commentaries to make a final ruling and decide what worked and what didn't overall, but I'll do that in another post, with a season in review.
*off to listen to more commentaries*
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2.) She was working on Aeryn Sun/Sydney Bristow kinda levels of kicking ass and taking names. Congratulations Agent Walker on being the most recent graduate of the Jack Bauer School of Bad-Assery. That was fucking AWESOME.
I have nothing to say to this but WORD. :-)
5.) I hated Tony's monologuing and mugging and last-minute retcon of everything. HATED IT.
Overall I felt let down by the finale because Tony's "explanation" was far too little, too late. And also because I felt there was very little closure. For an episode, it was good. For a finale? Not so much.
I still haven't decided if I will watch next year. I suppose I'll make that decision closer to January. Hopefully by then I won't still be grieving for this show I used to love so much.
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2) Heheh. YES.
5) I feel like it was a less too little, too late, but their blatently waiting for the last possible second to do the reveal. Which I haven't decided is more annoying or that they were trying to build to it. I have to mainline and see how it changes my perspective of the pacing of the season. Between weeks I'm leaning toward annoying.
Ah, well, it took a long time for me to get over S6. Believe it or not, I almost didn't watch this season. I didn't read many spoilers because I was just not sure if I wanted in. As it is, I watched Redemption only almost one month after it aired because there as nothing on the DVR, and it took me until Episode 5 aired that I actually sat down with S7 because I needed to clear out the DVR. Once Ep 1 aired though, I was hooked.
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Pretty much word to the amazing helicopter/driving while shooting, rolling off the SUV, listening to Jack yap while she's disarming the bomb. (Also, how much did I love his freakout before she could even take the tape off? :-D)
However, on the subject of Renee, the part that bothers me most now that I've let it sink in is that what we've seen is only the "conversion," or whatever label you want to use. Sure, there was a touch of fallout after the Vossler/Marika thing. Beyond that, she's been in action mode for 24 hours straight, with no time to think. I'm sure her decision to throw down with Wilson relates to everything you said re: Jack/Larry, but also to the person you are when you have none of the usual behavioral inhibitors in place.
What has me worried for Renee's headspace next season is the idea that Jack (as he said himself in that final awesome speech to her) has had years and years to think about this. Renee has had. . . about ten minutes. If we go on the assumption that she chooses to torture Wilson, I'm not sure how she's going to feel about herself, even if it works and she gets the results she thinks she wants.
I love what you said about there not being a right answer, because that's where it all ends up. I guess I should be happy at all the excellent angst potential there is in Renee turning into some version of Jack, but I'm starting to get a stomachache seeing her so broken in half all the time. I could fill my entire allotment of LJ icons with Renee wibble faces from 7x16 on.
Plus, a final set of bonus points to you for making Janis's line about Larry and Annie's killer reaction shot to it my second favorite part of Renee's final scene. (My fav being Wilson's hilariously changing face when he realized he was fucked but good.) Of all amusing things that happened to me when I unintentionally boarded the 24 roller coaster, my conversion to obsessive Larry love remains the most surprising.
And I loved how it transitions from her asking what to do into her realization that this is her last moment with Jack.
And that would be why I cried the second time and not the first. On the first run I was so busy trying to absorb. On the second one, what you said above is exactly the part that twisted the knife and twists it again every time my idiotic masochistic self rewatches.
When I halfway picked up the pieces of my exploded brain (maybe sometime yesterday?), I wanted to hug the show for giving me that scene. From the second Renee walked into the senate hearings and Jack turned around, Kiefer and Annie have exceeded my expectations in their scenes together every effing time. The subtlety, the body language (something that is unbelievably awesome to compare when you see them in 7x22, for example, vs. 7x03), the reaction shots, the way they somehow managed to spend the entire season inching Jack and Renee toward each other in such a minimalistic way that when you get to the end, it's almost hard to figure out what happened in between -- all of it. FUCKING FABULOUS.
Everyone knows what a shipper whore I am, so I won't bother to pretend otherwise, but I swear it's not just that. If it were, I'd be with everyone who was like, "She should have kissed him!" or whatever.
From my perspective, the Jack/Renee part of the season was perfect. Anything more would have been less.
the Triangle that Wasn't is still in place, just taking place in Renee's mind as both men's words are probably ringing in her head.
Triangle that Wasn't indeed. Back to the place where I get a stomachache thinking about where Renee's head is going to be next season. I thought XF maxed out the angst-o-meter, but seriously, this is ridiculous.
Finally, since I appear to be writing an essay anyway (what happens when I open LJ before coffee), this is one of the places the 24 format makes me angry enough to smash my head into a wall. We're never gonna get Renee's reaction when she finds out Jack isn't dead, and just. Just. JUST. Frak me. Existing human technology cannot measure how much I want to see that.
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That's why we have fanfic. To the keyboard with you.
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I think they've been good about giving us little breathers for Renee to process, but that's to be expected. What's interesting to me is that the reason why Wilson is such a big deal vs Vossler or Tanner is because unlike those situations, with Wilson, there's no immediate threat. It's a preemptive. And that makes a WORLD of difference that Renee chose to go the torture route. And I think once she suffers the consequences of her choice, it's actually going to put her in a dark place, whereas Jack will be in a lighter place. Think of them as meeting in the middle- him to the light and her to the dark, but I think they'll (painfully) be drawn together because of it.
Your conversion to the Larry love is the highlight of my fandom experience for S7. :) Muahahaha.
They have been circling closer and closer, haven't they? With ever revolution, they inch closer and closer. There's something there about the way they get in each other's personal space that's fascinating to watch. I will have to look out for it in the rewatch.
Ahh, angst meter. Quick
Also, WORD on fic. Now you understand why the fic comes AFTER the season?
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Note before I say what I'm about to say-- none of this changes my ridiculous Larry love and the fact that I'm so incredibly sad and angry he's dead. However. hahahahaha. Adrienne, Erin, and I mainlined everything Jack/Renee through 7x19 last night (and Adrienne and I will probably finish tonight). And I have to say that after that? I still understand why I really didn't like Larry in the beginning.
This time, my viewing was very much colored by the massive love for him I had at the end, but still, when he's addressing Renee as if she ought to be an obedient dog and being completely unwilling to listen to what she's saying because he can't get past his conviction she's only defending Jack, I still get why I named him Captain Cockblock. It's when he finally woke up and started to think like the awesome dude in charge he turned out to be (until dick!Tony snuffed him) that my love blossomed in its full form.
God it was sad to go through all that again. Plus (and I realize lots of people disagree with me on this), the Tony storyline makes even less sense on the rewatch. I've decided I'm letting it go before my brain stops working. Hee! Probably too late. . .
But dude the J/R body language is made of awesome to observe as it changes. Last night I was hopping all over the couch like a squeeing bunny. TOO funny.
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I really need to mainline in one day to evalutate the Tony storyline. You tend to forgive more things in a movie than a season, and it will be interesting to see how I feel about the pacing of certain storylines.
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I thought the finale was just made of awesome. Tony broke my heart, but Kim redeemed herself, Renee was thoroughly badass, and JACK. Kiefer's acting is beyond great.
Can't wait for next season.
Like, actually, I can't wait.
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But I too am looking forward to the next season. I just want to know the time frame already cuz we've heard 2 different ones in the official media! Pick one already, writers!
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The ending was mostly predictable, but that didn’t really bother me. I WANTED it to end with Jack comatose and Kim donating the stem cells.
Tony. Sorry. I just don’t have any sympathy for him. I am wondering if he is insane, but he is way too functional for that. I wouldn’t put it past the writers to have Day 8 be the day of his execution.
The writers have also taken some of the critisism to heart: Jack may be the Ubermench, but he is not invulnrable. The recovery will take time. He will be back up to full strength for Day 8 because 24 takes place in some sort of near future/alternate universe with more advanced medicine or something.
I WAS surprised that Jack requested a visit by Gohar. I thought the actor playing the Iman was very good, understated and dignified. Another illustration of the great care taken to cast minor characters.
BTW, thanks for the icon.
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Bug! Sorry the actor played Bug on Crossing Jordan and I loved him there. But yes he was really good as the Iman.
And np. It was fun to make. :)
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I still think keeping us in the dark was a conscious decision from both a character and a plot view. The writers fully wanted us to feel as betrayed and hurt as Jack did, and also taking away any hope we - or at least I - had that they were misreading the situation or that Tony had another motive. It was a relief to me to find out that his whole plan was a more violent version of his plan in day three. He risked everything to save Michelle in day three without any kind of backup plan for stopping Saunders, so that he'd risk everything to avenge her even if it's the exact opposite of what she'd ever want - well - that didn't surprise me. I can see why Carlos said it was organic development. I don't know, I mean I know I should probably not forgive him, but...I find myself totally understanding it and after what the conspirators have done in the 24verse, thinking maybe he's not entirely wrong.
Revenge in the 24verse is never about what the injured party would have wanted. We learned that with Kim's reaction to Nina's murder.
I loved all the storylines, wish we had spent less time with the Taylors as it took away from other scenes, but still, awesome. I loved Allison sticking to her oath to protect the Constitution and putting the country above her family. I did feel bad for Henry though, and I can see why he wouldn't forgive her. The loss of his son twisted Henry, too. I - augh - this show - this show just kills me, Kay.
YES RENEE YOU ARE SO AWESOME OMG. AND KIM! As I said in someone's journal, Kim haters? You just LOST. WE WON. YAY. She was awesome and so her father's daughter. I like what you said there about her body her choice (oh show) and yes, don't let the suicidal man make choices on whether he lives or dies. Just look at his White House plan that featured him dying.
Oooo good point on the triangle in her head. I think that is the question, how far do you go, how do you FEEL after you go that far? What happens next? If you turn your back on the oath you took, what does that make you? Are you looking into the abyss or letting the abyss look into you?
Except, we have an obvious object lesson which shows what happens when you decide not to follow the rules since the other people aren't following them, and that's Tony.
Renee is so awesome. I loved her rescue (SHE RESCUED HIM!) and disarming of the bomb and totally worthy Scully followup, probably the first character I could say that about in a long long time.
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And I'm not angry about the Tony development, I'm just not sure about the presentation, if that makes any sense. I agree that it was deliberate, I just wonder if it was the right choice. Because there's teasing the audience and straight up testing their patience because they give us nothing to chew on while we freak out. Right now I'm sort of on the fence, because it felt like too much- between the Olivia crisis and the Tony reveal plus the Kim escape and Jack rescue and then resolution of everything else.
Again, maybe if they moved the Olivia crisis and addressed that BEFORE the finale (much like the Sherry/Nicole/Keith stuff in S1 was mostly resolved before the finale), it might have been more manageable. Then we wouldn't be so restless and feel like the Taylor storyline took away from the momentum of the Jack-centric storylines.
Haha, yes. I never liked Kim all that much, but I never hated her either so I guess, I'm happy for you? LOL. This is why I don't take sides in fandom squee/bashing. I just like what I like and try not to harsh on other people's squee.
MMM. Renee is totally my new favorite character, and I have to watch S1-S3 to see how she holds up against Michelle, who long held my favorite in 24. (Full confession, I loved Tony and Jack, but when Michelle showed up, I always liked her the best, just thismuch. It's part of why I wasn't as interested in S5 and DEFINITELY in S6.) Renee totally saved the season for me and made me love 24 again in that obsessive icon-making, fic writing, episode reaction essay writing kind of way. And like, it's in FULL force, because I've made a TON of icons this season. Hehe.
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Of course the writers thought about the politics, but I think they thought about it earlier when they made the decision to introduce the brothers. The later moment with Gohar flowed naturally from that. Gohar provided a confessor figure and absolution for Jack, and it would have been jarring to introduce some other figure for that, clerical or otherwise. Gohar made sense. He also provided a fantastic way to close the circle of the season. Jack started the day on trial for torturing a Muslim, and ended it seeking forgiveness from one. With one, perhaps I should say, as he wasn't seeking Gohar's forgiveness, just asking Gohar to help him find forgiveness.
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