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The short version of this season is that I loved the first 2/3 and conceptually like the last 6 but that it failed in the execution for me in some important aspects. Every year, there are always three threads to follow in the show (with FBI/CTU subplots as filler). You have the MacGuffin storyline (click on link for definition of MacGuffin), the President's storyline, Jack's personal storyline. The strongest arcs in those respective storylines, in my opinion, were the Dubaku arc, the episodes where Allison was the central focal point, and Jack's entire storyline. For that reason, the middle of the season, from about 7x08-7x16, was the best run for me. The weakest points for me came at the end, mostly because I didn't like the pacing and how the MacGuffin storyline lacked resolution (more of that after the cut), and for that reason, it's hard to say that it's the best season yet.
Still overall, I have to say it's a pretty strong season and coming off of S6, that's a damn near miracle. To really breakdown the season, we gotta look at the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Pull up a chair and brace yourself cuz this is a LONG post, so here we go:
Where S7 succeeded:
1. Multiple season-long themes. Aside from the fact that they had such great LINES, the biggest improvement in the writing this year is that they actually had themes in the storylines exploring the issue of "Whatever it takes." You had, of course, the Old Tried and True: Family vs Duty, this time nicely done with Taylor and her family. But they also used the villains this year, with Dubaku, Emerson, and Hodges using angry Americans as their men on the ground and the Warping of Tony Almeida to really illustrate how a villain is born by forcing good men to the edge. This entire season was basically a treatise on the Creation of a Villain: Why Patriotic Men Go Bad.
Tied into that is the torture debate, which the writers chose to address head on. At times the torture debate was ham-fisted (see: Burnett's interrogation), but when they really let the characters talk *to* rather than at each other, the actors really sold it. As a result, the times the writers used Renee and Jack as the focal point of the debate worked the best. When we saw the little insights into Jack's character, with Mayer, Gohar the Iman, or even Jack's tiny moment with the agent in the car in 7x02, we got it. And then there was the Triangle the Wasn't: The Battle for Renee's Soul. THAT was amazing, and I've waxed poetic on it so much that I'll spare you that. I don't think that the writers meant to have a central theme in mind when they chose to respond to their critics, but that doesn't change the fact that they've managed to tie in themes of loyalty, betrayal, and the limits of one person as the rules of engagement change. It really works this season and that's leaps and bounds better than S6.
2. More cohesive plotting. The reason why they could have these themes is because of the cohesiveness of the season. This year, they did a remarkable job intertwining the storylines, and it only really split off a bit towards the end. Overall, it was nice to get back to that S1 plotting as they transitioned really well from arc to arc, and you can tell where the strongest parts of the season were because that's where the best arcs sang at the same time and you could see the themes working across the board. It wasn't perfect, especially toward the end because we kind of had to do some retconning and I could have done without so many villains (they really should get back to only 2-3 villains per season), but as a whole, this season stands up as the most cohesive we've had since S1 and S2.
3. Washington DC. The new location REALLY helped underscore the themes. With the monuments as symbols in the background, they really took advantage of visual medium to remind us of why they were doing things. Having the exchange about why the rules make us better in front of the place where laws are made gave the scene more resonance, and the impact of taking the White House amped up the feeling that they were being violated from within that we already felt when we found out that Secret Service agents were moles. When the season shifted from day to night, the show still worked, but something was lost when they moved to warehouses and shipping yards.
4. The Redemption of Jack Bauer. By far, the strongest storyline of the season was Jack's, and what I liked about it the most is that they made it personal for Jack, not by threatening his family or his love interest of the year but by drawing into question the very thing that makes Jack Bauer Jack Bauer: his ability to flirt the line of insanity and intensity. This was basically a referendum on Jack Bauer as the anti-hero because the thing about anti-heroes is that it's a very fine line separating them from good guy and bad guy. And even though Jack himself seems like he changes, upon mainlining I realized that he doesn't; our understanding of his does. All season long, the writers threw mirrors up everywhere, from Tony to Hodges to Renee to Mayer and Taylor and Larry, and with every new mirror, a new point appeared on that spectrum of "whatever it takes" so we could understand where Jack's line really rests. They used everything from his oldest friend to his newest ally and they really spared nothing. We've never heard Jack so articulate about who he is and where he stands than this season, and THAT is why it worked.
5. They used the history they've built over 6 seasons. Going back to point 4, the way the continuity fairy was working in overtime this season really helped the season shine. There were name checks of Palmer and Audrey and Teri and Chappelle and Curtis. Jack's time in China and his scars were mentioned, and even the presence of Sunny Macer from S3 helped remind us that we've lived in this universe for quite some time now, and that Jack has changed. And not just Jack, but Kim and Tony and Aaron have all been touched by the events of the Worst Week Ever, and it's interesting television to evaluate how much people have changed for the better (Kim), the worse (Tony) or have stayed faithful and true forever and ever Amen (Aaron). This season stands on the shoulders of giants, because the way it draws on the past could have only happened in this season.
6. Better casting & writing new characters. Point blank, the casting and writing for the new characters was off the hook this year. Almost every character sang- from the one-ep characters like Carl the security officer and Gabe Schector to the minor players like Marika and Agent Vossler to the heavy hitters like Larry, Taylor, and Renee. They casted and used almost every single character well, and even the most unlikable ones like Olivia, Cara and Sean served some purpose. The season was far from perfect (see note below in the negatives of this season) but for the most part, no character was pointless *coughMarilynBauercough*, and for that I salute them.
7. Better use of the women. Off that point, the women in particular stood out this season. We had female moles, female Presidents, female field agents, female analysts, female villains, and stupid females this season. So to me, the nicest part about this season is that we had such a wide range of women this year that their gender became inconsequential in evaluating them as characters. Yes, Allison approached things differently from Palmer, but it wasn't just because she was a girl, but because she was more blunt and had (IMO) firmer convictions that adhered far more strictly to the rules of law. Renee's popularity wasn't built on the fact that she was the first female agent we've seen who could keep up with Jack, it was that she was the first agent since Tony to keep up with him PERIOD. The women were kicking ass, taking names as much as they were acting like idiots and being all weaselly and gross- and to me that's what makes this season the most feminist one I've seen in 24 all series long.
8. Renee Fucking Walker. I would be remiss if I didn't give Renee her own section because she really breathed life back into the season. She provided a new foil for Jack, because it's been a while since we've had someone running toe to toe with him all season long. She played the love interest of Jack without really being the love interest, and that in and of itself was new. The things they had Annie Wersching do and the way she delivered them were pitch perfect, and I definitely believed that she carried this season as much as Kiefer did- to the point that she could easily submit for Lead Female if she wanted to. We stayed interested in what she was doing even when she was separated from Jack, which was absolutely necessary towards the end when Jack was taken out of the action and next to Kiefer, I'd say she probably has the most scenes and most lines. As much as S1 was Jack's origin story, I believe that S7 is Renee's so it should be VERY interesting to see where they take her next season. Best New Character since Bill, in my opinion, and we better have her up front and center for the rest of the run of the series, or I will cut someone.
Where it failed
1. Never revealing the Evil Skype Session of Doom or its agenda or motivation. No matter how you feel about whether or not it was worth it to turn Tony into a grey character, the biggest problem in choosing to go in that direction was that we got an invisible villain. It was a text-book violation of the Show, Don't Tell rule. If you're going to turn our beloved Tony into this really fucked up, crazy guy, sure you have to give us his motivations (You killed my SON! And wife! And Cubbie Mug!) but you also have to let us see the real villain. That's why Jonas and Dubaku and Juma worked. We saw them in action so it's easier to evaluate how justified our heroes are in their response. By making Tony decidedly NOT the ultimate Big Bad orchestrating the events of the day, the writers gave us a villain that we barely got see ourselves and we were just told that they were evil. We don't even know what their agenda was or why they wanted to wreck so much havoc, dating back as far as S5. All we have is what Jonas thinks everyone wanted, but that's no guarantee that he was right. Because we never got to really see them and Wilson never talked, it's hard to evaluate and forgive either Tony or Renee for the laws they break to see justice prevail (using both extremes of the law-breaking spectrum).
2. Failure to give resolution to the MacGuffin storyline. To make matters worse, once we finally got at least Wilson, it's not clear if Renee gets answers from him or not (or even if it will hold up in court because it's torture.) So not only do we not get the others, we might not even get Wilson. For Renee's storyline, yeah it's good that they left it ambiguous. However, for the MacGuffin storyline, doing so leaves you wholly unsatisfied because there's no resolution. The bad guy isn't caught at the end of the day. The rest of the Evil Skype Session of doom is still out there. So unlike any other season, the MacGuffin storyline in S7 doesn't get resolved. Part of this may be because the original idea for S8 was for it to pick up 6 weeks later, but since that isn't the case now, that's a HUGE sticking point.
3. Not using strong actors enough. They did this to Cherry, which I'll get into below, but the other big misstep they made was that they did nothing with Janeane. Love or hate her politics, she's good at injecting *life* into her characters, and I kept waiting for them to do something with her other than make her into the Greek Chorus. Every year they do this, and the only time the Greek Chorus ever really worked is in S4 when it was Michelle and Tony, because they were also working on issues of their own that we cared about. It's a waste of talent and they could have done so much more.
4. Failure to connect Taylor to Jack enough in the end. It marvels me how one could possibly CONSIDER sidelining an actress like Cherry Jones when you have her in the wings. Not to knock Sprague (because I LOVE her and the fact that she made me hate Olivia is a testament to her acting ability), but the whole "Olivia gets in over her head" would have been a much better storyline if they had brought in Allison earlier. It's better when you mainline it than when we were waiting between weeks, but I still think the Olivia reveal broke up the flow of the finale since they were already bouncing between Kim and the airport and a kidnapped Jack. Had they skipped the subterfuge and just let the guilt get to Olivia so she'd come clean to Allison, it would have been interesting to see Taylor forced to work and focus on the FBI's efforts in spite of her inner turmoil. I also think ever since Allison and Jack connected in 7x08, they've been building a personal connection the way he did with Palmer, and it's a damn shame we didn't get an end note on that.
Where it hurt:
1. Death of all the straight and narrow boys. I put this in this section because these particular deaths (Senator Mayer, Larry, Bill) were good for the storyline in that their deaths amped up the feeling of loss and desperation for the ones left behind, but their collective loss also meant a loss in the complexity of the themes. All three of them had meaningful and memorable deaths, so in that sense, the writers succeeded because we cared about them so much. But the problem with killing them off in the beginning, middle and end of the second act of the season, is that for the last act, they have no one except Janis left to be the Jiminy Cricket voice. Without the voices of the straight and narrow characters like Mayer, Larry and Bill, there's nothing stopping Renee and Jack from slipping into the whatever it takes mode except Tony (who functions as a cautionary tale). There's no equal pushing back to keep that dialogue up, and I believe the show is lesser for it.
Next season, they're going to have to establish a new moral voice for the anti-heroes like Jack and Renee. It's absolutely necessary in every season of 24, because as I have said before, watching this show is kinda like being tethered by string and being left to twist in the wind. It doesn't have to be much, but you have to have something to ground you to survive with your sanity intact. Same goes for characters like Jack and Renee. As much I get why Bill and Larry "had" to the die, I just wish that S8 could have had one of them, because they were both good characters and putting that onus on a new character means the writers better deliver a worthy successor in S8.
2. Tony twist. I've been thinking about this for so long, because truth be told, I've always been more interested in Tony's character than Jack so this has been hard for me. He was the original Jiminy Cricket voice and he's fallen so far from that that on one hand, I get it why they took him to this place. Making Tony into this tragic figure does feel organic, like the punctuation on seasons past that have built to this moment. All series long, we've pushed Jack to the edge, but he has always needed a foil to show why he's not the villain and a foil to show why he's not the hero. Tony now has played both sides of that foil and to the writers' credit, they did it a way that played on our emotions completely. Until the reveal in 7x24, the last six episodes has the audience focused on entertaining whether Tony really is a villain. It poses the question to the audience: how far are you willing to trust a character's history goodness against the clear evidence that they are doing something bad?
My problem with this twist is, did they really have to go there with Tony? It's not just the double, triple, quadruple back flip twist in the pike position that they've put the character through. I get that they were trying to illustrate a point by having him take the "Whatever it takes" attitude to the most extreme point possible. But did they have to make him so damn selfish to show us why Jack, while extremely flawed, isn't completely irredeemable?
Because if you think about it, the level of selfishness in Tony's motives is astounding. Most villains that have brought this level of chaos are fueled by loss of home, country, and family. Tony's is purely loss of family, so that kind of puts him on this totally different level. Yes, the Evil Skype Session of Doom was responsible for organizing all the attacks in S7, so stopping them showed us that old!Tony still existed. But capturing the CIP device, warning them about the White House, stopping Hodges- all those were afterthoughts. He did it to make himself into Wilson's only option, and when it comes down to it, he was ready to kill Wilson, even if it meant never knowing who the other members of the group were.
Would it have been more acceptable if everything he had done (killed Larry, be ready to sacrifice hundreds in the Metro) had been to take them all down as much as it was about revenge? If he was all about CAPTURING Wilson rather than killing him? I don't know. It depends on if you think the lives lost in the plane crash in 7x05 were acceptable losses for getting Dubaku and finding out who all the moles on his payroll were.
But I do know that because they painted Tony here with such a dark brush, I'm less forgiving of his actions. Now it will never NOT hurt to think about Tony and the T/M ship. Tony and Michelle rank up there as one of my top 5 ships. It hurt when they died in S5, but at least they died together. I eventually made peace with it because they went out the same way they came in: full of love and souls intact. This hurts so much more because it's twisted my ship into hate, and while the English major in me is satisfied for the catharsis, the shipper in me will always wonder if they could have spared us that cut. Revenge AND stopping the bad guy would have gone over so much more easily than just revenge, and I don't know if I'll ever forgive the writers for doing that.
Despite these negatives, however, I still really really loved this season and I agree with the critics and the cast and crew that this is one of their strongest seasons yet. I came for the Tony but I'm staying for the Renee, and the bar for S8 is now set extremely high.
Final Score
Storyline Concept: A-
Storyline Execution: B
Writing Mechanics (lines and themes) : A+
Acting: A
Final ranking of the seasons: S2/S7 (tied), S3, S5, S4, S6. I refuse to rank S1 because it's too much of an origin story to compare to the rest. The MacGuffin, Jack's family, and Jack himself are too different, that any comparison would be unfair.
Still overall, I have to say it's a pretty strong season and coming off of S6, that's a damn near miracle. To really breakdown the season, we gotta look at the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Pull up a chair and brace yourself cuz this is a LONG post, so here we go:
Where S7 succeeded:
1. Multiple season-long themes. Aside from the fact that they had such great LINES, the biggest improvement in the writing this year is that they actually had themes in the storylines exploring the issue of "Whatever it takes." You had, of course, the Old Tried and True: Family vs Duty, this time nicely done with Taylor and her family. But they also used the villains this year, with Dubaku, Emerson, and Hodges using angry Americans as their men on the ground and the Warping of Tony Almeida to really illustrate how a villain is born by forcing good men to the edge. This entire season was basically a treatise on the Creation of a Villain: Why Patriotic Men Go Bad.
Tied into that is the torture debate, which the writers chose to address head on. At times the torture debate was ham-fisted (see: Burnett's interrogation), but when they really let the characters talk *to* rather than at each other, the actors really sold it. As a result, the times the writers used Renee and Jack as the focal point of the debate worked the best. When we saw the little insights into Jack's character, with Mayer, Gohar the Iman, or even Jack's tiny moment with the agent in the car in 7x02, we got it. And then there was the Triangle the Wasn't: The Battle for Renee's Soul. THAT was amazing, and I've waxed poetic on it so much that I'll spare you that. I don't think that the writers meant to have a central theme in mind when they chose to respond to their critics, but that doesn't change the fact that they've managed to tie in themes of loyalty, betrayal, and the limits of one person as the rules of engagement change. It really works this season and that's leaps and bounds better than S6.
2. More cohesive plotting. The reason why they could have these themes is because of the cohesiveness of the season. This year, they did a remarkable job intertwining the storylines, and it only really split off a bit towards the end. Overall, it was nice to get back to that S1 plotting as they transitioned really well from arc to arc, and you can tell where the strongest parts of the season were because that's where the best arcs sang at the same time and you could see the themes working across the board. It wasn't perfect, especially toward the end because we kind of had to do some retconning and I could have done without so many villains (they really should get back to only 2-3 villains per season), but as a whole, this season stands up as the most cohesive we've had since S1 and S2.
3. Washington DC. The new location REALLY helped underscore the themes. With the monuments as symbols in the background, they really took advantage of visual medium to remind us of why they were doing things. Having the exchange about why the rules make us better in front of the place where laws are made gave the scene more resonance, and the impact of taking the White House amped up the feeling that they were being violated from within that we already felt when we found out that Secret Service agents were moles. When the season shifted from day to night, the show still worked, but something was lost when they moved to warehouses and shipping yards.
4. The Redemption of Jack Bauer. By far, the strongest storyline of the season was Jack's, and what I liked about it the most is that they made it personal for Jack, not by threatening his family or his love interest of the year but by drawing into question the very thing that makes Jack Bauer Jack Bauer: his ability to flirt the line of insanity and intensity. This was basically a referendum on Jack Bauer as the anti-hero because the thing about anti-heroes is that it's a very fine line separating them from good guy and bad guy. And even though Jack himself seems like he changes, upon mainlining I realized that he doesn't; our understanding of his does. All season long, the writers threw mirrors up everywhere, from Tony to Hodges to Renee to Mayer and Taylor and Larry, and with every new mirror, a new point appeared on that spectrum of "whatever it takes" so we could understand where Jack's line really rests. They used everything from his oldest friend to his newest ally and they really spared nothing. We've never heard Jack so articulate about who he is and where he stands than this season, and THAT is why it worked.
5. They used the history they've built over 6 seasons. Going back to point 4, the way the continuity fairy was working in overtime this season really helped the season shine. There were name checks of Palmer and Audrey and Teri and Chappelle and Curtis. Jack's time in China and his scars were mentioned, and even the presence of Sunny Macer from S3 helped remind us that we've lived in this universe for quite some time now, and that Jack has changed. And not just Jack, but Kim and Tony and Aaron have all been touched by the events of the Worst Week Ever, and it's interesting television to evaluate how much people have changed for the better (Kim), the worse (Tony) or have stayed faithful and true forever and ever Amen (Aaron). This season stands on the shoulders of giants, because the way it draws on the past could have only happened in this season.
6. Better casting & writing new characters. Point blank, the casting and writing for the new characters was off the hook this year. Almost every character sang- from the one-ep characters like Carl the security officer and Gabe Schector to the minor players like Marika and Agent Vossler to the heavy hitters like Larry, Taylor, and Renee. They casted and used almost every single character well, and even the most unlikable ones like Olivia, Cara and Sean served some purpose. The season was far from perfect (see note below in the negatives of this season) but for the most part, no character was pointless *coughMarilynBauercough*, and for that I salute them.
7. Better use of the women. Off that point, the women in particular stood out this season. We had female moles, female Presidents, female field agents, female analysts, female villains, and stupid females this season. So to me, the nicest part about this season is that we had such a wide range of women this year that their gender became inconsequential in evaluating them as characters. Yes, Allison approached things differently from Palmer, but it wasn't just because she was a girl, but because she was more blunt and had (IMO) firmer convictions that adhered far more strictly to the rules of law. Renee's popularity wasn't built on the fact that she was the first female agent we've seen who could keep up with Jack, it was that she was the first agent since Tony to keep up with him PERIOD. The women were kicking ass, taking names as much as they were acting like idiots and being all weaselly and gross- and to me that's what makes this season the most feminist one I've seen in 24 all series long.
8. Renee Fucking Walker. I would be remiss if I didn't give Renee her own section because she really breathed life back into the season. She provided a new foil for Jack, because it's been a while since we've had someone running toe to toe with him all season long. She played the love interest of Jack without really being the love interest, and that in and of itself was new. The things they had Annie Wersching do and the way she delivered them were pitch perfect, and I definitely believed that she carried this season as much as Kiefer did- to the point that she could easily submit for Lead Female if she wanted to. We stayed interested in what she was doing even when she was separated from Jack, which was absolutely necessary towards the end when Jack was taken out of the action and next to Kiefer, I'd say she probably has the most scenes and most lines. As much as S1 was Jack's origin story, I believe that S7 is Renee's so it should be VERY interesting to see where they take her next season. Best New Character since Bill, in my opinion, and we better have her up front and center for the rest of the run of the series, or I will cut someone.
Where it failed
1. Never revealing the Evil Skype Session of Doom or its agenda or motivation. No matter how you feel about whether or not it was worth it to turn Tony into a grey character, the biggest problem in choosing to go in that direction was that we got an invisible villain. It was a text-book violation of the Show, Don't Tell rule. If you're going to turn our beloved Tony into this really fucked up, crazy guy, sure you have to give us his motivations (You killed my SON! And wife! And Cubbie Mug!) but you also have to let us see the real villain. That's why Jonas and Dubaku and Juma worked. We saw them in action so it's easier to evaluate how justified our heroes are in their response. By making Tony decidedly NOT the ultimate Big Bad orchestrating the events of the day, the writers gave us a villain that we barely got see ourselves and we were just told that they were evil. We don't even know what their agenda was or why they wanted to wreck so much havoc, dating back as far as S5. All we have is what Jonas thinks everyone wanted, but that's no guarantee that he was right. Because we never got to really see them and Wilson never talked, it's hard to evaluate and forgive either Tony or Renee for the laws they break to see justice prevail (using both extremes of the law-breaking spectrum).
2. Failure to give resolution to the MacGuffin storyline. To make matters worse, once we finally got at least Wilson, it's not clear if Renee gets answers from him or not (or even if it will hold up in court because it's torture.) So not only do we not get the others, we might not even get Wilson. For Renee's storyline, yeah it's good that they left it ambiguous. However, for the MacGuffin storyline, doing so leaves you wholly unsatisfied because there's no resolution. The bad guy isn't caught at the end of the day. The rest of the Evil Skype Session of doom is still out there. So unlike any other season, the MacGuffin storyline in S7 doesn't get resolved. Part of this may be because the original idea for S8 was for it to pick up 6 weeks later, but since that isn't the case now, that's a HUGE sticking point.
3. Not using strong actors enough. They did this to Cherry, which I'll get into below, but the other big misstep they made was that they did nothing with Janeane. Love or hate her politics, she's good at injecting *life* into her characters, and I kept waiting for them to do something with her other than make her into the Greek Chorus. Every year they do this, and the only time the Greek Chorus ever really worked is in S4 when it was Michelle and Tony, because they were also working on issues of their own that we cared about. It's a waste of talent and they could have done so much more.
4. Failure to connect Taylor to Jack enough in the end. It marvels me how one could possibly CONSIDER sidelining an actress like Cherry Jones when you have her in the wings. Not to knock Sprague (because I LOVE her and the fact that she made me hate Olivia is a testament to her acting ability), but the whole "Olivia gets in over her head" would have been a much better storyline if they had brought in Allison earlier. It's better when you mainline it than when we were waiting between weeks, but I still think the Olivia reveal broke up the flow of the finale since they were already bouncing between Kim and the airport and a kidnapped Jack. Had they skipped the subterfuge and just let the guilt get to Olivia so she'd come clean to Allison, it would have been interesting to see Taylor forced to work and focus on the FBI's efforts in spite of her inner turmoil. I also think ever since Allison and Jack connected in 7x08, they've been building a personal connection the way he did with Palmer, and it's a damn shame we didn't get an end note on that.
Where it hurt:
1. Death of all the straight and narrow boys. I put this in this section because these particular deaths (Senator Mayer, Larry, Bill) were good for the storyline in that their deaths amped up the feeling of loss and desperation for the ones left behind, but their collective loss also meant a loss in the complexity of the themes. All three of them had meaningful and memorable deaths, so in that sense, the writers succeeded because we cared about them so much. But the problem with killing them off in the beginning, middle and end of the second act of the season, is that for the last act, they have no one except Janis left to be the Jiminy Cricket voice. Without the voices of the straight and narrow characters like Mayer, Larry and Bill, there's nothing stopping Renee and Jack from slipping into the whatever it takes mode except Tony (who functions as a cautionary tale). There's no equal pushing back to keep that dialogue up, and I believe the show is lesser for it.
Next season, they're going to have to establish a new moral voice for the anti-heroes like Jack and Renee. It's absolutely necessary in every season of 24, because as I have said before, watching this show is kinda like being tethered by string and being left to twist in the wind. It doesn't have to be much, but you have to have something to ground you to survive with your sanity intact. Same goes for characters like Jack and Renee. As much I get why Bill and Larry "had" to the die, I just wish that S8 could have had one of them, because they were both good characters and putting that onus on a new character means the writers better deliver a worthy successor in S8.
2. Tony twist. I've been thinking about this for so long, because truth be told, I've always been more interested in Tony's character than Jack so this has been hard for me. He was the original Jiminy Cricket voice and he's fallen so far from that that on one hand, I get it why they took him to this place. Making Tony into this tragic figure does feel organic, like the punctuation on seasons past that have built to this moment. All series long, we've pushed Jack to the edge, but he has always needed a foil to show why he's not the villain and a foil to show why he's not the hero. Tony now has played both sides of that foil and to the writers' credit, they did it a way that played on our emotions completely. Until the reveal in 7x24, the last six episodes has the audience focused on entertaining whether Tony really is a villain. It poses the question to the audience: how far are you willing to trust a character's history goodness against the clear evidence that they are doing something bad?
My problem with this twist is, did they really have to go there with Tony? It's not just the double, triple, quadruple back flip twist in the pike position that they've put the character through. I get that they were trying to illustrate a point by having him take the "Whatever it takes" attitude to the most extreme point possible. But did they have to make him so damn selfish to show us why Jack, while extremely flawed, isn't completely irredeemable?
Because if you think about it, the level of selfishness in Tony's motives is astounding. Most villains that have brought this level of chaos are fueled by loss of home, country, and family. Tony's is purely loss of family, so that kind of puts him on this totally different level. Yes, the Evil Skype Session of Doom was responsible for organizing all the attacks in S7, so stopping them showed us that old!Tony still existed. But capturing the CIP device, warning them about the White House, stopping Hodges- all those were afterthoughts. He did it to make himself into Wilson's only option, and when it comes down to it, he was ready to kill Wilson, even if it meant never knowing who the other members of the group were.
Would it have been more acceptable if everything he had done (killed Larry, be ready to sacrifice hundreds in the Metro) had been to take them all down as much as it was about revenge? If he was all about CAPTURING Wilson rather than killing him? I don't know. It depends on if you think the lives lost in the plane crash in 7x05 were acceptable losses for getting Dubaku and finding out who all the moles on his payroll were.
But I do know that because they painted Tony here with such a dark brush, I'm less forgiving of his actions. Now it will never NOT hurt to think about Tony and the T/M ship. Tony and Michelle rank up there as one of my top 5 ships. It hurt when they died in S5, but at least they died together. I eventually made peace with it because they went out the same way they came in: full of love and souls intact. This hurts so much more because it's twisted my ship into hate, and while the English major in me is satisfied for the catharsis, the shipper in me will always wonder if they could have spared us that cut. Revenge AND stopping the bad guy would have gone over so much more easily than just revenge, and I don't know if I'll ever forgive the writers for doing that.
Despite these negatives, however, I still really really loved this season and I agree with the critics and the cast and crew that this is one of their strongest seasons yet. I came for the Tony but I'm staying for the Renee, and the bar for S8 is now set extremely high.
Final Score
Storyline Concept: A-
Storyline Execution: B
Writing Mechanics (lines and themes) : A+
Acting: A
Final ranking of the seasons: S2/S7 (tied), S3, S5, S4, S6. I refuse to rank S1 because it's too much of an origin story to compare to the rest. The MacGuffin, Jack's family, and Jack himself are too different, that any comparison would be unfair.
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I also think ever since Allison and Jack connected in 7x08, they've been building a personal connection the way he did with Palmer, and it's a damn shame we didn't get an end note on that.
Agree with you here. It’s my fanwank that Taylor will take more of an interest in Jack once the dust has settled, paying his medical bills and so forth. As I’ve mentioned in my own post, there is a wonderful Mother/Son dynamic that needs more exploration.
A agree with your point about making things personal for Jack. It doesn’t get much more personal then being exposed to the very bio-weapon you are trying to secure. Previous seasons have been criticized for having Jack as a superhuman who can ignore broken ribs and heart attacks and such. Jack probably stayed on his feet longer than any of us would have, but he was clearly struggling.
I thought it strange that Kim or Tony didn’t mention China. However, I am very glad that they kept Jack’s China scars (other than the hand). Must be a hellava makeup job, but to NOT have the scars would have been such a huge insult to both the character and the audience to pretend that those scars magically disappeared. I thought it was kinda funny how Jack always wears long sleeves no matter the circumstances. He’s so self-couscous.
Production values were strong as always, with good music and excellent lighting and photography. One of the reason I love the show: They can take a ridiculous story and execute it expertly. The great production values (including acting stunt work, and directing) allows 24 to be a silly show that has a deeper emotional truth.
That said, the dialogue still suffers from clunkiness. Kiefer, Annie W., and Cherry Jones can get away with just about anything. But Tony's diatribe at the end just made me role my eyes.
I was VERY sad about Bill, but now I’m kinda okay with it. He died well, and the story made sense. Not that I wouldn’t cheer at a Day 8 zombie!Bill. He couldn’t be worse than zombie!Tony.
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Finding him a new place to live now that he's not under arrest/DOJ housing, buying him clothes and the logistics of actually starting a *life* though? That's gonna be a challenge. I suspect he's going to be living with Kim for a quite a bit after the funerals are over.
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Well, Renee mentioned it in 7x01. I suspect Tony didn't mention it because he focused more on what the US government was doing to Jack now and Kim didn't mention it because it hurts too much. To me, the scars was enough.
Tony's monologuing was okay the first time. It was the second time that annoyed me because dude, NO ONE goes on like that when you have the opportunity to cap a guy like that.
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You keep saying zombie!Bill and zombie!Tony and it makes me want to do a Facebook feed recap of S7.
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I can’t see Jack moving in with Kim, Stephen and Teri 2.0. Barring a miraculous recovery, Jack would need a lot a specialized help after he gets out of the hospital, and he is NOT going to want to burden Kim’s family with his medical issues. I like to think Taylor’s staff will take care of his living arrangements.
Did I mention how thrilled I am that someone is taking care of Jack? SOOO different than the Post Day 6 period, although I fanwank that Bill and Chloe helped get him out of the country.
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As for the post-hospital specialized help costs, yeah I see your point. But when it's all said and done, I just don't see her leaving her dad's side. Jack would fight it, of course, because he wouldn't want to be a burden, but I also don't see Kim backing down. Especially since Stephen is a doctor. I have a feeling she would use that to her advantage.
I think in the end, Taylor's staff would help with the financials of it, but logistically and emotionally, I could see them relocating him to LA with Kim when the need for critical monitoring has passed. All they'd have to do is give Stephen instructions on things to do and keep an eye on and anything else, they could coordinate through the CDC office in LA.
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And I fanwank that he got help from them too, but as soon as he went out of the country, he went dark and I don't think he stopped and took the time to get checked out until he was waaaaaaay past the borders and all.
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Except Renee Fucking Walker. WORD:) Only love.
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Actually I think I lied. What felt like a coherent response in there was only teasing me and has vanished like a puff of smoke in the mess that is this crazy fic in my brain.
So. I will say only a few things that as you observed, nobody will read anyway, so coherence is irrelevant. You know I never worry about it that much anyway;) First, insane love for the Triangle That Wasn't. Honestly when we went through and did the Jack/Renee mainline, one of my favorite things about that experience was watching all of it with my insane Larry love intact this time. Of course that was offset by knowing he was going to die at Bastard!Tony's hands (sorry I'm having a really angry at Tony moment today), but still that scene in 7x16? Holy fuck. I mean you know that I ship beyond all belief, but you still definitively sold me on my very first OT3. Which is now gone thanks to Tony. AUGH SHOW. But that scene will never stop killing me because of everything Annie and Jeffrey packed into it and how it was just this indescribable turning point for them that I don't even think they understood at the time. Finally on that note, Renee's sudden switch at the end of that scene to "So when are we moving on Starkwood?" is one of the things that just encapsulated her fucking fantabulous character for me. She's so sad, angry, and broken, but the way she deals with that is with action, and she's so Girl!Jack in that sense. Oh Renee. *tries to control bubbling love. No success*
I've also thought a lot about what you said regarding the absence of people like Larry and Bill to counterbalance Jack and Renee. Given that Renee clearly chose Jack's path at the end of the season, it's gonna be interesting to see if anybody in the casting reboot can fill those shoes. I'm thinking no, but I'm a big pessimist in this regard. Plus I will never ever in life stop missing Larry. Whatever.
Finally, I agree with your observations about how it was such a bad move to sideline Cherry Jones, but I don't think it was just that. I respected her so much more at the beginning of the season than I did in the middle, when all of the sudden she was mom over president. Now I'm a mom so this probably should make more sense to me, and maybe it's just because I hate Holivia. But who makes their idiot daughter acting chief of staff? idk. I love Allison a lot and Cherry more, but I hope Taylor is a touch smarter and more in charge in S8.
Shutting up now. *taps fingers awaiting Monday night present*
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*turns on emo fic mix*
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Anyway, getting to your comments- the switch of back to business was a thing of beauty. The OT3 scenes in 7x16 remain my some of my favorite of the season, but my favorite will always be the Reflecting Pool converstation. Mostly because of the location, the lines and the fact that you have these passionate people with valid points all around. If I have to sum up the season in one scene, that's the one I'd point to from "I thought you were dead." to "Not today."
And nope. Never gonna stop missing Larry and will always wonder what they would have done with him in S8 and how he would have reacted.
I think I was disappointed at her choice in the middle, but I can't blame her for wanting to seize the opportunity to repair the relationship with the only child she has left and for the traumatic experience she just encountered. At the end of the day, though, Allison made the right call and finally was a *parent* to her child as well as a President, and I think that's why I forgive her for her lapses in judgment. And I may not always agree with her choices, but I will always be interested in watching her scenes.
Interestingly, I was bored with her in the beginning of the season, but now on the rewatch, now loving the President and seeing her as a fully realized character, it makes the earlier Sangala stuff easier to watch.
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Rewatching with my Larry love in full bloom was nothing short of fabulous. It was so great to go back and adore him even when I'm still thinking, "Oh leave Jack alone, you big cockblocking wanker!" or "Don't talk to Renee that way, dillweed." Totally nothing but love.
And yes to Allison's correct choice, both as a parent and a president, to let Olivia go down. She broke my heart in that final conversation with Ethan. I'm trying to be cautiously optimistic that they'll use her better in S8.
ETA: Oops just read your response below. So 7x08 is your favorite. Well I still love 7x16 above that one, for reasons I'm sure it's pretty easy for you to put together;) That still doesn't change my amusement at the degree to which my conversion to obsessive Larry!love changed my view of this entire season.
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LOL! I certainly wouldn't know. I'm so right brained it's sad.
Who's holding hands in your icon? I can't read the text on M's computer.
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Alas, my vast repository of knowledge only extends to Jack and Renee. I always know where to go when I need a specific face from one of them.
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As not the worlds greatest Tony fan (he's fine, but that's all for me), I didn't mind he turned evil again, but 7.19-7.22 didn't make any sence for me. Although the season finale was satisfying (pretty good actually), some of Tony's things he did earlier, I still can't buy them. Blowing up a building full of FBI agents? That's so not Tony for me. And killing Larry was even worse. I was so mad when they killed Larry. I had a bad feeling for weeks that they were gonna kill him in this episode, but I was still shocked and sad about it. Larry was (together with Renee) my favorite new character. Jeffrey Nordling did such a great job portraiting him, some of his faces (especially regarding Renee) were pricelles. Everytime getting used to new faces can be hard. Let's hope the new characters/actors for next season are just as great as the once's for season 7.
Maybe I sound too negative right, so I'll name some good parts. I love Renee. They used her characher well, starting as a pretty much by the book FBI agent, but slowly turning into a female Jack, but she still thinks about before doing things. I liked that they gave Renee character development, they don't often do this on 24. I cannot wait to see what's in store for her in season 8. Kiefer was great as usual, his was on the top of his game, especially the final arc and I would be very suprised if he doesn't get an emmy nomination again. I think Cherry Jones did a great job as the new president, a strong, powerfull woman is just what 24 needed. I only hope she get's a good story line in season 8.
To rank the season, I might have to watch the season again and enjoy the good parts even more and be less dissapointed about the things I didn't like. Hopefully it will be on Dutch TV here soon, although I guess they now probably wait until the summer is over.
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I think, after mainlinging and thinking about it for a month and a half now, I can buy him getting to that point. We saw signs of it with his lack of remorse with the security guard, so they sort of gave us an inkling of what to expect.
Nevertheless, I am still disappointed that he had to kill Larry for it to be the huge reveal. Larry was one of the best characters this season in one of the hardest positions, because it's easy to be popular when you are kicking ass and taking names. It's harder to gain popularity when you are the one usually standing in the way between Jack Bauer and the bomb/virus/canister/MacGuffin. Jeffrey Nordling did a great job, I felt, and he gave Larry a lot of humanity in little touches like the way you could tell that he knew every single person's name in the office. I'm going to miss him next season.
And I'm both excited and scared for Renee's storyline next year. They did such a good job with her this year, I fear they may never be able to top it. But here's hoping. Next year, I hope they use Cherry Jones to better effect though.