24 day 6 5am~6am (06X24): Get the kid Jack.Category :: culture/movie |
by Melia from 24addict.com
Here we are, the last hour in a very. long. day.
Josh arrives at the oil rig and his crazy grandfather is there to meet him. Josh is visibly shaken and unwilling to be the obedient grandson. He tells Phillip he doesn't want to go anywhere with him but Phillip isn't standing for any lip and tells him he will do as he's told whether he likes it or not (and get of his lawn while you're at it!)
Cheng is nearby and tells Phillip that the submarine is on schedule to rendez-vous with them in 30 minutes. When you think about it, it's actually been quite the exciting night for young Joshua. If he wasn't a pawn in his wacked out grandpappy's little power trip he might actually sort of enjoy riding in a submarine.
Back on the beach, Jack looks on as the trauma team evacuates Doyle. At CTU, a doc tells Morris that Chloe's vitals are strong and she's in no immediate danger. Morris asks why she fainted and the doctor tells him it's probably due to dehydration and exhaustion. But you know, I bet she's preggers. We'll see...
Chloe wakes up and tells Morris she's fine but he won't leave her side. She tells him that if he wants to help her feel better, he'll go help find Phillip Bauer. Reluctantly, he agrees and heads back to the floor. Nadia pinpoints a decommissioned rig and Morris runs a thermal scan on it and they discover it's the right rig. Nadia hurries off to inform the White House where everyone has gathered to discuss tactical options against the Russians.
Lennox tells the room CTU has located Phillip Bauer on the oil rig and one of Daniels' men (not sure if he's a cabinet member or what, all I know is he was the asshole prison warden in Shawshank Redemption) recommends sending in 2 F-18s to just obliterate the rig and everyone on it. Lennox is actually aghast at this plan and reminds Daniels that Josh is on the rig - a young boy. He pushes for the surgical strike by an assault team rather than obliteration by the F-18s (speaking of F-18s, we just had a couple of those suckers in my town here over the weekend. Those are some sweet rides. Loud though.) Predictably, Daniels orders the F-18s in immediately, stating the whole 'needs of the many' routine.
Back to the beach again, Doyle's being loaded into an emergency vehicle and Jack tells him he's gonna be all right.
"Jack I'm sorry." Doyle says.
"You were following your orders."
"Get the kid. Get the kid Jack."
"I will."
That was amazing.
Nadia calls Jack to tell him they found the rig and about F-18 strike happening in under 30 minutes. She orders both Jack and Bill back to CTU for a debrief. Jack doesn't answer her right away and then says, "Fine." But I highly doubt Jack's about to just give up on Josh and go be debriefed. Jack eyes a nearby chopper and Bill half-heartedly tries to talk him out of it after learning of the air strike. Jack tells him he's going to take it because Josh is not an 'acceptable loss.'
Bill tells him, "I'll fly." Right on! It is so awesome to see Bill in the field! I think Jack's proud and happy to go into this with Bill by his side. They walk over to the nearest SUV and begin loading up on weapons. They get in the chopper and quickly take it over. With Bill at the controls, they head for the oil rig.
In Washington, Daniels begins his dance with Suvarov to try and get him to hold of on his imminent attack by explaining the latest development. Suvarov, during the call, receives word that a transmission was intercepted from a Chinese submarine that confirms what Daniels is trying to tell him. Daniels offers a realtime uplink to the mission and Suvarov tells Daniels that nothing less than the complete destruction of the oil platform will suffice as proof the circuit board has been destroyed.
At CTU Jack and Bill put pressure on Nadia to grant them access to a satellite feed of the platform so they can go in knowing what they're up against. Nadia agrees to help them despite the inevitable repercussions.
As Jack and Bill race the F-18s to the rig they make their desperate plans to go in low and try to surprise them. Aboard the rig, Cheng's men spot the chopper moving in. Cheng tells Phillip they need to get into a boat and head west. The boat has a beacon transmitting to the sub. He hands the circuit board back over to Phillip and goes off to his men to take care of the chopper.
Jack and Bill rise up as they approach the rig and Jack takes out the few men guarding the landing pad. Bill lands the chopper and Jack's off, guns a-blazing. Bill's close behind. Jack's hitting a bunch of stuff that blows up and takes out more of Cheng's men until he finally comes upon Cheng himself who's taken a hit. Jack demands to know where Josh is but all Cheng will yell is "You're too late!"
Jack orders Bill to get Cheng to the chopper while he goes off to see for himself if Josh is still on the platform.
He is indeed still on the rig but he and Phillip are making their way to whatever boat Cheng sent them to. But Josh can't take anymore of this and he begins resisting Phillip. He pulls away each time Phillip takes his arm. He tries to clock Phillip but the old fox is too quick. In a stone cold voice he tells Josh that he needs to learn to control his emotions, that he must never allow his emotions to control him. Trying to keep from sobbing, Josh nods and lets Phillip pull him along.
Jack continues to make his way down the rig, taking out flunkies as he goes. But time is running out. The F-18s are four minutes out. Meanwhile Josh and Phillip arrive at the mini-dock. And then that brave boy clocks Phillip something fierce, grabs a gun and now he's got a bit of an upper hand. Phillip doesn't believe Josh will shoot him and in a tone reminiscent of sending a toddler to a time-out, he tells him to hand over the gun.
But Josh refuses, telling him that as long as he's alive, Josh and his mother will never be safe. Phillip tries his twisted reasoning on the boy again but it only enrages him further When Phillip gets too close Josh shoots him near his right shoulder, knocking him back and rendering him incapable of trying to force the gun away. As Josh moves in, full if anger, to shoot again Jack arrives and tells him to lower the gun. But Josh is having a hard time getting past the point of no return. He's so pissed.
Jack talks him down from it though, telling him he wont want to live with the pain of taking another human being's life. The news about the F-18 attack though is what seems to spur Josh's decision to lower his gun. Jack tells him to run up to the top of the platform and get in the waiting chopper. He says he'll be right behind him. Josh hurries up the stairs.
With an icy stare, Jack looks at Phillip. "Get up. Get up it's over!" he cries.
"Then finish it." his father replies.
With such a look of anguish and pain on his face, Jack says, his voice breaking, "No. You are gonna be held accountable for what you have done today."
"I don't think so. You don't have time to carry me. Not if what you said about the airstrike is true. And you don't want to die. Not here. Not with me."
Jack lowers his weapon. His brow furrowed, tears forming, "You're gonna get off easy."
With a last look at his father, Jack races up the stairs leaving Phillip on the dock.
Bill is updated and told the strike team is 90 seconds away. Josh comes running up and tells Bill that Jack is with his father. Bill tells him to get in the chopper. The F-18s are given the order to go ahead. Bill is forced to take off but he tells Jack to meet him on the south side, level three. The missiles are launched. Jack stands on a rail looking towards the chopper. He leaps for the rope ladder dangling from the chopper and hangs on tight. As Bill pulls away the platform is hit by the missiles and destroyed. Man that was a bit of a nail-biter.
The White House and Suvarov watch and confirm that the rig has been destroyed. Suvarov tells Daniels he is satisfied that the circuit board has been destroyed and he will order the withdrawal of all troops and stand down. The two leaders commiserate a little on the events of the day (with Suvarov extending his best wishes on the recovery of President Palmer. Hehehe.) and the crisis is averted.
We move back to the chopper and Jack, still hanging on to that rope ladder, poor guy. As they near the shore, Jack lets go and drops into the water. He makes his way to the beach, man-purse still in tact, (and sorry - mmmmm wet Jack) Jack waves Bill off. Understanding, Bill and Josh head back to CTU.
"We have to go back for him!" cries Josh.
"Jack's not ready to go back yet." he tells him.
Meanwhile, Daniels accepts congrats from folk as he and Lennox make their way to the Oval. Despite being told that all he wants to do is sleep, Lennox insists on getting Daniels to deal with Karen and Bill. He wants Daniels to let them retire with their reputations in tact so that some semblance of trust can be maintained with the American people. Probably because he's victorious, Daniels agrees. Grateful, Lennox leaves to attend to Karen and in a final gesture, he leaves behind the digi recording he had of Daniels agreeing to perjury.
At CTU, Morris checks in on Chloe. And, hehe I was right. She's pregnant. This was a lovely little moment. Even Chloe thought so. "You know," she interrupts as Morris is about to say something, "this is a nice moment. Let's not ruin it by saying something stupid." Hee!
In Washington, Lennox drops by Karen's cell to tell her the good news. She and Bill are pardoned and are free to live their lives without fear of prosecution. Smiling with relief, she tells Lennox she knows he had a hand in it and she offers her hand in gratitude. He shakes it and tells her he actually think he'll miss her. "Really?" she asks. "I can answer that better when you're gone." he replies, chuckling. She laughs in response and walks out a free woman.
Bill and Josh arrive at CTU. Josh runs off into the waiting arms of his mother and Cheng, broken and bleeding, is led off to be interrogated and hopefully tortured a little. Cheng's parting shot though is to tell Bill that his people will not abandon him like we abandoned Jack Bauer. "Get him out of here." Bill says.
Going over to Nadia, Bill tells her that she did good work today. Th compliment means a lot to her, coming from him. But then, puzzled, she looks around for Jack. But Bill tells her he fell off the ladder and made it to shore. He doesn't want to be found. He tells Nadia to let him go.
Leaving CTU, we find ourselves looking at Heller. He's talking to someone on the phone about Audrey. As he hangs up, he hears a noise. Slowly he reaches for the phone but then Jack steps into the room and tels him to put it down. He's still wet and glistening from the water. Heller asks if Jack is there to kill him.
"That depends. Where's Audrey?"
"I told you you're not getting anywhere near -"
"YOU DO NOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO ANYMORE!" Jack screams, raising his gun and pointing at Heller's head. He tells Heller that he just watched his father die and he felt nothing. He says his own father was dead to him years ago. But he looked up to Heller. Heller was the kind of man Jack wanted to be. But Heller took advantage of that.
Thus begins Jack extremely cathartic rant which I reproduce in full here because it's so fecking amazing:
"Earlier today you said that I was cursed. That anyone I touched ended up dead or ruined. How dare you. How... dare you. The only thing I did, the only thing I have EVER done is what you and people like you have asked of me. Why didn't you try to get me out of China?"
"I did try - "
"NOT HARD ENOUGH! You had the political power. Was the timing not right? Was it a little to complicated? Or was I just an acceptable loss?"
"Jack I understand you're angr-"
"SHUT UP!" Jack raises the gun to Heller's head again. "You don't understand a thing about me. But I know you. I know why you're angry at me. And it wasn't because Audrey went to China to save me. It was because when you told her NOT to, she did it anyway. You'll never understand that kind of commitment. That kind of loyalty."
"You're right Jack. It wasn't fair of me to put all this on you, to blame you for what happened to Audrey. I know the sacrifices you made. I know this country owes you more than it'll ever repay."
"I'm not interested in what you think this country owes me. I want my life back. And I want it now. Audrey's all I've got and you can't stop me. In case you've forgotten, I'm very good at disappearing. And if you try sending someone after us I'll kill 'em. Pretty good at that too."
"Simply getting your life back Jack isn't gonna change who you are. And you can't walk away from it. You know that. You've tried it. Sooner or later you're gonna get back in the game and my daughter's gonna pay the price - like your wife did."
"You son of a bitch." Jack starts backing away, disgust all over his face at those hurtful words.
"Jack I beg you to stop for a moment and THINK. Think Jack. You won't be able to take care of her the way you want to."
Shaking his head, exhaustion beginning to creep up on him, Jack asks, "Where is she? Take me to her now."
Heller leads Jack to Audrey's room where she's asleep. He takes her hand. "It's me... I'm here..." But she doesn't wake up. Sadness and resignation in his voice, he quietly tells her, "I know that I promised to take care of you and protect you. But I'm at a crossroads. Right now the best way.... the only way to do that is to let you go. I hope one day you can understand that. I hope one day you can forgive me. ..." Jack looks at her one more time... "I love you with all my heart." He leans forward and places a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I always will."
Mustering the very last reserves of his strength, Jack Bauer gets up and walks away from her. Letting her go.
He leaves Heller's home out the back way and walks to the edge of the property, his gun still in his hand. He stares out at the ocean, looks down the cliff where the waves break against the rock... A last look on Jack's face, and the scene fades away to the silent clock.
Guh! Just... guh! Hands up if you thought he was contemplating suicide. I know I did. Then again I know Kiefer Sutherland is signed on for two more years which takes a bit of the impact of that powerful scene off I guess but if you can let that fun factoid go, man what a super ending. I enjoyed the wrapping up of everything. They took their time with it and we got a lot of good closure tonight.
So that's it kids. No more recapping until next season. My fingers are doing a happy dance but I'll miss it for sure. Maybe I can find some other show to recap in the meantime. Who knows :) But I'll be writing up a sort of season overview/review sometime this week or weekend (depends I'm busy at the paper this week - I'm learning how to produce newscasts so wheee!) so please come back and check it out if your are so inclined. And I'll do what I can to keep the site interesting during the long wait for Season 7 :)
Goodnight guys, and thanks for watching the show with me! It's been a great ride.
