24 is a show that perhaps does not lend itself to reader feedback, unlike a discussion-encouraging series like Lost. But I’m very curious to find out what other viewers think about this conflict between Jack and President Taylor. While I don’t believe Taylor to be right, per se, I’m not sure I side with Jack either. And I think the motivation is what creates the greatest turmoil here. I don’t want to oversimplify things, but to a great degree I do believe that Jack is out for revenge, while Taylor truly believes what she’s doing is for the greater good. Like I said, I know it’s not that simple. I recognize that Jack DOES want justice, and that Taylor is subconsciously determined to use this peace agreement as a justification for all she had lost and given up.
But there just seems something hypocritical about Jack’s current stance. I mean, he’s already made attempts at getting two terrorists Presidential pardons in the past 24 hours. One of them was handling nuclear rods which would have taken countless lives. And the other played a pivotal role in having a foreign president murdered on our country’s watch. And hell, just earlier in the day he refused to turn over one man’s life – the aforementioned foreign president – to spare the lives of millions of innocent people. All because he takes orders from the president.
The reason I ask for the feedback is because I haven’t solidly sided with Jack, but I’ve been watching with my parents, and they would both repeatedly ask, “Why is she doing this?” when Taylor would counter Jack’s actions. Am I the only one who doesn’t see this issue as being so one sided?
Despite some of the tedious and asinine things they’ve done this season, I’ve commended the writers for adding surprising depth to their disputes. So, I was slightly disappointed when, in this past episode, the writers started doing little things to get us to support Jack. Last week Taylor was strong, firm, rational, and compassionate with her decision. This week she appeared almost desperate, and there were certain moments when she literally looked like putty in Logan’s hand.
Having said that, I loved the “devil on one shoulder, angel on the other” interactions between Taylor, Logan, and Ethan. And while Logan has been decidedly more devious this episode – which is also slightly disappointing, as I was hoping he’d play it as a “gray” character a little longer – his arguments weren’t cartoony villainy. He made some valid points.
I’m still not completely sure I buy into this whole thing where Chloe cares more about her job and responsibilities than putting her faith in Jack, although I did appreciate that they took the time to explain that she simply doesn’t agree with him this time around. I guess it’s important to remember that not every character is privy to the information we, as viewers, experience. She wasn’t sitting , in on the conversation between Jack and President Taylor, so she doesn’t know that the President is hiding information about Hassan’s assassination. This tidbit of information – that Chloe doesn’t agree with Jack – is a lot better than her out-of-character “you know I can’t allow this” line last week.
So the word going around is that the climatic encounter will be between Jack and Chloe, which seems a bit….off. I’ve never been a huge Chloe fan, but since, what, season three or four, she has been the only constant in his life. And while I know there are a legion of Chloe fans out there, is there anybody who actually wanted these two to go head to head? A while back somebody suggested that Tony would have been better suited for the role Renee played (ya’ know, aside from the love scene). When we first met Renee last year, she was a pretty straight laced, clean cut FBI agent, so the idea that, prior to that, she did undercover work where she was raped and abused just doesn’t add up. Instead of what we saw, imagine if Jack had no choice but to make a deal with an imprisoned Tony Almeida, in order to utilize his terrorist ties. These two have so much history and trust issues that it would have resulted in a story so entertaining it might have even overshadowed the Dana Walsh Atrocity of 2010.
And then, in the end – the climax of this incredible series – it would have been about Jack and Tony. And best of all, they’d have two very enjoyable and very fulfilling options. They could have the epic standoff where these two fight to the death (and we know who’d win that), or they could have gone the opposite route and played out their reconciliation, with Tony redeeming himself and deciding to fight alongside his longtime friend Jack.
Sounds a lot more fun than Jack vs. Chloe.
Matt Basilo has been writing for Inside Pulse since April 2005, providing his insight into popular television shows such as Lost, 24, Heroes, and Smallville. Be sure to visit his blog at [a case of the blog] and follow him on Twitter.
