Tag Archives: “24

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Emil Guillermo’s quick take on “24” finale: An OK close for the 8th day’s “End-of-the-World/POTUS Corruptus” scenario, but a 9th day lurks in the future and maybe something newer than real-time SIM card recovery disembowelments?

“24” is my guilty pleasure. 

But I sure wish it had ended for good last night.

In real life, I’m a softie  for human rights, civil rights and all rights of the oppressed. But on “24” I can satisfy my unrealize desire to kill, maim, torture, and this season, disembowel, all  for the greater good. Jack Bauer is better than a video game. You don’t have to figure out how to use the darn remote controls to make him move. And when push comes to annhilate, Jack is more moral than we all thought. Last night, Jack couldn’t off Logan or Pillar when he had the chance. (Jack  bit off Pillar’s ear, but he lived). Deep down, the good guys know what’s right.

Unlike “Lost,” where nothing in the previous 6 seasons seemed to have anything to do with the powerful last 10 minutes, at least there was a kind of unity to “24.” As in the previous seasons, the last episode fulfills the mission of the day. Among the highlights:  Chloe shot Jack. Chloe avoided a full cavity search. Taylor gave in to her guilt over the cover-up. The corrupt peace accord was averted. Great. It was as it has always been for me, a tense, “stand-up-while-watching”  TV experience.

But I really wanted it to “end” end.  

And then I noticed, as the clock ticked like the last seconds in a game, the story arc wouldn’t give us much more than it had to. Jack is still alive, on the loose, and with a final wink, is off, a step ahead of the feds, the Russians, and millions of fans soon to be in hot pursuit.

So a faux finale. They had a chance to bring it all together as when Jack told Chloe how, when it all began, she came into CTU, and he never knew it would be her to have his back. But she did.

I swear I tried to pump out a tear just to play along. But after 8 seasons,  I was dry.

Instead, I winked back.

Addendum: On his blog, Chuck Ross, asked if finale was a missed opportunity. Of course, I believe it was. The storytellers were victims of their “real time conceit,” and were trapped inside a box of their own making.  The subsequent movie should be liberating, unless they rename the project  “120.”  

 “24” made sense 8 years ago, when real-time was a buzz word.  But why insist on the format now? Time for the next thing, or the next old thing.

SIM card disembowlements–in 3-D?

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Emil Guillermo’s take on “Lost” Finale:Longer than a Sunday School lesson, complete with Father, Son, and Holy Ghosts; But still a showbiz–not a religious experience–for me. Now bring on the devil–the “24” finale

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Over the last six years, I was an on-again, off-again “Lost” watcher. I really got into it when I lived on Oahu. I really got off of it when I was too linear for the show’s own good.

I was a Lapsed-Lost follower.

I hadn’t seen an episode for three years until I was hooked by last week’s hype.

The last show?  Really?  No more “Lost”?  Honest to God?  I was back on the island.

Without benefit of Cliff Notes, it took me awhile to figure out how I was “Lost” all those years. But it didn’t matter. And then it all came together. The “lost” were found, and everyone was reunited in….  Heaven?

I suppose if I was a devotee all these years, this would have been my religious experience.  The family coming together and seeing the light.

But I wonder how else they could have tied things up. People coming together for a journey, but instead of Oceanic 815, they’re sitting in pews at a church. The 8:15 Mass?

The number of Christian references would have bothered me if I were say Buddhist or Muslim.  But since I was in church earlier that day for Pentecost Sunday and had the image of tongues of fire in my mind all day, I was  intrigued how openly Christian the finale was.

Symbols abound: The coffin marked “Christian Shepherd.”  The drinking of the cup, with the words, “Now you are like me.”   Desmond being lowered to the depths of fire and the earth moving–“Revelation”?  Ben apologizing to John, and John saying, “I forgive you.”  Jack the son, with his father, who has all the answers, or not.  But yes, we’re all dead. No Last Supper. But there is a group hug/cocktail-less cocktail party, with everyone ending up in the pews. There are 16 people, 4  more than the apostles. And the father walks down the aisle to open the door.  Let there be light.  Transfiguration? And then it’s all interspersed with  Jack on the  island,  on his back, wounded on his side, a more obvious Christ figure, no? But Jesus didn’t have his dog with him in the end. 

I swear the show was more fun than watching the Church Channel.

I watched the ending again this morning, and if I wasn’t so snarky, I’d say the guilt from missing the last three seasons almost rendered me teary-eyed. But I dare say it was more remarkable a display from the producers than not, and hardly the cop-out as suggested by one major daily.

If you wanted a technical explanation for things, you’re a fool anyway. The producers had it more right than not.  I forgive them their convolution.

When you kill a show, you are attending a funeral. I did catch symbols of other religions on the stained glass windows, so it wasn’t totally Christian, just predominantly so. But the tone was fine for saying goodbye. The story isn’t about physics and science. It’s about human relations and characters, and for something so Hollywood the “Lost” finale was pretty damn moving.

Now on to the end of  “24,”where the devil shall be  vanquished as the day ends.